Chapter 6
Daisy
Age 18
I shoved the emergency door open to the back of the theater, ignoring the loud buzzer and flashing red lights, and sprinted through the darkness. My blood raced red hot as I pushed myself to go faster. I had mere minutes to get as far away as I could. Someone would be coming for me, and if I were caught, I’d never get another chance.
Despite having the lungs of an experienced dancer, they screamed for me to stop. I refused, using my motivation for leaving everything behind as a push, stretching my legs to keep on. I paid attention to street signs and made the correct turns to get to where I was safe. Only when I saw the sign lit up in giant neon colors, with the door to the small building open, did I slow.
BUS STATIO N
A shadowy figure stood in the window. I recognized his frame and relaxed in an instant. I hurried inside and threw myself into his arms.
“You came.” I sighed deeply, my body collapsing against his. He chuckled low.
“Why are you surprised? It’s me who’s shocked.” He wrapped his thick arms around me, enveloping me in warmth. I was the first to move. I stepped back and looked him up and down. I’d only seen him once in person before, almost two years ago.
“You’re so big now!” I exclaimed.
My online pen pal, SadboyGatsby , brushed his blond hair back, and looked at the floor, bashful.
“You’ve grown a bit yourself, Daisy.” He smirked, referring to me as a piece of my username, FadedDaisy .
“Oh, Gatsby.” I reached for his hand and threaded our fingers together, lifting them. I’d waited so long for this, and it was perfect. His hand in mine was like electricity. Thrilling endorphins slid up my arm, warming my body.
“Excuse me,” someone called from behind us. We turned to see an older man with a large mustache in a blue uniform. “The station has closed for the weekend. You’ll need to find somewhere else to canoodle.” He waved us out.
“But—I didn’t get my ticket!” I protested, shoving my hand into my bag.
“Sorry kid, the earliest you can get a ride is Monday.” He pushed us out and locked the doors right in our faces. My jaw dropped.
“I was too late.” My stomach dropped. I looked up at Gatsby in horror as the bus hissed and departed. “Wait, what about you? You’re supposed to be on that bus! We were supposed to be on that bus!”
“I know, but it’s okay.” Gatsby squeezed my hand. “I was worried you wouldn’t get here in time, so I bought new tickets. We’ll both be on busses Monday night.”
“Oh, Gatsby, you didn’t have to do that. The ticket is expensive!” I exclaimed.
“It’s fine. I’ve been saving up. We made a pact, remember? If I get out, you get out.”
I nodded. That was how we met, after all. On a forum for children wanting to escape their home life. We were both barely thirteen. Now, we weren’t children anymore. I’d just had my eighteenth birthday. He’d waited for me.
“Now what?” I whispered. We turned away from the station to stare into the darkness. We were three miles from the theater, in a bad part of town. No one would suspect me to be here, but still, I didn’t want to linger. “We have two days.”
“I don’t know,” Gatsby admitted. “What do you want to do?”
That was a loaded question. There was so much I wanted to do. It was the very reason I escaped just an hour ago. The world, so long as I wasn’t dragged back, was my oyster. I stared at the young man by my side. He was much more handsome than I remembered. He was striking. Those green eyes bore into my soul. Their very essence rang true to my name for him—Gatsby.
I didn’t even know his real name. I didn’t need to. He would always be Gatsby to me.
“I want to get to know you, Gatsby.”
“Are you sure?” Gatsby’s hair hung over his handsome face as he stared at me, two days later. His arms held him up, leaving his naked body to press against mine. There was nothing separating us. No more distance, no more computers, no more—anything.
“This isn’t my first time,” he admitted, his eyes not meeting mine.
I reached up to cup his handsome face.
“I know. It doesn’t bother me. I don’t have control over who was your first, but I have control over who gets to be mine. I want that to be you.”
I wanted him to be my only.
He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He nodded, and his hardness throbbed as he shifted.
“And you’re?—”
“Yes. My cousin has been sending the pills to me,” I assured him. “Gatsby, please, stop overthinking. I am here with you. That’s all that matters.”
My heart was racing like it was my first performance, but I wouldn’t reveal my nervousness to him. Over the weekend, I’d learned just how insecure Gatsby truly was about himself. His striking appearance hid so much self-doubt.
He pressed a kiss to my lips, my neck, and then he crawled down to kiss my breast, taking a nipple into his mouth. I gasped as he ran his tongue around the hardened tip, sending shivers of pleasure through me. I squirmed as his fingers found my warmth and parted my lips.
“You need to be fully prepared,” he murmured, as he continued to slowly pleasure me. I’d never been touched like this before, and my body was going crazy. It felt so intense, so wonderful, so perfect. I didn’t quite understand what he meant, but I was too absorbed in the moment, that I chose to trust him. He’d said it wasn’t his first time, so he must know what to do.
“You’re so wet,” he muttered, and I gasped as suddenly his tongue was between my legs, lapping at my most intimate area. “You’re perfect, Daisy.”
The pleasure became too much and suddenly my body was bursting in an explosion I’d never experienced before. My blood went red hot and it was as if fireworks were going off from my core, spreading through my veins.
“Oh!”
He chuckled and continued lapping at my soaking center. I shoved him away, my core sensitive. He backed off, climbing my body with kisses again.
“Are you ready, Daisy? You can still say no. Once we do this, there’s no going back. You’ll be mine forever.”
The words, while in the throes, weren’t just words; they felt more powerful than that. They were true. I knew it then.
“Yes, yours forever, only yours.”
He lined up his rigid length with my entrance, and slowly, he inserted himself into my body. I gasped at the sharp pain, but Gatsby’s soft words of reassurance in my ear as he pushed further inside helped take my mind off the pain.
“Look, it’s done. You took all of me,” he praised. Then, he began to move, slowly at first while my body familiarized itself with his. He looked pained, but he didn’t say anything. He just watched my face for cues, and eventually, my pain subsided and was replaced with a warm sense of bliss. Soon, I was writhing under his body and pleading for a deeper release.
He seemed to be an expert at this, and we came together in an eruption of love and emotion.
When morning came, we were forced to dress. It was like the rose-colored glasses were ripped from my eyes, and it was time to talk about the heavy thing weighing on me.
“I saw the tickets,” I started. He turned slightly, but didn’t make eye contact, so I continued, “They are for two different places. I’m going to New York. You’re going to California.”
There was a long pause.
“I am.”
“Why?”
“That’s where basic training is. I joined the military.” He stared at me with those striking green eyes that just last night I got lost in for hours. He was lying, so was I. We made love, and I didn’t even know his real name. I allowed him to lie all day, up until we reached the bus station. The sun was starting to set, and two different busses pulled up. In minutes, we would each board one, and that would be it.
We spent five years talking daily, dreaming of a life together, out here in the real world. Only for us to have one weekend. Gatsby pulled me to him one last time, tilting my chin up for us to kiss. Tears slid down my face silently. He wiped them with his thumb, and I saw the hurt in his eyes. He didn’t want to do this, but he needed to. Whatever it was.
“You didn’t join the Army,” I said. “You’re not going to basic training.”
He took an audible breath and nodded. “No, I am not. You are going to go to school. You’re going to join a ballet company, and then you’re going to live your dream of dancing at Wolfsheim theater.”
My lips trembled. “And what about you? Where are you going?”
He looked up and away, as if dreading this moment where he had to confess the truth.
“Prison.”