(17) Blast from the Past

On Thursday and Friday, Braxton High hosted some fancy teacher convention which provided two days off for the students. Makennah had every intention of sleeping in until noon then doing some homework with Grace in the afternoon before soccer practice.

However, Makennah received a blast from the past when an unknown number texted her at three in the morning and woke her up from the sound of the notification.

Unknown- Makennah?

M- who is this?

Unknown- this is Lucas. Please don't block me

Dread drenched Makennah in a cold sweat at three in the morning. She tossed her phone on the other side of the bed and covered her face with her hands. This was not happening.

L- please talk to me

L- I miss you

L- I'm sorry for everything

Under normal circumstances, she might have responded because the chances were much higher that she might run into her ex boyfriend Lucas Sarentelli. A hot headed loud mouth Italian with a family so charming that Makennah fell in love instantly - with the family and with Lucas. Come to find out, he was as mentally and emotionally abusive as he could be physically abusive. For months, he resisted ever putting his hands on her. But a childish boy with no personal boundaries and a mind focused solely on getting his way was bound to physically restrain Makennah eventually when she didn't obey.

Now that she lived several cities away and would probably - all prayers to heaven - never have to see him again or play nice for the sake of self-preservation she ignored him entirely. At four am, she was tired of hearing her phone go off so she blocked his number and buried the phone underneath the covers.

For two more hours she tossed and turned until she gave up entirely and knew she wasn't about to get anymore shut eye.

How absolutely annoying it was that one person could ruin her entire day before it even started.

At 6:30 am, Makennah jumped out of bed, brushed her teeth, and hooked her headphones into her phone. She changed out of her pajamas into black Nike spandex, a black Nike sports bra, and bright orange Nike running shoes. She could have been a model for a Nike add the way she repped all of their gear including a cell phone holder that strapped to her bicep to free her hands up for running.

Throwing her hair up in a ponytail, Makennah stretched in the foyer, cranked her music up loud, and hit the pavement in a fast pace as the sun rose in the sky and displayed orange, yellow, and red hues across the clouds.

Memories surged through her mind, so Makennah ran faster. With every footstep, she pounded her anger into the pavement. Her goal was to eliminate her residual anger by running but instead, she seemed to grow more angry by the second.

For the sake of misery, she wanted to relive the past moments, the instances that drove her to a vow of singlehood, the night's crying in her bed because of something he had done, the times her mom told her to just put up with it, the number of times she tried to change him, and the countless episodes she walked away from him with a broken heart.

In the time they spent apart, Makennah had grown enough to put her foot down but not enough to entertain another stupid fight with him. It exhausted her to imagine going through all of that garbage again when she truly wanted nothing to do with it - the garbage belonged in the dumpster for a reason.

The scowl on her face deepened as she ran down the street at a pace far too fast for a steady marathon she intended to complete to exhaust her mind. So far, her attempts came up fruitless. Because Lucas was still imbedded in her mind and the anger lingered in every cell and fiber of her being.

Just when she almost collapsed in the lawn of an unknown neighbors house, a Lexus rolled up beside Makennah on the road and rolled down the window.

"Well good morning to me."

She dead stopped in the middle of the early morning road and ripped out her earphones. She wasn't in the mood for this interaction. Specifically an interaction with a boy.

"What?" She spit out. "You think I dressed this way for you?"

The smirk on Theo's face took a nosedive. "You look pissed."

She sighed heavily through her nose and propped up her fists on her hips. "What do you want?"

"And sound pissed."

When he didn't answer her question, she nestled her earphones back in her ears and took off running.

"Kennah, stop." Rolling up dangerously close beside her, Theo leaned out the window and tugged her earphones out of her ears.

She halted and huffed, refusing to face him. "I'll ask again. What do you want?"

"What's wrong?" He asked, genuine concern furrowing his brows together.

