My heart was pounding so fast against my chest, I was almost certain that it was going to burst. I braced myself, trying to contain my shivers as I made my way past the grungy playground. Central Park was fairly large, but most of the 800 acres of land was planted with grass, making it quite easy to spot if anyone else was around. For the most part, you could see in all directions and there weren’t any trees to hide behind.
I took in a deep breath, scanning the soccer field carefully as I took a seat on the park bench. It creaked a little, making me wrap my arms around my torso protectively. I examined the attractive soccer players, who were packing up their dark blue duffle bags. Breathe, Jess.
It was scary, very scary. I really had no idea of what Will was capable of, but according to what I’d seen, he’s a lot more badass than I had ever expected. What if he was going to do something crazy today? Okay, scratch that—Will was always doing something crazy. But, what if he tried to continue what he was doing to me the other night? And to top that, how would I know that Will would stay true to his word and stop hurting my friends? I don’t think I’ll ever stop worrying about that. And the fact that Vanessa and him have this extra interest in me must mean they want something out of me.
I shook my head, burying it in my hands; what have I gotten myself into? Was this all even worth the risk? I inhaled sharply, lifting my head and looking back towards the field. I had to do this. I couldn’t back out now because one, I needed to see to the safety of my friends and Zach and two, Will would probably be here any minute.
Loud footsteps escaped from behind me, causing me to jolt up off of the bench and spin around. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, paranoia striking me hard.
“Jess?” a familiar voice addressed shockingly.
I narrowed my eyes, trying to make out the large figure that stood a few feet in front of me. It was too dark for me to see anything, or in this case, anyone. “U-uh,” I stuttered, shuffling as the body moved closer towards me. Out of instinct, I found my feet pulling me backwards. This was Will, right? It had to be. He was the only one who knew… but why was he being so calm? I expected him to have thrown some snarly comment by now. And this body, now that it was approaching closer, was a lot leaner than Will. I squinted, trying to examine the hooded man inching towards me. “Will—” I gasped, the moonlight finally allowing my eyes to identify the defined characteristics of the body’s face. “Zach?” I questioned quietly in surprise. “W-what are you doing here?!”
Zach brought his walking to a halt, slowly bringing an arm over to pull the hood off of his head. His ruffled chestnut hair hung above his angry, disappointed eyes as he stared at me with incredulity. “No, Jess,” his voice was stern, his teeth clenched tightly, “What are you doing here?”
Crap, crap, crap. This is not good! What if Will showed up right now? He specifically said just you and me. What if he sees Zach here and gets really mad? Zach’s already injured; he doesn’t need to get into another fight! “Zach, please, just leave me alone,” I pleaded, my breathing getting heavier as I got more nervous. I don’t know what else I could have said to convince him to leave. There were too many things going on my head; I was too frazzled to think over my words.
Zach shook his head hardheartedly, his lips pursing furiously. “Come on,” he ordered, holding out his arm for me to grip onto. “We’re leaving.”
I dug my teeth into my lower lip while managing to shake my head. “I’m not leaving with you. I need to be here.”
Zach’s expression grew colder. “Fine, then. I can wait,” he affirmed, raising his eyebrows.
I tried to swallow away the dryness in my throat. Why was he here? Did he follow me? I ground my teeth together, my nostrils widening as I tried hard to push back my tears. He was upset with me again, but this time more than before. Either way, I had to get him to leave before Will came. I closed my eyes, willing myself to be confident as I took in a deep breath. “No—”
“Jess, no!” Zach shouted furiously. He brought both his hands up to my shoulders, rattling me slightly.
I burst open my eyes to see his face close to mine, but not in a romantic way at all.
Zach was fuming, his cheeks red as he inhaled a long, needed breath of air. “What the hell is wrong with you? Nothing you do can fix this, alright? You are not the reason why all of this is happening; how many times do I have to explain that to you, Jess? You did nothing wrong.” Zach paused, his lips still parted as he let out a breathy, distressed laugh. “God, Jess,” he spoke rapidly, “A month ago, you didn’t even know that I existed or that Will existed or that Vanessa existed… you’re putting your life at risk for something you were never meant to be punished for. I’m sick and tired of you blaming yourself for these things. I don’t want to see you get hurt over this!” He ripped his hands off of me, growling as he spun around to calm himself down.
