AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re right. I’d absolutely miss your ass during my workout. I’m not sure how much I’d slack, but it’s best not to test that theory.”
He grinned and shoved some Doritos in his mouth.
“But since you’re not feeling well, I don’t want you to do anything strenuous in there.”
“I promise I won’t. I’ll just help you go through your routine and will spot you.”
“Deal.”
At least he would be with me and not at home. I could live with that.
During my workout after school, Patrick kept his word and just walked around with me. He held my workout journal and recorded the number of each exercise I did. While I jumped rope, he sat on one of the benches and zoned out. His eyes were locked on my body, although it appeared he was dead tired and preoccupied. He had folded up a towel and put it on his shoulder, then tilted his head to the side to rest against the towel. When he closed his eyes, I stopped jumping rope.
I felt helpless over the situation.
I hung the jump rope up and sat on the bench beside him. He jerked awake when I leaned down to get my bottle of water.
“Done already?” he asked.
I looked at him and nodded.
“Are you okay, Patrick?”
“I am. I’m ready for bed, I think.”
“I’d say so. Let me shower really quick and then I’ll drive you home.”
We went to the locker room, and I quickly threw my workout clothes in my gym bag. I showered as fast as I could and hurried back to my locker to get dressed.
“I’m going to take a quick shower too. That way when I get home I can just crawl into bed.”
“Okay. I’ll be ready when you’re done,” I told him.
“Don’t come sneaking up on me in the showers either. I might have to use some of my karate on you.”
I shook my head. As I finished getting dressed, I thought about his warning. Subtle and with humor, but still a warning. I began to worry about what I might find if I were to go take a peek. I looked over my shoulder in the direction of the running water. Though as tempting as it was, I didn’t move toward the showers. He trusted me.
I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my legs. I looked down at the callouses on my hands from the weights. My strength training coach, Herb, had given me some gloves to use while lifting. He told me to protect my hands whenever I could. I ran my fingertip over the raised skin and thought about Patrick. Moments later his bare feet padded by me on the way to his locker in the aisle over from mine.
“I’ll be ready in one sec,” he called over the lockers to me.
“No problem.”
I heard him rustle around to get dressed and then his locker door shut. I shut mine and picked up the handles to my gym bag before I stood. Patrick rushed around the corner with his backpack partially open in his arms. The back portion of the backpack slipped while he was trying to balance the bag and zip it. His math book, spiral notebook, a paperback novel, and a bottle of pills tumbled onto the floor. The translucent orange plastic bottle with a white plastic lid rolled to my feet. Even though Patrick reacted quickly and tried to grab it, I was quicker and picked it up. I turned the bottle over in my hand to read the label.
OxyContin. This was highly addictive shit, stuff I’d learned in health class to stay away from. The patient’s name was Raquel Dawson, and the prescribing doctor was William Dawson… Patrick’s dad. If it had been Patrick’s name on the bottle as the patient, I wouldn’t have been as concerned. Yeah, I’d want to know what was up, but at least it would have been his. This looked sketchy.
“Hollis, give it back.” I stared at him. “Please.”
“Who is Raquel?”
“My stepmom.”
“Why do you have them?”
“Hollis, please. Just give them—”
I grabbed Patrick’s sweatshirt and backed him against the end of the lockers.
