Reliving Yesterday ✔

Chapter 39.

Parker didn't let go of my hand as I led the way to the hidden jeep. He yelled at me to get inside and got into the driver's seat, put the keys that I tossed to him into the ignition, and sped off down the road. I wasn't sure where he was going because he seemed to be driving away from the main town and deeper into the outskirts of the Lake Town. He was so focused on the road that his brows were furrowed and his eyes kept flicking between the road and the rear-view mirror.

"Parker, where are we going?" I asked, remembering only then to buckle my seat belt, "And put your seatbelt on."

Parker didn't take his hands off the wheel. He kept a steady foot on the accelerator and I prayed that we didn't get pulled over for speeding. "We need to get out of here."

"I get that, Parker, but where are we going?" I persisted.

He didn't answer me for a while. I kept my eyes on him. At one point, the road narrowed and the street lighting became sparse. He cut across, leaving the main road and drove down a dirt road. "This road leads into the other town," he told me, "And there's a motel there. We'll stay there for the night. It's not safe to go home."

I blinked at him and then slowly nodded. I knew Parker wasn't going to hurt me, so I knew this was my safest bet. Parker didn't seem like he was going to say much else at the moment, so I let silence reign.

The moon lit most of the side road towards the town which seemed to be called Lawrence, and soon enough, Parker pulled into the parking lot of a mostly deserted motel.

He pulled the handbrake and leaned over to me. "Stay here. I'll go get us a room."

I chose not to move as he got off and went into the office. The clock on the dashboard told me that it was 8:45 and I was already tired out from the goings on of the day and I just wanted a nice bed to pass out in.

After a few minutes, Parker came back out, jingling a key at me. "Come on," he said, grabbing his keys and wallet, "The room is over in that corner."

I let out a huge sigh, shouldered my bag and got out of the car. Parker followed close behind me, until we got to the door.

Inside the room, there were two bed, a table and two chairs, a TV, a closet and a door that probably led to the bathroom. The extremely bright lights made up for the lack of ambience and character. The old ashtray on the table probably explained the stench that seemed to linger in the room. Parker cranked up the heater and assessed the room, before tossing his keys and wallet on to the table. I sat on the edge of the bed, watching him.

A veil of silence fell as Parker remained motionless for a few moments, probably unable to think of what to say. Slowly, seemingly afraid that I would notice, he raised his green eyes to look at me, unaware that I'd been staring at him the whole time. He exhaled deeply when he caught my gaze.

His shoulders slumped in defeat, it seemed, before he pulled a chair towards me and sat down, facing me. We filled the room with the sounds of our breaths. Parker didn't have a coat on, but the autumn chill didn't seem to have gotten to him.

Parker shook his head slowly. "What are you doing here, Alex?" he questioned, so softly that I leaned forwards slightly to hear the rest of his words.

I watched his eyes as they questioned me before answering. My shoulders shrugged almost involuntarily as I told him, "You weren't home after practice. I got worried."

He almost chuckled, but his face didn't seem like it wanted to hold a smile. "How did you know where to find me?"

"Process of elimination," I said to him, leaning back a little, away from him.