They Don't Know About Us

Chapter 8

They drove in silence for an hour before Ava had to break it, feeling like she was about to explode from all of the questions bubbling in her head. “You have to tell me what’s going on. I can’t just sit here and let you take me away from my life because some creep is taking pictures of us. Call the police or something,” Ava suggested, her clarity starting to return to her mind. Possible solutions were finally starting to make their way into her head, and they were calming her just slightly.

Gavin laughed a little at her and shook his head, his motions seeming cold. “Cops are the last people we need to call. And it’s more than just some creep taking pictures. We’re talking multiple bad guys.”

“Who’s to say you’re not the bad guy?” Ava muttered aloud, voicing the constant comment in her head. Maybe she should just call the police and let them deal with everything. Maybe the bad guy of the situation was sitting beside her the whole time, and she had been letting him deceive her and manipulate her.

“If I was a bad guy, I would have left you in town for them to take. There’s no telling what they would do to you,” Gavin breathed out, shaking his head a little as he sped down the highway, his car lights illuminating the road in front of him and hardly anything else.

“Why are they after you?” Ava tried another question, hoping to clear up some of the confusion. She at least needed to know the basics of the situation. Then, she could figure out her next move. 

“Let’s say that I left their club and they didn’t like that very much,” Gavin merely said, tapping his fingertips on the steering wheel in an anxious manner. “No more questions. I don’t need you having more information to spill if they do find you.”

“I thought you were going to keep me safe!” Ava gasped, staring at him with wide eyes. She couldn’t believe that he was just seeing her as this little pawn in whatever game he was playing. She was done with that. If she was going to be dragged into the game against her will, she was going to learn how to play and how to win.

“I am! I’m just saying just in case. The less you know the safer you’ll be. Let me keep you safe and shut your mouth,” Gavin sighed out, giving her a quick pleading look.

Ava crossed her arms over her chest, ruffling the material of her grey tank top. She stared at the road, clenching her jaw in slight irritation. She was glad that he was looking out for her, but the uncertainty of everything was steadily driving her crazy. She didn’t even know where he was taking her. Were they going to some sort of secret house or to a hotel? Would they have to use fake names and wear disguises?

Gavin yawned into his arm, his eyes blinking rapidly to keep himself awake. “We’ll stop at a motel for the night soon. Then, I’ll figure out where to take us,” he told her, feeding her a little bit of information to sate her for now.

“Sure,” Ava murmured, deciding against pressuring him for more information. She would try again another time or just try to catch hints when he did decide to talk to her. She couldn’t even begin to understand how she came to be in her professor’s car booking it out of town to get away from supposedly dangerous people at one in the morning. Things had happened so fast, and she had acted rash, but she had done it for a good reason. If people were trailing Gavin, then they were getting farther away from her friends. She just hoped her and Gavin were moving fast enough for the people not to catch up with them.

“I am sorry about all of this. I didn’t mean to drag you into this,” Gavin voiced, a frown crossing his face as he kept his eyes on the road. His expression nearly looked pained.

He sounded genuine to her. They both hadn’t been aware of people trailing their every move together. She hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary when they hung out besides that one day that he took off and ran. She guessed that he saw something or someone related to the situation, but that was a question for another time. She would get nowhere with questions right now. Her adrenaline was starting to run out, being replaced with exhaustion from the sudden interruption from sleep she had experienced earlier. She just wanted to go to sleep and wake up in a different situation. “Why would they think I’m important to you?”

Gavin shrugged a little after a few moments. “I guess because we are around each other a lot. I mean, I’m around you more than most people, and who says you’re not important to me? You’re important enough for me to protect you,” he pointed out.

Ava figured he was just whisking her away because he was a decent person that didn’t want her to be left behind to just be attacked. She still didn’t think she really meant anything to Gavin. She was just another student to him, and she didn’t even know him, so he was just another professor to her. “I’m tired,” she murmured, her usual bubbly and friendly personality being buried beneath too many layers of anxiety and exhaustion. She felt like she had to take a break from herself to deal with the situation. 

“There should be a motel up here soon,” Gavin told her, his shoulders slumping just slightly as he nodded to a few lights popping up on the horizon, signaling that there was a small town up ahead.

