A Different Kind of Pretend
Chapter 4: Secrets  

Reyna was in her own little world as she was leaving the little café, oblivious to the world around her. Finally, she felt she didn’t have a care in the world. After all she’s been through, finally she’s getting a break. Her first major interaction with people ended successfully, and with a full stomach to boot! She sighed contentedly. She turned a corner. Kids playing, dogs barking, all felt right with the world. She was just passing an alley when a pair of hands grabbed one of hers. 

A hand covered her mouth, preventing her from screaming. She squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to not tear up. C’mon, Rey, now’s not the time for waterworks. Calm down, concentrate, and think. Her quickened heartbeat slowed once more. She opened her eyes again. A burly teenage girl enveloped her view. In fact, the very same muscles attached to the girl were connected to the pair of hands that held her up. Reyna looked down and saw her feet were dangling about a foot off the ground. Whoa. She thought.  

“Well, well, well. Lookee here, girls! What do we have here?” her captor sneered. She swung Reyna around so her posse could better see their catch. There before her were three other girls, all wearing faded t-shirts and tattered blue jeans. Reyna judged they were about her age, though they couldn’t be more different. Based on how they were dressed, she guessed they grew up on the streets, in chaos and anarchy. Reyna couldn’t help thinking it was very different from where she has been brought up, in the midst of drab uniforms, unceasing demand, and constant direction. 

Reyna was suddenly shaken out of her seconds-long observation, literally. “Yo, girl, you deaf or somethin’?” demanded the muscled teen. “I said, gimme your dough! Hey, Rocky, why don’cha help her?” She smirked. She put her down and shoved her against the wall. The group surrounded Reyna as the one referred to as Rocky stepped forward and returned the smirk.  

“Sure thing, Muscles.” She pushed Reyna to the ground and searched her pockets. “Nuthin’.” She went on to go through the backpack Reyna had dropped. “Nope,” Rocky shook her head. “Just a notebook and clothes, and shabby at that. She’s poorer ‘den a beggar on a deserted corner…” She paused as she found a shiny object stowed in the bottom of the bag. “Oho, what’s this?” She grinned. “A nice watch. What’d you do, steal it? Heh, you shoulda gone straight to the pawn shop. Tell ya what, we’ll take it off your hands for you. Save you the trouble of, you know, pawning it.” Rocky snickered as she put it in Muscles’ waiting hand. 

“Please, that’s the last thing I got from my dad before he died! Please, don’t take that.” Reyna stood up, her pleading eyes meeting the leader’s cold pair. “You can take anything else, but… please, just not… not that!” Her eyes were threatening another forecast of rain for her face. 

She scoffed. “At what, pray tell, do you have in that pathetic bag that we would want?” the leader sneered. “Just tattered clothes and a useless notebook. Nah, I think we’ll just keep the watch.” She grinned nastily. 

