Chapter 16
Ainsley
Fall of Junior Year
“Where’s Landon?”
My leg bounces as I glance down at my phone. No new messages, and my last call went straight to voicemail.
The last time he was late meeting me somewhere, he showed up with a black eye.
The time before that, finger-shaped bruises around his neck.
Landon is the most punctual person I’ve ever met, so if he’s not where he says he’ll be, his father got to him.
I glance at Evan and Ivori, sitting on the bleachers to the left of me. They’ve figured it out, though I haven’t told Landon that they know.
“This is ridiculous. How does this man get away with abusing his family?”
Evan’s jaw pops. “I wish he’d hit him back. Landon’s six-feet tall and a-buck-sixty. He could easily lay him out on his ass.”
“But that’d make more trouble for him and his mother,” Ivori says.
“We can’t just sit by and let this happen.” My eyes bounce between them both. “Let’s go to his house.”
“It’s not our family. We can’t get involved.” Evan gives me a hard stare. “Just be there for him after.”
I shake my head. “That’s not good enough. Please, Ev. Take me there.”
His large hand covers my knee. “It’s not safe for you. If the guy hits his own wife and son, what makes you think he won’t hit you?”
My teeth gnash together. “I fucking dare him to.”
Our football team makes another touchdown, and everyone in the stands jumps to their feet while the band plays on the sidelines.
In midst of the chaos of the celebration, I dart out of my row and bolt for the stairs. Evan shouts my name, but I ignore him. He can try to stop me, but he won’t succeed. I’m fucking going.
Ivori’s voice pierces through the air once my sneakers hit the gravel in the parking lot. “Ainsley, wait.”
“Don’t bother. I’m going.”
“What are you going to do, run the whole way there?”
My feet skid to a stop as I whip around, seeing Evan towering behind her. “You’ll take me?”
He heaves a long sigh. “I don’t agree with this plan, for the record, but yeah, I’ll take you.”
My shoulders slump, and I dart between the cars to his old Bronco. Perks of having an older friend with his license.
We click our seatbelts into place, and within ten minutes, we’re rolling up to Landon’s house.
“I’m going to wait out here. If you’re not back in five minutes, I’m calling the cops.”
I nod. “Five minutes.”
My heart hammers against my chest as my legs carry me up the walkway to the porch steps. I hesitate before lifting my finger to ring the doorbell, and suck in a deep breath.
I press my finger against the button, and strain my ears to hear what’s happening behind the pale-yellow door. After another moment, I ring the bell again. Muffled voices become louder, and I’m tired of waiting. Landon and his mother could be hurt inside, or worse.
I ball my hand into a fist and bang on the wood. “Open this door right now! I know you’re in there.”
After another few seconds go by, the front door finally cracks open. Mrs. Fletcher sticks her head through the opening, not allowing me to see fully into the house. Her eyes are bloodshot, like she’s been crying. “Landon isn’t feeling well, sweetheart. Come back tomorrow and—”
I shove the door so hard it bangs into the wall as it swings open. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Fletcher, but I’m not leaving without seeing Landon.”
I stomp through the dining room and into the kitchen. “Landon!”
“Please, Ainsley.” Mrs. Fletcher’s voice strains as she begs, following close behind me. “Please, just go home.”
I spin around, coming face to face with her. “You should be protecting him. You shouldn’t let this go on.”
She chokes back a sob as she covers her mouth with her palm. “It’s not as easy as you think.”
“It doesn’t have to be easy, but it’s still the right thing to do.”
I whip around and continue my hunt for Landon.
I take the stairs by twos, and when my shoes hit the top step, Landon’s father stands in the middle of the hallway, blocking my path.
“Hello, Ainsley. As my wife told you downstairs, Landon isn’t feeling well. He isn’t seeing any visitors.”
I glance down at his shirt, the neckline stretched out as if someone was pulling on it. My eyes continue their descent and when they reach his raw, bloodied knuckles, my patience snaps.
Digging into my back pocket, I hold my phone up between us. “If you don’t move out of my way, I’m calling the police. And if you try to hurt me, my friends outside will call the police for me. So, you’d better move out of my fucking way right now and let me see Landon.”
