Chapter 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Eli

Every time I've reached out to Liza this week, she's ignored my calls and texts. That doesn't mean that I've stopped trying though. I've explained to her that I will give her the space she needs, but I'm not going anywhere, and I'll wait as long as I need to until we can be together. She needs to know that I am here, no matter what.

Now that we've survived the week with Maya keeping her promise and no one saying a thing, I think it's time we put this behind us and try to move on.

I'm supposed to go to Ben's today to hang out, like we normally do on Sundays, but I need to clear my head beforehand, so I grab my basketball and head out to the park.

Of course, I call Liza as soon as I get in the truck, but she doesn't answer, so I drive around for a while, hoping she might call me back before heading to the park.

When I pull up, Ben is already there, shooting some hoops by himself.

I've wondered what he's thought about Maya dating this new guy. Him being here alone pretty much solidifies that he's not liking it. He's not one to ever be alone, so I bet he's here to work through some things, just like I am.

What are these girls doing to us?

I exit the car, grabbing the bag I keep in the back of my truck at all times, which has anything I might need in instances like this. I head his way, and he throws me the ball, inviting me to play with him.

I put my bag down and take a shot from where I'm standing, sinking it with ease. Ben gets my rebound and throws it back to me to shoot again. We play like this in silence for a while, which I appreciate.

"What are you doing out here?" Ben asks, breaking our silence.

"Needed to think," I respond without looking at him while taking a shot. I make it, so he gives it back to me to shoot again. "I take it, you're doing the same thing—about Maya?"

He doesn't respond, giving me all the confirmation I need.

"I get it." I run up for a layup. "Question is, what are you going to do about it?"

He grabs the ball. "Should I ask you the same question?" He puts it back on me.

I ignore his question, and we play like this for an hour, neither of us saying a word as we toss the ball back and forth, both thinking about the girls who plague us.

Ben checks his watch. "We should head out. You coming over?"

I agree and turn to gather my stuff. "Yeah, I will. I have something to do first."

Ben pauses, looking at me with concern written all over his face. I haven't told a soul about Liza, so I can only imagine what's going through his head.

"You good?" he asks.

"Yep." I give him a firm nod, thankful that he cares enough to ask, but knowing I could never tell him what's really going on.

"Cool."

He gives me knucks, and I head back to my truck, knowing I need to talk to Liza, no matter what I have to do in order to make it happen.

I get in the truck and call her once more. My chest tightens when she finally answers.

"Hi …" she says timidly.

"Thank you for answering."

She lets out a slow breath. "Thank you for continuing to call. I'm sorry I haven't answered, but it helped me, seeing them come through."

We sit in silence for a few breaths, not really sure what to say, so I start with the obvious.

"Maya has kept her promise. She hasn't even said a word to me about it."

"Yeah. I was terrified to go to school every day, just thinking today would be the day, but with every day that passed, it got a little easier."

"Is that why you finally answered my call?"

"Yeah …"

"I've missed you."

"I miss you too," she whispers.

"We'll make it through this."

Her voice cracks as she replies, "I know."

"Have faith. Faith in us."

"I do," she says, trying to hide her tears, but I know they are there.

"I wish I could hold you right now."

"Me too."

"It will all be worth it. I promise. We. Are. Worth. It."

"I know. I have to go though. My aunt just got home."

"I love you, Liza. I always will."

"I love you too."

She hangs up, and I drop my head back against the headrest. Knowing we'll get through this is the only thing I can possibly hold on to because hearing her voice so sad breaks everything possible inside me.

We made it through Thanksgiving even though there was this feeling in the air that wouldn't go away. Holidays should be spent with the people you love, and not being able to include Liza in our family gathering made the entire event unbearable.

I put on a fake show for my grandparents, but my mom knew I wanted Liza there with us. I could feel her sadness for me with every glance. The holiday I normally love since I get to eat a feast was ruined without her there, and I couldn't wait to get it over with.

The thought carried with me throughout the next week at school, and for the life of me, I couldn't get over the bad mood I was in unless I was getting to talk to her.

It was hard, having to keep up the facade in front of Maya, but she must be pretty into this new guy because this is the second time I've hung out at Ben's place since Thanksgiving and she's nowhere to be found.

Natalie, Dalton, and Ben are all in conversation about Maya and this new guy when Ben's phone lights up with her name. Before I know it, Ben is racing out of the barn. We all look at each other, then jump up to follow him, knowing the only reason Ben would run out like this is if something was wrong.

