Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
Shiloh
I spent most of the night contemplating my future.
I’d never wanted children, never even considered getting married one day.
But maybe this was the best I was going to get.
Maybe it was what I deserved. Maybe if I lived like they did, I’d be absolved of all my sins, I’d get a chance at some peace and happy.
And most importantly, I’d be keeping my friends safe.
I must have fallen asleep, because I startled awake to the sound of my phone vibrating against my cheek. I grabbed it, blindly swiping until I answered.
“Yeah?”
“I’m here.”
I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. “Ok.”
I hung up the phone, wearily glancing around the room.
I forced myself out of the bed and changed into a fresh pair of clothes, grateful that my roommate seemed to already be up and gone.
I glanced at the phone and realized that it was only seven.
I slung my duffle bag over my shoulder and crept towards the main entrance of the building.
There was an employee sitting at the front desk.
I huffed in frustration, gritting my teeth, and jumped out of my skin when a hand landed on my shoulder.
My hand flew to my chest, and I gaped at Ms. Conners.
“If you leave now, you won’t be able to return.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
She gave me a disappointed smile, before wishing me the best of luck. Ms. Conners stood at the door as I ran to the car, shoving my duffle in the backseat. Adrian didn’t wait for me to buckle before peeling away from the curb.
I could feel his eyes on me, the silence filled with questions, but I ignored him and curled up against the door with my knees tucked to my chest. I flinched at his hand landing on my knee, and he quickly pulled it back, releasing a sigh.
I clenched my jaw, gripping my knees closer to my chest.
“Shiloh. Talk to me. What happened?”
I sighed, gathering the energy required to relay all the fucking details.
“He took me to the compound. To someone he referred to as a brother, but I know they’re not actually related.
Just a term they use to refer to other church members.
Anyways,” I sighed again, closing my eyes.
“We got there, and it was segregated by men and women. I was in the kitchen with the women, and we served the men their food. But I guess I fucked it up because I touched Theodore’s shoulder.
Anyways, the wife, her name is Beth, she apologized—completely unnecessarily—and then while we ate the women explained the rules and shit.
And shortly after we left and he told me that he would find a place for me at Eden if I wanted. ”
I opened my eyes when Adrian didn’t say anything for a long while and found him scrubbing at the stubble on his face. He shook his head, muttering something under his breath.
“It’s Thursday.”
“Huh? Yeah. It’s Thursday. Why?” Adrian looked over at me like I’d grown a second head.
“School.”
He laughed, reaching over and ruffling my hair. I used it as an excuse to punch him in the pec and he just laughed harder.
“Fuck off. Did you even finish high school?”
He rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the road. “Yep. Graduated with my bachelor’s degree magna cum laude, too. That’s Latin for with great honor. 3.89 GPA, baby.”
I ground my molars and sneered at him. “I’m sure that’s real helpful on your resume. 3.89 GPA. Gang member. Murderer. Rapist. Stalk—”
“Woah. Hold up. You’re fixing to get me real pissed right now bringing up that shit. I am not a rapist.”
I scoffed. “Sure. ‘Cause fucking an unconscious minor totally doesn’t count as rape.”
“Okay, first of all, I didn’t actually fuck you. I just pretended. Something you don’t seem too grateful for. And second, you know damn well the only other option was getting killed.”
“Go eat a sweaty bag of shit-dipped dick tips.”
He choked on air and busted out laughing, again. I debated throat-punching him but figured that wouldn’t help me get home any faster.
“Hangry. I think you’re hangry. I’ll run through McDonald’s. What do you want?”
“I don’t care.”
I dozed off before we reached the drive-thru and startled awake when the car suddenly stopped. I looked around, confused to see that we were already in front of our apartment building. He handed me a bag and an orange juice.
“I’ll text you about a debrief with Carlos. Probably won’t be until Saturday because he’s packed with pre-Thanksgiving shit for city hall.”
“Kay.”
I stood out of the car, stretching before reaching for the duffle and food and heading inside the building. When I made it upstairs, the clock on the stove read almost ten. I managed to scarf down all the food and the OJ while sitting at the kitchen island.
I powered on my phone, reading through all the missed texts and calls from Enoch and Jae. The urge to cry was overwhelming and I cursed myself for being so goddamn emotional. I hightailed it to the shower before I wallowed in self-pity any longer.
