Page 3 of I Don’t Need Your Protection (Harrington Bay Academy #1)
“All right.” His expression grows less serious as he says, “ I’m very glad I found you before it’s too late.
My number one priority right now is to keep you safe.
I hope you will take this as seriously as I do and not put yourself in harm’s way.
I understand that you are a teenager and might wish to rebel, but I cannot stress how imperative it is that you keep a low profile at your school. Do you have any questions for me?”
“Why didn’t you try to fix your relationship with my dad? With your means, I’m sure it wasn’t hard to find him.”
“He took on a completely new identity,” he says.
I give him a look. “That’s such a load of bull. You didn’t want to fix your relationship with him. That’s the truth, isn’t it? You didn’t like the person he became and decided you didn’t care to be in his life. But now you think you can try again with me. Look, um, Grand—what do I even call you?”
He shifts in his seat. “Whatever you like.”
“Fine. So, Grandfather , I get that you’re happy you have a grandchild, but if you think for one second that you can mold me to be…
this.” I gesture to the area around me. “Then you should just give up and send me back to the group home. Because I’ll never be the person you want me to be.
I’m the only one who can choose who I want to be.
Maybe if you would have accepted that about your son, we would have been in each other’s lives years ago. ”
His jaw tenses as he narrows his eyes at me.
Then he shakes his head. “I admit, I regret some of my decisions regarding your father. And now that he’s gone…
” His voice once again trembles. “Well, I suppose there’s no use mourning over the past. Addilyn, all I want is to provide a better life for you.
I’m be ing extremely sincere. You’re all that I have left of my son and I would hate to lose you as well. ”
Well, I guess this is as far as he’s willing to go with any mushiness. Still, he does seem like he wants to try. Maybe I should give him a chance.
“I’m willing to get to know you better,” I say with a small smile. “I’ve always wanted a grandparent.”
“I’m sorry, but I fear I’ll need to keep my distance from you.”
The small smile vanishes from my face. “What?”
“It’s too risky. Your safety will be compromised if we have any contact. Until the people responsible for your parents’ deaths are behind bars, I fear you and I will have to act as strangers.”
That’s just great. Not only did I lose my parents, but I also lost a grandfather I didn’t even know I had.
“Now that it’s all taken care of, I’ll let you get settled in your room,” he says. “Dinner will be served at seven sharp, but I fear I will be at a meeting then.”
So we have only one night together and he’s blowing me off for some meeting? Can’t we become strangers tomorrow morning?
He calls for Louis, who arrives a few seconds later. My grandfather says, “Please show Addilyn her room and hand her the rulebook I made for her.”
“Yes, sir.” He nods to me.
“Okay.” I grab my backpack and get up, heading toward the door. I stop and turn back to look at my grandfather. “ Thanks for…I guess not letting me get killed by your enemy.”
I follow Louis out the door, up the lavish staircase, and to my room.
I don’t take a good look at my surroundings because I’m distracted by my thoughts.
The worst thing I thought would happen was that I’d have to live with snobby rich people.
But now I learned that my life is in danger and that my parents were murdered .
How am I supposed to function as a normal human being?
“And here is your room, Miss Addie,” Louis announces as he opens the door.
I gape as I soak it all in. Now this is something I can get used to.
The room is super large with a canopy bed in the center.
There’s a huge floor-to-ceiling window with a beautiful view of all the greenery and a gigantic TV on the wall.
A door leads to another room which is my closet that’s currently empty.
Louis tells me another staff member will come by to help me order clothes and whatever I need.
Everything will be delivered within an hour.
“Here is the rulebook.” Louis hands it to me. “Please be ready for dinner at seven sharp.”
“Okay.”
“If you need me or another staff member, just tug on the bell pull.” He nods to the pull cord with a tassel that’s near my vanity. No way! I’ve seen this sort of thing in movies and TV shows.
“Do you need anything, Miss Addie?” he asks.
“Um…no, thanks.”
“All right. I hope you enjoy your stay here, Miss Addie.”
He leaves and closes the door behind him.
Puffing out my cheeks, I drop down on my bed and open my backpack.
I pull out my pink stuffed elephant called Ellie.
Mom and Dad bought her for me on my first birthday and she’s been my favorite plushie ever since.
I place her on my pillow and check on the other contents to make sure everything is here.
They’re mostly old photos of my parents, a video of their wedding (which I used to watch over and over as a kid), Mom’s favorite perfume so I’ll never forget what she smelled like, some random stuff that Dad collected, and other things.
There’s no way I’m leaving them here, so I’ll have to take them with me when I leave for school tomorrow.
With another huff, I fall back on the bed and stare at the ceiling. My life changed drastically the day my parents died, but it seems it’s changing even more.
“Mom. Dad.” Tears seep out of my eyes. “How am I going to do any of this without you?”