strings | Grayson Dolan

five

this chapter has some themes that may be disturbing or uncomfortable for some people. just warning you

3 days later

Sam's POV

It is currently 3:32 am and I am walking home from my friend Dani's house after watching reruns of Full House for hours.

I am walking down these familiar streets with my head down just thinking about nonsense. I turn a corner and come across an ally which is dimly lit by an old street light. It sends chills down my spine by the irony of it. Tons of movies and books come to mind causing me to speed up my pace. I half glance over to it and regret it instantly. There are 2 silhouettes standing in the ally, one leaning against the brick and the other facing him. I make eye contact with one of them, his face glowing from the scarce light emitting from the street light. I quickly avert my gaze forward and carry on like nothing ever happened. I breathe a sigh of relief when i turn another corner away from the two men. That looked like a drug deal, i could have been shot! I think to myself.

I hear someone yell and then the sound of something hitting up against a hard surface. I widen my eyes in the dark and start to slightly jog, my street only a block away.

My racing mind must have forgot to navigate because the familiar developments started to fade and soon, I realized I am now lost. My heart begins to beat fast, very fast. I try to calm down and I pull out my phone pressing the home button, expecting my lock screen but instead met with a pitch black screen. Great it's dead.

Panic mode starts to set in and I start analyzing my surroundings. Nothing looks familiar so I continue straight until i see something; anything that looks remotely familiar. I find no luck in this strategy which is strange considering i've lived in this town my whole life but I have been walking for quite some time so for all I know i could have crossed the city border by now. I continue walking simply because that's all i can do and right before i lose all hope I see something red glowing in the distance. I sigh in relief, the park.

I walk to it and sit on the swing, in that moment deja vu hits me. I smile at the thought of the boy that once sat in the seat next to mine. I wonder what he is doing right now. My mind wanders off for a while until I am ripped out of my thoughts by the sound of slurred words in the distance; most likely a drunken sentence. My heart beat picks up its pace and shoot up onto my feet.

"I seeee youu!" The drunk man chuckles, pointing at me while stumbling forward.

My eyes bulge and my hands start to shake. I am 18, how am i supposed to fight off a man that looks about mid 40? I can't run. I don't know how to explain it, its like my feet want to move but my brain is frozen and doesn't know how to tell them to. He sways toward me and once he is so close that i can smell the whisky on his breath my mind wakes up and without thinking my legs start to move. I take a step back and begin to turn when i feel a hand clamp onto my arm making me scream out.

"Shhh sweetie I just wanna have a little fun." He smiles a creepy bone rattling smile. I scream again which causes his face to shift and he pushes me to the ground. I wiggle and kick but it's no use he is much stronger than me. I finally give up and close my eyes trying to think about something else. Tears start to roll down my cheeks silently. Then all at once weight is literally lifted off of my body and I felt a cold rush of air hit my bare stomach. There was grunting and yells but my mind isn't able to process it due to the immense amount of shock i am in. A few minutes go by and I feel someones body heat next to me so I look up. My eyes blurred by tears see the all too familiar silhouette. My hero.

I don't overthink it and lean in capturing his body in my arms. It feels so good with his arms cradling me in his lap and his chin pressed up against the top of my head. We just sit there holding each other for a while, no talking, no questions, just us together enjoying each others silent company.

I look over and see the nasty man laying on the ground with blood running out of many places on his body. The sight of the man makes me physically cringe and Grayson notices and cups my face with his hands adverting my gaze to look at him instead. We hold eye contact and then he begins to stand up taking me with him.

"I should get going." He whispers, still not breaking the eye contact.

I frown slightly but recover quickly by saying "So should I." I don't want him to know I have no where to go so I begin walking away.

"Wait!"

My heart skips a beat.

"You forgot this." He says walking over to me and handing me my dead phone. I look down a little disappointed and thank him. I begin to walk away again but he gently turns me around and says "and this." and slips a little piece of paper into my pocket giving me a big smile. I smile back and turn around.

"I still love that smile." He says quietly meaning for only me to hear even though we are the only ones around, or conscious. I blush heavily and keep walking down the street not even thinking about where im going because at the moment it doesn't even matter.

Before i got too far away something popped into my head.

"How'd you know where I was?" I say loud enough for him to hear.

"I have my ways!" He shouts, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously. I laugh loudly and he speaks again. " I actually live right down there." He adjusts the duffle bag on his shoulder so he can point to the neighbor hood at the end of the street. Wow those are big houses. I think to myself.

"One more thing." I shout causing him to turn back around. "Why are you wearing shorts?" I ask curiously. I mean it is about 40 degrees at the moment.

"You and all your questions." He says and then jogs toward his neighborhood leaving me smiling madly to myself.

YAY ITS LONG!!!! AND NOT LATE!! BUT STILL UNEDITED :/ IM PRETTY PROUD AND THIS CHAPTER WAS SO CUTE TO WRITE ASIDE FROM THE ALMOST RAPE WHICH IS A SERIOUS SUBJECT AND I WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THERE WILL BE SOME OF THOSE TOPICS IN THIS BOOK SO IF YOU DONT LIKE THAT JUST EXIT THE BOOK!!!!! I WROTE A WARNING TOO BC I DONT WANT PPL TO COMMENT SHIT ABT HOW THEY ARE OFFENDED OR ANYBTING OK BYEEEE

peace out bitchez🤑🤑🤑