Broken Sky

30| Best Friends

I put the flowers on top of my father's grave and sigh, wishing I could have had more memories of him, but he was gone when I was still very small. Jake stands beside me.

After spending a few moments in silent prayer, it's time for us to go. As we begin to walk, I know that Jake would ask me questions.

"Are you not going to visit your mother?" he asks.

I shake my head and sigh.

Now that he asks, I realize that even though Jake has told me a lot of things about his family -- including Melanie and Vaughn -- I still haven't told him about my past. About Tuck. About himself.

Tuck is simply someone I wouldn't want to remember anymore -- talking about my abusive stepfather would only bring back painful memories and refresh my trauma.

As for what happened with Jake two years ago, I don't want us to be awkward if I tell him the truth.

I really treasure what we have now even though it's just friendship and nothing more. He's the first person whom I've grown close to after I lost Mom, and I don't want to lose him.

"No," I answer him. "She's not buried here. If I want to visit her, I need to go to New York."

That information seems to startle him. "New York?"

I glance at him as we walk further toward the gate of the cemetery.

"Yes. She was buried there. We actually lived there for a while," I say. "But I haven't visited her again ever since I came here." I smile sadly.

"You lived in New York?" he asks in disbelief. "How come you never told me before? I thought you've been here forever," he says. "If you want to visit her, we should go there sometime," his voice softens. "It's my hometown anyway."

I look at him with a knowing smile and decide to at least tell him about some facts.

"Yeah, I did live there. You know, we actually went to the same high school," I say.

He suddenly stops short in his track.

"You're kidding me, right?" The shock is evident in his voice. He rushes after me. Still hearing nothing, he echoes, "Really? That's not possible. How come I didn't recognize you before?"

Oh, Jake. There are a lot of things you don't know -- or don't remember.

I laugh. "Well, trust me, it would always be a high chance that you didn't recognize me, but it's not possible for me to not recognize you," I say. "Since you were our school's football team captain and the quarterback."

I guess that sentence surprises him even more, because I'm being specific. And so he bombards me with a lot of questions, while I can only smile.

The following day arrives. It's Sunday, and I have an afternoon shift in the bookstore.

Once I finish my job, I step out of the place and hum, walking along the pavement.

This is why I love working there. The store is just a walking distance to my apartment.

While I'm heading back home, my mind wanders to what Jake said yesterday. He said that we should go to New York sometime.

Honestly, I really want to go there and visit Mom's grave, but there's a reason why I never want to go back there ever again.

And that is Tuck. Even after all this time, the fear isn't completely gone.

I don't want to step into the same city where he lives. I still fear him. Those memories in which he abused me, using his hands to hurt me, are still very much in my mind.

What if I see him again? I basically just disappeared from his sight without any warning. What would he do to me if he ever saw me again?

My body shudders as I think about that worst scenario. I'm too caught up in my thoughts that I bump into someone quite hard while turning around the corner of the street to my apartment.

The crash makes me stumble back that I fall onto the pavement with my back lying on the ground.

I wince, and before I can stand up, I hear the man hisses, "Watch where you're going, stupid girl."

"I'm sorry," I say, trying to get back on my feet. When I do, I freeze on the spot.

The voice of the man seems familiar and strangely makes the hair on the back of my neck stand.

Slowly, I look up, my heart rate kicking up a notch. When I finally face the man, my breath hitches.

There, standing before my very eyes, is the person responsible for my anxiety just now.

Tuck.

He looks just the same. With his bald head, piercing dark eyes and murderous glare.

"Lais?" His lips purse as he says my name again, and I feel like the world around me crumbles as I'm back at that place.

Hell.