Dare Trilogy | Book 3 Editing | ✓

1.3 | Call For Help + Spending The Night

I picked up my phone when it rang - the caller ID flashing the name of one person I never thought would call me. We had only ever called each other once and that was the night I had worked very hard to forget about.

We used to be rivals at first... being captains of our respective high school basketball team until I left that school, left that wretched town that had made Anjali's life hell and we'd shifted to Australia. That night, I only went back to sign the papers to have our house there sold. If the lawyer hadn't insisted it needed to be in person and I couldn't just sign and fax the papers...

"Arnav, hi. It's me," he spoke when I answered the call.

"Hey?" I wasn't sure why he was calling me.

"Uh... look, I won't beat around the bush. I know you don't owe me anything and actually, it's the other way around but I don't know, I couldn't think of anyone else whom I could trust with this."

His tone sounded worried and so I asked, "Is everything okay?"

"No, not really." He admitted and I walked out of the living room and into the privacy of my room. "I need a favor. I want to send her there so she can get away from here and you're the only person I know there."

"What are you asking from me?"

"I don't know what I'm asking. I just... I need to trust she'll be okay there. That she'll have someone there who'll look out for her, for..."

I stopped him there itself, "There was a reason I didn't stay there."

He agreed, "I know, I know, and believe me, I'll always be grateful to you. You saved her and because of you she's alive else if she'd been left there... she wouldn't have survived, but Arnav, she might as well be dead right now. I... please."

I placed a heavy stone over my heart when I replied, "Sorry but I can't. If you need me to help get her an admission here, I'll do that but that's all I can do."

"Yeah, okay," He said a bit angry that I wasn't being sympathetic, "Sorry for calling and wasting your time. You're not who I thought you were."

Days after, that phone call had haunted me - making me second guess if I had made the right call to stay away.

I wasn't paying attention to the movie playing on screen. I was starting it in hopes of stopping myself from turning my head in her direction and staring. I can't do that and make her feel conscious or uncomfortable.

I wanted to pretend what had happened, hadn't happened.

I wanted her to know she could be comfortable around me... but I reckon that wouldn't be happening.

Maybe, eventually. Hopefully.

For now, I just knew it wouldn't be anytime soon.

Close to the end of the movie, I did turn towards her. She was fast asleep. I realize she must be exhausted. It couldn't be easy... fighting demons every waking second. And especially tonight... having to relieve the moment this way, making every attempt to not think about it.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

| . . . C H A P T E R . . . 1.3.2 - S P E N D I N G - T H E - N I G H T . . . |

I thought of waking of her so she could go to her room and sleep comfortably in her bad instead of on the couch sitting like this. My hesitance was that if she would wake, she'd have a hard time falling back asleep. Then I thought of carrying her and moving her myself so she doesn't wake up. Now my worry is that she might wake up then and I would only be waking it worse. It was no more a wiser choice.