“Yeah, you know, to carry on the family name as awesomely as my rock star dad did. My grandma’s said it to me a couple of times.” I don’t really feel that pressured. My parents and grandparents have always been cool about not pressuring me to be anything other than myself. I’m just trying to talk about anything other than the treatment and the tour.
“I’m sure you’ll do fine.” He opens the passenger door for me. “You’re already going on a tour and you’re only eighteen. That’s a pretty amazing accomplishment.” He smiles, but it’s forced.
I know he wants to go on the tour. Wants to live a normal life. Well, as normal of a life as any other band member.
Hurts, hurts, hurts,
All the time.
Watching him silently hurt.
The pain, the despair
He carries inside
It’s got to be making him lose his mind.
Driving him to the edge
Of a place I can’t let him go.
“Yeah, I know.” My mood goes kerplunk as I climb into the car.
Only a few more hours and then it’s time. Only a few more hours and I might lose him.
Ayden suddenly freezes as he ducks to get in, and his gaze sweeps the grassy area across from the parking lot.
“Is everything okay?” I track his gaze to a woman wearing a red raincoat, standing in the midst of a sea of people dressed in summer attire. “Do you know her?”
He stares at her a beat longer, only looking away when the woman turns and gets swallowed up by the crowd. “Stay here.” He closes the door and jogs back to the cop vehicle parked a few spaces behind us.
He says something to the officer before walking back to the car and climbing in.
“What was that about?” I ask as he shuts the door.
“I’m not sure, but the woman who chased me into the woods . . . She was wearing a red raincoat.” He starts up the engine and locks the doors. “I don’t think it was her, but I still thought I’d tell the officer.”
My muscles ravel into knots as I skim the people around the quad and the parking lot. “What if it is her?”
“It’s going to be okay.” He places a shaky hand on my knee. “But we need to wait here until the officer comes back.”
I gulp. “How long do you think it’ll take him to check everything out?”
He shrugs, looking out the window. “That all depends on if he can find the woman or not.” His jaw tightens as he shakes his head in dismay. “Lyric, I’m so sorry for putting you through this.”
“Don’t start,” I warn. “You’re not putting me through anything. It’s not your fault those people are insane and won’t leave you alone.”
“It’s kind of my fault, though, if it’s my father who’s in charge of their group,” he utters quietly.
I reach over and set a hand on his scruffy cheek. “None of this is your fault. Trust me. Kids aren’t responsible for the bad stuff our parents do. If that were the case, then I’d be responsible for every time my mom gets a speeding ticket when she decides she’s going to race some dude in a sports car. Or when my dad secretly smokes in his office.”
“Smoking and speeding tickets aren’t really the same as kidnapping and murder.”
“Ay.” My heart is breaking for him. “You’re the sweetest guy I’ve ever met in my entire life. You’d do anything for the people you love, so trust me when I say you’re in no way responsible for anything that your father does. You need to stop being so hard on yourself.”
He blows out a breath. “Maybe you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right.” And a little shocked that I convinced him. “I’m always right, even when I’m wrong.”
A half smile surfaces. “There you go again. Making up your own rules.”
I open my mouth to keep going, but the officer knocks on the window, scaring the bejesus out of me. Ayden jumps too and quickly rolls down the window.
“It’s all clear,” the officer, who’s probably in his mid-twenties, says as he leans down and looks inside the car.
“You found the woman in the red rain coat, then?” Ayden asks, still tense.
“I tracked her into the school,” he says, nodding. “She’s actually the art teacher, Miss Merrybellton, or something like that.”
“And she was wearing a raincoat?” Ayden gapes at the officer in disbelief.
“I’m actually not surprised,” I tell Ayden. “Miss Merrybellton can be a little,” I circle my finger around my temple, “off her rocker sometimes. She’s always trying all these new styles. Today must be inappropriate weather attire day.”
“Well thanks for checking on it,” Ayden says to the officer, his eyes still wide with fear and worry.
“That’s what I’m here for. And it’s good you told me. We need to check out all suspicious activity,” the officer replies then steps back. “Now you should probably head home.”
Ayden rolls up the window, pushes the shifter into reverse, and backs out of the parking space.
He’s silent for most of the drive, which instantly puts me into worry mode. But every time I strike up a conversation, he gives me one or two word responses that lead to nowhere, and I worry he might be regressing.
My thoughts drift to my life before Ayden. I’ve always been a happy, positive person who’s had a good life. My mom and dad have been the rock stars of parents, always showing me unconditional love. I’ve always been able to chase my dreams. I’ve always had a roof over my head. But even with everything, I still felt something was missing. That something was Ayden.
I didn’t know it back then. Didn’t realize it when we first met. It took me time to get there—took us both time. And now that I have it, there’s no way I’m going to lose it.
When we get home, Ayden parks the car in front of the garage then twists in his seat to face me. “We have to leave in a half an hour.” He chews on his bottom lip as he glances at the door of his house. “I’m not sure what to tell Lila since I normally don’t go to appointments on Monday’s.”
“Just tell her you’re stressed and need to talk to someone,” I suggest, unbuckling my seatbelt.
“But how do I explain why you’re coming with me? And why we’re going to a doctor’s office instead of the normal therapy office building.”
My jaw just about smacks the floor. “We’re going to a doctor’s office?”
He slips the keys out of the ignition and opens the door. “It’s just a precautionary measure in case something unexpected happens.”
“I read a little about this treatment, and from what the articles said, you’ll be put under sedation. Is that true?”
“I’ll be under but I’ll still be able to talk, at least from what I understand. But I think I’ll be really out of it.” When he sees the panic in my eyes, he cups my face between his hands. “Everything’s going to be okay. Nothing’s going to happen to me.”
I swallow the lump wedged in my throat. The last thing he needs to be doing is worrying about me. I need to chill on the freaking out. “I’m okay. It’s just a little scary thinking about what they’re going to do to you.”
He presses his lips together. “Are you sure you’re okay? Because if it’s too much for you, you don’t have to go—”
I put a finger to his lips, shushing him. “I’m going with you. There’s no way you’re talking me out of it.” I lower my hand to my lap. “And just tell Lila I need to spend as much time with you as I can before I leave for the tour.”
“But what about the doctor’s office thing?” He points over his shoulder at the cop car that’s been tailing us since we left school. “Because they’re going to follow us and report where we went the moment we park the damn car in front of the office.”
I peek back at the cop car. “Are you sure you just can’t tell Aunt Lila what we’re doing?” Aunt Lila isn’t really my aunt, just like Uncle Ethan really isn’t my uncle. My family was just so close with the Gregorys from the moment I was born that I started calling them that.
“If I tell her then she’ll never let me go through with it,” he says with heavy remorse. “And I have to do this.”
I try to bring out my sunshine and positivity as I rack my brain for a solution to our problem. “Just tell her you’re taking me to a doctor’s appointment. That I have to get a shot and need you to hold my hand.”
“And what happens when she talks to your mom and finds out that was a lie?” he asks warily.
I shrug. “We’ll face the music when it happens, but right now, let’s just get through this one appointment.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he double checks. “Because everyone’s going to be pissed when they find out we lied.”
“Of course I’m sure.” I wink at him. “I got your back, dude. Always and forever.”