Guardian

Chapter 4

I slammed the front door and bounded up the stairs two at a time. My mom called after me as I did, but I went straight to my room and shut the door behind me. I flopped down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling.

Holden is the one that found me. Holden had brought up doing homework together immediately before the teacher gave only our class a project with specific partners. He had a tattoo on his back that he covered as soon as I thought about it. Holden's voice and memories were clear in my head. Clearer than my own.

None of this made any sense. How could he have been there? What was he doing? What would have happened if he hadn't found me? Would I still be there right now?

When I finally decided I had too many questions, I pulled myself up off the bed and bounded back down the stairs. My mom was sitting in the living room with a book in her lap. She didn't look up even though I made plenty of noise to announce myself. "Holden Sinclair," I said. She looked up at me.

"What was that, sweetie?" her voice quivered.

"Holden. Sinclair," I stated slower. "You know him?"

"Is that one of your new school friends? Didn't you mention that name when you first started?"

"I think you know exactly who he is," I said.

"I'm sorry, honey, I don't recognize that name."

"Let me remind you, mom. He's my age, tall, dark hair, eyes as black as night," I tapped my finger against my mouth, "oh yeah, and found me wondering around Knoxville a couple months ago."

She cursed under her breath. "He wasn't supposed to tell you."

"Why, mom? Why wasn't he supposed to tell me? You didn't want me to know that I was friends with the boy who found me? Who saved my life? You knew that I went to school with him before."

"I thought he might be involved, Veronica. How lucky did he have to be to just happen upon you that night? If it had just been in town, maybe, but he found you four hours away from home. I don't believe him," she told me.

"I could have decided that for myself. I'm old enough for that. I'm old enough to understand the circumstances," I came back at her.

She looked at the ground. "I don't want you hanging out with that boy," she said.

"You don't really have a choice. I have an anatomy project with him due Monday."

She paused and stared at me for a moment. "I'm calling your teacher. You're not doing anything with that boy," she said. I turned on my heel and bolted up the stairs without a word. I picked up my phone and dialed the number Holden had called from a few months ago.

"Hello?" his voice said on the other end.

"Hey," I responded. "I'm sorry I left you in the street."

"Don't worry about it. I've been left in worse places," he said. There was a silent pause. Neither of us knew what to say next. Leaving someone stranded in the middle of the street shouldn't be an easily forgiven offense. "How are you doing with everything?" he asked.

I sighed. "Overwhelmed. Can I come over?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure," he replied.

"How far did you walk? I'll come pick you up," I said.

"I'm already home," he said.

"I left you there less than an hour ago. How are you home already?" I questioned.

"I'm fast," he answered. He gave me his address and I scribbled it across a random sheet of paper before hanging up. I shoved the paper and my phone in my back pocket and slung my backpack over my shoulder.