Girl In Pieces by Jordan Bell Page B

but there wasn’t enough space between the widest part of my thumb and pinky finger to slide out. When I’d imagined handcuffs before, I’d imagined the pink fuzzy kind. Cute and playful. These were, of course, neither. I wondered if Josh had a pair like it, if he enjoyed their unforgiving nature.
    I had to stop thinking about him or I was going to lose it.
    My skirt dripped raindrops onto the floor beneath me and my hair stuck in knotted cords along my shoulders. My clothes clung uncomfortably to my body but I couldn’t seem to conjure up the strength to do anything about it. I rested my hands on my thighs, the hard metal chain between my wrists swaying cold against my knees.
    The room they abandoned me in was small, a little dirty, and smelled like the guy they’d held in there before me. Aside from the wooden bench I slumped against, the room was empty.
    And quiet.
    I closed my eyes. It had been at least thirty minutes since I’d called Julie to come get me and I’d barely been able to hold back the tears as I explained what had happened. She promised she was on her way and told me not to be afraid. She’d said, “Don’t freak out. Tomorrow this will all be very, very funny. You’ll see.”
    I kind of doubted that.
    Footsteps broke the silence, nearly running down the hall towards my prison. I lifted my head as they slowed and stopped just outside the door.
    Julie. Finally.
    The door whined open and   he   filled the space between me and the rest of the world. A blue-eyed giant.
    Everything about him screamed fury and violence except his eyes. Those…those were cold and featureless. Dark abysses that let nothing in or out. I’d never seen them so carefully controlled and that was somehow scarier than the anger he held in his clenched jaw and fisted hands.
    He very nearly vibrated with the energy he tried to swallow down.  
    Of course she’d betrayed me. I should have seen this coming. I shouldn’t have been surprised. My heart slid numbly into my toes and I tried very hard to lock down my shame. I did not want him to see me like this. I would have given anything in the whole world to not have him see me like this.
    Josh traced his gaze up my sodden body looking for answers he’d never find. For a moment his control slipped and I could see some other, darker emotion twisting behind his beautiful eyes and my whole body shivered.
    Then he shook his head slowly, like he couldn’t believe what a sloppy, broken, messed up animal I’d become.
    I looked at the ceiling before he reached my eyes.

Josh closed the door behind him and stepped slowly across the room until he stood in front of me, toe-to-toe. I stared fiercely into the air vent, unwilling to acknowledge him. The vent hadn’t been cleaned in a while. Someone should really do something about that. Who knew what horrible things were growing in the sweaty dust up there?
    The world’s most uncomfortable silence stretched. On and on and on.
    He exhaled first, a tiny note of amusement released the tension and nearly melted my insides.
    “Nice handcuffs.”
    I rolled my eyes at the air vent.
    “You’re hilarious.”
      Josh lowered himself into a crouch and, without asking, took my hands in his. His skin felt dry and warm against mine and I hadn’t even realized how cold I was until his touch eased some life into my numb fingers. I tried not to watch as he turned them palm up and then retrieved a key from his pocket.
    I scoffed. “You do not carry around your own handcuff keys.”
    He grinned, briefly easing his thinly stretched displeasure. “I asked your arresting officer if I could remove them for him. I didn’t think he would let me, but he said something strange. He said, ‘ wow, she really has a thing for guys into restraints .’ And then he handed it over.”
    “Weird,” I mumbled and watched him insert the key into one wrist and twist until the latch released and the metal unhinged. I wasn’t surprised that Thomas had told everyone the