I'll Be There, No Questions Asked

Anyone who knows her schedule knows you don't call late at night unless it's something serious. She didn't talk to her sister for two weeks when her sister drunk-dialed her one night. Any other night, Clare would've ignored the phone as she closed her eyes for the night.

But this time was different. When she heard the ringtone, she knew it was serious. She groped for the phone and didn't open her eyes until it was against his face.

"Clare!" a girl's voice on the other end cried. Clare could hear loud music in the background, and the girl sounded scared. Clare heard the girl cry.

"Kaylee," Clare said softly. "Is everything okay?"

"I need help," Kaylee cried. "I know you and Dad aren't together, but can you come and get me? I don't want to be here anymore." Clare looked at the clock. It was past two in the morning.

"Are you safe?" Clare asked.

"No," Kaylee cried. "Something happened; Dad's gonna be mad at me!"

"Where are you?" Clare said, alert. "Text me the address. I'll be on my way when I get it."

Seconds later, Clare's phone flashed. The address was in town, not too far from Kaylee's father's house. She knew who lived there, too. Before she got in her car, she went to the spare bedroom and turned on the LED strips. They shined green in the bedroom. Green was Kaylee's favorite color right now. She would feel better seeing green lights in her bedroom.

Flyleaf blasted as she drove to the house. Clare wanted to speed, but the cops get bored quickly in her town. And they might make things worse for her if they find out why she's out so late.

Clare could hear the music before she saw the house when she pulled into the driveway. When she saw the house, she could see flashes of faces looking out the windows. Clare could see flashing lights in the windows too. The music abruptly cut off when she turned off the car. When she got out of the car, the lights stopped.

Clare looked up at the now dark house. If she hadn't seen the flashes of faces, she wouldn't have thought anyone was home. She walked to the door and knocked.

Silence. Clare opened the door and stepped inside. She could barely see in front of her. She pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight.

"I'm not a cop!" she called. "I'm here to pick up my st-- Kaylee."

Clare's chest tightened. Kaylee's father called off the engagement months before the two of them broke up. Two months ago, Clare caught Kaylee's father with Kaylee's mother, and she moved out the next day. Before she left, she made sure Kaylee knew Clare would be around if Kaylee needed her.

In those two months, she still caught herself calling Kaylee her stepdaughter. When Kaylee's mother was caught with another man again, Clare didn't move back in with Kaylee's father. She stayed at her house a few streets away so Kaylee had a place to go if she needed. Kaylee was the only reason Clare stayed in this town.

The lights turned on, and a teenaged boy stepped out in front of Clare. She recognized him, but she couldn't remember his name. They weren't standing close to each other, but she could smell the beer on the kid. He blinked at her a couple of times before it registered who she was.

"Long time no see, Clare!" the boy said, "I thought you ran out of town after Kaylee's parents got back together!"

"Where's Kaylee?" Clare demanded. She wasn't about to talk about her love life with a drunk teenager. Especially not when it's one of Kaylee's friends.

"In the bathroom," he gestureed backwards with his thumb. "She was being a cock-tease and ran to the bathroom when I called her out on it."

"Was she really?" Clare asked. "Or were you ignoring the signs she was uncomfortable?"

"Hey! I'm not a monster," the boy protested.

"Sounds to me like you weren't listening to her," Clare said cooly. "Now get out of my way. I'm taking her home."

The kid stepped in front of her menacingly. Clare laughed and stepped on his foot, hard. He yelped and stepped backwards, swearing at her as she walked through the house.

Some teenagers sat still on the couch. They looked too scared to move or look at Clare.

"I'm not a cop," she said again. "Just tell me where the bathroom is." One of the kids pointed ahead. Clare gave her a thumbs up and went to the only closed door in the house.

"Kaylee, it's Clare," Clare knocked softly on the door as she spoke. Kayle threw the door open and threw her arms around Clare. Kaylee said nothing as Clare took her hand and lead her out of the house and in the car. The moment Kaylee's car door slammed shut, the music and lights turned on, and the party continued.

"Are you okay?" Clare asked. Kaylee said nothing but nodded. Clare noticed Kaylee's dark ponytail messed up and black mascara going down her face. Her skirt and T-shirt looked rumpled.

"Can I stay at your house tonight?" Kaylee asked. "I don't want to go back to Dad's."

"Okay," Clare said softly. They drove back to the house in silence for the first mile.

"You don't have to tell me what happened if you don't want to," Clare said.

"I don't want to get grounded by Dad," Kaylee said, "I'm going to get in so much trouble."

"If he tries, I'll fight it," Clare said, "it'd be fucked up of him." They pulled into Clare's driveway, and the two got out of the car. Kaylee went to the bathroom. Clare went to the kitchen and poured herself a drink. She poured a cup of water for Kaylee when she got out of the bathroom.

