Chapter 24 | 23 pt 2 |
A/N: so my plan originally was to make this sorry different from the rest as in No Change In POV but then I started writing the first chapter twenty four and I was like "screw it, this chapter would best be in Ian's POV" so here I am, changing pov's. For the sake of my original plan I'm putting this as 23 pt 2. But for the sake of how important this chapter is, its gonna be 24. Lol. That didn't make half sense (GD!) so just read on.
-------------------------
I can't
hit.
Get her
hit.
Out of my fucking mind!
hit.
"Ian!" I whip my head around to see my employer walking towards me. He stops when his close enough and looks down. "What the hell?!"
I follow his eyes down and they land on the mess I've unconsciously created. Broken pieces of block lie beneath and I have no idea how many. I look at my now bloodied knuckles and that's when I blink, getting my senses back. "Um..."
"What's wrong with you kiddo? You're to build not demolish."
I run my hand over my face, now feeling the sting of pain on my knuckles. "I'm sorry, I lost myself for a minute."
"Well get yourself back. We're on a deadline and I have no time for this." He barks, I nod. "I'm probably gonna take the pay for those blocks out your pay."
"Cool."
He sighs, "Just do what you do."
I watch him leave and I clean up my mess and get back to work, this time with my head. Today is about to beat my record of worst day ever. I've been thinking about Roxanna, all day. The Galaxy office is probably a mess because of me. Even Jamie was surprised with my attitude. I've never been this off, ever. Saturday and Sunday were better, although I felt like shit throughout for how I treated her, it wasn't nearly as bad as today.
I busied myself with work and perfectly convinced myself that I could live without her. I mean she's just an ordinary girl, blond and pretty, nothing I've never seen and would never see again. I was doing her and myself good by severing whatever was going on between on. I was really convincing to myself and it worked out well, until Monday arrived and I saw her in her cute uniform, socks and long hair.
There is nothing ordinary about Roxanna Richards, I learned.
The way she looked at me broke me. I use to think that my eye colour was the best and until now, every girl I've ever had a crush on had big blue eyes. I use to find that sexy and the bomb until I met Roxanna. Blue eyes have nothing on brown. One look from those eyes and it could make and break me. That's freaking scary and mind blowing. She's been an important part or my school life and somehow she has surpassed that and I had no idea how far until today.
It's like a pull. I can't keep my eyes off her and I can't keep her out of my mind. I want to hear her voice, smell her shampoo, feel her presence, see her smile at me, hold me, bump into me, chuckle, blush, talk to me. Its funny how its the little things that we usually take for granted that stand out most. I'm not into literature but if I'm to describe being around Roxanna, I'll relate it to alcohol.
My dad was a cop. He trained slash nurtured me to be a law abiding citizens. So growing up, I've never been a part of drugs or alcohol. Curiosity led me to it and I found out that I can't even hold it in. I turn into a mess around it and that's the more reason I abstained. However when shit hit the fan in my life, I did what I've always heard fucked up people do. I turned to alcohol.
Even though I know it was a bad idea, I couldn't stay away because it kept the pain away. It made me high. It made me forget my problems. It made me happy. It made me feel less fucked up and more human. With it I'm free and more myself - which is quite sad but the truth. Its addicting and I drowned in it. Aka Roxanna Richards.
But unlike alcohol, I want her. I crave her even when all is good. Unlike alcohol, I never regret a moment with her.
Gym class was torture. She looked even more beautiful in her shorts that should be illegal to wear. Then she was laughing with some guy and it was driving me crazy. I felt so stupid. I singlehandedly drove away the one good thing happening in my life and now I can literally feel myself slipping over. She's helped me more than I know and I need her.
"Is it because you fought with Anna today that you're all over the place, literally." Jamie had said throwing papers at me.
"Did she say anything?" I asked, my attention piqued.
"No. Keep your mess to yourself would you." Jamie shouted, tossing more papers to me. I sighed, picking up my things and I heard her ask. "You like her don't you?" When I didn't reply, she continued. "What do you see in Anna? I get that she's blond and pretty but other girls are too." She laughed and now I'm sure she's talking more to herself than me. "I mean look at the Evelyns." Sigh. "What's that thing about Anna?"
And so I've been logging around that question with me; What's that thing about Roxanna?
Even now as Rick's truck moved closer and closer towards her house, I still couldn't figure it out. All I've figured out is if I don't settle things with her, if I don't see her, I'm gonna go crazy. I borrowed a note and pen from a fellow worker and scribbled gibberish on it. Then as I parked a few feet from her house and got down, I taped the note to a smooth rock. I was going to throw it into her window because that seemed like what a romantic person would do. But unlike other fairytale, her window was closed.
I didn't know what to do so I paced around and soon after the front down opened up, my first thought was hide but then I saw the miniature Roxanna walk around with the dog and I stood still. I can't even remember most of our conversation but at the end, she took the rock note and disappeared back into the house. An eternity later, Roxanna came out to grace me with her presence.
It was worth the wait because she looked just as beautiful, in her nightwear and a robe. Her messy hair flailing around her. I wanted to hug her and now we were in Rick's truck, the silence of the night surrounding us with the car lights on and illuminating our faces, I still want to hug her.
"I'm sorry."
"No, I'm sorry." She says, then sighs. "I shouldn't have bombarded you with all those questions. It wasn't my place."
I shake my head, "no, you're human. You were curious and needed clarification. I shouldn't have snapped, its just..." I trail off, talking isn't as easy as I thought. "I wasn't ready. Someone knowing about everything wasn't part of the plan."
"The plan?"
