To Learn to Let Go | ✔

Chapter 14

The rest of our Topgolf adventure was miserable. Dad and Adam were wasted, and Adam kept making these jokes that only Trent and I understood to mean something. It made me fearful of going home tonight, of being alone in my house with him. It let me know that he remembered what he did to me, and that he planned on doing it again if he could. At one point Trent put his arm around me in response to Adam's comments. To my surprise, it didn't add to my discomfort, instead it made me feel safer. Was that what it was like to be able to trust someone?

Trent reluctantly left around nine that night, after Mom came and pointed out that it was a school night. Trent didn't want to leave me, and honestly, I really wanted him to stay too. I knew my parents would never go for it though, and I promised Trent that I would text him all night. It's not like either of us would be getting much sleep anyway. Before he left, Trent checked to make sure the lock on my bedroom door worked and couldn't be easily picked. I assured him that I had the only key in existence in the house, and I told him I would lock up behind me as soon as he left. I walked him to the front door, turning him to face me before he left. I took a deep breath and wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my head in his neck and taking in his scent, committing it to memory. Trent stood in shock for just a second before wrapping his arms carefully around my waist.

"Thank you," I whispered in his ear.

"Anytime love," he whispered back. I gave him a weak smile as we reluctantly let go and he walked out the door. After locking up, I ran up the stairs in the same fashion one might run upstairs from their basement at night to avoid getting attacked by ghosts. Only my ghost was real, and he was staying in the room down the hall. I peered into my room to make sure Adam hadn't snuck in, and upon seeing the coast was clear I rushed inside, shutting and locking the door behind me as promised. I threw on some pajamas and jumped into bed, getting under the covers with my laptop and picking a random show to binge watch overnight on Netflix.

Trent and I texted all through the night, talking about everything and nothing. We talked a lot about TV shows, which ones we like and which ones we didn't like. I found out he was obsessed with The Office and Brooklyn 99. Those were two of my favorite shows as well. He hated teen dramas while I absolutely lived for them. Degrassi and Gossip Girl being some of my favorites. We both also shared a love for nerdy shows like Battlestar Galactica and The Mandalorian, and I was shocked to hear he had never seen an episode of Star Trek. That was a show that Dad and I watched all the time when I was little. We watched the original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, we absolutely loved the whole series. I made Trent promise to watch it with me someday, every season of every series. Yes, that was me assuming that Trent would be around long enough to watch multiples series of a TV show.

Around one in the morning I heard footsteps in the hallway outside my bedroom. I froze, shutting my laptop and burying myself under the covers. I heard a knock at my door that was too heavy to be my mom's, but not quite as heavy as Dad's. It was Adam. I held my breath and didn't respond, hoping he'd go away. I heard my doorknob shake and Adam tried to open the door to no avail. I let out a soft whimper and curled up in a ball under the covers, shaking and waiting for him to go away. After a few more tries at the door he gave up, and I heard his footsteps retreat back down the hall. I breathed a sigh of relief and took the covers down from over my face. My phone was buzzing with texts from Trent like crazy, but I just ignored them. I tried to regain my breath after my moments of terror, but no matter what I did I couldn't calm down. So, I got up and went to my bathroom, fishing around my vanity drawers for my razor, and finally regaining control of my breathing as I felt the cold metal hit my skin. I texted Trent back when I climbed into bed, telling him how Adam tried to get in but that I was fine. We continued talking through the night, and I was relieved when the sun rose, and I had made it through my first night with Adam.