Chapter Five

I can't say I'd ever seriously envisaged what my life would turn out like. The stuff you dream of when you're younger isn't anything serious. Considering I used to want to be a pony, I wouldn't class that as a solid future plan. However, at that age I had definitely thought about high school. Delusional, I was under the impression that when I was in junior year I'd have gone to my fair share of parties, met a perfect boy, have perfect grades and never get into any trouble.

It was easy to plan things. Following through with said plans was another story.

If you told eight year old me that in another eight years time I'd be a party virgin, scared senseless of any form of physical contact, was failing math class and was sitting in the police station wrapped in a trauma blanket next to Parker Heywood... Well, at that age I think I'd have hid in my garden shed for the rest of time with my teddy bear for company.

***

"Can you stop fiddling with my hair? It's annoying." I huffed for what felt like the hundredth time since we left the park and sat on the bench just outside of it. I was no longer on my swing because it no longer worked. Parker had eventually wanted a shot on the one adjacent to mine (he claimed his bum had grown numb sitting on the ground) which had ended up giving way under the strain of his weight. Convinced that it wasn't his fault but the swing's and irritated at me for making fun of his fall, he forced me off my own. Long story short, the both of them now sat broken.

"But I'm bored." He whined like a kid, giving one last tug at my hair (I think he originally set out on tying it up but seemed to get confused half way through, handing back my hair tie and twirling it around his fingers instead). "And anyway, you don't seem to mind me touching your hair as much."

"That's different," I quickly dismissed. "But maybe if you hadn't broken the only working thing in that crappy park with your fat ass then you'd have something more entertaining to do rather than put tangled knots in my hair."

He scowled at me. "A man's ego is fragile. You have to nurture it, not injure it."

I gave him a look and we both lapsed into silence. Honestly, I had no idea why I was even here with him. It had been a split second decision; to escape the place with Parker instead of having to face my boss. All I'd done was delay the inevitable and in the process, aided a Twinkie thief who had not only tipped over half of the racks in the supermarket, but had now broken a children's swing set.

"I'm going to be fired." I voiced my thoughts, hitting my scraped sneaker toes together in front of me. I wasn't really bothered about it per se, it wasn't that I particularly liked that job, but the fact that I would be losing it because of him really pushed my buttons.

Who did he think he was, acting all high and mighty, suddenly charging into my life thinking far too much of himself and changing things? And what's more, he thought he could touch me. He persistently continued in his attempts even though we both knew they were futile.

"No you won't," Parker stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "It wasn't your fault, it was mine. If that dick fires you then so help me god I'll fucking smash his skull-"

"Please refrain yourself from smashing skulls. Think happy thoughts like-" I struggled to grasp an idea of happiness as he looked at me expectantly. "Like kittens playing with balls of yarn."

"Girl afraid of touching, you are very cute." He tapped me on the nose to which I glared in response and swatted his hand away.

"Boy who won't leave me alone, if you continue to touch me then you soon won't be able to have any children because I'll have kicked you so god damned hard."

"But honey," He sighed and I cringed at the pet name he was apparently sticking with. "I'm a hands-on learner type of guy."

I only worked out what his intentions were when it was too late. One second his arms were wide open, the next they were wrapped around my body, trapping me in a very warm and severely uncomfortable hug. Hugs were the worst of all contact. When fingers met with my skin, I felt fire. When another body wrapped itself around mine, I was confined in a burning embrace with no means of escape.

I wrenched myself out of his grasp as quickly as possible, my breathing laboured and heart hammering. He looked a little startled as I scrambled to the far side of the bench. He was lucky I was still even sitting on it. If my legs didn't feel like jello then I'd have stormed away already. "DON'T- DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME AGAIN. NOT LIKE THAT. I DON'T LIKE-" I let out a shaky breath, willing myself to calm down. "I don't like hugs."

An elderly lady walking her dog on the street opposite us looked between Parker and I with a slightly worried expression. Parker seemed to sense her stare too because he quickly shouted, "Trouble in paradise is all, no big deal!"