His top lip curls, and his cold blue eyes narrow. “I’ll tell the cops you were trespassing in my house.”
I inch closer to him. “Then I’ll show them the photos I have saved of all the bruises you left on your son’s body, and everyone will know what a fucking piece of shit you really are.”
Mr. Fletcher licks his lips as he glares at me. “What a filthy mouth you have for a young lady. Shame your mother isn’t around to teach you.”
The floor creaks under me as I move closer, ready to claw this man’s eyes out of his head for talking about my mother.
But Landon’s bedroom door swings open. “Enough.”
I gasp as my gaze lands on him—a busted, swollen lip, and bruising already surfacing on his cheekbone. I shove past his father, and fling myself at my friend, wrapping my arms around the back of his neck. Relief and sadness crash into me at once like waves.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Landon whispers, though he’s holding onto me as tightly as I’m holding on to him.
“You weren’t answering your phone.” I pull back to look at his father over my shoulder. “You should be ashamed of yourself. This is your family.”
Mr. Fletcher doesn’t spare me a glance, his eyes locked on Landon. “I want her gone.”
Then he turns around and heads into his bedroom, the door slamming shut behind him.
Landon takes my hand, and drags me back down the hallway to the stairs. He doesn’t say a word to his mother when we pass her in the kitchen, and leads me outside onto the porch.
“Are you freaking crazy?” He grips my shoulders. “You can’t just show up here and talk to him like that.”
“And he can’t treat you guys like this.” I pull out of his hold. “I didn’t hear from you and I was worried. Maybe he’ll stop if he knows we know. Maybe—”
“He won’t stop, Ainsley. Not until I’m out of this house.”
“And until then, hmm? You’re not graduating for another year and a half. That’s a lot of time.”
His chin hits his chest as he casts his gaze downward. “I know. I just need to keep the peace until then.”
I lift my hand and brush my thumb against his swollen lip. “This what keeping the peace looks like?”
His eyes lock with mine, his usual light-brown irises now a subdued version. “I don’t have any other choice.”
“You can go to the police. Fight for you and your mother. Prove what he’s been doing to you, and you’ll be able to get him out of the house.”
Landon’s head shakes before I’m done speaking. “If that even works, my mom can’t afford this house on her own, or a lawyer to help her with everything. Dad won’t make it easy on her.”
He’s not wrong. We’re just kids, and we don’t have the means to help our parents do adult shit.
“Plus, the police have already been here countless times. Same shit, different day.”
My bottom lip juts out. “It’s not fair.”
“Hey.” Landon’s hands come up, cupping each side of my face. “Don’t be sad, sweetheart. It’s okay.”
My heart aches at the tender nickname.
We’ve flirted and tip-toed around each other, disguising it with athletic rivalry. Lacrosse made us acquaintances, and that turned into a friendship. But lately, the closer we become, the more my feelings evolve into something more.
The last thing I need right now is to let things get complicated between us.
He doesn’t know I’ll be joining his team in the spring.
I haven’t had the guts to tell him. Plus, with everything going on with my father, I just don’t have the headspace or the energy for a relationship.
I’d rather keep our friendship strong than chance ruining it over some silly feelings.
Soon enough, he’ll be off to college and I’ll be nothing but a memory to him.
But it’s the small, intimate moments like this that make me want to throw caution to the wind.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he whispers.
My gaze falls to his lips. “Like what?”
“Like you want to kiss me.”
My eyes flick back up to his. “Then stop looking at me like you might let me.”
His lips part, and I inch closer, my heart racing in my chest.
An obnoxious horn blares through the air, and we both jump apart.
I swing my glare to Evan and Ivori.
“Do you two want to get a room, or are you coming back to school with us?” Evan calls.
Landon shoves his hands into his pockets as he smiles. “Go, enjoy the rest of the game.”
I shake my head. “Don’t want to. Not without you.”
He nods like he assumed as much. “Then let them go, and sit with me on the porch a little longer.”
That I can do.