Chapter Four
"What?" Token asked.
"Just don't tell your parents I'm here. Can I…?" Craig glanced into the foyer and up the stairs, not knowing where Token's parents would be least likely to show up.
"They're in the rec room; they can't hear us," Token said. "Here, come on."
Token led Craig up the stairs. He opened a door to a room Craig had never entered before. Craig, wondering how Token didn't get lost in his own house, followed him in. It appeared to be a random guest room. The carpet was thick enough that Craig felt like he was sinking in it, the queen-sized bed was made with creased precision and a gratuitous number of pillows, there was a dapply painting of a lake on the wall, and there was nothing set on the dresser or the bedside table.
Token closed the door behind them. "What's going on?"
Craig looked at his nearly carpet-submerged shoes. "I'm running away from home. My parents can't know where I am. I was hoping I could hide here."
"But why?" Token asked.
"You know I wouldn't ask you for help if it wasn't important." Of course he wouldn't. Craig would never do something so dramatic as running away from home or so pathetic as begging for help unless it was important. Token knew that, right?
"Yeah, but…" Token looked at him. "Did your parents… kick you out?"
"No!" Craig blurted out. Should he have? Maybe Token would have let him stay if he said yes. "It's not… like that. It's just that my parents…"
What was he even going to say?
Token looked at him with concern in his gaze. Craig felt ashamed of himself.
Token reached forward and put a hand on Craig's arm, making Craig feel even more ashamed of himself. "If there's something wrong," Token said, "we can talk to my parents about it."
"No!" Craig said. "They'll make me go back home!"
"Do you…" Token dropped his voice to a whisper. "Do you need to call the police?"
"No," Craig said, his voice a pathetic whimper. He tried to force it back to normal, but it came out shamefully shaky. "It's not… They didn't do anything illegal."
"Okay…" Token said.
"Just please don't tell anyone I'm here," Craig said. "I-I didn't want to bother you, but this was the only place I could think of where I could hide."
"Okay, I won't tell anyone," Token said. "So what do you want?"
Craig took a deep breath. "Let me hide here. I can stay under a bed or in a closet or anywhere. I can be really quiet. You don't have to do anything; you can pretend I'm not here. Except maybe bring me some food every once in a while."
"Wait, so how long do you want to stay here?"
"I don't know. I just can't go back home."
Token paused for a moment. "What about school?"
"I'm not going back to school," Craig said.
"What am I supposed to tell the rest of the guys?"
"Nothing," Craig replied. Was he asking too much, expecting Token not only to shelter him but to keep it all a secret?
Yes, he was definitely asking too much. He was asking way, way too much. But he couldn't think of another option.
"What about Tweek?" Token asked.
Craig tightened his jaw as soon as Token said his name. "He's one of the guys, isn't he?"
"You're not telling him?" Token seemed a little incredulous.
"I don't have to tell him anything. I don't want anyone knowing where I am."
"You forgot to text him back for a couple of hours yesterday and the rest of us couldn't convince him that you hadn't been killed in a hit and run! What's he going to think when you don't show up to school for… however long you're planning on staying here?"
Oh. So it wasn't that Tweek was his boyfriend and Craig was obligated to tell him everything like they were married or something; it was that Tweek was Tweek and was going to have a meltdown if Craig went missing. "It's not that I don't want to tell him," Craig said. "But if I go missing, they're gonna ask him if he knows anything about where I went. And if he doesn't know, he can't crack. So no one can know."
"Except me," Token said.
"I'm sorry," Craig said. "I don't have anywhere else to go. You don't have to do anything; just let me hide in here and don't tell anyone. That's all."
"Are you sure you can stay in here without my parents finding you?"
"I know how to sit still," Craig said. "And I'm willing to do it for as long as it takes."
Token didn't look convinced, but he said, "Okay." He looked around. "No one ever comes in this room. You could probably stay here overnight and my parents wouldn't notice, if you stay really still and don't make any noise and keep the light off."
"I will," Craig said. "Promise."
"What will you do if you need to go to the bathroom?"
"Hold it until no one's home," Craig said.
"Well…" Token sighed. "I'm gonna get in trouble if my parents see you."
"I won't let them," Craig said. "Thank you. I'm sorry." He wished there was something he could say aside from thanking him and saying sorry. It felt so meaningless.
"It's cool," Token said, which was insane because this was overall an incredibly uncool situation.
"Okay," Craig said.
Token looked at his phone. "Their movie might be over by now. I should go. Be careful."
"I will be," Craig promised him.
Token walked to the door and gave Craig a final worried look before flipping the light switch. Then he slowly closed the door behind him. With only the night sky behind the window curtains, the room was totally dark apart from the hall light coming in from under the door.
It had worked. Token was letting him stay.
Alone, in a dark guest room, for who knows how long.
Craig sat on the bed. It made a small creaking noise. Was he really safe in here? Token's parents didn't have a reason to check this random guest room in the middle of the night, but there was also nothing stopping them from doing so. Maybe he should hide under the bed.
When he was planning this, he thought that he could cram himself just about anywhere had had to and hold still. But now that it was happening, spending the night alone in here, without his phone, crammed in some pitch-black corner…
Don't be a baby, Craig.
Craig got off the bed and spotted his backpack—right, he definitely needed to hide that. He shoved it under the bed and then followed suit. There was a dust ruffle sheltering him from prying parents' eyes, and also from the bar of light coming from under the door.
The bed was high enough that there was enough room for his forehead to not quite touch the bottom of the bed if he laid on his back.
He remembered a year or so ago, he and Jimmy and Clyde used to come over to Token's house to play hide-and-seek all the time, for hours. It was their favorite game for a while, just because the hiding possibilities in Token's house were so limitless. It kinda sucked to be the seeker, so they had to limit their games to certain areas in the house just to make it fair.
That was before Tweek hung out with them. That felt like a really long time ago.
Craig closed his eyes and remembered hide-and-seek.
author's note: man, when i was planning this story about childhood sexual abuse, i was imagining that it would be a lot funnier than this. gee whiz. sorry, gang.