Brushing some hair out of her face that loosened in the wind, Makennah closed her eyes and breathed up into the sky. She felt weak and small. She felt stupid and vulnerable. She didn't want to show this side of herself to Theo or anyone.

When she didn't answer, Theo leaned his arm on the window and smiled gently. "I was going to pick up Matt for breakfast but he doesn't wanna come. He's doing something with Cassandra. Let me take you to breakfast. I'm already here."

"I don't have any clothes," she mumbled sadly, motioning to her bare midriff and barely covered behind. The spandex couldn't even be considered shorts.

"I have a T-shirt in the back. That's enough. It's a casual place. Although I must say-"

She held up a finger. "NO sexual comments."

He just chuckled. "Alright alright. I'll tell you later. Get in." To prove his point that he was serious about his breakfast offer, Theo unlocked the doors of his Lexus.

"I don't have any money either." She hated saying those words out loud, but her recent tip money went straight into savings in case of an emergency. Her time spent in a home drained her account before she arrived at the Sinclair's.

"It's on me." When his lips lifted in a smile, Makennah could have spied his charm from a mile away. She knew he was cranking up the seduction in order to get her to do what he wanted. That white straight smile was meant to dazzle her into a simple meal which she knew was no big deal other than the fact he'd be getting his way again.

With nothing left to do, Makennah sighed and circled the vehicle. In the driver's seat, Theo silently cheered at his victory.

"Let's go," she said straightly. She wasn't going to fool around and give him the satisfaction of enjoying this outing.

"Are you sure you want a shirt?" He joked.

"Can it, Theodore the Third."

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The second their butts hit the booth in the casual mom and pop breakfast diner, Theo started in on his questions. "So what's up?"

"Breakfast," she answered obtusely.

"You know what I mean," he corrected in low tones.

"No. I don't." She played stupid because she wasn't ready or willing to talk.

"Good morning y'all. Want some coffee?" A peppy waitress with her hair tied up in a coiffed bun of blonde hair and cheery pink lipstick waited at the end of their booth with a tray of hot food in one hand and a coffee pot in the other.

"Please," Makennah requested with a smile and overturned the preset coffee mug on the table. Theo did the same and started pouring sugar into his cup the second the waitress walked away to deliver her food.

Instantly, he started back in. "Let me rephrase. What made you so pissed?"

"What makes you think I'm going to tell you?" Makennah trained her eyes on the thick sticky menu that smelled like syrup and dumped cream and sugar into her coffee.

"Because we're friends," Theo responded as if it were obvious.

The words on the menu blurred in her vision as she attempted to think about anything but why she was so pissed. "Sometimes friends don't tell each other everything."

"We can."

Rolling her eyes, she bit her lip to stop herself from grinning. Such a Theo response. "Yes we can, but that doesn't mean we will."

"Why are you so hard headed?" Frustrated with her shortness and distance, Theo crumpled up a napkin in his fist and held it there.

"I'm just trying to figure out my order." As innocently as possible, she smiled cheekily and pointed to the menu.

"Y'all ready to order?" The same pretty waitress returned with a pad of paper and a pen.

"You go first," Makennah told Theo.

"Two scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, two pancakes, wheat toast, and I'll have orange juice too."

Her eyes went wide. Goodness, was he feeding a horse? "And I'll have the veggie omelet with hash browns please."

"Any sausage or bacon?" The waitress asked while hitting down their order.

"No thank you." Makennah closed the sticky menu as handed it to the waitress along with Theo's.

When the blonde sauntered away, Theo threw his wadded up napkin at Makennah's face but she dodged it by holding her hand up to block it. "Stop being so stubborn. I won't tell anyone."

"It's not a secret." It definitely was a secret to these kinds of people. They didn't understand why she did what she did or why she put up with an ex boyfriend like him. They came from different worlds and that meant they just couldn't relate.

He grinned from ear to ear. "Then you shouldn't have any problem telling me."

She sighed. Maybe if she downplayed it, he wouldn't make it a big deal. It's not like she had to tell him everything. After all, it was her life and her story. She remained in control of the facts.