Something in Reyna snapped. In a burst of energy, she sprang up and went at the teen like a tiger attacking its prey. She leapt at Muscles and snatched the watch from her hand. The force knocked both to the ground. Reyna rolled away, got up, and sprinted toward the entryway of the alley. Almost out, she looked back. Muscles had recovered and was heading after her, her gang following. 

~~~~~~~ 

Jarod walked out of the little café. He had just turned the corner when he heard a shriek and someone being pulled into a nearby alley. Looking around, he saw the commotion going on was in the alley. The continuing noises ahead prompted him to hurry. Rounding its corner, he turned. He saw a group of big kids beating up a lone girl. Concern turned to anger. “Hey, leave her alone!” 

The girl looked up from her protective curled-up shell. Just moving made her abused muscles protest, but what she saw made it worth it. Someone was here to help. She stared at the man’s face. She didn’t recognize the face, but the dark, brown pool in the eyes sparked a hint of a memory. 

The gang paused as one. One of them looked up and spoke. “Mind your own business, punk!” 

Jarod ran up to them and half shoved, half tossed one against the wall. “I said, leave her alone! She didn’t do anything to you.” He picked up another one. Heaving her in the same general direction as the last one, he gently lifted up the bruised body. “Are you okay?” he asked her softly. She could only groan, too tired to move. 

The biggest girl tackled Jarod. “Ya wanna bet? She owes us!” Jarod deflected her attack with one-armed ease, “helping” her join the other two. 

Jarod raised an eyebrow. “You want to join the others?” he asked the last thug. She mutely shook her head. “Good. Then leave.” She darted out, the others limping after her.  

Jarod watched them until they left, then laid the girl gently on the ground. Taking off his jacket, he scrunched it up in a ball and placed it under her head. He looked her over. “Well, it doesn’t look like anything’s broken…”  

“No, but it sure feels like it.” Reyna cracked a smile and managed a laugh. She winced. “Ow.” 

Jarod smiled. He gently did a closer examination of her injuries. “No, nothing’s broken, though you’ve got some good-sized bruises, and a few cuts. They didn’t do as much damage as I was afraid of.” He took a tissue from his pocked and dabbed at the cut on her eyebrow. “Can you sit up?” 

Reyna painstakingly tried to sit up. Her face expression in doing so prompted Jarod to help her move closer to the wall. She leaned against it, closing her eyes in relief. “Thanks.” 

“You’re welcome.” He leaned against the boxes beside her. “You know,” Jarod remarked as he turned his head toward her, “’you may not have any broken bones, but we really should get you to a hospital. There could be internal bleeding.”  

Her eyes shot up in fright. “No! We can’t!” 

“Why not?” Jarod met her eyes in concern. “You could be seriously hurt. There may be some internal bleeding.” 

She shook her head emphatically. “No. No hospitals.” She shifted uncomfortably, scooting backwards as inconspicuously as she could. “I’m, uh… I, I hate hospitals.” 

Jarod was taken aback. “What’s wrong? It’s okay, no one is going to hurt you. They’re there to help.” He looked curiously at her. What was she hiding? She’s had some trouble from trusting people, that much was clear. How much trouble, that was far less certain. He laid his hand reassuringly on hers. “Hey,” he softly said, meeting her eyes. “You can trust me.” 

Reyna looked uncertainly at Jarod. How she had been wanting to trust someone, but every time she trusted, she got hurt. She mentally sighed. Better safe than sorry, her mom always said. “No, I can’t.” Reyna shook her head. “I can’t trust anybody. But… thank you for helping me. You probably saved my life.” She gazed up at him with a thin smile and, after a minute’s hesitation, got up and picked up her bag.  

She was feeling better, but she knew the bruises would be troubling her for days. She was aching, and she was tempted to stick around and rest, but she resolutely stared at the entry of the alley. She needed to find someplace to hide for the night. She needed to rest, to let her body recuperate, but this wasn’t the place, not with this man here. He was kind, but he was going to start asking questions, questions she didn’t need asked. Questions like where she was from, why she was running, where her parents were… at the thought, she remembered the treasured watch still in her hand and carefully put it in her pocket. She shook her head. No, he must not get close to her, he can’t find out about her past. He wouldn’t understand. Sighing, she walked, albeit painstakingly, out the alley and turned the corner. 

Jarod could only stare at her retreating form. He knew she had been burned badly, but what had happened to her that chased her inside herself? What had she been through? Shaking his head, he got up and trotted out the alley and scanned the street. He looked one way, then the other. There was no sign of the girl. He scratched his head. Where did she go, and how did she get out of sight so quickly? She was hurt.  She couldn’t have gone that far. Glancing at either end of the street, he chose one and jogged for a couple blocks. He looked in every storefront window and down every narrow alleyway, but there was no sign of the girl. He turned back, and did the same thing on the other side of the alley, with the same results. He stopped, shaking his head in bewilderment. He just couldn’t figure out where she went, as injured as she was.

 ~~~~~~~ 

Reyna crouched lower as someone passed by. She had managed to find two houses on the block with just enough of a gap between them in which to hide. Peeking around the trashcan she was crouched behind, she saw the man who had helped her walk past. As he peered in the alley, she shrank back. He can’t find me! He seems nice enough, and she sensed there was something significantly more to him, like herself, but he must not discover her secrets. If he did… She shook her head. Let’s not get into that... for all I know, he could be with them. She shivered at the thought. Something told her he wasn’t, but why take the risk? If she took a chance, and she was wrong… it was too horrible to think about. She looked down at her arms at the latest wave of shivers. There were goose bumps all up and down both her arms. She just couldn’t get over this fear! But… no. She needs it. Her survival depends on it, and if there’s one thing she’s learned during her life on the run, it’s that fear can be a pretty powerful protector. Reyna sighed. Even though survival depends on secrecy and mistrust, it would have been nice to share some of her troubles with him. He sure seemed to be the kind of person to understand. She thought back to those eyes that caught hers for what seemed to be an eternity… such caring, such compassion… She shook her head to clear it. Pay attention, girl, you can’t trust anyone, she thought to herself, wincing. She had forgotten she had some bruises up there. No matter what you see in people’s eyes. Take the pain she had just experienced from shaking her head. That’s what happens when you trust someone, anyone. Pain. 

~~~~~~~ 

After an hour of looking around the area several more times, he sighed and started his way back to his apartment. He hoped she was going to be okay, but was worried she might not be. What was she so afraid of, that she wouldn’t even go to the hospital? He wondered. Then it came to him. I’m reluctant about hospitals because of the chances the Centre could find me. What if it’s the same with her? What if she’s running from someone who has been abusive, or something? It could be possible, he mused. After all, how many pretends has he done involving someone in power being abusive to someone weaker? What if… Jarod shook his head. He needed to clear his mind. Worrying about the little girl was messing with his head. Now he’s never going to get to sleep. 

He collapsed on his hotel bed and closed his eyes. Maybe this night will grant him a good night’s sleep. He had almost drifted off to the sweet slumber that had usually eluded him when a thought struck him. His eyes flew open. 

Hey, wait a minute… 

Jarod yanked himself up at the thought. that had just occurred to him. Some genius he was. With everything going on, he had forgotten to ask the girl for her name.   

TBC…maybe, pending reviews!!!   (eg)