“Hey Blair, it’s Sadie,” I begin. I never planned on using it, but he’s tried slipping me his phone number so many times that it turns out I have it memorized by now.
He peppers me with questions until I have to cut him off.
“I’m okay. They’re letting me go. I guess my mom had to leave in a hurry so, I’m kind of stuck here at the hospital and I don’t have a ride back to school.” I glance over at the nurse behind the counter, but she isn’t paying any attention to me. I’m so used to people thinking I’m going to try to steal everything within sight, including an old curly-cord landline like the one I’m using now.
I know Blair mentioned he had a motorcycle, but I don’t want to have to outright ask him. I would’ve already taken a bus … if I had any money for the bus … but I’m not going to tell him that. Ms. Martin might know my secret, but so far she’s the only one.
“Don’t say another word. I’m on it.”
Half an hour later he walks through the door of my room with a bag in his hand and a worried look on his face. “How’re you feeling?” he asks again, coming up to me and searching my face for any signs of imminent death.
“I’m all right. I’m just kind of tired, and I’m super stressed about my mid-term.” It’s not the only thing I’m stressed about, but I can’t exactly tell him my foster mother is blackmailing me to send her five hundred dollars of someone else’s money every week.
“Hey, so … I knew you came in your Halloween costume and I figured you didn’t want to go home in that.” He hands me the bag with a sheepish smile. “I asked Dana to grab some things for you. She wanted to come along, but the whole sidecar thing isn’t very sexy.”
I look at him in surprise. “You stopped by my room to get clothes for me?”
“Yeah.” He nods and his cheeks turn a little pink. “I feel so bad about this. I really do.”
“I’m okay, Blair, really. That was so thoughtful of you.”
I take the bag and disappear into the bathroom. I come out a couple of minutes later in jeans and a sweater. It’s a small thing, but my situation already looks just a little less bleak.
He looks at me approvingly. “Nice.”
I can’t help but smile a little bit. “I remember something from the party when I started to go down.”
“Yeah? What?” he asks, and that worried expression comes back to his face again. I can see the guilt from miles away. He really does feel bad about it. We’ve played games in the past, but this isn’t one of them.
“Did you actually call me Sadie?” I give him a half-teasing smile.
He chuckles. “Yeah, I did. But don’t
you worry, Bunny, it won’t happen again.”
I laugh and just as we’re walking out of the room he adds something that makes me blush scarlet. “Oh, by the way, I took a look in the bag on the way over. I love the bra. Can’t wait until I get the chance to see it on.”
I smack the back of his head and walk straight forward into the elevator.
Riding behind him with my arms around his waist as the wind swallows us on the road is one of the single most exhilarating experiences of my life. I’ve never felt so free, so wild, so much like I’m living with abandon. For at least the time I’m with him on the back of his motorcycle, all of my worries and fears are blown out of my mind and away from me. It’s just him and me and the winding, tree-lined roads.
Blair pretends to show off a little, but I know he’s purposefully driving safe because he wants me back at the school in one piece. It’s sick, but in a way, all three of the boys have finally done some penance for the hell they’ve put me through.
When he parks the bike and I get off, he’s right there beside me to pull me into a close embrace.
“I was so worried about you,” he tells me softly in my ear. “I’m so sorry. I never should’ve given you those pills.”
“Thank you,” I say back as I look up at him. “I’ll be okay. Thanks for being there to help me when I needed you.”
His eyes sparkle so bright, I don’t know if I’m imagining tears welling up there. He holds my face tenderly in his hands and kisses me softly.
“Go get some rest,” he says with a broken voice, and then he turns away from me and leaves, taking his bike to put it away.
This whole weekend is a serious wakeup call for me. I could have lost my life. My real life, not this fake one I’ve stolen.
But as soon as I get to the top of the lawn and pause, still winded and exhausted from the night before, I know all of those worries are just a little bit further in my future. The immediate worry is the mid-term I still have to take tomorrow.
Looks like Mr. and Mrs. White might still be getting that nasty phone call. Well, at least if they do, Ms. Martin will never get to see a dime of their money.