Love is Dangerous

11

In the car, I look out the window the whole way home. Marissa sat next to me and her mom drove. We left my dad unconscious behind the restaurant. I was almost positive he was drunk driving so he might not remember where we live. If he does, he might call the police. I shudder at the thought. Luckily it was just for self-defense. I look over at Marissa as we pull off the highway. She takes my hand and squeezes it. I smile and watch out the window. After a few seconds, Marissa says, "Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you. The boys from next door came over while you were gone. They were looking for you." I look at her. It was too convenient. Right when I need a distraction, they show up. "Well, I might wanna wait until I heal." I gesture at my busted lip and bruised cheek. She nods and we sit in silence until we pull into the driveway. When we get out of the car, Marissa pulls my left arm, the one that isn't hurt, and brings me to her, our, room. I gotta get used to saying that. We walk in and instead of the bunk bed in the middle of the room, there are two separate beds on either side of the room. One of them, obviously Marissa's, has a beach comforter and light blue pillows. There is a sign above it that says, "Go with the flow". The nightstand is light brown with a blue light on top of it. Her bean bag chair sits next to her bed and the headboard is a bookshelf filled to the brim. I look at my side. The blanket was blue, the color of a gym floor. On it is a gymnast in the middle of a back handspring. The pillows have a pink lace with a beam and bar on them. Above is the same sign that hung on the other part. "No matter where you are, I will always be there for you." There is a picture of the Fierce Five above my bean bag chair and my headboard is three drawers. One for my leotards, one for my medals, and one for anything else I want. I gasp at the beautifulness. I couldn't believe they would do this for me. It’s too amazing.

I sit on my beanbag chair across from Marissa. It's my 3rd day here. 9:00 PM. And my clock still ticks. It’s starting to get on my nerves. We decided that tomorrow, we would go out to her yard and start doing gymnastics. If we're lucky, we could see the three guys from yesterday. Marissa told me their names are Tyler, Corbin, and Kai. She told me a little about them too. Tyler has dark skin and brown eyes. He was taller than Marissa, who reached 5'. Marissa and him have... history. You'll understand later. Corbin also has a dark complexion just not as much as Tyler. He was short, around 4 feet, and is really light. He has some anger management issues. Marissa doesn't know much about Kai because she's only met him a few times. She said he has blondish redish hair and pale skin. He has brown eyes. All three are surfers. I wonder what will happen when I meet them. The door opens and Aunt Tasha pokes her head in. "Okay girls, time for bed. Good night." We both reply, "goodnight!" at the same time. I stand up and pull my bean bag chair over to the wall. I walk to my bed and sink into it. Sleep comes easily with thoughts of the boys and my dad. Fear from my dad. What if he came back to hurt me again? A special feeling from the boys. Something is going to happen. Everything will be.... I drift into sleep.

I wake up and expect to see the bottom of a bunk bed. But instead I see the white ceiling above my amazing bed. I look over at Marissa, still sleeping on her bed. I go to sit up quickly but the pain registers and I remember the events of last night. I slowly get up and make my way into the bathroom. I clean myself up. I check out my injuries. A busted lip. A bruise on my cheek. My back and knee scratched up from being thrown into the wall. I had twisted my ankle so it hurt before. I will still be able to do gymnastics as long as I don't put too much pressure. I walk, er- limp, back into my bedroom. Instead of a sleeping Marissa, I see her sitting up in her bed on her phone. She looks up and smiles at me. "You ready?" she asks as she climbs out of bed. I nod and go into the closet to change. I get into a leo with shorts and we both walk down the stairs. Marissa grabs two water bottles from the fridge and I walk outside. I run to the hill and take out my grips from my bag. I jump on the bar and kip up. I try and go into my cast handstand but fall backwards and keep trying. After a few tries, Marissa comes out with her gym bag. She walks over the hill and sets it down on one of the mats. I put more chalk on my hands and go into my kip again. I swing my legs up and go backwards. I land on the ground, unsuccessful. I see Marissa working on her front handsprings to make sure she has it perfect for competition. All is calm in the world. Of course something has to mess it up.

We stay outside all day. Marissa got her front walkover front handspring combination and I did my round off back handspring back tuck. The guys hadn't come over yet, and I don't think they will. I guess it wasn't meant to be. Yet, there's still a weird feeling in my heart. Like something's gonna happen. I get that feeling a lot.