Ava looked out of the passenger window at the small shops and gas stations passing by, her eyes eventually landing on a rundown motel with a lit up vacancy sign. She figured it would have to do for the night. She was so tired that she would have been fine sleeping in the car. She just needed to escape from her reality for a little while at least so that she could rest her mind and try to approach the situation fresh. 

Gavin pulled into the parking lot of the motel, its walls peeling red paint. He parked in front of the office and hopped out to grab them a room, leaving Ava alone in the car.

Ava glanced around, noting how still and dark everything around her was then. She didn’t see a single soul. If the hotel’s vacancy sign wasn’t lit, she would’ve believed that this was a ghost town. Maybe this was a good place to stay and hide out for awhile. She doubted that there was any good reason for anyone to come out to this deserted looking place. She could’ve sworn she saw cobwebs on the glowing sign. Her eyes shifted over to see Gavin walking back to the car, his hand motioning for her to get out. She slipped out of the car, noting that he was holding one key.

Gavin noticed the confused look on her face, a sheepish look crossing his face. “A lot of the rooms are under maintenance. They have one available with a queen bed, but I’ll sleep on the floor,” he assured her, the last part coming out quickly and almost defensively. He gave her an apologetic expression before locking his car and leading her to one of the chipped doors near his car. He unlocked the door with the silver key and pushed the door open, having to use a little force to get it to budge. “I’ll figure out better arrangements for us tomorrow.”

Ava merely nodded, feeling too tired to really care about the rundown condition of the motel. At least the bed was made. She immediately plopped down onto its surface, not even bothering to slip under the covers or remove her black sneakers that she had slipped on last minute at the dorm. She nestled her head against the pillow, her head feeling heavy from exhaustion and thoughts. She couldn’t tell which one was heavier. She just hoped some of the weight would be lifted by the time she woke up.

“Mind if I borrow a sheet?” Gavin’s awkward voice sounded a few seconds later.

Ava immediately shuffled off of the bed, letting him pull a sheet from the bed and grab one of the pillows to set himself up on the floor. She felt bad seeing him sleep on the floor, prompting her to part her lips to speak. “You can sleep here,” she started to say, beginning to motion to the bed.

Gavin put his hand up and shook his head, giving her a polite smile. “It’s yours. I’ve already disrupted your night. I don’t want to make you even more uncomfortable,” he told her as he puffed the pillow before laying his head down on it. “I’ve slept in worse conditions,” he assured her, trying to coax the guilty look off of her face.

“Okay,” Ava sighed, giving into him. She believed him for some reason. He seemed like he had gone through a lot. She kicked off her shoes and slipped under the covers, trying to get comfortable as she settled back in the bed. She stared up at the ceiling through the darkness, her eyes gradually growing heavier and heavier.

“Goodnight, Ava,” Gavin’s voice came out so softly that she almost didn’t hear him speak.

“Goodnight,” Ava replied back, her voice bordering on a whisper, like if she spoke too loud then they would be found. She didn’t want to know what all would happen if they got caught. She didn’t even know who she was dealing. Criminals? Maybe even murderers? She breathed in deep, trying to calm her fluttering heart. She needed to sleep and rest up for tomorrow because she knew it would be a whole other day of running. 

A sudden sadness settled in her chest as she thought about her friends and how far away they seemed already. She missed them. She needed to talk to them and have their support so badly right now, but she couldn’t talk to them. She had received numerous texts and calls from them during the drive, but she didn’t pick up or even read the messages. She had to keep them in the dark for their safety. The pain and sadness she felt would be worth them staying alive. She could handle the lonely feeling.

Her eyes shifted to the right a little to where she suspected Gavin was laying on the floor at, her frown deepening. She wondered what her life would be like if she hadn’t seen Gavin hitting that other man in the alleyway. They would’ve just basically ignored each other as much as possible besides classroom interaction. She wouldn’t have gone to his office hours or stayed to talk to him after class so much. They wouldn’t have been seen together. She wouldn’t have been dragged into this situation. She had literally taken a wrong turn, and there was no way for her to back out now.