I stared at him, shocked. Every muscle in my face flexed. He knows—that’s exactly the opposite of what I wanted.
Zach turned back around and flicked his eyes to me. He observed my expression cautiously, his eyebrows coming together.
“How,” I gulped, “How did you know?” I tried desperately to make sure that Zach wouldn’t know about me meeting Will. Even if he followed me here, there is no possible way he could have known about Will coming too. This just doesn’t make sense!
Zach looked at me with a blank expression for a few moments, his eyes softening a little. He blinked a few times before his eyes wandered as his eyebrows rose. He slipped his hand into the front pocket of his sweatshirt. “Because of this,” he announced, lifting up my phone to show me a recent text from Will: I’ll be late, but wait for me.
I slapped my hand onto my forehead. I’m such an idiot. I left my phone in Zach’s sweatshirt when I gave it back to him before we went into the hospital! I just left my phone in his pocket. Brilliant.
“Jess, what were you thinking?” Zach asked, his voice rising again.
My lips parted, but I couldn’t seem to find the right words—as usual. “I don’t know, I just,” I stopped in obvious realization. I knew that nothing that came out of my mouth right now would satisfy Zach. But you know what? I’ll tell him the truth. If that’s what he wants, I’ll tell him. “I thought that I could come here and talk it out with Will.”
Zach’s mouth opened, the skin between his eyebrows crinkling. He was passing me this incredulous expression, making it seem like this was the stupidest idea I’d ever had.
“I know you don’t think I made a wise decision, but he—”
Zach chuckled with no humor. “Not a wise decision? Jess, this was ridiculous! He could have done something to you, do you understand that?”
“I understand that, okay?” I shouted. Zach can’t be this pissed at me! Can’t he think of it from my side? How I must be feeling? “But Will offered me a solution, and I need answers!” I exclaimed.
“Jess, he doesn’t have a solution for you! Are you blind to his idiocy? He’s trying to mess with you and you’re giving him such an easy way in.”
“No I’m not—”
“Damn it, Jess,” Zach groaned. He clenched his fits so tight that his hands began to turn white.
I pushed my tongue into the roof of my mouth and gazed up at the sky resolutely willing myself not to cry. Why was Zach this enraged? Had I really made this big of a mistake? All I wanted was to talk to Will, in the hope that he’d give me some answers. It sounds foolish and ludicrous that I’d be willing to be near a guy who nearly kidnapped me, but I’m desperate. I just need to know why I’m involved and how I can get my friends out of this horrid mess!. I just wanted Zach to understand. I need him not to be here; I need him to give me a chance to speak to Will.
Zach’s tender hand cradled my arm, pulling me forward gently. “Let’s go, Jess,” he urged calmly.
I shook my head hastily, my gaze sticking to the thin grass below my feet. “I want to stay here Zach, but I need you to go.”
All the softness in Zach’s touch disappeared. His grip on my arm tightened—it wasn’t to hurt me but out of desperation to get me out of here. “If you’re not leaving, I’m not leaving,” he stated, trying hard to keep his cool.
This was so pointless! I was never going to win against Zach. He’s so stubborn, it’s ridiculous. Suddenly, I got this immense rush of adrenaline—Will would be here any second and he’d surely beat the hell out of Zach. It’s not that I didn’t believe Zach could defeat Will—I’m confident that he’d be able to wipe Will out within seconds—but Zach was hurt. I didn’t want him under anymore stress! “Why won’t you just leave?” I cried desperately, pressing my hands into Zach’s chest. I used all my strength to shove him, but obviously, he wouldn’t budge. Tears swelled in my eyes as I pushed harder, my shoulder now diving into the front of his body. “Zach, just go! Please, just go,” I begged, pushing all my weight onto him.
“Jess, hey,” Zach mumbled soothingly, his hands wrapping around my body. “Jess, come on, stop this.”
I couldn’t stop, I wouldn’t stop. I kept thrusting my body into his, my vision so blurred and my head throbbing so hard that my body just felt numb. I heaved heavily, a sob escaping my lips as I finally gave in and sunk towards the floor.
