I really didn't want to be there. There, in that house with my poor excuse for a father and my sorry excuse for a mother. He sat on his recliner without a care in the world, and she sat on the couch with a stiff back and her hands in her lap, as if afraid he would blow up any minute. I figured now was as good a time as ever to slip out.

I peeked in the doorway. "I'm heading out, okay?" I held my breath.

My father's eyes darkened and I knew I was in for it. What had I done this time?

"You know, you're never around. What's so wrong with here, boy?" His eyebrows rose a little and I wished I could just run, but I couldn't risk having him follow me or worse--having him stay here and take his fury out on my mother.

I rooted my feet to their spots and kept my eyes on my father's rising figure.

He continued. "How about staying here for once?" He stepped towards me and I resisted the urge to flinch, to cower like the half-man I was.

"I just...I'm a teenager, you know? Practically an adult." I laughed nervously. "That's what we do."

My attempt at lightening the mood had utterly failed. "That's what you do," he sneered. My monster of a father was just a few feet away and I became acutely aware of my own pores working up a sweat. "You can't get out of here, boy," he said, his voice deadly quiet. "You'll always be stuck with us."

I looked over my father's shoulder at my mother. She watched the scene from a safe distance with fear in her eyes. I silently begged her not to say anything and have his attention turned to her; I didn't want her getting hurt.

"But I want to go to college." I never called my father "Dad" or "Father" or anything, really. I called him by his first name, Ellis, behind his back and that was about it.

My father glared at me with hatred darkening his eyes. His pupils were two dark, abyssal pools of murky blackness. They alone intimidated me.

"You think you're better than us, boy? You're just like us. And you're not going to no fancy college; you got to be smart for that." His gaze held mine. "You're not smart enough."

I mustered up every inch of courage and said, "I am...smart. I'm smart enough--I can do it."

"You do think you're better than us," he retorted. "They'll kick you out faster than you run out this door. Colleges don't want boys like you."

"You're wrong," I whispered, wondering where my newfound courage came from. I left it at that, wishing I could've taken it back.

My cheek stung before I even knew he was coming for me. I brush my fingers across the red mark with a featherlike touch, forcing my glazed eyes up to meet my father's. "Don't you ever speak up to me again, boy. Run away if you want to, but don't start acting out. Save yourself the trouble."

I snatched up my hoodie and gave the doorknob a quick twist I'd mastered over the years before heading out the door.

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I drove at as high a speed as I dared, which still wasn't very fast. The three of us shared two cars, which wasn't too unreasonable; there weren't many times all three of us went our separate ways. No one had a designated car, but there I preferred one over the other, as was expected. I rarely drove the other one.

I found the small gap in the trees you would miss if you drove fast enough, pulled over, and stepped through it. After following that small opening for a few hundred yards, I found my familiar riverside spot. I also found that it wasn't familiar only to me.

A girl sat on the edge of the river, her feet submersed in the water. As I took a step closer, I saw her shoulders shaking and knew she was crying. Closer still, and I saw her pull a blade across her wrist.

I was disappointed in whoever was causing this, and I was intrigued by this unfamiliar girl who had obviously come here on purpose.

But, more than anything, I was submersed. I was submersed in interest and concern for her. Soon I would be submersed in even more.

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Author's Note

Yay! They're meeting! But this meeting isn't going to be all smooth sailing. However, this chapter was also short. I'm not quite used to the chapter lengths of Wattpad, but I'm pretty sure some books have chapters this length. Right? Well, we're still getting it going. I'll start lengthening my newer chapters, okay?

I'm pretty sure Tallahassee II and III are long, but I can't seem to get decent lengths on Aven. Sorry about that! I think it's because I find more meaning in Aven and his chapters flow more easily so I'm not dragging them on like I am Tallahassee's. Sorry again!

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