Dare (Finding Love Book 1) (14 page)

I don’t know how much time has passed when Jaclyn and Hayley come into my room. They’re hesitant, but I wave for them to come in. My eyes are dry and sore from my crying fest, my head feeling heavy.

“Hey, Jennifer.” Hayley sits down on my left and rubs my arm. Jaclyn sits on my right, grasping my hand. “How are you doing?”

I shrug. Dare left a few hours ago, and I’ve been left alone since then. I’ve done nothing but stare at my ceiling and think back on the events of yesterday. Since I’ve had that time, I realize I’m an idiot. All I’ve done is let Tyler take over my life, but I can’t help but wonder if I could have done something to have him arrested. The time I spent agonizing over the texts made me feel worthless. Like I couldn’t keep control over my life. It reminded me so much of living at home. Like I couldn’t do anything.

To add to that, I feel immensely guilty about Dare. I shouldn’t have pushed him away because of my anger. Having thought about it, I realize I’m not really mad at Dare. Sure, I wish he had told me about Mo, but I can’t change anything. No, I’m mad at Mo. He made Dare keep it a secret.

I fear I lost Dare forever.

“I’m fine. Just really tired,” I tell them.

Jaclyn hands me a plate of grilled cheese, and I thank her. “So, Hayley didn’t want me asking but you seem fine. What happened? And who the hell is Tyler?” she asks impatiently.

Hayley snaps her fingers. “Jaclyn! I told you not now.”

“It’s fine,” I interrupt. “Uh, I suppose to tell you this you’ll have to know everything.” I look up at them, knowing that I need to tell them. “I haven’t told the complete story to anyone but Dare. You ready?”

Eagerly, they scoot up and sit next to me, leaning against my headboard. “Tell us. We’re here for you,” Jaclyn says as she grabs my hand again.

Hayley nods in agreement, and then I tell them my story. From before Steven came, back when I knew something wasn’t quite right but was too young to fully understand the situation. I continue on, spilling every dark secret, hit and moments of pain I went through. Ignoring their drawn in breaths, I finish.

Comfortably, we sit in silence. I don’t feel nervous about their reactions because I know they will be here for me, and as they wrap their arms around me, I’m glad I’m right. I really did hit the jackpot with these two.

“We’re glad you told us, Jennifer. I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Hayley says.

I look between them and smile. “Thanks, guys. So what happened earlier?”

“We were out at dinner when Dare called. The cops were already here when we arrived. Dare was being questioned, you were being looked at and there was some random guy being pulled out with blood on him. We were freaking out, but they wouldn’t let us in until they bagged a gun,” Jaclyn explains, her eyes full with worry.

“Someone will be coming over later in the day to talk about it,” Hayley adds.

I nod and look down at my hands. “And Dare? How is he?”

I see them glance at each other before Hayley nods. “He’s fine, a little beat up. Tyler was the one shot.” She hesitates. “Are you two okay?”

Jaclyn jumps in. “Yeah. We know he kept quiet for your brother, but you can’t really be mad at him for that.”

“I know I can’t, and after thinking about it, I’m really not. Mad, I mean. I still love him, of course, and I’m sorry that I got mad at him, for blaming him. I feel so guilty,” I tell them, frowning.

Jaclyn shushes me. “You want to be with him?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Then that’s it. Apologize to him, let him explain some more.”

“Yeah, and I think you owe it to yourself to hear Mo out. You need closure,” Hayley says.

They’re right, I do need closure. Am I ready to talk to Mo yet? I have no idea, but I know I can’t hide from my problems forever.

After they leave, I curl up on my side and cry once again, this time for missing Dare.

_*_*_*_

It’s been a few weeks since the whole incident, and I haven’t heard anything from Dare or Mo. Countless times I picked up my phone only to set it back down due to lack of courage. I know I’m being stupid, but why hasn’t he texted either?
Maybe I did lose him.

I’m sitting on the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table with the newspaper in my hand. Jaclyn always laughs at seeing me holding one, stating that nobody reads them anymore since it’s all online, but I like it. Sometimes you just have to get away from technology. The first page is full of important happenings in the world, but my eyes are locked on something else-it talks about Tyler and how the cops busted a drug warehouse. He’s been selling for years, and has put countless people in the hospital with hazing acts or hitting woman around. Tyler talked about Steven’s part in it all, racking up the offenses. It doesn’t say anything about me, thank God.

After Hayley and Jaclyn left me in my room that day, the cop came a few hours later. I told him everything, starting from when I called Steven in. They asked if he was innocent, but I couldn’t lie. I went back further, telling him what he did to Mo and me. They checked my stomach that’s covered in bruises, and my temple.

In the end, both Tyler and Steven will be spending a long time in jail.

I set the newspaper down as someone knocks on the door. Looking down at myself, I shrug. I’m wearing black leggings and one of Dare’s band T-shirts he left here. Opening the door, I stare up at the man standing in front of me.

Gawking, I realize that he’s no longer the boy he was. The sides of his head are shaved, the top a mess of curls. His blue eyes are the same as before, except they seem darker now. Less innocent. He has two scars: one above his right eyebrow and the other above his lip. They are white, but still noticeable.

“Mosey,” I breathe out his name. We hardly ever used his real name, sticking with his nickname instead.

He looks over me, taking me in. I wish I didn’t look so frumpy, but I know he won’t care. He saw me at my worst of everything.

“Jennifer,” he chokes out, blue eyes watering.

I narrow my eyes at him. “What the hell, Mo? Why did you fake your death?”  I step closer to him. “You left me!” I’m crying now, unable to stop the flood of angry and hurt tears.

He looks at me with guilt, and I cringe. “Jen, I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt
you.
I did what I thought was best. Please, forgive me,” he pleads.

