Classified ☑

[ chapter 05 ]

I walked to the locker room to clean myself up. It was getting later in the evening and more people were starting to come into the gym. The last thing I needed was for strangers to see me as a hot mess.

The AC in the locker room hit me as soon as I opened the door, immediately cooling off my face. I headed to the back where the bathroom was located. The bright lights illuminated the bathroom, showing off every imperfection when I looked in the mirror.

My under eyes were swollen and my face was discolored from crying. I gritted my teeth as stinging pain shot through my hands, regretting not having used tape.

Water rushed from the facet as I turned it on, putting a paper towel underneath it. After turning it off, I dabbed the paper towel under my eyes. I didn't know if it would do anything to help, but I thought I'd try something.

After several minutes I gave up and walked out of the locker room and towards my things I'd left out, pulling my hair out of the ponytail it was in. I grabbed my hoodie and slid it over my head, keeping the hood over my head to stop people from being able to see me.

I slid my bag's strap over my shoulder and walked to the ice machine, grabbing a bag to put ice in. "Ow," I gritted as my hands stung.

Someone stepped up beside me and I was surprised to see Joseph. He looked down at my hands and frowned, taking the bag and scooper away from me. "What'd you do to your hands?"

I kept my eyes down, hoping he wouldn't see my face. "Used the punching bag without tape."

Joseph chuckled, scooping ice into the bag for me. "Well that wasn't smart."

"Nope," I mumbled, still avoiding his gaze.

Joseph was quiet as he finished tying the bag, making sure there was no air in it. He handed it to me and caught a glimpse at my face. "What happened?" he asked carefully, like he wasn't sure if he was crossing a line or not.

My instinct was to tell him I was fine, but something about his presence seemed familiar and safe. I still couldn't put my finger on why, but for once, I didn't run away from the question. I felt like I could trust him.

"I'm just really missing my dad. More than lately," I answered him.

He gulped, shoving his hands into his pockets. It was obvious the topic made him uncomfortable, but he still asked, "Was he a cool guy?"

I smiled, nodding my head. "He was the best."

That was all I was willing to give up at the moment and Joseph graciously accepted it, not pushing for anymore answers from me.

He turned more towards me and whispered, "That guy over there has been staring at us for awhile now. Do you know him?"

I glanced around Joseph and saw who he was talking about. Cole was watching us from a distance with a scowl on his face. Mark, who was with him, was benching as Cole spotted him.

"Yeah, he goes to my school."

"He doesn't seem very happy," Joseph said to me.

"Yeah, he's mad at me. Typical high school stuff," I answered, even though it was far from typical.

"Well, it seems you made a friend after all." Joseph winked at me, reminding me of the conversation we'd had yesterday.

"I wouldn't exactly call us friends," I said, dragging my eyes away from Cole and placing the ice on my hand. The cold sent a shrill through my arm. "Ouch."

Joseph chuckled. "Guess you learned your lesson."

"Mhm," I mumbled.

"Well, I'll see you around kid," Joseph said to me, backing away.

I watched him go and found my eyes back on Cole. He was laughing at something Mark must've said as he laid his back on the bench, placing his hands on the bar above him. I shook my head, snapping myself out of my gaze.

Gracie looked up from the desk when she saw me walking by. The look on her face told me she wasn't sure if she should say something or not. Guilt crept in from ignoring her earlier. As I passed her, I gave her a sad smile and small wave.

She nodded her head at me, seeming to understand. I wondered if Thomas had mentioned something to her.

I made it outside and ignored the pain that shot through my hand when I opened the door to my truck. It was cold inside as I waited for the heat to blast. It always took a couple of minutes since it was an older truck.

As I drove home I couldn't help but feel relieved, like a weight had been taken off my shoulders. Sure my hands hurt, but it'd been awhile since I'd let all my emotions out and I'd just let it build up, making me angrier without even realizing it. Plus, my uncle and I hugged for the first time since he'd pulled me from the car the night my father died.

The memory made my chest hurt, but I remember hugging him so tightly when he pulled me from the car.

We were headed to his house that night. My dad had just gotten off the phone with him letting him know we were twenty minutes out. When we never showed and didn't answer our phones, my uncle knew something must've happened.

He drove down the two way street that went for miles without a gas station in sight, only land and dirt on either side of the road. Whoever planned on killing my father knew where we were going and what road we were driving on. They knew there wouldn't be any witnesses or cameras to see what happened.

I don't know how long I'd been waiting before my uncle got to me. He'd pulled me from the wreck and hugged me like no tomorrow. But what happened after was what made us drift apart.

I wanted to call the cops and tell them what happened. That my father was hunted down and murdered, but Thomas said that he couldn't risk it since whoever killed him thought I was dead too. We'd left my father there like he was roadkill. We never even had a memorial service for him.

And as far as I knew the police never came looking for us. My uncle said it was probably because my father had a fake ID on him, hiding his real identity which we only knew. Thomas ended up doing some digging and figured out that they'd labeled my dad as a John Doe. They never brought it to the news because they had no answers for what happened that night.

It was like my father knew something like this would happen one day.

Before long I pulled onto the gravel driveway that would lead to my uncle's house. The rocks crunched underneath the tires as I pulled up the house, cutting the engine off.

I hopped out of the truck and unlocked the front door, closing it behind me. I surveyed the mess that covered the house, sighing in tiredness.

Maybe it was time for both my uncle and I to move one from what had happened. Besides, we were all each other had.

A/N: A shorter chapter, but hopefully one that answered some questions.  :)