Back to Himself

11. I'll Protect You (pt. 2)

Justin gestures for me to get up and follow him. I hesitate. If my foster parents see me walk up the driveway with a boy, they'll hurt me even worse than usual tonight.

"You don't have to—," I start, standing up slowly.

"I want to."

He smiles at me softly. I fiddle with my fingers, unsure of what to say.

"Justin. I'm sorry. It's just that if they see me with a boy, they'll—," I trail off.

"They'll do what? Bite?"

He's challenging me by calling out my lie from before.

"Look, I'll be fine walking home. I do it by myself everyday. I don't want to drag you into my messy life. Trust me, I'm doing you a favor."

Justin sighs and his forehead wrinkles up in frustration as he digs into his pockets and pulls out his phone. He presses it into my palm.

"Number. Now."

He crosses his arms and puts on a stern face.

"And if you're not allowed to have a phone, put in your school email. I'm not leaving until I have a reliable way to contact you and make sure you're always safe."

I sigh in exasperation.

"Why do you care if I'm safe? You just met me."

He says nothing, still staring me down, motioning to the phone once more.

"Fine. I'm not allowed to have a cell. I'll put in my email."

I type my email into the notes section of Justin's phone and hand it back to him. He reads my email back to me to confirm it's right, which seems to calm him down, and he slips his phone back into his pocket again.

"Am I free to go now?"

He laughs, the sparkle returning to his eyes again.

"Yes, Milan. You're free to go."

We walk to the entrance of the park shoulder to shoulder in comfortable silence.

"I live this way," I say pointing left at the entrance.

"And I live this way."

Justin points in the opposite direction.

"Listen—,"

He hesitates. I wait, studying his face carefully.

"I'm going to email you my number. Memorize it. Yes, I know you don't have a cell. Memorize it anyway. So if you ever need help, and you're not near a computer to email me, you can get to the nearest phone and call."

He sighs, rubbing his hands over his face anxiously before returning them to his pockets and meeting my eyes again.

"Milan, you can call me anytime. For any reason. I'll protect you. Tell me you understand what I'm saying."

I nod slowly in confirmation. Does he know? Or am I just an even worse liar than I thought?

"I understand."

Justin relaxes his shoulders as he extends a hand once more.

"Good. It was very nice to meet you, Milan. I'll look for you at school tomorrow. We can have lunch together."

"Are you sure? Being seen with me won't be good for your reputation. Everyone hates me."

"Well it's a good thing I don't care what people think of me. Do you like BLT's?"

"Yeah, but minus the T, I'm allergic."

"Noted. I'll ask my mom to make an extra one for you."

"How come?"

He hesitates, looking down at his feet.

"Well, I know this is the first time we've officially met, but in all honesty this is not the first time I've seen you. I noticed you don't eat very much at lunchtime. I want to make sure you have something. It's not a big deal, I promise. My mom loves to feed people."

I decide not to argue, he seems like he just wants to be kind, no ulterior motives.

"Thank you, Justin. That's really sweet of you."

He smiles down at me.

"You're welcome. Au revoir."

(translation: Goodbye) 

"Okay, French boy. I see you," I tease.

"I'm actually Canadian, so I'm fluent in French."

He smiles when he sees my eyes widen with glee.

"Well ain't that a coinkadink? Nous devons en discuter demain au déjeuner."

(translation: We must discuss this over lunch tomorrow)

I say with a mischievous giggle as I turn on my heels to head home. Justin's mouth falls open in shock.

"What?!"

He yells loudly before running up from behind and stopping me in my tracks.

"No, we must discuss this right now. Where did you learn French? Your pronunciation is literally perfect.

"Au revoir!"

I chirp with a smile as I skip around him and continue in the direction of my house.

"I'm going to email you! You better let me know when you're home safe!"

He yells after me.

"Okay, dad!"

I yell back jokingly. I hear his laughter in the distance.

I think I like this Justin kid.