Glancing away from him, I step back and wave for him to come in. Even though I’m still upset, as I stand around him, relief hits me. Mo is here, in the flesh, not dead like I had thought. What do I even do? What if it’s awkward?

“How did you find me?”

He turns to look at me with a sad smile. “Dare.”

I nod and cross my arms. We stare at each other, him hopeful and me enraged.

As I stand here, I realize what I’m doing. Nothing. My brother is alive, and I should be happy about that. He’ll tell me everything, I’ll make sure of that, but for now, I need to make sure he’s real.

“I’ve missed you,” I tell him and together, we step forward and hug. We wrap our arms around each other, holding on tight. Tears fall from my eyes, and I try to blink them away. I don’t know how long we stay like this, but when we pull apart, it’s like we’ve never lost each other.

He smiles down at me and chuckles. “God, look at you! Still short.”

I punch him in the arm and laugh, relived that this isn’t as hard as I thought it would be. “Be quiet! You got taller! You’re a giant now.”

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Wow, look at this place. You’ve done really well.” He nods firmly before frowning. “I wish I was here to see it all.”

Right. The reason why he’s here, I’m sure. “Uh, you want something to drink?” I ask over my shoulder as I head into the kitchen.

“Water is fine,” he calls out.

By the time I walk back into the living room, I’ve given myself a small pep-talk. I can do this. I
need
answers. Mo is looking at my textbooks lying around on the table with interest. “I miss winter break,” I tell him, sitting down on the chair.

Winter break came and went. Though I tried to remain festive, it didn’t feel the same this year. Jaclyn and Hayley did their best though, and I’m glad I wasn’t alone again.

“Oh, yeah. College,” he absently says. “What are you studying?”

“Nursing.”

He smiles. “Perfect for you. I remember you would always fix up my cuts or scratches.”

I fondly smile at the memories. “So what are you doing? I know underground fighting.”

He leans back in the chair and stares at me. I notice he has a tattoo on his left wrist, but can’t make out the words. “I suppose I should start from the beginning first.” I nod. “I didn’t die that night, obviously. Steven came to me, said some of his normal things, you know.” He shrugs. “Well, I got tired of it and said I was going to call the cops.” He shakes his head, his jaw clenching. “Yeah, it didn’t work out as I planned. He threatened you and Mom, told me he would do some
things
to you. I couldn’t let that happen, and I told him that. Finally, he gave me an ultimatum. Leave that night and he wouldn’t touch you. So I did.” He looks over at me, leaning into the table. “I know it was stupid, I shouldn’t have left. I didn’t think about what they would tell you. I’m sorry you went through all of that, I
left
you with all of that.”

That’s not what I was expecting. When I learned he wasn’t really dead, I figured he left because he was tired of Steven. That’s why I was so mad. In my mind, he left me behind. Now, learning the truth, I should have known he wouldn’t do that.

“It’s okay, Mo. I forgive you. It wasn’t your fault or mine. It was
theirs
,” I bitterly spit out.

He nods slowly. “So, I met Dare when I was wandering around. I didn’t know what to do or where to go. He saved my life. He knew the ins and outs of everything, where to go for free food, or work for the day. And showed me a few homeless shelters in the area. It worked for a while, but when we ran into a few bad people, we nearly lost our lives,” he explains.

“So I trained. As much as I could while homeless. I ran, lifted whatever I could find. Months after that night, we ran into them again. This time, I beat them. My now manager saw it happen and offered me a job. Fighting. I said yes, figuring that I had nothing else to do.” He shrugs and sighs. “It isn’t the best job in the world, but it’s worked in my favor and put money in my pocket. Finally, after I turned 18, I got my GED with the help of Dare. I’ve been wanting to go to college for a while.”

I stare at him, listening to him tell me his story. It’s sad my brother had to go through all of that, but from where I’m sitting he’s turned out to be quite the man. “I bet being a fighter gets you all of the girls,” I tease him.

He bursts out laughing. “I’ve missed you so much, sis.”

“I’ve missed you too,
little
brother.”

He shakes his head. “I still can’t get away from that.”

“Nope.”

Mo leans his elbows on the table. “How about we go out for lunch? You can tell me about everything I’ve missed.”

I stand up. “Sure, let me get my purse.”

As I walk down the hall, I turn around and look at him. His head is bent over, his fingers tapping on his phone. I allow myself to grin as the feeling of
rightness
falls into place. Finally, this is home.

_*_*_*_

The next day, I’m sitting at my desk, pen poised and paper ready. Yesterday at lunch, I told Mo everything. Beginning from the moment they told me he died. Like me, he experienced the same wretched emotions. When I told him about Dare, he was uncomfortable at first, but when I explained everything, he was smiling.

“Dare is a good person, Jennifer. I told him not to tell you, that it was my story to tell. Please don’t be mad at him,” he had told me.

I told him I wasn’t furious anymore, but I was scared to text or call him. What if he doesn’t want me anymore? Mo didn’t say anything, just shrugged, but I know I need to make the first move. The ball is in my court now.

I finished telling him everything, even including my roommates into it. He thought Jaclyn sounds hilarious, but agrees that something isn’t entirely right with her dad. And Hayley, man, if that didn’t pique his interest. They weren’t home when I got back, but I told Mo I would text him and we could all hang out. I want him to meet my friends.

Now, I sit at my desk, ready to write the letter to my mom. I think I finally know what I’m going to say.

Dear Mom,

Sorry it’s taken me so long to write back. I’ve been having troubles thinking about what to say. I’m glad you’re in rehab, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you would make it. If you’re still there, I applaud you and I hope you stay strong.

A lot of things have been happening around here, but I want to tell you that I’ve forgiven you for what you didn’t do. I know we weren’t always easy on you, but you tried your best.