But before I touched the ground, Zach pulled me up and flung me across his shoulder. His hands wrapped around my thighs, holding me tightly.
I took in many deep breaths, kicking and asking him to stop, but he got us so fast out of the park that I was dizzy by the time he put me down. I tried to wriggle from his grasp and escape, but he clasped my waist and pinned me to his car within seconds. I turned my head away from him—I couldn’t look at him right now. I wasn’t just sad and angry; I was embarrassed now too.
“Hey,” Zach brushed strands of hair away from my face, holding onto my neck gingerly. “Jess, hey, look at me,” he pleaded, pulling my face towards his, “Calm down.”
I inhaled once again, closing my eyes so that I could replenish my lungs peacefully. I did need to calm down. I couldn’t cry right now, not again in front of Zach. I felt so vulnerable. I wanted this to be over. Dealing with Will, Vanessa, Chadd getting smashed, Zach nearly shot and Taylor in a coma was a little too much for me to handle right now.
“Jess,” Zach tried again.
“No, Zach,” I peeled my eyes open, looking at him gravely. “Why did you have to come here? You’re ruining it! Just let me talk to him! Please!”
Fury soared across Zach’s face, his blue eyes raving with anger. Suddenly, his vexation got to him. Zach lifted his arm and slammed them onto the top of his car, each of his hands landing on either side of me.
The loud thump echoed in my ear for a while as I stared at Zach, stunned—all words, all thoughts left my mind.
“Why are you so intent on getting yourself hurt?!” He barked, infuriated.
I let out a trembling breath of confusion, still watching him with nothing to say. I couldn’t tell if I was scared, but I had just never expected to get into a situation like this with Zach.
His eyes traveled to mine and almost immediately, his gaze tendered. He blew out warm breath from his mouth, his shocked expression now returning to an apologetic one.
We watched each other for a few seconds until suddenly, Zach embraced my head with his hands, his fingers weaving into my hair as he crashed his lips down onto mine. With each passing second, Zach increased the pressure to the point where I began to feel lightheaded. His soft lips felt incredible along mine, my desire for Zach escalating to immeasurable levels.
Zach’s body was lightly touching mine now, and it took literally everything I had to keep myself back. I slapped my hands quietly against the cold car, resisting all of my urges. My body was aching, I craved so badly to tug on his collar and open my lips for him—but I couldn’t. I didn’t even know for sure how far Zach had read into my texts and I’m positive that Will would be pissed if he saw what we were doing—
Zach pulled away, his forehead pressing into mine for a short second before he opened his eyes and looked at me.
I blinked profusely and held onto my breath as tender expression crossed his face.
“I’m sorry,” Zach whispered quietly, stroking my cheek with his thumb two times before letting go completely. He slipped his finger down towards the car door, dropping his gaze as he cracked the door open.
I inhaled deeply, my gut churning with guilt. He felt bad now and so did I.
“I can’t lose you to Will. He’s going to have to put up a bigger fight, because I’m not letting go of you that easily. I’m not letting go of us.”
***
“Hey, Brody, Mrs. Harrison,” I nodded as I pulled open the front door.
Mrs. Harrison grinned from ear to ear, as ecstatic as ever. “Brody’s here for his first tutoring session!” She held up a bright yellow folder. “This is his homework folder from school. There is a calendar in here that lists his homework for every day, so that’s basically what you guys should be working on,” she stated, handing it to me.
“That sounds great,” I replied, holding my hand out for Brody to grab, “Come on in, Brody!”
Brody slipped off his shoes and stepped through my doorway.
“I’ll drop him back home when we’re done,” I assured Mrs. Harrison.
She smiled warmly. “Thank you so much, dear—Oh, hello, Jesse!” Mrs. Harrison announced.
I spun around to see Uncle Jesse trudging down the stairs, a packet of papers slipped under his arm—I had seen him carrying those around all day.
He lifted his head up innocently, half of a smile spreading across his face. “Hey, Jenna. Is Brody starting to get homework help from Jess?” He inquired confusedly, addressing both Mrs. Harrison and me.
I rolled my eyes discretely. I had told him so many times this past week, but I guess he hadn’t been listening; what a shocker. “Remember, I mentioned it to you yesterday, Uncle Jesse,” I insisted.
