by Raathi Chota
“Dude!” someone yelled, then banged on the door. “Blake!”
“Fuck,” Blake muttered as he got up. I pouted because the person ruined the moment. I got up, and Blake threw my clothes at my face. I gave him a questioning look as he put his clothes on. I got dressed as Blake turned off the music. Once I was done, I casually sat on the bed as Blake opened the door.
“Dude, what the fuck, are you dea—oh, hey, Lana!” Keene exclaimed as he looked at Blake with wide eyes, then me.
“Hi, Keene,” I mumbled, then stood up.
“What are you guys—oh!” Keene beamed as he looked at us, then wiggled his brows.
“No,” Blake and I said in unison.
“Come on, Lana, I’ll take you home,” Blake added as he grabbed my hand. He took me out of his house so quick that I didn’t even get time to say goodbye to Keene.
***
School was weird; Blake avoided me most of the time, so I hung out with Miranda and Marcus. I didn’t know what happened to the whole group; it’s as if when two people fought, it affected everyone. I sat at our regular lunch table since Benny got invited to sit with Britney.
It was the last period, which was Physics, and I walked down the hall. As I turned the corner, I felt someone grip my arm and push me against the wall. I groaned, then glanced up to see Blake.
“What do you want?” I asked, then pushed him away.
“Look, I’m sorry for yesterday. It’s just…Keene doesn’t know what we’re doing, and I’d like to keep it that way,” Blake whispered as his eyes softened.
“Yeah, I get it,” I whispered, then looked down.
“Here’s your laptop,” he said, then gave me my bag.
“Thanks.” I took it. Blake cupped my cheeks, then put a strand of hair behind my ear as I looked at him.
“I just want to kiss you right now,” he whispered, then looked down the hallways. There were barely any people since everyone had gone to class.
“Blake, we ca—” He cut me off and kissed me. I stood on my tippy toes to deepen the kiss. His arms wrapped around my waist to keep me in place as his tongue ran across my bottom lip. I heard footsteps behind us, and I pulled away to see Ethan stare at us. I forcefully pushed Blake’s arms off me and backed away. I continued to walk since the second bell rang; I heard Blake’s footsteps as he caught up with me.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked and entwined my fingers with his. I let out a sigh, then turned to look up at him.
“Blake, how long is this gonna go on? Or when is it over?”
“When Nielson learns to man the fuck up,” he answered without hesitation.
“I-I don’t get you. First, you admit your feelings for me, then you want to make him jealous, yet you also want to get me out of your system. I feel bad because you seem fine with everything,” I mumbled. Blake let out a sigh and stopped us. He placed his hands on my shoulders as he stared at me.
“Look, I’ve realized that he makes you happy. For the past few weeks, you haven’t smiled. It’s the fake smile because you try to hide the fact that you miss him. I see it in your eyes how jealous you are of Britney. I see how he makes you happy, how he makes that smile reach your eyes. I don’t know how he does it even though he’s just going to hurt you, but you see the good in him,” he said, then walked. “Besides, I’m all right. It was just a little crush. Now I get to make out with you until he mans the fuck up.”
“Just a little crush…” I whispered to myself, then strolled behind him. Everyone piled into the class, and I sat next to Melissa. While I opened my books, Melissa elbowed me. I turned to her, and she pointed across the room. I followed her gaze to see Britney next to Liam, where Kelly sat. Poor Liam. “Why is she here?”
“Since Kelly and Austin moved to another Physics class, Britney moved in here,” Melissa replied as I stared at her. She looked around the room, then in my direction, but waved at Benny, who sat behind me. I huffed and folded my arms as I turned to Mr. Gorton, who wrote on the board. Once the class was settled, he gave us the work. We answered questions, and I’d glance over to Blake. He looked like he knew what he was doing since he had his headphones on while he worked. The rest of the period was spent in silence as everyone else did his or her own thing until Ethan walked into the classroom with a sorrowful look. I raised a brow as Principal West walked in too. Mr. Gorton stood up, and my eyes widened when I saw Detective Kale step in. The whole class went silent as we stared at the men in front.
“Sorry to disturb your teaching, but Detective Kale here needs to talk to some students, and he says it’s urgent,” Principal West said.
Mr. Gorton leaned against his desk while Detective Kale scouted the classroom. I felt Aidan kick my chair, and I looked up to see Blake and Carter stare at me. “There’s my favorite delinquent.” Detective Kale smirked as he looked at Blake. Blake’s jaw clenched as he glared at Detective Kale. Principal West raised a brow, utterly oblivious to the situation, while Mr. Gorton cleared his throat.
“Well, you’re interrupting my lesson, Detective, so please hurry up,” he stated as Detective Kale nodded.