"My plan. I had a plan mapped out for my stay here. Go to school, graduate, leave. Friends..."
"Me." She concluded and I raise my brow. "I wasn't part of the plan."
I nod, she's starting to get me. "No, you weren't."
I notice it, she does to. Weren't, I said. She's part of it now, whether I like it or not.
"I had no idea I'd meet someone like you." Roxanna raises her brow at that and I expand. "Someone that got under my skin. Someone I can't shake off." I laugh humorlessly, "Why do you think I'm here? You've grown on me."
We look at each other and I know exactly what my eyes is reflecting; Care, Worry, Vulnerability. Roxanna looks like she wants to say something but she then thinks otherwise and looks away, tearing apart the stuff she brought along.
"I guess you're ready now?" She asks turning briefly to look at me.
"Yea." Breathe in, out. "Rick and Tonia aren't my real parents. They are my foster parents or people that I live with for now."
"How so? It's not legal?"
"No. I'm eighteen, I'm old enough to be on my own but I ran into them at a bad time and they were kind enough to help me out. For some reason, they see me as the son she never got to have." My jaw ticked, remembering the night they almost ran me over. Remembering how Tonia stuck to my side through everything, crying over the bed of a stranger she knows nothing about. Remembering the visits, the food, the care I didn't deserve. How they literally forced me to live with them since I had no other place to go. They too grew on me.
"Oh. And what about your real parents?"
Suddenly I feel like bolting out of the truck, running and never coming back. I know I came all the way here to talk but a minuscule part of me hoped I didn't get to talk about my parents. The beginning. I don't want to do it. I don't want to remember. Its too...
"Its okay." I hear Roxanna's voice and then I feel her lean fingers on mine. I flinch at the touch but she doesn't move away, instead she holds me tighter. Its then I see that my palm is folded into a fist. "It's fine. You can tell me anything, Ian. I like you and nothing can change that. I'm here for you."
I look at her and I know she's telling the truth. My nerves slowly relax and I sigh in relief. My hand reach out and I tuck a lock of her blond hair behind her ear, so I can see her face better and just for the fun of it. She's beautiful. The words start stumbling out my mouth and although I'm scared she won't still be here by time I'm done, a part of me trusts that she would still be here.
"My dad was a cop. He was transferred to the next town two years ago and we all moved there. It was great at first, we were settling in well. Until my dad got involved with some guy. He was part of a group, they sold drugs, stole, made the town a living hell. My dad made it his cop mission to arrest him. Every other cop would just look away and let him continue but not my dad. He was just too loyal. There were threats and whatnot but he didn't mind. Some time later, we came back home and saw a dead body in our basement."
I paused, looking over at Roxanna. She looked surprised and was still listening. I continued.
"My dad is in prison for murder."
There goes that bomb.
The car goes silent as my thoughts ran wild and I'm sure Roxanna's did to. I was brought back to reality when I felt her hand over mine, caressing it. My eyes closed shut, letting my body soak up the sensation.
"He was framed. There was nothing you or anyone could have done to foresee that." Her soft voice says wafting into the silence. "I'm so sorry, Ian."
I want to say 'don't worry, its fine' but its not. He sentenced to life imprisonment and I can bet my testicals that even the freaking judge was bought. We had a good case, my dad was new, what could he have against an innocent man. We had people vouching for my dad but still I watched them put a tight cuff over his hand dragging him away, the sound of my mum's yell doing nothing to faze them.
And so I shrug, looking down at Roxanna's fry fingers. I wove mine together with hers and see them perfectly fit together. "The first months were really hard on us and then my mum find out she's pregnant. What was supposed to be a joyful news, turned sour for her. I tired to be there, I tried to help as much as I could. My temper led me to go seek vengeance and it didn't end well for any of us. Our house was set on fire and when my mum gave birth, she was on the brick of insanity. Everything was just too much for her."
"They didn't even let her hold him, feed him, name him. The baby was ripped off her arms and I could nothing about it. My mum is locked up in an asylum when all she's suffering from is PTSD." An empty laugh bubbles out of me. "Funny right. They didn't care to hear the whole story. After much searching I finally find my brother. He was given over to a family. A good family. At least in the midst of all this he gets to be with good people. He has a sister and his parents are lovely. He has no idea I exist. Nor his mother who the society deemed crazy, nor his father who's whiling away in prison."
A tear hits our interwoven hands and I blink looking up to see Roxanna crying. I offer her a small smile. "Why the hell are you crying?"
"Why the hell are you?" She shoots back and its then I realize that it was my tear drop I saw.
Before I get to say anything, Roxanna gets up her seat and throws her arm around me. I'm startled at first but my hands eventually wrap around her, pulling her closer like my life depended on it. My life might not but I'm pretty sure my sanity does. I finally get to hug her anyway.
"It's not fine now, but it'll be." She says, her voice hoarse and cracked. "It'll be fine. You don't have to bear all that alone."
I relax against her body, letting the remaining pooled tears fall. I almost believe her and almost is good enough for now. She stops crying but she doesn't let go and I don't want her to.
"This feels good." I confess truthfully. Referring to her in my arms and the little weight that just lifted off my chest from sharing all that, however painful it was.
"Stay with me?" She says, her voice like a sweet whisper of a lullaby.
"I have no plans on leaving."
-----------------------------------------------------------
In Ian's voice, (however you're imagining it) – There goes a part of the bomb.
How many Parts do you think are left and what are your theories concerning them?
This is a huge step for Ianna and just the beginning. Sit tight and read on. ;)
Vote, comment, share!
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro