Ripped Away

Chapter 5

I pushed him back so his head hit my pillow.  Then I moved up to straddle his hips again.  I brushed a few strands of hair off his face, and stared down into those pretty blue eyes that had drawn me to him in the first place.

"So can I call you mine?" he asked after a minute.

I just smiled and nodded; kissing his forehead and rolling to lie next to him.  He turned so that our chests pressed together.  He started running his fingers along my back, making me feel so safe and content.  We just laid there for a while.  I felt like I was insane.  But I knew this was what I wanted.  I didn't care how long we'd known each other.  I felt like I'd known this boy forever.  He didn't feel like a stranger to me.  I closed my eyes, letting the feeling of safety roll through my body.  

I'd never felt like this before.  No one had ever really made me feel safe.  I mean, of course there were my parents.  My mother was my mother.  And before my father died, I felt safe with him too.  But besides the people I'd been born to, no one had ever been able to fully gain my trust.  Even with my best friends, I was constantly on edge.  I was just waiting for something to make me need to run.  But I didn't feel like that with Richie.  There was just this sense of security that I felt.  

I guess that we both managed to fall asleep.  When I opened my eyes, it was dark outside.  I sat up a bit and looked at my clock.  It was 9:34pm.  We'd been asleep for close to four hours.  I started to get nervous.  My mom usually came in to check on me periodically.  Had she seen us?  

I carefully climbed off the bed, trying not to wake Richie.  I went into the hall and knocked on Bryce's bedroom door. 

"You're so lucky."  he said when I walked in.  

"For what?"

"I went into your room to ask if I could use your laptop.  Then I saw you guys were sleeping.  So I told mom you went to bed and Richie went home while she was in the shower."

"So she didn't see?"  I asked.

"I haven't heard her come upstairs.  So, no.  You're safe."

"Thanks, Bryce."  I said, feeling very relieved.

When I went back to my room, Richie was sat up on the edge of my bed.  

"My mom is going to kill me."  he yawned.

"Why?"  I asked.  "It isn't even that late."

"I know.  But I didn't tell anyone where I was going.  Plus she called me like, six times.  She's been so strict since I came to live with her.  Doesn't want to lose me right away, I guess."

"That means you've got to leave then?"

"Yeah.  I should probably go let her know I'm alive."

He stood up and readjusted the strings on his hoodie.  He came and kissed me goodbye, then went for my bedroom door.

"Wait."  I gasped. "You can't go that way."

"Why?"  

"Because my mom thinks you already left."

"Is that what Bryce told her to cover for us?"  He asked, hitting it right on the head.

I nodded.  Richie thought for a second, then headed for the window.  He unlocked it, pushed it open, and looked out.

"Thank god for your porch."  he smiled.

I watched him crawl out onto the roof of the porch.  He jumped from there to the grass.  Then he was gone, running down the street so he wouldn't be seen.  I closed the window, but didn't lock it.   A few minutes later, I heard my phone buzz.  It was a text from Richie, saying nothing but goodnight.

I closed the window again and changed out of my jeans.  I sat down and listened to the silence left in my room for a while.  I started thinking.  I tried not to, but I couldn't help it when I was alone.  I always thought too much.

This morning I'd never even heard of Richie York.  If we hadn't gone to school so early I still wouldn't know him.  I never would have seen him in the parking lot, and I never would have walked into that sign.  He never would have asked Sara about me.  This had all happened so fast, and all by chance.  

But, what if it didn't work?  What if 'love at first sight' wasn't real?  What if we were lying to ourselves?  We were only sixteen.  Was love even possible at sixteen?

I made myself throw those bad thoughts away.  I knew what I believed.  I believed in love.  I was smart.  I was mature.  I wasn't fooling myself into thinking there was something between us.  I couldn't even try to doubt the connection we had.  

I started smiling like an idiot.  I was just so overloaded with happiness.  But the happy feeling I had soon faded.  I'd been so occupied by thoughts of how nice it could be to have a boyfriend, that I completely forgotten about my mother.  Yes, that was a huge bump in the road for me.  I still hadn't told her.  But I knew I had to.  Richie wasn't the kind of person who would allow himself to be kept a secret for long.