Chapter 21

He took me to town on his motorcycle, and then I hopped on a bus. I was on the backseat, clutching his waist, my head resting against his back. The thought of never seeing him again bummed me out.

As I was getting on the bus, he asked, "You sure you can find your relatives when you get back?"

"Yeah," I lied through my teeth. Who would take me in now?

"Okay, so which relative's place are you heading to? Give me the address, I'll check it out on the map."

"Uh..." I stalled for a few seconds. "My aunt who runs a salad dressing factory."

I threw out the name of some random salad dressing factory, not really thinking it through. To my surprise, he actually looked it up and then gave me a serious look. "That factory shut down two years ago."

"What? Then..."

"Rachel, don't lie to me."

I felt all my energy drain away. "I don't even know which relative to go to. Just forget about me."

I tried to hurry onto the bus, but he grabbed my hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked, confused.

"Don't wanna leave?" he asked.

"Yeah," I mumbled, looking down and nodding.

He was quiet for a minute, then took my luggage from me. "Then don't leave."