Don't Hurt Me

Chapter 38

On Monday, during lunch at school, I'm sitting with Alex when someone pops up beside me. He is tall, dressed in ripped jeans and a deep green shirt.

"Josh," I mumble, more than a little surprised. Alex freezes, her sandwich almost to her mouth as she stares at him.

Josh reaches over, grasping my upper arm. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" He pulls me from my table without waiting for an answer. He drags me across the cafeteria, all the way out onto the grounds.

It's a gray afternoon, cool and cloudy, meaning it could rain anytime soon. Josh lets go of me, and I frown as I look up at him. "Is this about Erin?" I ask worriedly. "We had a good talk the other day."

"I know. She told me."

"And …?"

"I want to know what's going on."

I blink, not sure what he means. "With what?"

"I went to your house yesterday."

This startles me a little. "You did?"

"Yeah. And the weirdest thing happened. Your dad – at least, I think it was your dad – told me you weren't living there anymore. When I asked what he was talking about, he just laughed and slammed the door in my face."

"Oh. Well – "

"You were supposed to call me and tell me what happened with your parents and the private investigator."

I lapse into a guilty silence.

"So what happened? How did all that private investigator stuff go to your dad and this? Is it really true? That you're not at that house anymore?"

I find myself stalling, sliding my gaze away. Josh has missed out on so much – my dad and Sam rushing up to Callville, my mom turning my dad away, me and my brothers being kicked out of the house, my dad's plan to sell ….

I'm not sure how to tell him about all that. More importantly, I'm not sure if I should tell him at all. My keeping the story from him was not exactly an accident. I made a promise to myself to stay away from him as much as possible. Besides, how can I just tell him about everything now? How do I tell him that I might be moving away at the end of the year? "Josh, you don’t have to worry about me."

"So what your dad said wasn't true?"

"No, it's true."

"It is?"

I sigh exasperatedly. "My brothers and I decided to leave the house. We're all staying with friends."

"Why?"

"Things have just gotten a bit weird with the Conroys. But it's OK. I think we'll work something out." I start to head back towards the cafeteria, but he steps in front of me.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. What about your mom? And the investigator thing?"

"Josh," I say his name, raising both hands. "I don't want to talk about this right now."

"Why? We've always been able to talk."

"Well, things are different now."

"They're not different. You're different. You've been avoiding me, haven't you?"

Geez, can he blame me? "I'm going inside," I mutter, brushing past him. I walk back into the cafeteria, where Alex looks up at me with interest.

"What was that all about?"

"Nothing. He just wanted to know how things were with my family."

"Oh? That was nice of him."

"I wish he didn't, though."