“Oh…right, sorry, must have slipped my mind,” Uncle Jesse answered, scratching his head.
Yes, everything slips your mind, everything about me! Nice to know you care, Uncle Jesse. I groaned internally and looked back towards the door where Mrs. Harrison was. “Well,” I said, breaking the awkward silence, “Brody and I will get started on his homework, so I’ll catch you guys later!”
Within a matter of seconds, Brody and I escaped the two adults and entered the dining room.
“So, how’s school Brody?” I asked, trying to make conversation with the charming little boy.
He jumped up onto the dining table chair—which was evidentially too big for him—and looked towards me. “It’s really fun. Did you know that I’m already five years old?” He questioned naively while rubbing his murky brown hair.
I giggled. “Wow, you’re getting to be a big boy!”
“I know,” he chirped while clicking his mechanical pencil, “I can already reach the tap and wash my hands all by myself!”
Smiling, I sifted through his folder and pulled out his first worksheet. “Soon you’re going to be able to do lots of things on your own,” I said, handing the white paper to him.
Brody brought the pencil up to his chin, tapping it there slightly, his eyes narrowed in deep thought. Suddenly, the muscles in face relaxed and he smiled, pulling the pencil down to the paper. “Oh I remember how to do this,” he remarked happily.
“Good—”
“Hey, Jess,” Uncle Jesse called from the kitchen, “I’m heading out right now.”
I shook my head disappointedly, dragging myself over to him. “As if you’re ever here,” I snickered.
“You know I have lots of work to do,” he reasoned while shuffling to get his shoes on.
I laughed sarcastically, “With Vanessa?"
Uncle Jesse mumbled something incoherently, his packet of papers stuck snuggly in his clenched, chalky white teeth.
I furrowed my eyebrows irately. What?”
He pulled the papers out of his mouth and pressed his lips into a line, seeming a little annoyed with my attitude. “I still don’t get why you don’t like her, but yes, I’m going to go finish my work with Vanessa,” he asserted.
I bit my lip to prevent myself from cussing out that darn lady out. “Well, have fun selling drugs,” I sneered. I mean, really? Was Uncle Jesse going to leave me alone—again—to go selling drugs with Vanessa? And what on earth is in that packet of papers? He’s been hauling that around all day, not letting it out of his sight.
Uncle Jesse narrowed his furious eyes. “That’s not what I’m going there to do, Jess. She needs to talk to me about something important. I’ve told you before and I’m telling you again, I’m not involved in that stuff anymore.”
I ground my teeth together, eyeing the packet skeptically. “What are those papers for?”
His gaze shifted, his black hair falling right above his eyes. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it,” he mumbled quickly.
The skin on my forehead wrinkled in doubt, but I didn’t bother to ask. It’s not like he’d tell me anyways. I was sick of begging for the truth.
“I might not be back tonight, though, will you be okay?” he asked, quickly changing the subject.
I shrugged, finally giving up hope on him. “Yeah, I’ll just order pizza or something,” I muttered heading back towards the dining table where Brody was still diligently working.
“Sorry, kid, I’ll hang with you tomorrow. We can go to a movie or something ‘cause it’s Friday and you shouldn’t have homework,” he said, while slamming the door behind him.
“Yeah, right,” I whispered to myself quietly as soon as the door shut. He was really beginning to piss me off. First him and Vanessa being together, and now him constantly leaving me home alone. He should be glad that I didn’t mention anything yesterday when my Dad had called.
All of a sudden, the doorbell rang, throwing me a little off guard.
Brody’s head shot up. “Who’s that?” he asked as he looked away from his work.
I frowned. “No idea. You finish up your worksheet, though. I’ll be back in a second.”
I ran towards the door and opened it, only to find Joe standing there in my doorway. My eyebrows came together as I looked at him suspiciously. “Hi…,” I trailed, doubt dripping from my voice, “What are you doing here?” I was definitely not expecting to see Joe at my house.
“Don’t act like you aren’t happy to see me.” A smirk etched across Joe’s face. His big brown eyes glistened.
I raised my eyebrows, locking my lips together to contain a laugh. Joe’s humor—although not very good—was enough to light me up a little. “What do you want, Joe,” I hummed.
