Bee couldn't sleep that night. She had tossed and turned all night, just thinking about Oakland, about the kisses, about his confessions. He likes me. She couldn't stop turning the words over and over again in her head, each time letting the words filter through her mind slowly, savoring the feeling that came along with it.

And then, there was the doubt. The sinking feeling that despite all that had happened that night, and everything building up to it, was nothing but a rouse.

And if it was a rouse, the perfect time to throw it all in her face would be prom, where she would be in front of everyone. Bee didn't very much like that thought.

The next morning, she had stood in front of her mirror, looking at herself. Her outfit. Her hair. Every little bit about her that Bee could possibly analyze. When she twisted around, she could still see the bruises, so she put on something that would cover her decently, but something that was still flirty. Something that would make Oakland look at her. She settled on a long sleeved peach-colored dress, perfect for spring, and white cable-knit tights.

Flirty, but innocent. Maybe innocent enough to drive Oakland mad. The thought alone made Bee smile as she knotted a scarf around her neck and pulled on her shoes. She grabbed her bag and rushed down the stairs, extra quickly by her father's room. She rushed through the kitchen, but there was her mom, in front of the door.

She was smiling. It was tired. "Bee, honey, hi." She held out a to-go cup of coffee. "I thought I'd drive you to school this morning."

Bee wanted to wait, to see if Oakland would come get her, but there was no going around her mother. That, and it was a little sweet that her mom would offer.

She followed her mom outside, jumped into the car, and buckled up. The first few moments were in silence, and Bee could see the tightening on her mother's hands on the steering wheel.

"Bee, about the other night..."

Bee froze, her heart freezing up and her chest tightening. She immediately felt on edge, forcing herself to stare straight ahead. "Mom, please."

"No, we need to talk. This isn't right. This isn't right. The way your father... reacted. I'm going to get us out."

Bee hated that she felt like she'd heard it before. It made it less genuine. It made it feel ridiculous, more ridiculous than the truth.

"Mom, I'm okay. Soon it'll be over and I'll be out. So please let's not talk about it."

Her mom burst into tears, suddenly and loudly. "No! No it's not okay and you aren't okay! And I'll get us out, Bee. I'm going to get us out. Listen. I have it all set - a bag packed, your bag packed, and mine. I don't want to make him nervous, and if you don't show up at school, they'll call. So, after school, we'll run."

Bee twisted in her seat, looking at her mother, her mouth open in shock. "Mom-"

"I'm serious, Bee. I called... I called my parents."

That was enough to shut her up. All of her life, Bee had never met her grandparents on her mother's side. As a child she'd wondered about them sure, and she had learned that after getting pregnant and marrying her father, Bee's mother was cut off.

Calling her grandparents, running away to them, felt serious to Bee. She sobered up immediately, turning to blink at her mother. It was all so sudden and she felt like she couldn't swallow.

"Mom... what about school? Not today, but tomorrow. The day after that. Until I graduate. What about baseball?"

Her mom wiped tears with shaking hands. "Bee honey, I've called you out. On vacation. Until we can... until I can get a restraining order. So you're safe. For when you go back to school." Bee could hear the words unsaid: so he can't hurt you.

Bee felt the tears in the back of her throat. She was stunned into silence, the kind that felt endless and dark. She didn't know how to respond. She sat there, gaping at her mom, trying to process it all.

"Gone. For a few days." Baseball. What about baseball? She didn't want to be selfish. She couldn't be selfish. But the longer she was gone, the more coach would doubt her. The more coach would see that maybe Oakland belonged on second base alone.

Her mom pulled into the school, stopping and swiping at her eyes. "I know this is hard. It's been hard for too long honey, but I'm getting us out. I'm getting us out."

Bee swallowed thickly, pushing the tears back. Telling herself not to cry. "After school. You'll be out front?"

Her mother nodded.

As Bee slid from the car, she felt almost sick. She couldn't tell if she was sick with relief, or if it was something else. She felt the relief, the thought that perhaps she could start over, at her grandparents house, away from everything.

