Investigation: Shunned

Chap. 12

As soon as I heard the shower tap running I grabbed the car keys and drove.

I kept driving for an hour, encircling the small town with no where to go. It finally dawned on me that I had been ignoring several phone calls from dad and Luke and pulled over.

Once I had pulled over I let go. Heavy sobs racked my body as tears fell from my eyes and my nose ran. I tucked my knees up to my chest and rested my eyes on my knees with pressure.

I sat in this position until my back began cramping and my eyes throbbed. I slowly stretched, the kinks in my body screaming as I did so. Finally drained of my tear I looked at my phone.

As soon as the screen lit up I saw I had 31 missed calls from dad, 3 from Luke and 1 from Nick. With a frown I picked up my phone and rang Nick back.

"Hello," an almost groggy voice replied.

"Hi I-" I went to carry on but my throat grew tight again and my eyes watered. So much for being cried out.

"Hello?" Nick replied in confusion.

I looked out the window as the throat grew tighter, a sob threatened to rise. But when I looked out the window I realised I was no longer in town. I was in a stretch of paddocks.

"Fuck," I swore quietly as I realised I was lost.

"What?" I heard Nick's panicked voice on the other line.

"I'm," I gave a sniffle and wiped my nose on my sleeve. "I'm lost." I whispered quietly as I looked down at my tear soaked knees.

"I'll be there soon," he said as he cut the line. I pulled my knees back up to my chest and waited for him to arrive.

~.~

After a river of tears Nick arrived an hour later. I knew I looked like a mess, my eyes red and puffy and my cheeks blotchy but I didn't care as long as Nick was there.

I saw Nick walking up to my car with wet, messily tussled hair and old clothes on. I quickly jumped out the car to meet him halfway.

"How did you get here anyway..." Nick trailed off as he saw me and his walk slowed right down. "What's wrong?"

"Umm," I mumbled as I wiped my nose. "Stuff." I responded lamely.

Nick mumbled something as he strode up to me and pulled me into a hug, the smell of cinnamon and mint enveloping me. I took a deep breath in, treasuring his scent.

After 5 minutes the hug unwillingly broke. Nick took a step back and looked at me with concern and finally said, "tell me what's really wrong."

And so I did. I told him about my dad, what he said and how long his going to be back.

"Are you going to listen to him?" Nick asked with a raise of his brow.

"Does it look like it?" I snapped as I gestured around me. "But yes. No. I don't know!" I exclaimed as I threw my hand in the air.

"Right," Nick mumbled as he looked down at his shoes.

"But let's forget about tomorrow and the next few months, hell forget about the next few years! Let's just focus on today. Nick, would you like to hang out with me?" I proposed.

"Okay okay, calm down." Nick said with a laugh. "What would you like to do?"