Runaways by Nicole Dykes
Sophomore Year
“You don’t actually think you’re going to wear that in my school, do you?” I freeze by the door, Colin’s voice making me cringe. I thought he’d already be on his way to school by now, but nope. Lucky me, I get to talk to him.
I huff and turn to face him. “What?”
His eyes slide over my body, making my skin crawl. I’m not wearing anything inappropriate. It’s a simple sundress with spaghetti straps, and it’s not low-cut. There isn’t a hint of cleavage, but when he looks at me like this, I feel naked. “You are not wearing that.”
“It’s a dress.” I try to stand tall even though, on the inside, I’m shaking. I’ve tried my best to avoid him as much as I can, but he’s always there. Lurking around the house or my room. Even in the halls at school. I can’t get away from him.
Luckily, he usually stays at school well past the release of classes, and I go with Tammy and Law to Richard’s after school, sometimes even managing to beat him home. But when I don’t, he’s always there to give me a hard time.
I can’t stand him. I fold my arms over my chest, hoping to shield myself from his gaze. “It’s a slutty dress.” He steps closer, and I step back but run into the wall behind me. “Is that what you want people to think about you? That you’re a dirty slut?”
Bile threatens to creep up my throat, and I hate that I’m trembling with his body this close to mine. I hate everything about him. His stupid, perfect hair I know he takes forever to style in the morning. His button-down shirt. His slacks that don’t have a wrinkle in them. He dresses like he’s a big deal, when in reality, he’s a high school principal in a small middle-of-nowhere town. “It’s just a dress.”
“Maybe you are a slut.” His hand skirts over my hip, and I jump from his touch.
“Don’t touch me.”
His eyes are predatory as he looks down at me. “You live in my house. You eat my food. You go to my school. I own you, Raelynn.”
I swallow the sick feeling, praying tears don’t fall. I don’t want to cry in front of him. “My mother pays for everything.”
He sneers, his hand now running over my cheek and his large body crowding me against the wall. And I know—and worse, he knows—that if he wanted to do anything to me, he could. I’m a hell of a lot smaller than him. It’s his game of power, and I’m losing. And he’s getting bolder and bolder with episodes like this, but my mother doesn’t believe me about him.
If I mention it to her, she blames me. Says I need to cover up. That I don’t need to be tempting him. It’s disgusting and makes me hate her even more, but I don’t know how to escape from this.
I don’t even have my license yet.
“Your mother belongs to me too.” His fingers grip my chin hard, and I whimper. “She’ll believe anything I tell her. So you better behave. Go change.”
His eyes dip to my chest, and I feel shame burning my cheeks before I jerk my chin out of his grasp. “Fine.”
I head upstairs quickly and change into jeans and a t-shirt before darting out the door, thankful to see his car is gone. The car service my mother set up to take me to school and wherever I need to go is waiting outside, like always.
It’s the only time I’ve ever been grateful for my mother’s wealth. If I had to ride with Colin every day to school, I don’t know what I’d do. But she didn’t want to burden him with that.
When I get inside the school, my hands are still shaking from the incident with Colin, and my breathing is rapid.
I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.
And even worse, no one sees. Everyone except Tammy and Lawson see me as a perfect little rich girl who has everything, including the school principal, on her side. But he isn’t on my side. I can feel the power struggle. I can feel that he wants to hurt me, and it feels like I’m sinking further into trouble every day.
“Hey.” Law. I can’t seem to keep myself under control, but I know he won’t just go away. I turn around to face him, and of course, his handsome face immediately morphs into concern. “What’s wrong?”
He knows I can’t stand Colin, but he doesn’t know very many details. He doesn’t know that sometimes when I get out of the shower that Colin is waiting for me on my bed. That he crowds me into corners and his hands explore my body far more than I can stomach. He doesn’t know the gross things Colin says to me, like calling me a slut or saying I’m asking for male attention. That I’ll be knocked-up before I even make it to college.
I’m too ashamed to tell Lawson any of that. What if he thinks I’m asking for it? What if he thinks like my mother does—that I want Colin’s attention?
