In the Spotlight by Liz Botts, Elaina Lee Page B

just wanted to get away. Pulling my keys out of my purse, I fumbled with the lock, dropping them in the slush on the street. By the time I got my door open, Kyle had come to the door.
    “Hannah!” He yelled after me. “You little slut! You’ll regret this!” I didn’t know what he meant, and I didn’t care. Pulling out on the street, tears blurred my eyes. My leg hurt and my heart ached. With the adrenaline pumping through my system, I couldn’t go home yet. I considered calling Harlow, but I imagined she wouldn’t understand. And for some reason calling Kaylee or Maggie seemed humiliating.
    Finally, I stopped at a light and wiped my tears hastily on the back of my hand. I knew who I wanted to call.
    Pulling my phone out, I waited while it rang, trying desperately to control my sniffling and tears.

    “Hey, Hannah, what’s up?” Josh said, sounding pleased that it was me.
    “Um, hi, Josh,” I hiccupped. “I was wondering if you could, um, meet me at McDuffy’s.”
    “Yeah, I’ll be right there,” Josh said. “Do you want me to stay on the phone while I drive?”
    “No, that’s okay,” I choked out, feeling immediately comforted.
    We hung up, and I detoured to McDuffy’s, our local hang out. Josh pulled in a minute or two after me and hopped out of his car. He was wearing pajama pants and his letterman jacket. I was about to open my door when Josh pulled it open for me.
    “What happened?” Josh asked, concern etching his voice as he helped me out of the car. I opened my mouth to tell him, but all that came out was a lot of blubbering. He shrugged out of his jacket, threw it around my shoulders, and pulled me into a hug. I sobbed into his shirt until I felt spent. When it felt like I’d cried my last tears, I pulled away from Josh and glanced up at him shyly.
    “Let’s go inside,” Josh suggested. I nodded mutely, and let him guide me into the restaurant.
    The hostess led us to a corner booth and left us with water and some menus. Josh took in my puffy, red face and shook his head slowly. As his eyes trailed down my body, he made a strange noise, and when I followed his gaze, I gasped. The ache in my leg was actually a gash about three inches long that was still oozing blood. Tears welled up in my eyes again. Taking charge, Josh carefully lifted my leg up onto the seat of the booth between us.
    Dipping a napkin in his water, he began to clean the cut.
    “What happened?” he asked again.
    I shuddered. “This guy…” I began with a wavering voice.
    “He tried to…but I wouldn’t let him…and I think I left my coat at his house.”
    My babbling couldn’t have been making sense, but Josh didn’t say anything. He just finished cleaning my cut. When the waitress came back, Josh ordered some hot chocolate and pie for the both of us. I was starting to feel better, so I slid out of his coat.
    That’s when we both noticed the angry bruise on my forearm.
    “Tell me again, exactly what happened,” Josh said very slowly staring at the bruise.
    I took a deep breath. “Please, can we just not talk about it right now?” I asked. “I just need to not think about it.”
    “One last question, promise,” Josh said.
    “Okay,” I agreed.
    “Did he hurt you anywhere else?” The question hung there.
    We both knew what he meant, but what he couldn’t bring himself to verbalize.
    “No,” I whispered.
    “Okay,” Josh said.
    The waitress brought our hot chocolate and pie, and we dug in. “Hey, thanks,” I said, giving Josh a small smile.
    “Anytime,” Josh smiled back. “I hope this means that we’re friends again.”
    I knew what he meant right away, and I felt my heart sink.
    After the jerky way I’d strung Josh back and forth between friendship and the other extreme, he was still sitting here with me now. He’ had come at a moment’s notice.
    “I didn’t interrupt anything too important, I hope,” I said, awkwardly, obviously trying to change the subject. Embarrassed, I took a bite of