Feeling a little more like myself, smelling like Javi’s shower soaps and dressed in a mixture of my leggings, Javi’s shirt and Enoch’s sweatshirt, I grabbed my backpack and decided to go to school for the rest of the day.
If nothing else, I wanted to see Enoch. And Jae.
I wanted to pretend everything was normal.
I didn’t want to think about everything that happened the past week.
I especially didn’t want to think about the fact that I didn’t have much time left if things were moving so quickly with Theodore.
???
November 11, Thursday
Enoch
“Okay, but hear me out. I could just open a bunch of franchises, right? Every four years I’ll just follow you around and then open a new gym. We could afford a nice place to live once you’re able to get out of the dorms.”
“Dude, that would definitely be sick. But what if I get stuck in the middle of nowhere?”
“We’ll just send up all our prayers that you get stationed somewhere I can follow.”
“What if I’m overseas though?”
“Shit. I didn’t think about that. You really wanna travel overseas, huh?”
“Well, yeah, but it’s not a big deal if I don’t. Wait—” I squinted, moving around the slow person blocking my view. “Shiloh!”
I felt my face pull into a smile, ecstatic and relieved to finally see her after almost an entire week of radio silence. She didn’t hear me, in fact, there was a group of guys huddling around her.
“I think you can try harder to make that sound convincing, fuckface,” she scoffed as I approached her from behind.
The guy she’d addressed stared stunned. His friend closest to him, a lanky kid with glasses, held up a hand over his friend’s chest pulling him back a step as he took one step closer to her.
“What’s your problem? He just apologized. It’s not like he actually hurt you,” the kid said with annoyance, looking her up and down like he would find something to explain her behavior.
I put my hand on Shiloh’s shoulder, but she shrugged it off, taking several steps to the side before turning around to face me.
“Get your filthy—oh.” She shut her mouth, eyes wide and something flashed across her face. Her backpack fell by her feet, and she lunged towards me.
I wobbled, catching us both as her ankles crossed behind my back and I was suddenly supporting her entire body weight.
I immediately hooked an arm beneath her legs and the other around her back.
She tucked her chin into my neck, and I could feel her breathing in deeply.
She let out something like a whimper and it sent my heartbeat even higher.
“I’ve got you,” I said, just loud enough for her to hear.
“What’s going on?” I asked calmly, looking between the two guys now staring at Shiloh in my arms.
“Ask her,” Glasses pointed at Shiloh. “She just went psycho on Luke for accidentally bumping into her.”
I pursed my lips in annoyance.
“Alright, no need to name call. Let’s just drop it and move on, yeah?”
The guys nodded and turned to walk away. The small crowd of students dispersed. I turned our bodies until her back was against the wall, blocking out the rest of the students in the hall.
“I’m right here,” I whispered against her hair.
I looked at Jae with wide eyes. What the hell?
He shrugged, giving me a ‘Jesus, I dunno, man’ look. Shiloh held onto me until the bell rang and slowly released her arms from around my neck. I lowered her to the floor, and she kept her head down.
“You okay?”
She let out a deep sigh. “I’m fine, clearly just psychotic.”
My mouth twitched into a half-smile, and I shook my head.
“I got your backpack,” Jae said with a smile, holding it out to her.
She cleared her throat, grabbing it. “Thanks, Jae.”
“Let’s head to lunch,” I said, slipping my hand into hers and lacing our fingers together.
I tugged her gently away from the wall, nodding at Jae to ask if he was good. He nodded back and we fell in sync walking towards the cafeteria.
“We missed you,” I said, glancing down at her. “It was way too chipper around here without you.”
She rolled her eyes up at me and I bumped her hip with mine playfully. She bumped me back and I saw a faint smile on her lips. My chest loosened at the sight.
What in the actual fuck is going on? Did something happen? Where the hell was she the past week? If I find out that creep Adrian did anything to her, I’m going to get his ass whipped. Fuck, I should’ve told my dad to report her missing.
I followed Shiloh through the lunch line, worried that all she grabbed was a bottle of water. We met Jae at our usual spot in the cafeteria. I sat beside Shiloh, pulling out my sack lunch and caught sight of an envelope in my backpack.
“Oh, hey, this is for you,” I said.
I handed Shiloh the envelope and she eyed me suspiciously, taking it and ripping it open. I watched as her face went blank and then flickered to happy and then sad.
“Um, thanks. I appreciate it.”