I couldn’t handle it if he thought that way about me.
“Nothing,” I lie and turn around, grabbing the books I need and stuffing them into my backpack.
“No. Not nothing.” He moves closer, keeping his voice down so he doesn’t draw attention to us. He’s considerate like that. Even though I’ve been here a year, most people still see me as an outsider.
“It’s Colin.”
His expression darkens. “What did he do?”
I bite my bottom lip and tuck my blond locks behind my ear. “He called me a slut. And made me change.”
“What the hell?” He looks furious now. “Why would he say that to you?”
He does it all the time. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine, Rae. Did you tell your mom?”
Shame hits me again. “Yes.”
“And?”
I slam my locker closed and leave my hand on the metal, not able to face him. “She thinks I want Colin.”
“That’s sick.”
I turn my head toward him, tears creeping into my eyes. “Yeah. It is.”
“I’m sorry, Rae.”
I drop my hand from the locker and swing my backpack over my shoulders. “It’s okay. I can handle him.” He looks so sad and worried, and I hate that. Lawson is happy, I mean, for the most part. He hasn’t had it easy, but he tries to always have a smile on his face. “I just . . .”
He places a reassuring hand on my shoulder, and his touch doesn’t make me recoil. All I want to do is lean into him. “Just what?”
“I’m not. You know?” My voice is almost a whisper, and I feel like an idiot.
He studies me and then leans down to look directly into my eyes. He grew a good five inches over the past summer, and his shoulders are definitely broader now. “You’re not what?”
“A slut.” I choke on the word.
“Rae . . .” He looks dismayed. “I wouldn’t care if you were. No one should call you that. And I know you aren’t.”
“I haven’t even kissed anyone, and he’s constantly calling me a slut.”
He stands up now, his eyes darkening with anger. “He calls you that a lot?”
Oh, whoops. “No . . .” I try to backpedal, but he folds his arms over his chest, telling me he isn’t buying it.
“Don’t lie.”
I sigh. “He’s the worst. I hate him, Law.”
“Me too.” His jaw is clenched tight, his temper boiling under the surface. The anger he feels on my behalf.
That should be a good feeling—someone, for once, feeling protective of me—but really, it’s just humiliating. I just want to be normal.
“Have you?”
“What?” he asks, probably confused, and he should be because I’m super random.
I just want to change the subject. “Kissed anyone?”
He grins slyly at me now, wrapping his big arm around my shoulders. “Maybe.”
“Not maybe. Have you?” I smile up at him, liking this feeling of normalcy.
“Yeah.” He looks a little embarrassed as he releases me, and we walk side by side toward my first class. “Before you got here. Just a couple of times.”
“A couple?” I mock gasp, and he laughs.
“Yeah, I was a huge slut.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Have you . . . ?” I bite my bottom lip, my cheeks pink with embarrassment as he stops walking and eyes me curiously.
“Have I what?”
“You know.”
He shakes his head. “No. I’m saving it for marriage.”
My brow crinkles, and he barks out a laugh, letting me know he’s messing with me. I shove him playfully. “I’m sure you are.”
Tammy walks up to us, wrapping her arm around my waist and pulling me to her. “Hey, girl. You coming over after school today?”
I nod, having asked my mom last night. And since she was super busy, she agreed, probably not even knowing what she was agreeing to. “Yup. I brought my pj’s and toothbrush.”
“Good girl.” I kind of love Tammy’s accent even though Colin’s makes me want to puke.
“Hey, I’m not invited to this sleepover?” Law asks as Tanner and Ben, another friend, join us.
“No way,” Tammy says with a happy smile. “Girl’s night.”
I nod in agreement. “Yup. Popcorn and movies. Talking about boys.”
“We can talk about boys,” Ben says.
“You’d love to talk about boys,” Tanner says before shoving his friend into the locker.
Boys are weird.
“Come on, I have to pee before class.” Tammy tugs me toward the bathroom, and I go with her, waving at Law as they give us a hard time for not being able to go to the restroom alone.
I may have a hellish homelife, but I have some pretty great friends.
