Page 80 of Invisible String (The Underground #1)

She hums, thinking. “Well, we can hold hands,” she says, extending her hand. Mine intertwines with hers. “And sit next to one another. And kiss.” Her cheeks go red.

Kiss.

Our faces are so close, and she’s waiting. So I close my eyes and do it fast so I don’t overthink it. I press my lips on hers and pull away. There. That wasn’t so bad.

We both smile. It was nice. My heart is racing. I want to do it again, so I do.

We don’t kiss like Drake and his girlfriend.

That’s too weird. We spend the summer dancing, swimming, telling scary stories at night, laughing, and Drake takes us for ice cream.

For my birthday, Mrs. Sara ordered pizza.

She made a small cake. It was nice and thoughtful.

I hadn’t had a cake for my birthday since my mom.

We ignore the fights Mrs. Sara and Jason have been having, and we lock ourselves in the room.

When our caseworkers come to do a well check, we don’t tell them about Jason because that would mean we split up. She still curls up in my bed. We sleep, feeling safe with one another.

If I lost my best friend slash girlfriend, I don’t know what to do. Although if a family came and wanted to adopt her, I’d hope they’d treat her well and let me continue to be her friend.

We are at the end of July, and it’s been a hot summer.

We ate a tub of ice cream the neighbor gave us.

She said she bought the wrong one. Sol sits at the edge of the pool, and I sit next to her.

We pass the spoon back and forth, eating mint chocolate chip.

It’s not our favorite, but it’s hot, and it’s ice cream.

“I guess we’ll have fresh breath,” she jokes.

I nod, taking another spoonful.

“Your shoulders are getting red. Didn’t you put sunscreen on?” I frown. It looks like it hurts. She looks like a lobster. She hands me the bottle of sunscreen.

“I already put some on me.”

“No, can you put it on my back? I couldn’t reach.” She grimaces at my drawn brows.

“Try to stretch your hand.”

“Max, I can’t believe you didn’t see Drake do that to his girlfriend.”

I see a lot of stuff Drake does with his girlfriend, and that is not for our age. Besides, Drake had a talk with me when I said Sol and I were dating. He said it was cute, but not to do stuff adults or older teens do.

“You are so bossy.” I spread the cream on the center of her shoulders and hand it to her.

“Thank you, Max. I’m going to go to the restroom real quick.” She walks off while I dip my feet in the water and finish the ice cream.

The house phone rings. I answer the cordless phone sitting on the folding chairs. It’s a little after four, and Mrs. Sara said she has to work late at the grocery store where she works.

Fifteen minutes have passed, and Sol still hasn’t returned. I get up and walk to the side of the house, noticing Jason’s pick-up truck. At the sound of a scream, I rush inside.

My wet feet make a squishing sound as I rush to every room. “Stand still before I smack you again,” Jason shouts, holding a bottle of alcohol in his hand. He has his arms around her waist.

“Get your hands off of her.” My voice rises with anger. With as much force as I can, I shove him. He moves away but doesn’t let her go. Sol is thrashing, trying to escape his hold.

Pulling on his shirt, he falls back, and Sol runs out the sliding doors to the backyard.

I chase after Sol. Jason smells of alcohol. Lately, he’s been coming home late, and Mrs. Sara has been yelling at him. Something about him being at a bar.

“Are you okay?”

Sol’s shaking, her wet swimsuit dripping. She nods.

“Did he hurt you?”

“No.”

“Come here, you little bitch.” Jason runs out with a bottle in his hand. He peers at me with hate in his eyes. “Go to your room. You little shit. No one’s here to save you.”

“No,” I yell, getting close to Sol. “Leave us alone. I’ll call Mrs. Sara.”

“What the fuck is she going to do?” He laughs maliciously.

Jason unbuckles his belt, then slides it off his jeans.

The metal part whips on my already marked back.

I bite my lip. I won’t give him the satisfaction of making me cry.

Sol’s screams pierce my ears when he whips me again. She’s pure and not used to violence.

I grab her hand and guide her shaking body. My body is shaking just as much as hers. Keep her safe.

Navigating the slick surface of the wet cement proves challenging.

Each step feels precarious as we strive to maintain our balance, with Jason’s boots echoing heavily behind us.

The uncertainty of where to escape gnaws at me.

Drake is nowhere to be found, and the barren landscape offers little in the way of concealment.

“Sol, get back here. I need to talk to you,” he slurs, his words thick and unsteady.

I glance over my shoulder to gauge his distance, but it’s too late.

His hand shoots out, tangling roughly in her hair.

She stumbles backward, her feet scrambling for purchase on the slick tile before she crashes to the ground.

He hauls her across the floor, her fingernails scraping against the ground in a desperate attempt to resist. With a harsh motion, he plunges her head into the cold water.

I rush forward, adrenaline surging through me as I pound on his back with clenched fists. “Let her go,” I shout, my voice echoing off the walls.

A force knocks Jason and me down. Drake throws a chair at him. Sol is gasping for air. I reach for her and pull her up.

“Leave them the fuck alone, you piece of shit, drunk motherfucker.”

Jason punches Drake, knocking him down, then grabs Sol again, but I kick him.

“Run inside and lock the door,” I shout, my breath coming in ragged gasps.

She takes off, her feet pounding against the pavement, but Jason lunges forward, his fingers brushing against her wet swimsuit.

