Growing Into You (First Draft; Unedited)

lxii.

Jayen

    Maj came by and sat next to me, her steps staggered and uneasy. Her wooden leg thunked against the hardwood floor before she sat down on the armchair next to me. She sighed as she sunk back.

    “It'll be a while before I get used to this leg,” she said, “but I’m getting used to it. How are you, Jay, holding up alright?”

    I wiped my eyes, “I guess. It’s just a lot. I know I should be relieved that this is all almost over but I can’t shake this rattling feeling in my chest. What if he gets released? What if he comes after us again?”

    “They said he already confessed to this. He’s not walking away from this easily.”

    My eyes burned, “None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for me.”

    Maj turned to me and stuck her chin out, “You don’t know that–he could’ve just done this to someone else.”

“But it wouldn’t have happened to you or Alex.”

“I suppose not. . . but it’s better that it was us if you think about it.” she scratched where the wooden leg was tied to her actual leg.

“What?”

“Well look, we handled this. Jinan nearly got his face melted off and we haven’t lost anybody,” she grabbed my hand and shook it, “we’re strong. We survived hell and back. But somebody else might not have. This is not your fault, Jay.”

“I know but I still can’t help feeling this way.”

Another door opened and Aoife was pointed over to where Maj and I were sitting in the back of the waiting room. Her red hair was fluffy and stuck out awkwardly in some places. She took a seat on the other side of me, her emerald green eyes were dull.

Aoife leaned her head against the back of the chair, “That was one of the most stressful and not stressful experiences of my life.”

“What did they ask you?” Maj asked, looking over me.

“What happened, how long I knew Jinan, if he had expressed any violent tendencies. . . the usual, I guess.” Aoife shrugged.

    “They asked me the same things,” Maj said, “Except they also questioned me if Jinan was the one who took my leg and if I could prove that if I needed to.”

    We sat in silence for what felt like an hour as we waited for everyone to be done. Eventually Kuna joined us, then Joshua. They sat down next to us and told us how their interviews went. Joshua didn’t have much to tell them about what happened recently but he was able to tell them a lot about my relationship with Jinan and when it went wrong. He told them about the abuse I went through and the lengths I had to go to hide from him in my cottage. Kuna apparently had a lot to tell them. They really went in there and told them all about their worries they had for me while we were dating. The interview probably would have gone longer if it wasn’t for the Guards getting tired of them.

    My interview was a lot shorter than everyone’s elses. They must have gotten to me first and used what I told them in other interviews. Had I told them enough? Did I tell them what they wanted to know? Could Jinan finally get punished for his actions and his hatred. . . I closed my eyes and sunk into the chair, my back hurt from sleeping awkwardly on the bed with Alexandra all night. Although I could have moved or slept somewhere else I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her all alone, especially when she was still recovering.

    Aoife lightly tapped my shoulder and I pushed her hand away. When Maj tapped my shoulder I opened my eyes and sat up. Alexnadra was talking with the same Guard that showed up to the estate days ago. What brought him here? Alexandra gave him a tight smile before turning her head to look over at us, taking in our worn expressions.