The woman who looked highly unconvinced began walking with a quicker pace. Quick enough for her short legged dog to have to run in order to catch up with her fast strides.

"What makes you think you have the right to just do that?" I snapped.

"Reassuring an old lady that nothing dodgy is going on? I don't know, my self preservation instinct? I don't want her making a big deal because she got the wrong impression of us."

"You know what I'm talking about." I seethed. "Hugging, touching. I don't let anybody else do that so why the fuck do you think I'd let you?"

He shrugged. "Girls are usually jumping at the chance to cuddle me, I'm not used to this cold shoulder treatment."

"I think we've established that I'm not like other girls." We stared at each other for a few seconds and I couldn't tell what it was that I had said that made his lips twitch upward slightly. He was so difficult to decipher, not as easy to figure out as I had initially thought.

"So hugs are definitely off the table," He replied after a few moments. "Noted."

I looked at him, unsure of whether he meant what he said. He seemed sincere but I still barely knew him. I wouldn't be able to tell whether he was or not no matter how hard I studied his face. His lips were turned down a little at the corners as if in deep thought and his eyes were scrunched slightly as if he were squinting into sunlight even though the sky was the colour of a television tuned to a dead channel. He turned his hazel gaze away from the virtually empty road to face me, a cheeky smile now replacing his earlier thoughtful frown. "Enjoying the view?"

I glared in response, cheeks flushing in self-loathing at allowing myself to stare and to be caught none the less. "What time is it?"

"About time that Axel picked us up." Parker groaned. "He said he'd be here ten minutes ag- speak of the devil and he shall appear."

The now familiar sports car came to a stop in front of us and we hopped inside. Axel glanced at me in the rear-view mirror as I buckled my seatbelt. "You finally loosen up? Your face looks red so I'm guessing you had a good fuck. As long as you keep it PG in the backseats, I'm cool with it."

"Axel, she doesn't like touching." Parker saved me from answering but I froze upon hearing what he replied with.

"I know, the whole intimacy thing. I was just kidding."

"No, I mean just touching in general."

"What? Like any touching?" He sounded baffled and I could tell that more questions were approaching so I pointedly stared out of the window next to me. Sheets of rain had begun to fall down from the darkened sky, droplets splattering in a staccato-like rhythm against the thick pane of glass. I tried to guess which streak of rain would reach the bottom first as their conversation dragged on.

"Nope." I could sense Parker had turned his head to look at me but I refused to meet his gaze.

"What do you do for fun then?"

I groaned. "You don't need to be sexually active to have fun you utter nugget."

"Did she just call me a nugget?" Axel snorted.

"I think she did."

"She has a name," I paused, turning away from the window. "Where's that flashing light coming from?"

"Behind us. I think it's..." Axel trailed off before cursing something under his breath, ever so slightly slowing down the speed of his car.

"Shit," Parker breathed, turning around in his seat to get a better look. "Oh fuck, it looks like they're following us. Man, what the hell are you doing? Speed up the car, don't slow it down!"

"Sorry dude but there's no getting away with this one. The road's empty and we're too close. Anyway, do you want your girl getting into trouble?"

"I'm not his girl." I protested. "And why would I get into trouble?"

"No I don't..." Parker reluctantly agreed, ignoring my question and sending me what looked like a sympathetic expression. I almost laughed. Since when did he care if I got into trouble or not?

Parker was so complicated and unpredictable that it made me wonder what was actually going on in that muddled brain of his. I couldn't deny that I was curious but that didn't mean that I liked him. He was one of the most annoying people I had ever come across.

Our vehicle slowed to a stop and a few seconds later a police car pulled over next to us. That's when I began to worry.

One: It was dark which meant it had to be late. My mum would no doubt be freaking out right now and to make matters worse, I'd left my phone at home.

Two: The fact that the police were here meant that we were all in trouble which would basically taint my perfect record, no thanks to Parker and Axel.

