Chance's POV
"The book we wrote, Gentry's Chance," Taytum murmured as she stares at me bewildered.
"Was based on my life. I am Gentry, the boy from the book," I nod. In the book that Taytum and I wrote, which was the teacher's favorite. The book was a mystery. It was about a man who killed his wife, and his kids took off on the run to save themselves.
"Oh my god," She cups her mouth with her hand. "You've been dropping me hints this entire time," She gasps. "How could I not have known?"
I sigh. "Because it's a farfetched story."
"Why would you lie to me, though? That doesn't change the fact that I don't know you. I don't know anything about you. I'm in love with Chance I don't even know who Gentry is," Tears roll down her face again.
"Mmm, yeah." I hum. "I hate to burst your bubble, but it is me you're in love with, Taytum. I changed my fucking name and birthday, not who I am. Everything you know about Chance is me. I didn't lie about growing up in a bad city. Drew, he really is my best friend. My favorite music really is rap. I love playing guitar, writing poetry, and fishing. I've smoked weed for I don't know how long. I've never fucked with other drugs. You know almost everything about me. I lied about where I came from I'm from Houston, not Tulsa. Actually, I have some family from Tulsa though."
She shakes her head and stares up at me. "Wait, your eyes..." She trails off.
I sigh and pull the contacts from my eye. I kneel down between her legs so she can get a better look. "They're actually green. These are just colored contacts. When I change my name, I change my look as much as I can. My dad was a cop. He's smarter than hell, and he has nearly caught me every time I moved, which is why I move so much. I found evidence that my dad was poisoning my mother. She had been sick nearly a year before dying. The doctors couldn't explain it. After she died, I found the evidence. We buried her, and I confronted my dad the night of her funeral, which was dumb. He ruined the evidence I had. I knew if I didn't get out, he'd kill me for knowing what he did. So I grabbed Gia that night from her bed, and I left."
"Your real hair is black?" I ask.
"No, it's just a really dark brown, almost black. I dyed it black. I've dyed it a lot lately," I admit. I never thought I'd be the kind of guy to dye my hair.
"Drew..." She trails off.
"Okay, that is not his real name. Drew's real name is Caleb. He doesn't have a fake ID like me, but I lied to you about his real name, not wanting people to know. His name is Caleb Mitchell. Caleb and his older brother Mike have been helping me. Mike works for the DMV and creates the fake IDs for me. Mike's really smart with computers. He has it to where he keeps an eye on my dad, too, and where he is. So this way, if he gets to close, I can disappear."
She stares at me for a long moment. She takes a deep breath and lets it go. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do or say to you," She shrugs. "You've been lying to me for so long. I'm not sure if I should trust you."
I groan in irritation and stand up. "Tay, you can't-" She cuts me off.
"I'm not going to tell anyone," She murmurs.
I give a slight nod. "Look until I can prove what he did, and at this point, I'm not sure how I'm going to keep running. Rather you tell or not. I'll be gone before you get the chance to. I want you to know for whatever it's worth... I didn't lie to you when I said I love you. I do love you. You have no idea how much. You put me in a position I never thought I'd be in. I never thought it'd be so hard to move again. I don't love or even like people too easily. I've never fallen in love with any girl. You completely destroyed me." I bend over to get eye level with her.
She stares at me, bewildered tears still falling down her face. I press my lips softly to her cheek. "I will always love you, Taytum," I murmur against her ear. I pull away from her and head out the door. I climb up into the truck.
Caleb stares at me. "How'd it go?"
"It's uh... a lot for her to take in. She's not going to tell. At least I don't think," I murmur.
"Fuck, man, I told you! You ruined this shit over one meaningless piece of-" I cut him off.
"Shut the fuck up, Caleb!" I boom. "You don't fucking know her like I do! She's not... meaningless, not to me." I haven't told Caleb how bad I've actually fallen for this girl. Nobody could ever understand what I feel for her. There is little to nothing I wouldn't do to make Taytum happy. If I could stay here I would. She's always going to mean everything to me. Even if the feeling isn't mutual.
Caleb stares at me in surprise. "So, she's not like the other girls?"
"No, she's not," I growl. "If I could stay here, I would."
Caleb sighs and pulls the truck away from the curb. "Do you love her?" He asks.
"Yeah, I do," I admit.
"But now she wants nothing to do with you?" He arches a brow.
I chuckle. "Isn't that kind of the story of my life?"
"I mean, I still like you," He chuckles.
"That makes me feel better, man," I chuckle, and fist bump him. "I'm thinking about leaving tonight," I tell him as we pull into my driveway.
"Really?" He asks.
"Yeah, wanna stay?" I ask.
"Sure," He shrugs. "Don't forget to get rid of the phone you have."
"I'm going to disconnect it. I already bought my new one," I tell him as we head into the house.
"So, are you leaving because you think she is going to tell?" He asks.
"I just don't want to take any chances," I tell him.
"Why not?" He laughs. "You came up with the name, Chance. Isn't that because you like taking chances?"
I chuckle and flip him off. I call the phone company and disconnect my phone. I call a different phone company. "What is your name and date of birth?" The lady asks. I put the phone on mute so she can't hear me.
"Hey!" I yell at Caleb.
"What?" He calls from the kitchen.
"What the fuck is my new name and birthday I forgot," I laugh. I switch names so much I'm beginning to forget. "Jordan James, December 26th, 1994," He calls back.
"Oh yeah," I chuckle and unmute the phone. "Jordan James, December 26th, 1994," I said.
After hooking my new phone up, I head into my bedroom to start packing. When I get most of my things packed up, I let Caleb know I'm going to shower. Once I'm out of the shower, I slip a pair of shorts on and walk out to my room. My bedroom door opens just as I'm grabbing a shirt. The shirt slips through my fingers in shock. "Taytum?"
A/N: Haha, get it? Gentry's Chance ... like Gentry is Chance... The biggest hint was the title of this book. :) what ya think?