I watch Ben run to his truck, so I follow him, jumping in the passenger seat to be by his side, no matter where we are going.

Ben's phone connects to his Bluetooth as he says, "Don't worry. I know exactly where you are. I'm already on my way. Are you okay?"

She's crying so hard that we can barely make out what she's saying. "I-I think … I am. I'm scared, Ben."

I watch as Ben slams his hand on the steering wheel. "Don't be scared. I'm on my way. Are you around any businesses or anything you can go in?"

"No." She cries harder. "He threw me out of his truck in the middle of nowhere."

My eyes meet with Ben's. What the fuck is going on?

Ben looks in his rearview mirror and sees Dalton's truck, then turns to me. "Send Dalton your location. That old beast of a truck will never keep up with mine, and I have a feeling we'll need his help tonight."

I grab my phone and do as he asked, then nod. "Done."

"Maya, you're going to be just fine. If no one is around, then no one can harm you. Think about it that way." He tries to calm her down.

"But I'm scared. It's so dark out, and what if there are animals out here?"

"I can tell you're in an industrial part of town, which is pretty far away from the hills, so there shouldn't be anything you need to worry about."

She asks through her tears, "How do you know where I am?"

"Maya, I will always protect you. I made that promise years ago, and I plan on keeping it. Don't be mad, but I sent myself your location the other day when I grabbed your phone at school. I had to make sure you were safe."

She laughs. "Why am I not surprised?"

I know she's laughing at what Ben did, but I know, to him, it wasn't a laughing matter when he did it. He knew he needed to protect her, and at the time, that was the only way he knew how.

"Aren't you glad I did?" he asks playfully.

"Yes, but hurry!"

"I'm hurrying. Just stay on the phone with me."

I hear her sniffles and can tell she's calming down slightly.

"Ben …"

"Yeah, Sunshine?"

"Thank you. Thank you for coming to get me. Thank you for always being there for me."

"Maya, there's nothing you could do or say that would ever change me being there for you. Especially in a time like this. I will always be wherever you need me."

She cries again. "Thank you."

He lets out a long breath. "You have to stop crying, sweetie. You're breaking my heart."

"Okay," she whispers.

"I have Eli with me," Ben says.

"What's up?" I say so she can hear my voice.

"Really?" Maya's voice picks up.

"Yeah, Natalie and Dalton are behind us in his truck too. You know he can't keep up though, so Eli had to send him our location because I dusted his ass."

She laughs again. "How did they know what was going on?" Maya asks.

Ben lets out a sharp laugh. "They don't. They don't have a clue where we're going. They just saw me running from the barn and followed, knowing it had something to do with you." He turns to me. "Why don't you text them, saying she's okay but to continue following us? I think we have some business to attend to."

I pick up my phone and text Dalton.

When I'm done, Ben hands me his. "Put her exact location in my map, so I can follow on my screen up here." He points to the dashboard.

I do as he asked, and within seconds, her exact location is on the screen, saying we'll be there in eight minutes.

"I'm almost there, okay?" he says, trying to reassure her.

"Okay," she says, obviously still afraid, judging by the way her voice shakes. "Hurry. I'm so cold."

We drive in silence until Ben says, "Hey, remember when I taught you what to do if you ever saw a bear?"

"What?"

"Remember when we all went camping together a few years ago, and I had you practice what you should do if you ever saw a bear?"

"Oh jeez," she says, making Ben laugh out loud. "I'm not Timon!" she argues.

"You totally were. All I needed to do was put a grass skirt on you, and you'd play that part of the movie perfectly."

She laughs again.

"Why don't you practice that right now, so if an animal does try to sneak up on you, you're prepared?" Ben says.

"No way in hell," she says through her own giggles.

"Oh, come on. Eli needs to hear you growl."

She chuckles, then sighs, and we sit in silence for a few beats.

"Thanks, Ben."

"For what?"

"For just being you."

"You know there's no one else I'd rather be."

He grins at me, making me shake my head and roll my eyes. He's always been one cocky son of a bitch.

"It's telling me to turn in a mile, so I'm getting closer."

The way she says, "Okay," shows us she's calming down, and the fear in her voice is softening.

"Do you see my truck?" Ben asks when we finally get close to her.

"Not yet."

"It says we're right next to you." We turn a corner.

"Yes!" she screams with joy.

I look out and see her waving and jumping up and down.

"See, it's Timon," Ben teases, pointing her out to me.