A weight would lift off of her chest if she told him. Makennah didn't have anyone else to tell - no friends from home, no family members, no one. As far as she could tell, Theo kept secrets without blabbing. She knew because he didn't tell anyone about Cassandra and Matt. From her knowledge, he hadn't even told anyone about what happened between them.

Not that there was anything to tell.

Theo's patience drove her mouth to open and start talking. If he could be patient and kind, why shouldn't she tell him?

"Why do you want to know?" She asked. If he responded with a good answer, that would finalize her decision to tell him or not.

Looking into her eyes, Theo shrugged. "I don't like seeing you upset. Clearly something is bothering you and I'm a good listener. And like I said, I keep secrets. I won't tell anyone."

Shoot. That was a good answer. Now she had to tell him because she was touched my his honesty and his sincerity.

Instead of answering his question with words, Makennah unlocked her phone, opened the text messages, and slid the phone across the table to Theo. Before she blocked him, a few more messages came in around four in the morning apologizing in depth for what he had done. Concentrating on the messages, Theo read them all quietly before lifting his head to look at her.

"Ex-boyfriend?" He asked, clutching her phone in his fist, unwilling to let it go.

She nodded.

"When did you break up?" He asked, reading some of the messages over again.

"Um...in April. But I didn't really get rid of him until June or July until...." She was about to say until she was taken from her foster family and put in a home but she wasn't sure how much Theo knew about her. She didn't want to open that can of worms right now too.

"Until...?" He persisted.

"Until I moved away," she finished.

"Okay here we go!" The waitress interrupted their conversation with a bright smile and a delivery of their breakfast. "Can I get anything else for you?" Theo shook his head and smiled politely. "Enjoy your meal!" She left them alone once again.

Without looking at her, Theo laid her phone on the table beside him and reached for the jelly packets on the table in an organized canister. "What did he do?"

Makennah sprinkled salt over her steaming omelet and crispy hash browns. "He cheated on me."

"Once?"

"No. One girl, long term." Siphoning off a chunk of her omelet, Makennah took a bite.

"How'd you find out?" He asked while he slathered his toast in strawberry jam.

"His phone. His shady answers. His disappearing. A handful of things." Makennah swallowed. "All my friends knew. Everyone knew."

Theo looked confused. "And they didn't tell you?"

She shook her head. "I come from a different world. Snitches get stitches." And that's all she was going to say about that.

After Theo finished his toast, he dove into his fluffy scrambled eggs and bacon at the same time. "The texts sound like he's apologizing for more than just cheating," Theo pointed.

Makennah forked her food around her plate. The omelet was so delicious but talking about this stuff made her lose her appetite. "Yeah."

"What kind of stuff?" He asked quietly, pausing a bite in midair to look at her. He waited for her response patiently.

She jabbed her fork into her hash browns. "He wasn't a good guy," she hinted without saying more.

Thankfully, instead of diving into that, he moved the topic in a different direction. "How long were you together?"

She shrugged. "Officially six months." But so much more time was wasted fighting and arguing and running from her. Took her months to get out of his grasp.

"Why are you so pissed that he texted you?"

Makennah laughed except nothing was funny. She forced herself to eat instead of cursing the whole dinner up and down in Lucas's namesake. "Thought I got rid of him," she sneered angrily. "And I'm pretty sure he has a new girlfriend."

Theo ate at a slower pace than she did, enjoying the food instead of shoveling it down. She had to just get it in her stomach before the nausea set in. "Are you upset that he has a new girlfriend?"

Again she laugh. "No, I'm upset he's not in prison," she snapped before she could control herself and her emotions.

Although she focused solely on her food, she felt his gaze slide over her features, measuring her words, mulling over her answers before speaking again. His food was forgotten now. "Did he hurt you?" He whispered, leaning in a little bit.