His eyes wandered, his smirk transforming into a small smile. “Zach sent me here to fill you in and to check if you’re okay,” Joe stated, seriousness settling into his voice.
“And he couldn’t do that himself?” I asked unhappily. I bit the inside of my lower lip. Zach hadn’t spoken to me for the past two days—ever since the day at the park—and I hadn’t tried talking to him either, simply because I didn’t know what to say. Is he mad? But he kissed me! And he mentioned that he wasn’t “letting go of us”. Does that mean that he read farther into my texts with Will and realized that I’d been lying? In the back of my head, though, I was praying for Zach to know. I needed him to know that I wasn’t pushing him away out of my own will.
“Uh, hello? Earth to Jess,” Joe motioned, waving his arms in front of my face as he made a questioning face at me.
I blinked for a few seconds, shaking my head slightly as I came back to my senses. “Sorry, I was just thinking,” I responded, widening my eyes as I shut the door.
Joe let out a knowing chuckle, his face glowing with awareness. “You and Zach are so complicated. Just come out with your feelings, already! You know you like him.”
“Is that why he’s mad?” I interrogated carefully. Maybe Joe could fill me in on this Zach issue.
“Oh, no,” Joe denied while taking a seat on my sofa, “He’s mad that you didn’t tell him about Will texting you—”
“Wait, so he read over everything Will said?” I asked quickly, feeling extremely anxious.
Joe fell back into the sofa in my living room, his hand grazing his thick black hair. “Well he kind of ran off after reading that text about where you were. He was worried as hell, Jess, you should have told someone,” he argued.
I sighed intensely. “No, Joe. You guys wouldn’t have let me gone! I needed to talk to Will.”
“Nah, Jess, it’s not your place to fix this stuff. But if you really wanted to go so badly, you could have at least told me. I would have followed you and made sure Will didn’t try to do anything crazy. I understand that it’s hard to be in your situation,” Joe stated, surprisingly understanding.
I grinned. This new side of Joe, well, it was pleasantly surprising. “I’ll keep that in mind next time—Hey, wait, what was that thing you needed to tell me?”
“Oh—”
I looked back towards Brody, realizing that I was supposed to be tutoring him.“Wait, can this wait for like twenty minutes?” I questioned hopefully. “I’m tutoring Brody.”
“Sure thing,” Joe answered, reaching for the remote control to the TV.
***
“Okay, Joe, I’m going to go drop Brody off. I’ll be back in a second,” I stated from the doorway. “Don’t burn my house down.”
Joe dropped his mouth, faking hurt. “And this is what I get for offering my help?”
I laughed while shutting the door behind me and looking towards Brody. “I’ll help you with that other math worksheet tomorrow! Have fun the rest of the day, okay?”
“Okay!” he piped, gripping onto my hand as we walked over to the house next door.
We walked a few steps, and as soon as we reached his front porch, Brody ran towards the doorbell, banging it firmly with his fist—he was a rather strong and rough child, one of the complete active boyish types. I smiled to myself as he banged again.
A few long minutes passed with no response at the door.
One side of my lips hitched up in uncertainty. “Did your Mom say she was going somewhere?” I asked Brody.
Brody frowned, his shoulders pumping up in a shrug. “No.”
I furrowed my eyebrows, reaching over to ring the doorbell.
Another minute passed by with no response, making my stomach churn slightly. I scratched the nape of my neck. Where could Mrs. Harrison have gone in such little time? She hadn’t told me she’d be going somewhere, plus her car was right in front of her house.
I shrugged, spinning back towards Brody. “I guess she’s not home, buddy. Let’s go back to my house and wait for her.” Pulling Brody’s arm lightly, I began to head back towards my house. Suddenly, in the far distance, my eyes caught a man standing beside a dark green car. He seemed to be staring at me, his heavyset body structure oddly familiar. I focused my eyes, squinting while stopping in my steps, slowly beginning to recognize the face—and then it hit me. “Will?!” I whispered to myself in alarm. What the hell was he doing here? My eyes began to shift towards the back window where I saw something frantically moving. I gasped in shock as I recognized the lanky woman. “Mrs. Harrison?!”