She walked through the school hallways, feeling numb. Her route to the locker room felt almost mechanical, like she didn't have to think about where she was going.

She was shaking. She was shaking so hard that it took a few moments to open a locker door, and once she could, she shoved her bag into the locker.

When she shut the door, Fauna was there, leaning against it, popping the gum in her mouth. "Well, if it isn't Beatrice."

"Not now, Fauna." Bee tightened her grip on her backpack.

"I just want to talk."

"No, you want to belittle me, or yell at me, and I really don't want to take it this morning. Now, if you'll excuse me." Bee moved to walk around Fauna, but the other girl got in the way, blocking Bee entirely.

"I want to talk about Oakland."

Bee groaned and tried not to roll her eyes. "Fauna. Please. Let it go."

"He likes you." Her voice was abrupt and clear, but what made Bee pause was the lack of hatred in her voice. It wasn't nasty. It was actually pleasant.

Bee opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened again. Fauna beat her to it. "Oakland likes you, and I figured you should know. And my previous behavior about this wasn't okay, or right, and I want to make it right. Oakland is in my life, and he's not going anywhere, and neither am I. So I had to make this right. For Oak."

Bee took a step back, blinking, trying to understand. "Make this right?" What is going on, Bee thought to herself. This morning is like the twilight zone. Bee shook her head, trying to make sense of this: of Fauna attempting to apologize.

"We're starting off on a better foot. For Oak. You were right; I'm going to get a better boy who will appreciate me. Of course you were right I mean look at you, goody two shoes. Ms. Perfect. And of course Oakland is in love with you. Look at you. So I'm here to say I'm sorry."

Bee's eyes widened. "Love?"

Fauna just kept going. "Of course, I don't think you'll be able to accept my apology so quickly, but I want Oakland to feel better. About this. Us. And he hasn't asked me to back down because hello, that's so not Oak, but I wanted to. To help and to not make it so much about me."

Bee didn't know what to say. "Thanks."

Fauna blew a bubble and let it pop. "Don't tell Oak we chatted, 'kay?"

Bee nodded mutely, letting Fauna spin around to flit out of the locker room. Bee took a deep breath, ran a hand through her hair, and followed Fauna out. She made an immediate beeline for Larkin, who she knew would be slinking around his locker. Bee felt like she was almost running, even though she wasn't sure she even knew what she would say.

Hey, my mom is running away and I'm going with her?

I promise it'll only be temporary?

Well, I hope it'll be temporary?

Bee didn't want to think about the what-ifs. The, what-if she didn't return to school? What if she had to transfer schools with only three months left of school? What-if she had to transfer schools and they didn't let her play on their baseball team?

Bee's stomach sank. She hated that thought, even if it meant being safe. Even if it meant she wouldn't have to see her father ever again. The lists in her head were there, too prominent, pressing against her skull. Her lists and her to-dos and her goals. All of them were in panic mode.

When she found Larkin, Bee thought she would deflate and feel safe and comforted. She thought it would make everything right, but instead, she felt just as anxious when she hugged him. It didn't make her feel any better at all.

"Hey, hey. Bee?" Larkin hugged her back, but after a moment, he forced them apart, peering down into her eyes. "What's wrong? What did that asshole Oakland do this time?"

Hearing the word asshole connected with Oakland made her chest grow tight. "Oak didn't do anything."

Larkin's eyebrows stretched into his forehead. "Oh, so he's Oak now?"

Bee blushed, despite the angry swarm of anxiety that was erupting in her chest. "Shut up!"

Larkin looked down the hallway. "Bee, are you telling me... that you finally lost your-" Bee covered his mouth before he could even finish his sentence, but with the way Larkin was grinning, Bee bet he didn't even care.

"Shut up! It's not like that."

Larkin pressed his hand to his chest. "My little Bee, finally growing up!" He pretended to swipe at a tear, then laughed when Bee smacked his chest. She watched as Larkin's eyes widened, and then his smile grew mischievous in response.

"What?" Bee tried to turn, but Larkin held her in place.