“Carter Halls, Ethan Baxter, Aidan Rowley, and Blake Gunner, please come with me. If you fail to cooperate, there’s always another way,” Detective Kale said, then pulled out handcuffs. The guys stood up and silently walked with Detective Kale, and I wondered why they couldn’t be called down to the office instead of being embarrassed in front of everyone. Then again, Detective Kale didn’t like Blake. As soon as they walked out of the room, the class erupted in whispers and murmurs. I folded my arms and bit my lip because I wondered what Detective Kale had in store for them.
***
Blake
When I walked down the familiar hallway to the interrogation room, I stared at Detective Kale. I knew he worked with Sheriff Willson, so he should have all his evidence. He opened the interrogation room and motioned for us to go in. He held the door as I went in last.
“How’s your mom, Blake?” he asked, and I ignored him as I walked into the room. He closed the door and left us in the room. I sat next to Ethan and looked at the dimly lit room. There was a big glass opposite us where other people listened in while someone interrogated us. There were no windows in the room, just a table and five chairs. Detective Kale walked back into the room with files in his hands. I looked around to see a camera in the right corner of the room.
“Ethan Baxter, Blake Gunner, Carter Halls, and Aidan Rowley.” Detective Kale grinned as he sat in front of us.
“I thought we were done with this,” Aidan muttered as Kale went through files.
“On September 27th, you all were arrested for hiding drugs in Mr. Baxter’s cottage on Route 28,” he began. “You were forced to by James Cornelius.”
“Cornelius,” Aidan snorted, and we turned to him with a look of too soon.
“It’s stated here that you all confessed about being James Cornelius alleged helpers in hiding all of his cocaine. Apparently, things went wrong, and an anonymous call was sent to the station to rat you guys out,” Detective Kale continued.
“Thanks for the reminder,” I sarcastically said.
“My case deals with a missing person. Sheriff Willson has been trying to get James Cornelius for the past six months when someone by the name of Christo Aimar came to confess. Later it was reported that he was dead.”
“Well, he might not be dead,” Carter stated.
“I know. So Sheriff Willson and I have decided to work together. And that’s when everything started to make sense.” Detective Kale smirked as he stood up and walked around.
“What are you talking about?” Ethan asked. Kale slammed a file down on the table in front of us. In big bold letters was the name “Christo Aimar,” followed by his picture.
“He was the guy who shoved the parcels at you that day, right?” he asked as we stared at his photo. It was him. I never forgot a face. His black hair was slicked back as he held a poker face. His brown eyes glared at the camera, yet the day we sa
w him he looked frightened.
“Yeah,” Aidan replied.
“Mr. Cornelius is well known for threatening people to get what he wants. He has a lot of men around the country, yet we’ve managed to catch quite a few of them in recent months. But he’s also good at impersonating.”
“What the hell does this all mean?” Aidan asked. He then slammed down another file next to Christo’s. It was the guy he was looking for, Jack August. He sat down, then held up the two papers.
“Christo Aimar was reported dead. Mr. Cornelius told you he was dead to scare you. The morgue had no record of him. Mr. Cornelius threatens families. That’s why we couldn’t get anything out of Christo Aimar’s family when he was supposedly dead.”
“So? He could still be alive,” I said. Kale smirked as he held the papers.
“Look at each of their faces and pick out the similarities,” he said, and we did as I stared at Jack, then Christo. At first, there was nothing since Jack had ginger hair, and Christo had black hair, but their eyes were the same. I tilted my head, then noticed that they had the same jawline. Same nose, same thin lips, and same expression. Jack had a weird skin tone since his face was pale, but his neck was the same color tone as Christo.
“This is Christo Aimar, a.k.a. Jack August,” Aidan whispered.
“So Christo Aimar was undercover as a homeless guy named Jack August, and he might still be alive?” Carter asked, and Detective Kale nodded.
“And so Christo’s real family couldn’t say anything because they were threatened, and Jack’s family is fake…” Ethan trailed off.
“Yeah, Jack’s family was a fake. They were in on it too. That’s why they couldn’t give proper answers,” Detective Kale replied.
“So where is Christo? Why are you here questioning us when you should be out there looking for James and his men?” I asked.
“We’re working on it, Gunner, but we can’t seem to get why Mr. Cornelius needed that specific identity,” Detective Kale muttered, then looked at us. “Anyway, thank you for clearing that up. Now that we’re certain, things will really get going.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lana
When we hung out that afternoon at Ethan’s house, nobody talked about what happened with Detective Kale even though I asked countless of times. They said they’d tell me when the time was right, but I didn’t know what that meant.