Without thinking any further, I lifted Brody up off of his feet and ran towards the now moving car. I ran a few feet, but as soon as I realized that there was no way I could catch up with Will, I thrust open the front door of my house and hurriedly prompted Joe to come outside. “I think I just saw Will with Brody’s mom,” I stated, my lower lips quivering as goose bumps rose on my skin.
Joe jolted off of the sofa and scurried toward the door, quickly catching a glimpse of the car before it turned the corner. He widened his eyes and looked towards me. “That was definitely Will’s car.”
***
“Jessica Hayes, correct?” the officer inquired as he approached to take my statement.
“Yes,” I nodded, suppressing any uncertainty left lingering in my voice. I shifted Brody in my arms; he had been so scared that he demanded that I hold him. I mean, would you blame the kid? There have been sirens screeching outside for the past thirty minutes, all kinds of men entering and inspecting his house next door.
Brody clung to my neck tightly as the officer questioning me laid eyes on him.
The officer passed Brody a nasty, cynical look before gazing back at me. “What happened before you realized that Mrs. Harrison was missing?” he questioned, looking me straight in the eye.
I blinked, hoping that that would help distract me from the officer’s death glare. “Well,” I licked my lips, “I was tutoring Brody, and when I went to drop him off, Mrs. Harrison wasn’t there. However, I did notice that her car was still parked in front of her house.”
“Did you see any suspicious behavior before or after this happened?”
“No,” I lied calmly.
“Do you have an idea as to where she might be?”
I sucked my stomach in. “No, sir,” I lied again. I’m so sorry that I had to do this, Mrs. Harrison.
“Where were these two men at the time that all of this occurred?” the officer inquired, referring to Zach and Joe.
“He,” I pointed to my side at Joe, “Was in my house, and he,” I pointed behind me at Zach, “Got here a few minutes ago.”
“Okay,” the officer clicked his pen and put it back in his pocket. “Since this child has no father or any other family members close by in this area, we can’t leave him here. We’ll have to put him in temporary foster care until Jenna Harrison is found.”
I backed up, my back merely touching Zach and tightened my grip around Brody. “You can’t do that!” I exclaimed loudly. How could they do that to Brody? There must be a way out of it. If only Uncle Jesse was there, he’d be able to take care of this—but of course he’s not!
Zach traced his fingers along my shoulder—it was his attempt to calm me down, but all it succeeded in doing was making me shiver in delight —as he stepped to my side. “She’s not eighteen yet, but I’m old enough to be responsible for him,” he rationed cautiously. “Would it be alright if I hold custody of him for now?”
“Hmm,” the officer rubbed his chin as he inspected the paper in his hands. Slowly, he lifted his head back, “I’ll make an exception for now, but if Mrs. Jenna Harrison doesn’t turn up within the next twenty-four hours, we will need to send Brody Harrison to foster care.”
“Thank you, sir,” Zach nodded as the officer returned towards the door.
The officer pulled out his keys and propped open my front door. “I’ll keep you guys updated if we get any information,” he called from the doorway.
Zach nodded again, walking up to the door quickly. The second the officer left my doorstep, he rapidly shut the door and looked towards me.
I was incredibly angry with him. He made me lie to the police! Where’s the logic in that? If the police knew that Will was involved, they’d definitely be able to find Mrs. Harrison faster! “You better find her within those twenty-four hours, Zach,” I asserted snappily. “I lied to the police now, but I am not going to hold back if they come to get Brody again. They can’t take him to foster care—”
“Guys,” Joe abruptly stated from behind me, “I think I just blew my cover.”
What? I furrowed my eyebrows and drew my eyes towards Joe.
Joe shook his head worriedly. “That’s Mike,” he remarked, pointing towards the door, “He works for Will and he knows that I’m supposed to be working for him too.”
Mike! No wonder that officer was glaring at me so weirdly. He was the same police officer that Vanessa and Will had been talking to that day after the Halloween Fest! Wait, so what did this mean? Was Joe in trouble now?
“Crap, guys,” Joe let out a grunt. “This is not good.”
___________________________________________________________________________
We're getting close to the halfway mark! I'm super excited though, because I have the rest of the book planned out pretty much and its going to be so exciting for me to write. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading. As always, comment/vote/fan if you liked! :D