Three: If we did just so happen to get into trouble with the police, my mum would find out and it would most probably result in her forcing me to attend more therapy sessions. Quite frankly, I'd slice my kneecaps off or eat my own face if it meant I never had to see Doctor Greene again.

Axel rolled down his car window just as an officer sauntered over to it, leaning in with his arms folded. "What can I do for you, officer?" He tried to sound cheery but it seemed too fake to be real.

"You were speeding, son. Where ya off to in such a rush, huh?"

It became blatantly obvious that though Axel had a cocky, confident façade, he was terrible at lying under pressure. "Just... doing a spot of shopping."

"At half past eleven at night? Y'know, things would go a lot quicker if ya cut the crap. Ah can see that empty beer can on the seat next to ya. Come on out, yer friends too." He waved the breathalyzer he held in his grasp as we all grudgingly clambered out of the vehicle. As soon as we left its warmth, we were immediately drenched in rain.

It turned out that Axel had one too many drinks before he came to pick us up, hence his late arrival.

"You don't have to fine me or put any more points on my licence though, right? Cut me some slack man. This car is like my child." Axel tried to wriggle his way out of the mess but the officer just raised an eyebrow before pointedly staring at his license plate-free car.

"Afraid so, son. Could have killed these two here." Since he was nearest me, it just so happened to be my shoulder that he planted his hand on. "Sorry I had to bring the pair of ya out, just makin' sure you weren't doin' drugs in the back. That seems to be the usual teenage business nowadays-" I slapped him away immediately, recoiling from his touch. It took all of three seconds for Parker to stand in between the officer and I, spewing curse words.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing? She's afraid of touching you idiot!" Though a part of me was grateful for his intervening, the larger part of me found it extremely hypocritical of him. Parker, the boy who couldn't seem to keep his hands off me no matter how much I voiced my protests, was now lecturing someone else for touching me who had no idea that I didn't like it. The guy reinforced the law, he wasn't a bad person who had intentionally touched me, just an oblivious one. The officer exchanged a look with his partner who was now watching us like a hawk out of the police car window. "Are you going to apologise or what?"

Instead of apologising, the officer looked between Parker and I with realisation dawning on his wrinkled features. Each time he tried to get a better look at my face, Parker would move, shielding me from sight. Axel stood at the side, shifting his weight from foot to foot awkwardly.

"Did ya know that we had a real interestin' call earlier, we did. Turned up and nobody was there so we thought we'd have a drive around town. Woman phoned in, sounded real concerned. Some teenage boy, tall and intimidating lookin', was scarin' a young lady. She didn't want to be touched. Description fits you guys perfectly, don't ya think?"

"What are you trying to say?" Parker hissed in a deathly whisper. I didn't need to see his face to know that he was deeply unhappy. His hands had clenched into fists by his sides and he'd left his bomber jacket in the car, giving me a clear view of how his back muscles flexed beneath his snug black shirt as he tried to rein in his short fused temper.

I was tempted to say something about how things might have been perceived in the wrong way but I decided it was best not to. When I was nervous I didn't have a filter. Knowing me, I'd accidentally launch into a full blown one-sided conversation about my grandma's cat and how it had silky fur.

"I think we have an intoxicated, speeding driver, an angry lookin' boy that's had a report filed in on him just over an hour ago and a very nervous lookin' young lady that seems to flinch upon physical contact. What I'm sayin' is that I think the three of ya need to come with me."

***

Our road trip to the police station hadn't been the finest twenty minutes of my life. Not only had it been a difficult task to get us into the car, (Axel and I were the first to cave in. Parker however, went down with much more resistance for reasons unknown to me. A flurry of punches, two police officer's strong arms and a pair of handcuffs later, we had all been piled into the back.) but I'd had to tolerate the never ending complaints and cursing from Parker for the entire journey.

However, it was only once we were being walked down Oakton's police station corridor that the growing seed of dread that had planted itself in my stomach on our ride here began to bloom spectacularly. Memories resurfaced, ones that I hadn't thought of in so long that I forgot existed at all.

