Trusting the Unknown

Finally Friday came and went and Addie was ready for the weekend. Just as she was about to leave, she heard the devil speak her name.

“Addie!” Addie spun around from her spot in the middle of the inclined plane. “I heard you were starting rumors about me,” Tyler shouted out in anger.

Addie backed up against the railing; Tyler was approaching quickly. Her voice came out as a strangled squeak. “What are you talking about?” She smashed her small frame into the wall, hoping to blend with the chalky white bricks.

“Why are you telling people that I cheated on you?”

For the second time that week, a crowd was formed around them. Adelyn was terrified of Tyler. He overshadowed her tiny figure. He grabbed her shoulders and dug his nails into her blades. Tyler screamed into her ear again. “Huh? Answer me!”

“Tyler you’re hurting me,” Adelyn gasped in a weak tone. By now, she was scared for her life. She had never seen him like this and she wished this had never happened. There wasn’t even time to think about crying.

Without another word, Tyler shoved Addie with all his might. She faltered and collided with the linoleum tiles, a small gasp escaping her mouth. Her head throbbed and it made her vision unclear. The next thing she saw surprised her. The same boy with the crooked smile was making his way through the mob.

“Hey! That’s enough! You need to stop!” Needless to say, his contagious boyish grin had long since disappeared.

Tyler flinched from the tone, but nevertheless, opened his mouth again. “No! Get out of the way! This doesn’t concern you!” He tried to move past him and get another hit at Adelyn, but the boy would not allow it.

“Drop it before a teacher comes and the cops get involved!” The only thing Addie could comprehend about the boy was that his tone burned her ears.

“Come on Tyler,” his brother Danny begged. “That dude’s right.” Danny pulled on Tyler and he shoved back.

“He’s just a stupid little boy! What’s he gonna do?” Tyler laughed darkly, triumph painted on his twisted face.

The boy pulled a phone from his back pocket. “Last time I checked, this thing had a video camera and I know how to use it.” He smiled unkindly at his own choice of words.

“You’re gonna regret this!” Tyler pointed a finger at the boy and stormed off with some of his buddies, bumping him intentionally. The crowd didn’t dissipate. In fact, they concentrated harder on the boy and Adelyn.

“Hey, are you okay?” The boy was knelt next to her, assisting Addie. He propped her head up.

She rubbed her head and found a small bump, but nothing life-threatening. “Yeah, I think so. Who are you?”

“I don’t think this is the right place to start a conversation. Come on. I’ll take you home.” He helped Addie to her feet and she followed him to his Jeep, limping into the passenger seat.
In all her anger and fear, Addie had only now realized that tears were coming down for the umpteenth time that week. The car ride was silent until the boy spoke.

“Do you want me to take you home or am I supposed to take you somewhere else?”

“Do you mind going to the park with me? I need some fresh air.”

For a minute, Addie could’ve sworn he looked surprised but he immediately wiped the expression from his face. “Sure.”

They arrived at the park and she was thankful that no one else was around. The two kids sat on the swings and Tanner still carried around his broken smile.

“Thank you…for everything,” Addie said as she played with the rock under her foot.

“It’s no big deal. I just don’t think it’s right for a guy to put his hands on a girl like that. It’s disrespectful,” the boy revealed, holding his hands together. “But you shouldn’t feel too special. I would’ve saved anyone from that.”

Addie let a mental frown bounce around in her head. As if her self-esteem wasn‘t bottoming-out already. “What’s your name? You never told me your name.”

He gazed over at Addie somewhat surprised. “My name‘s Tanner.”

Tanner. Adelyn liked that name. “I’m Adelyn, but you can pretty much call me any nickname you can think of. That‘s what all my friends do.”

Tanner stared off into the barren trees, his eyes fixated on the invisible leaves. “I know who you are. I‘ve known you since grade school, but apparently you don‘t know me.” He smiled slightly for the first time during their brisk conversation. “Don‘t worry about hurting my feelings. It‘s a pretty good size school.” The shadow of a grin was short-lived. “What I don’t know is why a girl like you would go out with a guy like Tyler.” Tanner spat Tyler’s name.

“A girl like me? I thought I wasn’t supposed to feel special?”

Tanner opened his tight lips only to clamp them shut with more force.

Adelyn sighed. “Because I fell for a lie. I thought he was different than the others, but he turned out to be my worst nightmare. I don’t know what I was thinking. I should’ve known that my friends would be right.” She felt tears rising and she bit her lip to hold them back.

Facing down, Tanner murmured, “Never trust anyone. They either leave or hurt you in the end. Or they die and take your heart with them.” Tanner stood up and smoothed out his jeans. “It’s getting late. I think I should take you home.”

Adelyn looked around and noticed it wasn‘t late at all. It had to be close to five. She agreed reluctantly and they walked backed to the Jeep together. When they got there, he opened the door for her and then got in the driver’s side. She wondered absentmindedly why he reflected such cold behavior toward her. Why did she feel as if she was supposed to know Tanner? She almost felt a pang of guilt for not remembering.

It was a quiet drive back to Addie’s house and both of them enjoyed that. The trees, houses, and cars blurred past the corner of her eye. The mystique of the boy sitting next to her continued to pull on her brain. The porch light was on outside her home when they came to a halt. “Thank you,” Addie said as she rested her hand on the car door.

“Stay away from Tyler. After what he did to you today, I don’t think it’s safe for you to be around him.” Tanner looked at Addie to make sure her response would be honest.
“I will.”

“Goodbye, Adelyn,” Tanner said as Addie closed the door. He backed out of the driveway and sped off in the direction she assumed to be his home.

Adelyn clutched on to her jacket in the now empty driveway. There was something about that boy. He was holding something back. It was like he knew her situation better than he should.