Over the next few days, Blake and I became more public. It got tiresome, but the thought of Britney and Benny made me jealous. Then the strangest thing happened. Benny came over and tried to apologize again, but I couldn’t, yet I saw the desperation in his eyes. I spoke about Britney, and he said she tried to get in his pants. I would’ve taken him back right then and there because I missed him, but I couldn’t because Blake was up in my room. We hadn’t had sex because I didn’t want to and he respected that, but every time we were so close. Then I thought Benny was over me, but the next day was Valentine’s Day, and I received gifts throughout the day. It’d be a range of things like flowers, my favorite foods, and stuffed animals. I didn’t use any of the stuff because I felt guilty, but my parents did. Dad took the food, while Mom bought vases for all the flowers. It went on for another week, and it even reached a point where my parents waited by the door for the delivery guy. I couldn’t handle it anymore, so on Saturday afternoon I was at Keene’s apartment, sharing a cigarette with Blake while the guys watched sports. Again, when I got there, I asked what happened, but they completely ignored me. Blake handed me the cigarette, and I snatched it, then pressed it in the ashtray. Carter, who sat on my right, placed a hand on my thigh as he gave me a questioning look. I abruptly stood up and walked in front of the television that was on the wall.
“Lana, what are you doing?” Noel asked.
“I can’t take it anymore!” I yelled, then turned the television off. “Tell me what happened!”
“Lana, not no—”
“No! Now! I want to know; I need to know!” I exclaimed as they exchanged looks while I stood and folded my arms. Aidan nodded, then stood up. He took my hand and dragged me down the hall with Carter, Blake, and Ethan. The part that really bugged me was that Keene and Noel knew, yet I didn’t. Once we were in Keene’s room, I folded my arms and stared at them. They looked at each other, but Blake sighed.
“Is your dad still in Illinois?” he asked.
“N-no, he left for Idaho this morning. How did you—”
“He said we could tell you once he’s gone,” Aidan mumbled, then stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“Now tell me. Why did Detective Kale need you?”
“He just wanted us to confirm Christo Aimar’s fake identity,” Ethan said.
“Fake identity? Who was he undercover as?”
“Remember I told you that James is good with identities?” Aidan said, then lowered his head.
“So who was Christo?” I croaked out, because by their expressions I knew it was bad.
“That homeless dude, Jack August,” Carter replied as I paled. I balled my fists as a chill crept up my spine. Blake noticed it and raised a brow as he stepped forward. I backed away, then looked at Aidan.
“Wh-Where’s Christo?” I whispered.
“We don’t know,” he replied as I tried to control myself.
“I-I’m just gonna go to the bathroom,” I stuttered, then walked out of the room. As soon as I was in the bathroom, I locked the door and leaned against it. I looked at myself in the mirror and stared at myself. I killed Christo Aimar…that’s why James was after me. I killed one of his men. That’s why when he and his men walked away on New Year’s, Mike said that he missed Christo. My breaths quickened as the different scenarios ran through my head. I let out a gasp as I stood in front of the sink.
“Lana, you okay in there?” Keene asked as he lightly knocked on the door.
“Y-yeah,” I breathed out, then opened the faucet. I took my glasses off, then stared at myself in the mirror. Tears filled my eyes because what if they found Christo dead? I opened the mirror cabinet and looked at all the pills. Most of them were Noel’s since he got home from rehab. The corners of my mouth went dry as I heard the knocks on the door get louder. I quickly went through the bottles and saw the same pills that Parker gave me. I took some out, then hid them in various places of my clothing.
“Lana!” Blake yelled as he banged on the door. I swallowed one, then put the bottle back and shut the cabinet. My breaths became hard as my head spun. I was in so much trouble. I needed to tell Benny. I unlocked the door and literally fell out of the bathroom. Ethan caught me and wrapped his arms around my torso to hold me up.
“Lana, are you okay?” Carter asked as he looked at me.
“I-I think I’m having a panic attack.”
“O-okay, just calm down. Breathe,” he said as Ethan dragged me into the room. The guys ran up and down, but it made the situation worse, as I felt dizzy. I pushed myself off him to walk but regretted it as my legs buckled. Sweat ran down my forehead as the room spun. My eyelids drooped as I fell forward into Carter’s arms, then blacked out.
***
When I opened my eyes, I felt a pain in my head. I let out a groan as I slowly sat up on the bed. As my vision got clear, I saw Keene next to the bed while Ethan sat in front.
“Whoa, relax,” Keene mumbled as he held my hand. I watched as he took a glass of water from the table and gave it to me. “For your head.” He then gave me aspirin. I drank the water, then swallowed the tablet. I noticed I was on Keene’s bed while the afternoon sun shone through the window. Ethan and Keene exchanged a look. I narrowed my eyes.
“What?” I managed to rasp out.
“Before you woke up, you kept mumbling out Benny’s name and that you need to tell him…Lana, will you ever forgive him?” Keene asked.
“I-I don’t know,” I whispered, even though I wanted to.