She stumbles, her foot catching on the chair on the ground, and she crashes onto the cement with a sickening thud, her head striking hard before her body rolls into the pool.

My heart stops at the sight of the crimson stream flowing across the pavement and spreading in the water.

Without hesitation, Drake dives in, his body cutting through the water as he reaches Sol.

He lifts her limp form out of the pool, cradling her as he carries her to safety and gently places her unconscious body on a nearby chair.

“Call an ambulance,” Drake shouts.

Panicking, I searched for the phone I had left on one of the chairs. Jason’s gone. He fucking left.

“She’s breathing. She has a pulse,” Drake shouts.

I dial 911, and Drake talks to the operator. My pulse is skyrocketing. I grab a towel off the floor and place it on her head gently.

“Wake up, sunshine. Wake up.” Tears fill my eyes. “Please, please.” My mom always prayed. I do just that—I pray. “Please wake up.”

Drake has his finger on her pulse, and the operator asks him to check. Drake tells them what happened.

“Sol, Sol, can you hear me?” I shout.

Five minutes later, the ambulance and police fill the backyard. Lights light up the neighborhood. They take her, leaving me and Drake. I hate that she’s alone. She doesn’t like being alone. She has no one.

When Mrs. Sara arrives home, she rushes over to us, apologizing.

She explains Jason has been arrested. She never imagined he could do something like that, although she did.

She saw the marks on us, the fear in our eyes.

Mrs. Sara once told Drake she couldn’t have kids.

It’s why she decided to become a foster parent.

She informs the police that he has never physically harmed her, but he is verbally abusive.

I pleaded with Mrs. Sara to take us to the hospital.

I begged, but she said she couldn’t because she wasn’t permitted to.

She explained she was under investigation, and we would likely be taken away from her care.

Four days later, Mrs. Sara received a phone call. They informed her that Sol had woken up, but she couldn’t remember any of it or where she was. I also overheard a family taking her in and possibly adopting her. My chest hurts, my heart hurts.

I go upstairs and sit on her bed. I miss her. She’s my only friend. For six months, we were joined at the hip. She can’t be alone. She’ll cry.

A week passes, and it’s been ten days since I’ve seen Sol. She’s not coming back. I begged Mrs. Sara again to ask the people she’s living with to let me see her.

She knelt and said, “She won’t remember you, honey. She hasn’t gotten her memory back. Doctors don’t know if she will. It took her days to wake up because of the swelling in her head, plus the trauma. She doesn’t remember that she lost her parents.”

She has to remember me.

“I can help,” I said to her. She shook her head. “Can I be placed with her?”

Mrs. Sara gave me a sad face. I knew I would not see Sol again. I would soon be placed in a new home when they find a spot for me.

“Are you all right, buddy?” Drake asks, his voice low.

I don’t answer right away. I open Sol’s family album and flip through all the pictures. She’s not going to remember her mom and dad. She loved talking about them. “What if she needs us?” My voice cracks.

“Mrs. Sara just said the family is going to adopt her. She’ll have a new family, a mom, a dad, and an older brother. The family had been looking to adopt. They can’t have more kids naturally,” he says. “She won’t have to jump around like us. She’ll be happy.”

My head drops, a tear slides down. “She’ll never remember I was her friend. She won’t remember me. Us.”

Drake ruffles my hair. “I’m sorry, kiddo. Look, I know it’s not the time, but I’m leaving. I can’t do this again. I can’t go to another place. I’ll be seventeen in a couple of months. I’ve saved up money.”

My head snaps in his direction. “Where?”

“I’m not sure. Anywhere, but I’m tired of this shit.”

“Can I come with you?” I pled.

“You can’t.” His voice lowers. “You’re too young. You can have my stuff, okay? Take what you want. You stay strong. Take care of yourself and don’t let anyone fuck with you.”

I nod, and he gives me a bear hug.

Drake ran away.

Another week and a half passed, and school will soon start. On Friday, I’m going to be placed in a new home.

The ring of the doorbell startles me. Maybe it’s Sol. I run halfway down the stairs. A man is at the door with blonde, reddish hair and a nice brown, clean suit.

“Hello, I’m Rowan, and this is my wife, Jenna,” he says. “You asked us to come over to pick up Sol’s items.”

“Yes, I didn’t know you were coming today. I’ll get them from upstairs.”

The man waves his hand in mid-air. “That won’t be necessary. She hasn’t regained her memory. Her case of amnesia is severe. It’s best she doesn’t regain it. My wife and I have given it some thought.”

Slowly, I climb down the stairs until I’m at the last step. The woman turns and gives me a small smile. She seems nice. Will Sol like her? She waves, and I wave back.

“Are you sure that would be for the best, sir?” Mrs. Sara frowns at them. “She lost her mother and father. Surely you can take her photo albums. She might remember them.”

He cuts her off. “We are her parents now and will decide what is best for her. We just thought we’d let you know. You can trash them if you wish. We’re going to give her a new, fresh start. New name.”

Mrs. Sara just gives them a curt nod. She opens the door, and the woman steps out first. The man looks at me. He doesn’t smile. He just stares and walks off.

That night, I asked Mrs. Sara if I could take Sol’s things with me when I went. She smiled and said to take them. I also took Drake’s boxing gloves and baseball cards. He left a note. It read: I’ll find you someday.