Her mind flashed back to a time she stood in front of the mirror, crying loudly and frustratedly trying to smear enough makeup over her bruised cheek and lips to hide what he had done for the very first time but definitely not the last. "No," she lied.

Theo was quiet for a long time. He ate the last of his eggs and bacon. "You're lying," he said.

She didn't answer. Already, she said more than intended. "In the past. No need to talk about it now."

Glancing up, she could see that Theo weighed how best to respond. A concerned look painted his face in dark shadows. He looked mad. "You ever report it?" He asked casually, trying not to make the conversation so dark and dreary.

"No. I'm from the hood. The police don't listen to little girls who cry 'abuse'." Especially not girls in consensual relationships. Especially not when she dated a prominent wealthy family. Especially not when she was a kid in the system. Especially not when no one would vouch for her story. Especially not when teachers and parents turned a blind eye because she didn't belong there. She was just a foster kid. Prone to bad experiences. Prone to danger. Prone to failure.

Theo rapped his fist on the table. His body buzzed with energy. "How'd you get away? How'd you get out?"

"The cheating helped. Didn't really get away from him officially until I moved away. He harassed me for awhile even after I left."

"Is he a threat to you now?" Theo asked quickly as if it were the only thing on his mind.

"No. He doesn't know where I am."

Underneath the table, one of his legs stretched farther out onto her side. He pressed his leg against hers from knee to ankle. Until he touched her, she hadn't realized that goosebumps peppered her skin. Her skin warmed instantly from his touch and she didn't feel so alone in the world with all of her secrets that sometimes kept her up at night.

"Did you block him?" Theo motioned to her phone which he still blockaded on his side of the table. She wondered why he still kept it.

"Yes of course. I want nothing to do with him." His shoulders relaxed as she mentioned that. He nodded and managed a weak smile. He took another bite of food, working on the last bit of his breakfast.

The waitress came by to refill their coffee cups but didnt interrupt their conversation. Theo cleared his throat and nudged his knee against hers to get her attention.

"Thank you for telling me," he said quietly.

Of her legs own volition, it scooted closer to his so that they were touching again. "Eh it's nothing." She tried to play it cool.

She poured more cream in her coffee while he opened her phone and scrolled through her stuff. Makennah didn't take it personally or worry. On more than one occasion, a kid in a home or at a foster home took her phone. She learned to keep nothing personal on it.

"I noticed you don't have an Instagram," Theo completely changed the topic.

"Nope." She wasn't cool enough for that.

"You live with the Sinclair's. So I'm gonna need you to step it up. You're a cool kid. And you're the hot new girl. You need an Instagram."

And you're the hot new girl. That was the first time he said anything like that. Her cheeks flushed with color. Did Theo mean that or was he just reporting what he heard in the school gossip line?

"That's okay." Her voice came out weak and fragile. She was still processing that he called her hot. How was he able to effect her like that?

"I'll make one for you. You need a first pic to post. Smile."

"What? No!" She covered her face with her hands.

"Come on!" He swatted her hands away and held the camera up.

"Theo I was running! I'm sweaty and gross!"

"Let your hair down and hold up your coffee cup. I'll make it casual and then you can edit it. It will be a good picture I promise."

"Theo..."

"Do it," he said sternly, peeking around the phone he held up to give her the eye.

Once again, her weak defenses wilted against Theo's charm and she did as he asked.

"Perfect. I'll edit this one and post it. I'll send you a list of people to follow. I'll be your first friend."

"How kind of you," she said dryly, sarcastically.

"Don't mention it." Dropping the phone for a second, he winked at her before he returned to his editing task which apparently he took very seriously.

He handed her phone back when he was done. "Have fun checking me out on my page. I'm pretty good looking if I do say so myself."

She rolled her eyes. "Alright Theodore the Third."

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Kind of a serious chapter to give you a better look into Makennah's life. I wanted to start to open up the door to her past.

Vote and comment if you liked it! Sorry for the late delay on posting.

Xoxo

W. Carolina