"Shut up." She giggles.

She comes running toward the truck, and when Ben puts it in park, he hops out to meet her the rest of the way.

"Ben," she cries as she jumps in his arms, wrapping her legs around him so he's carrying her.

"I'm here, Sunshine. I'll always be here."

He walks her back to his truck just as Dalton and Natalie arrive. Dalton turns on his cube lights, illuminating the entire area around us before they hop out.

"'Bout time you made it in that slow-ass truck," Ben taunts Dalton.

The 1994 Chevy Dalton drives is sick as fuck, but eighty miles per hour is about as fast as that thing will go.

"Shut up." He grins, knowing Ben's just messing with him.

Natalie runs up to Maya.

"Are you okay?" Natalie asks.

Maya nods, then turns so she can check out her butt and leg. That's when we see red spots coming through her jeans.

"Is that blood?" Ben asks, not hiding the rage about to spill out.

Maya bites her lip, trying to hold back tears as she nods.

He examines her closer. "But your pants aren't ripped."

"It's because he pulled them down, then yanked me out of the truck and onto the ground. I had to pull them back up before I called you."

"He did what?" Ben growls.

She grabs him, wrapping her arms around his waist as she cries all over again.

I watch in horror as he asks, "Did he do anything to you?"

"No. I pushed him off of me," she replies, and we all release the air we were holding, praying nothing happen to her.

Ben glances at me and Dalton, and I raise my eyebrows at him in a silent pledge between us, saying, We're going to go fuck this guy up .

It was a good thing that I was there tonight because I don't think Dalton would have been able to stop Ben from physically killing the guy Maya had been dating. After allowing Ben to take a few good swings at Trevor, knocking him to the ground, it took everything in my power to peel him off of him.

The entire time, all I could think about was how I would feel if that were Liza. I pray if I am ever in this situation, someone would stop me before I did the same because I would no doubt kill the guy if they didn't.

After we got Maya's keys from the guy's truck and drove to where she was parked, I hopped out and drove the car home.

It's well past midnight, and I've tried to call Liza a few times, but it keeps going to her voice mail. Every ounce of my being needs to know she's okay. Even though I know she's in bed, it's like I can't breathe until I know for sure.

We head to Dalton's place and all meet inside. I watch as Ben walks around the apartment, obviously bothered by what happened tonight, but avoiding Maya at the same time. For the last few weeks, she's been missing from our group, and I haven't seen them even talking at school, which was very odd for them.

I'm not sure what's going through his mind, but he's got some shit to work through when it comes to that girl.

Natalie is the first to speak up. "Sorry, but I have to get going. My parents have accepted that I'm dating Dalton, but I still have a curfew. I told them what was going on, so they let me stay out later, but I'm sure they're wanting me home by now."

Maya stands to hug Natalie. "Thank you for everything tonight."

"You know we'll always be there for you," Natalie replies.

Dalton walks her to the door with his keys in his hand, so I hop up.

"I'm heading out too. I'll give Natalie a ride home."

Instead of heading to the door, I go to Maya and wrap my arms around her. It's not something I've ever done, but right now, I'm so tangled up with my thoughts about Liza that I think I need the hug just as much as Maya does.

"I'm glad you're okay," I whisper in her ear.

She hugs me back. "Thank you, Eli."

I nod and walk out the door, nodding my goodbye to Dalton and Ben.

After giving Natalie a ride home, I try Liza once again, but still can't get through. I know I'll never be able to go to bed tonight until I talk to her, so I do what I said I never would and head straight to her house, hoping that because it's the middle of the night, no one will see me.

Once I'm there, I walk to her bedroom window and tap lightly. "Liza, it's me, Eli," I whisper, trying not to scare her.

It takes a few tries, but eventually, she wakes up and opens her curtains, looking at me with a question in her sleepy face. I tilt my head toward the front door, and she gets up to meet me there.

Slowly, she opens the front door and steps outside. "Eli, what are you doing here?" she whispers so she doesn't wake up her aunt and uncle.

I wrap my arms around her, just needing to be close to her. "Some shit happened with Maya and the guy she was dating tonight."

"What?" she asks, pulling back to look at me, but I bring her in closer, not wanting to lose that connection.

"She's fine. Ben beat the shit out of him. I just wanted to hold you for a second," I say, gripping her tighter.

She holds me just as tight, knowing she can give me exactly what I need in this moment, making me love the fact that we can have each other this way, right now, not worrying who will see.