Page 39 of In the Danger Zone
My eyes scanned the words. She was worried. Incredibly worried. I understood that. My father was anxious too, apparently. They weren’t ready for their little girl to be out there, wandering around in the big, bad world.
Staying at home forever wasn’t an option, though.
Please stay safe. Please stay away from anyone who strikes even the tiniest bit of fear in you. Trust your instincts. You have them for a reason. You know how proud your father and I are of you. We are so excited for this journey you’re taking. All we ask is that you stay safe, darling.
I focused on my mother’s plea, letting the afternoon sun heat my skin up. Classes were over and I needed a break, and sitting outside in the sun sounded so much better than reading the loving words in a cramped room. My mom had every right to feel like that. I couldn’t tell her the truth, though. That Asher was at school with me. She’d fly over to Oregon herself and make me drop out.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
I felt two big hands on my shoulders. My first thought was to run away. But when I turned around I came face to face with Evan’s deep, blue eyes. There he stood, towering over me, the looming campus buildings in the distance.
“Hey,” I said shyly, quickly shoving the letter into my backpack. Evan couldn’t read those. My mom had talked about The Incident on more than one occasion, and I wasn’t ready to share that to anyone else just yet.
“Watcha reading?” Evan sat down next to me, throwing an arm over my shoulder. “You got a letter?”
“Um… Yeah… From m-my parents,” I murmured out. He didn’t have to know what the letter contained.
“That’s pretty old school.” Evan smiled. “What’d your parents want? They okay?”
“Uh, just… The spare key,” I blurted out, desperate to come up with something. Lying was not my forte. It wasn’t really a lie since my parents had asked me about it again in the letter.
Evan laughed. “The spare key?”
“The spare key for m-my room,” I explained. “I had a b-bad habit of losing the key b-back home. They just wanted to know if I had left it some place safe…” God, I was such a bad liar. And I wasn’t even lying! Not really. But the words came out sounding so forced, so made up.
“Did you?”
“I gave it to Leena a couple of days ago.” After spending more and more time with her, I had deemed her spare key worthy. I had a feeling my parents would give her the same label.
“Does she still hate me?” Evan murmured.
I let out a small laugh. “I’m pretty sure she n-never did to b-begin with. M-Maybe there was a little… dislike there. Just a little.”
Evan raised his eyebrows up at me. “Hm, if you say so. Anyway, I kept thinking about you in class today.”
“Did you n-now?” I smiled up at him. I kept thinking about him too, but I was too shy to tell him that.
“Mhm. Especially since I didn’t get to see you all day yesterday.”
“Well, I knew you were b-busy with practice. And I know how m-much work that is. I’m excited for the n-next game. When is it?”
Evan scratched at the back of his neck, looking down at the ground. “About that… I kinda got into trouble, actually.”
I furrowed my brows at his words. “You m-mean in class?”
“No, at practice yesterday.”
“What happened?”
“I kinda kicked Asher’s ass. Got a two-week suspension. It’s just a bunch of away games, anyway. Can’t stand those.”
My tongue clicked. “Evan. Seriously. Why?”
“Why wouldn’t I? I wasn’t gonna let him get away with that, Daisy.” Evan tucked a strand of my dark hair behind my ear. “I’m not letting anybody hurt you.”
“B-But n-now you’re suspended. W-What if your coach kicks you off the team?”
“They’re not kicking me off the team anytime soon. They need me. I have the rest of the season to play. Don’t worry.”
