Free Keep Me Safe by Elaine Breson Page A

“I didn’t leave a note on your car. What did it say?”
    I froze. I couldn’t make myself move or breathe. I felt like I was being smothered and felt all the blood drain from my face. Parker’s face turned concerned in an instant, but then I heard someone speak behind him.
    “Uncle Parker, it’s your turn! Hurry up!” Tyler was leaning from around the corner of the game room. Parker looked over his shoulder but didn’t turn away from me.
    “Alright bud, I’ll be right there!” He looked back at me and the concern hadn’t left his face. “What did it say?”
    “Nothing…nothing much,” I stuttered. “Just something like ‘I miss you – your eyes, smile, how you smell’…something like that. It must’ve been put on my car by mistake.”
    “Oh, I guess. Not that I don’t think you smell really good, because you do.” I forced a smile so he didn’t see me freaking out. “I better get back in there before he takes my turn for me. He got a new Xbox game and he’s kicking my ass. We’re not done talking about this though.” He grabbed a beer and a Sprite out of the fridge before going back towards the game room. He winked at me before he disappeared into the room.
    I stood there leaning against the counter for a minute trying to convince myself that the note was a mistake. But I knew it wasn’t. I knew it was from Brent. He used to leave notes on my car when we first started dating. He used to tell me how much he loved my perfume and I changed to a different one as soon as I left him. I didn’t need the reminder. I grabbed the pitcher of margaritas and went back outside.
    “We thought you got lost!” Rachel said holding up her empty glass. “Fill me up, would you?”
    “Oh yeah, sure.” I walked around the circle and refilled everyone’s glasses. I sat down and pretended to listen to their conversation but truth be told, I couldn’t focus on a single thing they were saying. I felt like I was going to throw up, but I realized someone was calling my name.
    “Sadie? Are you okay?” Beth was trying to get my attention.
    “Oh, yeah…I just have a really bad headache all of a sudden.” I rubbed my hand across my forehead to make my story seem believable. I sat there for a few more minutes trying to contribute to the conversation, but it wasn’t happening. “Sorry to cut it short guys, but I’m not feeling too well. I think I’m going to go home.”
    “Aww, alright. I’m sorry you have to go home so soon. We had so much fun. I hope you feel better soon. Do you want me to walk you out?” Beth asked as she started to stand up.
    “No, don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.” I smiled and waved. “Thanks again for inviting me! I had so much fun. Bye guys.” I grabbed my purse from the kitchen and walked as fast as I possibly could back through the house and out the front door. I walked into my house and threw my purse and keys down on the entryway table. I kicked my flip flops off and went upstairs, landing heavily on my bed. I grabbed one of the pillows and clutched it between my arms as tight as I could possibly manage. Why was he doing this to me? The note and the phone call; it couldn’t be a coincidence. I buried my face into the top of the pillow and started to cry.
     

 
    Eight
     
     
    “Sadie? Wake up.” I jolted awake and thought I saw Parker sitting next to me on my bed, shaking me slightly to wake me up. I panicked and scooted all the way to the other side of the bed, my eyes barely focusing on the person sitting there. A quick look around reminded me that I ran up here after bolting out of Beth’s house. It made sense why my eyes didn’t adjust right away; I managed to cry myself to sleep not too long ago.
    “Hey, it’s okay! It’s just me. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He’s lucky I didn’t kick him or something in my embarrassing attempt to move away from him.
    “Hey, uh, what are you doing here?” I scooted back towards the middle of the bed.
    “I went