Page 69

I TEXTED ROG IN between periods but he never texted back; I’m worried. He usually calls me before work every morning. It’s so unlike him. Something is up. But the last thing I want to do is hound him, annoying him especially if he’s dealing with club business. When the bell rings marking the end of the last period, I wait till each student shuffles out before checking my phone again.
Still nothing.
I gather up the papers on my desk, my laptop and lesson plan book, and grab my duffle bag. After changing in the locker room to my running gear, I walk out into the warm late afternoon sun determined to feel better.
Climbing in my old Subaru I decide to run at the old logging trail. Usually, I walk here from my apartment, but the mornings have been chilly where the afternoons warm.
I park in the lot and get out, doing a few stretches before starting out at a light jog. I prefer to listen to music when I run but ever since that run in with the creep earlier this summer, I don’t run with anything that could dull my senses anymore.
I control my breathing as my pace quickens. My movements are light and quick, the only sounds are the twigs snapping under my feet, my steady breath and the rush of water over the rocks as I near the stream.
I see a figure running towards me ahead. My lips curve in a smile recognizing the hoodie and the man wearing it. If a million years passed between me seeing him; I’d never forget every line, every inch of his face. It’s beloved to me. He’s beloved to me. I can’t believe how hard and fast we fell.
We run towards each other and I slow down, expecting him to catch me in his arms. My heart beats faster as he picks up his pace, coming straight at me giving me dèjà vu. I feel better. It makes sense now why he didn’t text. He really gets in the zone when he works out.
“Hey!”
His steps don’t falter. His eyes cut to the right. He brushes by me.
Without a word.
Without a glance.
He froze me out.
Ghosted me.
My head turns, eyes following his figure until I can’t see him anymore. My hands clutch my sides. I can’t breathe. It hurts so bad, like I just got sucker-punched in the gut and the wind’s knocked out of me.
He knows.
Somehow, he knows.
I fall to the ground, crying like a lost child screaming for her mommy. But I don’t want my mommy. I want Rog.
He just slayed me.
That man knows every part of my body in ways no one else ever did. I thought he saw me; really saw me. God, could I be wrong? I thought Rog would look past DNA to the most important parts of me: my heart and soul. Surely those are untainted enough for him to keep?
I need to find a way to make this right.
I just hope he’s angry because I didn’t trust him enough to tell him who I was, and I hope he can still love me despite whose DNA makes up every fiber of my being. Like he told me at the lake, I’m more than who my parents were.
I get up, brush myself off and keep running.
I will find a way to get him back. I didn’t come this far, just to lose everything I’ve found.
I will win the heart of my Silver Fox and keep it till the end of time. I only need to figure out how.
My heart starts beating again as I see him standing by my car. Arms crossed over his chest, hood still pulled down, legs planted apart, I can tell he’s still pissed. But at least he’s there.
“Rog,” I sob running for him, throwing myself into his arms.
They don’t hold me back.
He pushes my hands away, rubbing a few strands of hair between his fingers, “I just needed this.” He gently pulls a few pieces out and puts them in a zip lock bag.
“I already know what it’ll say. I have a birth certificate.”