"So-rry." I stutter, cursing myself internally as I pull on my shoes.
"Whatever. Just hurry up, you're lucky I'm even driving you."
He's driving me?
"Ss-sorry."
I don't know why I stutter so much, it doesn't happen all the time. At least, not when I'm talking to myself or reading a book out loud. It only happens when I'm around my family, her my anxiety spikes and suddenly a sentence, a word, seems like the hardest think to put together.
Hopefully it doesn't happen at school.
"Yeah, you said that." Jack rolls his eyes. "I'll meet you in the car."
I nod and try to tie my shoe again. It takes a few tries before I eventually get a knot that doesn't untie the second I stand up. I grab my backpack from the floor and rush outside, fearing Jack might leave without me.
I open the passenger door and hop in, placing my bag on the floor before fastening my seatbelt. Now that I'm sitting here, I've just realised I'm going to need to spend an entire car journey alone with Jack. Shit. I don't even know how far away the school is.
Great, just great.
I can feel the anxiety creeping up on me, goosebumps of fear arising on my skin under my clothes. I count in my head, digging my nails into my palms, creating little crescent moons indents in my skin so I don't get lost in my thoughts and zone out.
Jack doesn't speak to me as he drives. Honestly, I don't think it would be possible for me to get lost in my head at all. His driving is borderline terrifying. Maybe even more terrifying than my thoughts.
I can't survive everything I have to go out in a car wreck. Not a chance.
Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.
The silence is excruciating. I need something to take my mind off of Jack's lack of skill behind the wheel, and of the fears that keep trying to claw their way back into my head.
I don't know what to do.
Should I make small talk?
As much as he scares me, Jack isn't anything like our parents.
He's mean to me, yeah, and I'm pretty sure he hates me, but he has never physically hurt me, never ever. At most he gives me a smack on the back of the head when I zone out, but that's it. He's the only person that gives me food and water, the only one who gives me dressings for my wounds, provides blankets and clothes to keep me warm.
But he doesn't help me when they hurt me.
He just stands there and watches.
I wish he would help me, protect me, love me.
Growing more and more uneasy, I bite the bullet and just speak up.
The worst he could do is ignore me...
Right?
"Uh, Jack?"
YOU ARE READING
Care For Me ✔️
Teen Fiction* C U R R E N T L Y E D I T I N G & R E W R I T I N G * BOOK 1 - THE LOMBARDI SERIES L I L Y At the tender age of twelve, Lily has never seen the world beyond the tiny window of her bedroom. She's never known love, or comfort, or care. Growi...