"So you fight the bad guys?" I asked my father, looking up at him. At that age, I only reached to just above his waist next to his six foot build. He had a thick head of salt and pepper hair which had been slicked back and combed neatly to one side. He'd always complained about turning grey before he'd even reached fifty.

"That's right, Flo Flo," He ruffled my hair affectionately, holding my hand and using his other free one to point to the puppies that were in training. "Because we're the good guys. Those dogs help us by using their noses, they sniff out the bad stuff for us so that we can catch the criminals out there."

"Do they like helping the police?" I frowned at the puppies, wanting to pet one of them but being held back by dad.

"Of course they do. It's an honour to work for us because we fight for a good cause. They help. You see this badge?" He asked, pointing to his shiny police badge. I nodded in response. "This means that you can trust us."

The memory finished almost as soon as it had started. A small flashback to my earlier life, part of it that I'd actually enjoyed when my dad would take me on tours around his work place. The very building I was in now. I couldn't say that I had imagined that I'd ever step foot in it again for multiple reasons, the first being that I'd have no reason to, but here I was. I didn't know quite how to feel about it.

The three of us were seated in the dimly lit hallway but I was to stay separated from Parker and Axel. There was a guard watching us as I sat four chairs apart from the pair, making sure that we didn't have any contact with each other. A blanket of some sort had been draped around my shoulders and I hugged it closer to me for comfort, my teeth chattering. The police station wasn't very warm and the rain had practically drowned us on our small walk from the parked police car to the building. I could feel that my long brown hair had stuck rather uncomfortably to the back of my neck whilst other stray strands had attached to my cheeks. I couldn't bring myself to fix it.

I glanced toward Axel and Parker who looked like a pair of Abercrombie and Fitch models that had been caught in a light drizzle, hair pasted slightly to their temples and the sheen on their skin from the rain almost seeming to make them glow. I'd be lying if I said it didn't irritate me.

Parker caught my gaze. Upon seeing me, he bit the skin of his knuckles looking oddly concerned. He mouthed three words:

Are you okay?

I wasn't. I gave a slight nod anyway before looking at my completely sodden sneakers. I was worried about my mum soon finding out about my current predicament, worried about getting into trouble, worried about being in the place where my father had worked even though he was no longer here. Not to mention, I felt cold to my bones.

It was at that point that the guard got talking to a busty co-worker, losing interest in us seeing as we weren't doing anything and focusing more intently on the pretty girl in front of him. Parker didn't miss a beat, practically running to sit next to me. Axel followed more calmly and sat on my other side.

"You're really pale," He observed. His hands moved like he wanted to touch me, comfort me in some way, but they fell limply to his lap as he realised he couldn't. Not only were they linked together with handcuffs, but he probably realised that a touch would do little to soothe my distress. I had to suffer on my own. "Fuck. Honey, it might not seem like it but I'm really sorry for getting you into this mess."

"M'kay." I mumbled, eyes focused on the wall in front of me that was bare save for a group shot of all of the staff taken the year before my dad had disappeared from my life. His smiling face looked back at me from the front row of officers in a permanent state of happiness.

"Okay? That's it? Where are your sarcastic comebacks?" Parker actually sounded panicked at how chill I was being. I reluctantly pulled my eyes away from the photograph to look at him. His hazel eyes looked wide and troubled.

"Guess I don't have any." I shrugged. Although it was just a photograph, I could feel my dad's eyes burning into the side of my head. I refused to turn back around to face him, refused to be dragged back into their magnetic pull.

"What? But you're always sarcastic!" He raked a hand through his brown hair, tugging at its roots.

"Stop freaking out," I sighed, hugging the blanket closer to my body. "Shouldn't I be the one doing that seeing as you're meant to be some kind of badass?"

"If we're speaking of high school stereotypes then I think I'd be classed as more of a jock than a badass."

"You stole a Twinkie. That counts as being badass in my books."