"You know I'm going to have to tell your dad you're here tomorrow, right?" Clare asked.

"I know," Kaylee answered between sips.

"I turned on some LED strips for you," Clare said, pointing to the room with the green lights. "You still like green, right?"

"Yeah!" For the first time since Clare saw her tonight, Kaylee smiled. She gave Clare a tight hug. Clare gasped, trying not to tear up in front of her almost-stepdaughter.

"Thanks Clare," she said. "I'm going to go to sleep now. Good night."

Clare got up hours before Kaylee the next day. She did her morning stretches, brushed her teeth, and made herself some toast. She tip-toed to Kaylee's door to check on her. Kaylee was still sound asleep. She'd washed all of the makeup off of her face sometime last night, and she looked much younger than sixteen now.

Clare went outside to the backyard. She didn't want Kaylee hearing her talk to her dad, but she didn't want any joggers hearing her either. Her neighbors didn't live close enough to hear a phone conversation.

When she found Kaylee's father's number, she hesitated. Clare never thought she'd be in a situation where she'd have to tell Kaylee's father what's going on with her. In Kaylee's first year of high school, Clare told her she can come to her for anything, as long as she didn't have to keep secrets. If Kaylee's health and safety were threatened, her father would know about it.

Clare hit the call button. In two rings, she heard her ex-fiance's deep voice. He answered faster than she'd like.

"Clare," he said. It wasn't a question.

"I want to let you know something happened to Kaylee last night," Clare said, her heart racing. "She spent last night here with me." The other line was silent for a few beats.

"What happened?" he asked. His voice was a tone she'd never heard from him before. Clare told him what she knew. She told him about the party, about the friend who got so forward she locked herself in the bathroom, and the friend's annoyance at Kaylee's resistance.

"Was she drinking?" he asked.

"No," Clare replied. "And if she had, that's not a reason for her friend to attempt to rape her. Maybe instead of trying to find a way to blame her for what happened, you should be asking yourself why she was terrified of you finding out about this." There was more silence on the phone.

"What's this kid's address?" he asked.

"I'll text it to you," Clare said, surprised.

"I'll come get Kaylee after I'm done having a talk with her friend," he said. They hung up, and Clare texted Kaylee's father the address.

Stunned, Clare went to the kitchen and started looking for pancake mix. If this situation happened months ago, Kaylee's father wouldn't have been so quick to power down on an argument about women. They would fight because of his blatant efforts to not understand a woman's experience. It's part of the reason why she didn't go back to him when Kaylee's mother cheated on him again. She closed her eyes at the memory of her last fight.

"Clare?" Kaylee's voice broke Clare out of her thoughts.

"You want some pancakes?" Clare asked.

"You were talking to youerself," Kaylee said. "Were you thinking about Dad again?" Clare flipped the pancakes. Kaylee sat at the table. She'd brushed her hair and teeth earlier.

"Did you sleep well?" Clare asked. Kaylee noddded her thanks. Clare put some pancakes on a plate and gave it to her. Kaylee went to the pantry and found syrup. Clare put some pancakes on a plate for herself and sat down with Kaylee.

"Is Dad coming over?" Kaylee asked.

"Later," Clare answered. "He said he needed to take care of something first." They ate in silence.

"You don't have to tell me anything if you're not comfortable talking to me about it," Clare told her. Kaylee nodded.

After they ate, Kaylee and Clare washed the dishes together, and Kaylee turned on the TV. Clare turned on Roku, and Kaylee looked for free movies. They were halfway through Wonder Woman when they heard a knock on the door.

"That's probably your dad," Clare said. "Are you ready?" Kaylee shook her head.

"It'll be okay," Clare told her. "I'll still be here." Clare went to the door and answered it.

He'd lost weight since the last time she saw him. The whole time they were together, he'd complained about getting fat. Now, Clare wouldn't be surprised if there was a six-pack underneath that shirt. If he put on a black wig, he'd look like his daughter's twin. They had the same face, same beautiful turquoise eyes and long lashes. Clare had to work to keep herself from hugging him.

"Hey," she said, "do you want to come in?" He nodded and walked inside the house. Kaylee froze at the sight of her father. He wasn't a big man, but something about him intimidated most of Kaylee's friends.

"You're not in trouble, Kaylee," he said. "I took care of it. Are you ready to go home?" Kaylee stood up and went to the spare bedroom. Then she said bye to Clare and walked outside to her father's car. Clare stood in the living room with Kaylee's father.

"Thank you," he said. "Thanks for keeping her safe."

"Anytime," Clare said. Before she knew what happened, he'd pulled her close to him and kissed her.

"Thanks for talking sense into me too," he said. "I'll see you around." He turned and followed his daughter out the door. Clare watched as the two of them drove away.