Change and Secrets

Chapter 8

Saphira left the building, a light breeze blew through her hair. The temperatures were still high.
She sat down under a tree and leaned back, enjoying the quietness for a while, before she called Tom. He took the call after the second ring.

"Hey, Sweetie", he greeted her happily. 
"Hey."
"Okay. What's going on?" It was unintelligible to her how people could hear a million words from her and not understand anything, but Tom could hear a simple hey and know how she felt. As if she would be an open book.
"Everything is shitty", she told him. It was always so easy to talk to him.

"Start at the beginning, Sweetie."
"You have time for it?", she asked and pulled her legs up. 
"Only for you."

So she told him everything that happened since she came here and ended with how she ended up talking to him.
"Someone is beating you up. Just tell me who and I deal with it", Tom stated the moment she was finished.  

"No, it's-"
"Don't tell me that. I know you're lying and I so badly want to help you, but I can't help if you don't tell me who it is or let me find out", he interrupted her. How was it that Tom was the only one who spoke it out, though everyone knew it, at least suspected it?

"You know that you're the person that gives me strength and makes me feel secure? No one else does that", she told him, also trying to change the topic. 
"No, 'cause I can't imagine that I'm giving you anything", he responded, sounding defeated. 
"But you do. You're there, you listen, understand, and support me. That's everything I need."

She closed her eyes and imagined he would be here now. Imagining his arms around her, protecting her. She wanted him to be here now. 
"I wanna do more than that." He sighed. "You're not going to tell me, will you?"
"I can't." The same answer she gives everyone.

"You can't or you don't want to?", he questioned, something no one did before.
"I can't", she repeated
"Why?", he asked further, understanding her words and being only one step away from finding out the truth. 

"Because I'm not allowed", she answered. She had once sworn, she would say it when someone asked. No one had ever asked. Until now. 
"So the guy beating you up is threatening you", he stated the facts, she confirmed it.

Tom didn't know who she was and as long as she didn't tell him Brad's name, it should be fine. It had to be because she needed someone to know. Needed someone to understand her, there was no one better than Tom.

"He says, he would kill me if I tell someone. I'm scared and I don't know how to make it stop", she explained.
"I get it. You won't tell me his name, but tell me how to help you. It's eating me up to know you're hurting, while I sit here doing nothing. Tell me how to help, I do whatever you want", he pleaded for her to talk to him. 

"No one can help me. I can only hold on as long as possible."
"You want me to find out who he is?"
"Don't", she quickly said. "If he finds out someone's looking for him, he's going to kill me on the place."

"Okay. I won't do it, but I'm here for you. You can always come to me, even if you just need to be held. I'm here", he promised.
"Thanks. Can you tell me about your day? I want to think about something nice", she asked him.
"There is nothing nice either. Only school and I'm annoyed by this girl. Her name's Britney and I want her to leave me alone, but she doesn't", he started, already making her smile.

"She tried to kiss me on the lips today and I'm pretty sure that I neither want to be kissed by her nor want her lipstick all over me nor lose my first kiss to her." Saphira laughed now, imagining how Tom run away from her, trying to escape her kissing him. 

"I can bear a lot, but not her. Help me", he begged, his green pleading eyes popped in front of her eyes. 
"How about this, tell her you love spiders and rear them. Many girls don't like them."
"I'll try. I'll tell you how it went the next time", he said. 
"Definitely. Something else?", she asked. They went on to talk for quite a while before they hung up and she went back to her room.