I fell asleep against James’ shoulder. I don’t know how long I was asleep for but I soon had James shaking me gently to wake me up. I opened my eyes to see that it was dark outside and everyone around us was moving.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Somewhere in Nevada,” James replied. “We are stopping for the night. The driver said we have to be back on this bus at eight o’clock tomorrow.”
I stood and we walked off the bus together, heading to the reception of the motel we were parked in front of. I booked a room for James and I and we headed to room ten. As soon as we got into the room, we put our bags down, taking off our sunglasses and then lay down on the double bed together, staring up at the ceiling. We lay there in silence.
“How much further do we have to go?” James broke the silence.
I pictured the states of our country in my head, trying to remember what states were near Kanas. Sometimes I hated remembering fifty states. “We will be crossing over to Utah tomorrow and then to Colorado. Kanas is after Colorado.”
“Well, so far no one has recognised us so hopefully we will be alright tomorrow as well.”
“I do too.”
James reached over and pulled off the cap that I forgot I was still wearing, letting my hair fall to my shoulders. I turned to face him. James ran his fingers through my hair and then moved them down to my cheek, stroking it with his thumb.
“Thanks for helping me, Ell,” he said to me.
I smiled at him. “Don’t mention it, James.”
His fingers moved down my cheek to my jawline. He slowly moved them towards my chin and then up to my lips, running them along them. A cold shiver ran down my spine, making me feel nervous at whatever James was doing. He then moved forward, placing his lips against mine. He kissed me slowly. I wasn’t sure whether or not if I wanted to kiss him back or not, but I did.
But the feeling of his lips against mine freaked me out a little. I quickly pulled apart from him and stared at him. I know James was nothing like his father but as I stared at him, flashbacks of what his father did to me flooded my mind. James realised his mistake for kissing me and suddenly felt bad.
“I’m so sorry, Ellie,” he replied.
I felt tears filling my eyes. I turned, getting off the bed and ran to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I burst into tears, resting my back against the door and slid down until I was sitting on the floor. On the other side James was knocking on the door, telling me he was sorry for kissing me. It’s not like I didn’t like the kiss at all. It’s just that when James tried to kiss me last time, Mr Waters walked into the room and…
He grabbed me and pulled me down onto James’ bed, pinning me down with his strong arms. It didn’t matter how much I fought because James and I knew there was nothing we could do to stop his dad. I want these terrifying nightmares to go away and just pretend that they never happened. But they didn’t leave my memory. It has led me to believe that guys can’t be trusted. James, of course, I could trust. I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me in any way. I knew he had feelings for me just like I did to. But right now I wasn’t so sure on them.
“Ellie, I’m sorry,” James continued to plead at the door. “I didn’t mean to kiss you. I shouldn’t have done it. Please don’t hate me.”
I stood up and wiped my eyes before unlocking the door. James stood there with a concern look on his face. “I don’t hate you, James. I enjoyed the kiss, but it reminds me of the time when we were in your room and you were about to kiss me when –”
He didn’t let me finish the sentence. He knew what I was going to say. He pulled me into a hug, saying how sorry he was and what a fool he was for kissing me without my permission.
“James, it’s okay,” I told him. I kissed his cheek and then rest my head on his shoulder.
We walked over to the bed and lay down on it, cuddling up to each other.
“Ellie, do you think we could ever get together someday?” James asked me. “I mean, I know right now we are both affected from what my dad did, but do you think there’s a chance for us to be together, even if it was to take years?”
I lay there thinking, not really knowing the answer. Since the incident I never really thought of having relationships with anyone, not even with James even though I did started to get feelings for him before the incident. I don’t know if the feeling is still there, but right now James is the only guy I truly trust. I don’t trust anyone else. James also understood how I felt about everything and he was the only person I could talk to when I think about that day.
“Maybe someday,” I told him. “I don’t know. Right now I don’t think I would be comfortable being in a relationship with you or anyone else.”
We lay there in silence for awhile. James was the first to fall asleep. I continued to lie there, thinking about what he had said earlier about us and the kiss. The feeling of his lips on mine was still there. I watched James sleep for a bit before reaching over to grab my phone, leaving a message on my aunt’s phone to tell her that James and I should be reaching Wichita tomorrow. I also ignored all of the messages and calls I got from my family.
James woke me in the morning and we went to get something to eat in the diner before we had to get back onto the bus. A few people from the bus were already in them. It was a breakfast buffet in the dinner and we picked what we wanted and sit down at a two seated table. I got a reply back from my aunt while eating breakfast. She said she couldn’t wait to see me and promised to wait at the bus station for me and James.
James went to go back to our room to grab our luggage while I went to sign out. We climbed back onto the bus and grabbed the seat in the back again. We sat there in silence as we watched the other passengers aboard the bus and taking their seats. The driver soon pulled back onto the road. James and I pulled out our iPods, letting the music fill our ears and washing away whatever occupied our minds.