"Our boy Oak just found you, and he doesn't look so pleased that we're so close. Kinda cute, I gotta admit. Oh, he's coming this way. Quick, make him jealous by kissing me on the cheek." Larkin was laughing so hard, he could barely get the words out. Enough so that Bee began to laugh too.

"He's not jealous of you!" The laughter on her lips made it hard to get the words out.

She felt two hands on her shoulders, pressing down. She felt warm and tingly all of a sudden, and when she turned to face him, a smile found its way onto her face. She couldn't even fight it, not even if she tried. "Hey!"

Oakland was eyeing Larkin. "Can I steal Bee?"

The way Larkin was smirking made Bee flush with embarrassment, but at least he was cool enough to nod in response, leaving the two of them in the hallway as he galavanted towards class.

As soon as he was gone, Oakland spun Bee, holding her in his arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, like it was the most natural thing to do. "Hey there, sweetheart."

Her heart melted at the word sweetheart. Suddenly, being there in Oakland's arms, the anxiety felt manageable. No longer pressing for attention. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him closer, pressing her face to his chest.

"I need to talk to you." When she peered up at Oakland, she was delighted to find there was want in his eyes. He wants me, she thought to herself with a smile.

Oak pressed a hand into her lower back, pulling her closer. "Should I be worried?"

Bee's eyes found a loose thread on Oakland's shirt and stayed there as she swallowed. "My mom is running away, and she's taking me with her."

Oakland's hands on her became suddenly hard, protective. "Did he do something last night?" The barely concealed anger in his voice made Bee look up, her eyes wide with shock that he would care, although deep down, she knew he did.

"No. Mom said this has been a long time coming. She's already packed us bags and after school today, we're heading South, towards my grandparents. They live in Massachusetts."

There was a twist of Oakland's mouth. "What about school?"

"Mom says she already called me out on vacation. I won't be back until she can get a restraining order, so that the both of us are safe. If I come back without one, dad might try to come to school and take me."

"I'm pretty sure that's a lengthy process. Like, your mom will have to take him to court."

Bee didn't even consider the timeline, and now that Oakland had brought it up, she began to hyperventilate. Baseball. Seadogs. Oakland. School. It was all bouncing around in her brain again, threatening to make her cry. She felt her chest tighten and her eyes water and she pressed her lips together to keep it all in.

Oakland noticed. "Hey. Hey. Buzz, stop, it's okay. This is a good thing. Right? You'll finally be safe, away from your asshole father, and you'll be able to finally feel free. Which is what you've always wanted, right?"

She fisted her hands in his shirt. "I need to talk to coach. I can't expect him to keep me in the field, but I'm afraid he'll do worse than bench me. I'm afraid he'll kick me from the team if I'm gone for too long."

Oakland studied her, his eyes running over her face. "We'll figure this out, okay?" His voice was soft, caring. And Bee was elated that he had said we, like he wanted to be a part of it. She buried her face against his chest, under his chin, holding onto him tightly.

His hands coasted against her shoulder, down her spine, sinking into the dip in her back, as if they had always belonged there. Bee felt like they had always belonged there, like a missing piece was finally found.

Is this how my mother felt with my father? Is that why she stayed? Bee hated the sickening thought, but now that it was there, she didn't know how to push it away. Her mother had once been in love with her father, in that love-sick sort of way that made people get married. Even though her father was manipulative and controlling and dangerous, her mother had ignored everything bad and said yes. Yes to forever. Yes to always.

Was Bee making the same mistake, loving a boy like Oakland? She hated the thought, hated the idea that Oakland was like her father, but there were similarities.

When the overhead bell rang, Bee swiped under her eyes and looked up at Oakland. His hands slid from her back to her hips, grounding her, holding her still. "Buzz, we'll figure this out, okay sweetheart? This is good that you're leaving."

It was, but there was a nasty voice in Bee's ear saying, what if he's saying that to get you off the team?

It was unlikely that this was true, but the words curdled in her mind and she felt sick as she turned from him, nearly running to class, away from him. Away from the boy who made everything feel a little bit better, a little softer around the edges, a little less intense.