Find me

Chapter 8

Gabriel POV

I was nervous as fuck.

I glanced at the clock. My dad should have been home by now.

“When is your dad getting home?” Gray asked, scrolling through his phone.

“He should have been here by now.” I mumbled.

“Maybe he’s in surgery.” Gray said.

“He usually calls me if he’s staying late.” I said, moving my eyes from the clock to the front door.

I needed him to come home. I needed him to tell me something. I needed him to tell me that it was a coincidence.

I wanted to stop thinking about her. I wanted to stop this feeling of dread that washed over me every fucking time I remembered how scared she was.

This week was supposed to be totally chill. We didn’t have any big tests this week. Gray and I were supposed to go to a party on Friday. I planned on getting drunk and fucking someone. Not Janet, though. I learned my lesson with that one.

But all I could think about right now was that girl. All I wanted was to know who she was. All I wanted was to make sure that she was safe.

I heard a car pull up, and my heart skipped a beat.

“He is home.” Gray said as he looked up from his phone.

I rubbed my sweaty palms together and sat up straighter. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.

My head felt like it was going to explode. I had a million questions, and all of them would be gone if my dad told me that it was a coincidence and that there were no girls in our family.

But what if my dad didn’t even know that my aunt and uncle had a girl? What if he didn’t even know that they’d put her up for adoption?

My stomach turned, and I had to clench my fists to stop myself from hitting something.

The front door opened, and my dad walked inside.

“Hey, bud.” he said with a small smile. “Hey, Gray.”

“Hello, Mr. Sanders.” Gray said politely.

My dad closed the front door and placed his keys in the bowl. He looked back at us and furrowed his eyebrows.

“What’s wrong, Gabriel?” he asked, worriedly. “Did something happen? Are you okay?”

He hurried toward me, scanning my body for injuries.

“I’m okay, dad.” I said calmly. “Don’t worry.”

“You don’t look okay.” he mumbled, sitting down next to me. “What’s wrong?”

I glanced at Gray, who gave me a small nod.

I ran my fingers through my hair and took a deep breath.

“Something weird happened at school.” I mumbled, looking back at my dad.

My dad furrowed his eyebrows again. “What happened? Did someone hurt you?”

“No.” I said, shaking my head. “There is a new girl at our school.”

My dad glanced at Gray. I could tell that he was very confused.

“Okay.” my dad mumbled. “Why is that weird? I mean, I know that this town is small, but people do come to live here.”

I gulped and took another deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart down.

“It’s weird because she looks like me.” I said, looking my dad straight in the eyes.