AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nothing.” Trent tells him, his voice coming out harder than I’ve heard it all day.
“Seriously, I’m so confused.” Leo says to nobody in particular before he turns his attention to me. Trent is leaning forward in his seat as he looks over my phone so I can see Leo around him easily.
“How do you not know how to use a phone?” He asks me, and I see Trent’s shoulders stiffen. “Like just, not that phone, right? Like you used to have an android, and now you have an iPhone, and you’re confused?” He’s rambling now, sprouting off different scenarios that he thinks would be reasonable as to why I don’t know phones, but I shake my head at him.
“I said drop it!” Trent yells at Leo, causing him to snap his mouth shut mid-sentence. He looks from Trent to me and back again before he lifts his hands in way of surrender and turns back to his work.
I can feel the eyes of everyone in the class on us in response to Trent’s outburst. Trent huffs and turns back to my phone, angrily slamming his thumbs into the screen with enough force that I’m almost concerned he’ll break it. I put my hand over the screen, covering both of his thumbs where they rest on the screen. He takes a deep breath and hangs his head but doesn’t say anything immediately.
Huh.
I expected to have to fight a reaction when touching him, but even now, as my hand lays on his, I feel nothing. No fear, no sense of danger. Instead, it’s almost pleasant, normal even. Just like with Hazel earlier, it’s almost easy. I thought it was weird when he touched me earlier, and I didn’t feel anything, but I chalked it up to just being startled. I guess I was wrong.
I look at him where he sits next to me and feel my brow pinch in confusion. Why? Maybe it’s just them. I felt the same with Hazel, and I thought it might be because she was a girl my age, but I’m pretty sure that’s not the case with Trent.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause a scene.” Trent tells me without looking up. I don’t say anything, and we continue to sit there as I wait for him to look up. Slowly I feel the stares around us lessen as people lose interest and turn their attention back to whatever they are doing.
Finally, he looks up at me, emotion clear in his eyes, but I don’t understand what it is.
“I don’t think it’s me you should be saying sorry to.” I tell him before I cut my eyes to look at Leo, who has yet to look up at anything. The smile that’s been on his face since the moment I met him is missing, and while I might not like the guy exactly, I do think Trent was a little too hard on him.
Trent looks at Leo and back to me before he shakes his head.
“What? No. He shouldn’t be digging into things that aren't any of his business.” He tells me, and I sigh because while I understand he was trying to stand up for me, I also don’t need to be sheltered.
“Trent.” I say his name, and his attention is instantly back on me, with a small smile on his face.
I pull my hand away from the phone now that I’m sure he won't break it and fold my hands in my lap as he watches me. “I appreciate what you were trying to do, but everyone will know eventually. Most people already do, and it doesn’t matter to me. I’m well aware of who I am, and the people around me should know who that is so they can decide if they want to be around me. It’s not fair to others to hide that.”
He’s shaking his head at me even before I’ve finished talking.
“No, who cares about that? It has nothing to do with who you are now, and if they judge you on that, it’s bullshit.” He growls out his words, and I see the anger in his eyes. Thankfully he’s not yelling, so most people don’t look twice at us. I chuckle at him because it sounds good in theory, but we all know that’s not how this works.
“Trent, it has everything to do with who I am. And it might be a bullshit way to judge, but I would rather let people know and distance themselves if thats what they want because if that's how they feel, I don’t want them around anyways.” I stare at him as I explain, willing him to understand. He’s quiet for a minute before he nods.
“We also both know that just because I’m out doesn’t mean anything. I could end up back there at any moment, and anyone around me is in potential danger just because of that.” I tell him just loud enough that only he hears me. His back goes ramrod straight, his head whipping around the room as if looking around for a threat.
He looks back at me, and his face is serious, much more like when I first met him at the station, instead of the laid-back college kid he’s been all morning. “Don’t say that kind of shit. We both know the guys won't let that happen.” Anger drips from his words, but I don’t think he’s angry at me. “And neither will I.” He says almost as an afterthought.
“Sometimes we don’t get the choice on what we want to happen.” I tell him without elaborating further. I know there's a very good chance I’ll be going back, but he doesn’t need to know that. He opens his mouth to respond, but I shake my head before nodding to Leo again.
Trent huffs but nods again.
“Hey Leo, listen, man. I didn’t mean to go off on you like that.” He says, turning in his seat to look at him.
Leo looks up for a second before looking back down at his work. Trent faces me again.
“Happy now?” He asks with a small smile on his face.
“No, not at all, actually, and clearly, neither is Leo.” I gesture towards him. Trent raises a brow in question at me like he doesn’t understand.
“Leo,” I call out to him, and he looks up for real this time, pulling his attention away from his work.
“Trent was just trying to protect me, and while it’s appreciated, it’s not necessary.” He nods his head but doesn’t ask for more information like I expected him to.
So I continue unprompted. “I’ve never used a cell phone because up until two weeks ago. I’d spent the majority of my life in sex trafficking rings. I’ve never been to school or out in the real world, and because of that, I’m lacking a lot of things that should be common knowledge.” I tell him with a shrug.
His mouth quite literally falls open. He looks from me to Trent and back again before he seems to process exactly what I just said.