The driver stopped a few times at rest stops to take a break and to allow us passengers to get out and stretch our legs or to grab something to eat. I ordered two Cokes and a plate of chips with gravy to share between James and I. As we ate, we notice this overweight man with a beard at a table near us reading the newspaper. On the front cover was a mug shot of James. The headline read: ON THE RUN FROM THE LAW. I didn’t want to know what the article was saying but I knew they weren’t going to say nice things about James. We quickly finished our meal and then headed back onto the bus.
The driver put the television on, putting on a movie for passengers to watch for the rest of the way. I didn’t feel like watching much TV, but I watched the movie anyway.
By the time we reached Wichita, it was dark, around eight o’clock. James and I grabbed our bags and then went inside the station to find Aunt Zoe. I saw her immediately where she was sitting on a seat. She stood up as soon as she saw me, hurrying over to me to wrap me into a hug.
“It’s good to see you, Ellie,” she replied.
“You too and thank you for letting me stay with you,” I told her as I pulled out of the hug.
“That’s alright, Ellie. I’m just glad to see you.”
“Um, Aunt Zoe, this is James. I know you know what happened but please don’t judge him. The rumours are all false.”
Aunt Zoe turned to James and smiled at him. She reached out to shake his hand. “Hey, James. I’m Zoe. It’s nice to meet you. Well, I believe that I have already met you but I wasn’t properly introduced to you when you were in the court room.”
James gave her a shy smile and shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
Aunt Zoe led us to her car. James sat in the back seat while I sat in the front seat with her.
“How was your trip?” Aunt Zoe asked us.
“It was good,” I explained. “It was hard not to get to notice by anyone. And if you have already seen what the news said about us, please don’t believe them. James didn’t do anything.”
Aunt Zoe glanced through at the review mirror at James. “Well, I may not know the truth about what really happened between you, but I can see that James is harmless.”
I couldn’t see James’ face, but I knew he would be smiling in the backseat knowing that someone besides me believes that he was innocent.
“But James,” my aunt continued, “if you do try and do anything to Ellie then I will have to turn you in to the police, okay?”
“Okay,” James replied softly.
For the rest of the way to my aunt’s place she asked me how I was going and how everything was going at home. She even asked James a bit about himself.
Aunt Zoe pulled her SUV into her driveway. It was a small house where she lives on her own with her dog, Charlie. Well, you might as well say that Charlie is more of a horse than a dog. He is a Great Dane. Her house is only a two bedroom so hopefully she doesn’t mind if James and I share the same room unless she asks James to sleep on the couch.
James and I grabbed our luggage out of the car and then followed my aunt inside. As soon as she opened the door, Charlie came running over to me, barking as he greeted me. I patted and hugged him as he licked my face. I turned to James who stood there, a little unsure about the dog.
“You can pat him, James,” I told him. “He won’t bite you.”
James kneeled down and patted the dog. Charlie began licking his hand, making James giggled. He then licked James’ face.
“Would you two like me to fix something to eat for you?” Aunt Zoe asked.
I shook my head. “No thanks, Aunt Zoe.”
“I’m alright, thanks,” James replied.
“Okay, well you two get yourselves settle in,” my aunt smiled at us. “James, I will allow you to sleep in Ellie’s room since there’s only two bedrooms. But you have to promise me that you won’t do anything to her.”
James promised and then he followed me to the room that my brother and I shared when we used to visit our aunt. We haven’t been here for ages and nothing changed since then.
“Your aunt is nice,” James said as he settled his luggage down beside the bed Daniel used to sleep in.
“I told you she was.”
I sat down on my bed and James sat down beside me.
“How long do you think we can stay here for?” he wanted to know.
“I’m not sure. Maybe we could just stay here until everything cools down.”
“What if they don’t?”
I wasn’t sure and I knew that no matter what happens, nothing was going to cool down between the police, my family and James’ dad. And even if he does, James would still be arrested by the time we head back to LA. I knew we would have to be careful while staying here in Wichita because no doubt the police here were also looking for James and I. We could maybe even move to another country and the police there will capture us as well. We were stuck here.
“Don’t worry, okay?” I told him. “We will figure something out, James.”
He nodded and then hugged me. We held each other in our arms for a few minutes before I pulled away and told him that I was going to get myself a drink. I left the room and headed towards the kitchen. As I got closer I heard my aunt talking on the phone. She was talking to my dad. I didn’t know what he was saying but I had a fair idea of what he could be saying. I could hear him yelling over the other end of the phone.
“Can you stop yelling at me, Tony?” she said. “There’s no reason for you to yell… Yes, I know you want Ellie home, but just let her stay here with me for a week or two. She needs to get away for a little while… No, James is not with her… Yes, I know the news said that he is holding her hostage. Do you have to believe everything the media says? Ellie is safe… Tony, if you come here, I will kick you out. You need to realise that Ellie is no longer a child. She is turning twenty soon and she doesn’t need you telling her what to do all the time and controlling her life. She is a big girl and can take care of herself. Just let her stay here with me for a week or two so she can have some time to herself… Okay, goodnight, Tony.”
She hung up the phone. She saw me standing there, listening to her conservation. “I hope you don’t mind me calling your parents that you were staying here. I just thought they might want to know so they don’t need to worry. I didn’t tell them about James being here.”
I smiled at her. “Thanks, Aunt Zoe.” I hugged her.