Love's Cruel Redemption

by C. L. Stone

  “How about you take over monitoring the Sorenson house?” he asked. “You’ll never be too far from Sang just in case she can come over and see you.”

  It was on the tip of Nathan’s tongue to say no at first. Watching Sang’s stepmother or Marie and paying attention to what went on in that house wasn’t going to be any better for his mood. It’d be a constant reminder.

  But he’d be thinking about Sang anyway. At least he’d be helping her out when he couldn’t do anything for her now.

  The buzzer for the front doorbell sounded, and Nathan nearly dropped the phone, startled.

  “Hang on,” he said into the phone. “Someone’s here.”

  “Keep me on the line,” Mr. Blackbourne said.

  At first, he thought it might be Sang or Kota, but they probably wouldn’t have bothered with the doorbell. Maybe Jessica? Or Erica to talk to him?

  He tucked the phone into his pocket, hoping Mr. Blackbourne could still hear. Then he answered the door.

  Danielle stood there, jeans, gray sweater, both tight, and fuzzy boots. Her hair was trimmed shorter than he remembered, close to her jawline.

  The corner of Danielle’s mouth dipped a little, but she kept her expression neutral. “Your dad isn’t around, is he?”

  Nathan breathed out a bit in relief, glad to not have a confrontation with Erica, but at the same time, annoyed by seeing her. “Why are you asking?” he wasn’t quite in the mood for this. Seeing Danielle on his front porch was strange. They used to spend more time together when they were younger. Then one summer...

  He suppressed the memory. Ever since one incident a few years ago, he’d distance himself from her. He didn’t even like being alone with her ever. He’d been angry about it, but it was the past now.

  Danielle waved toward the Sorenson house, the two-story gray house a couple of homes down from Nathan’s. “I need help with Marie, and I think it would benefit Sang, too. Let me in?”

  Nathan couldn’t imagine anything she could offer that would help Sang or Marie. Either way, he needed to get her off the front porch. “Uh, sure.”

  Nathan made room, and Danielle walked past him and into the kitchen. Nathan shut the front door and walked around the kitchen’s center island. He leaned against it, looking across at Danielle. Somehow, that barrier between them made him feel better. He put the phone upside down on the island between them, so she wouldn’t see it was on call.

  “First thing,” Nathan said, “I don’t want any trouble. The Sorensons are going through enough right now. Whatever you’re thinking of doing, you probably don’t want to do this.”

  Danielle smirked and crossed her arms over her chest, making the fabric appear even tighter around her shoulders. It was a wonder how she managed to even move. “I saw the fight,” she said. “I saw the fight with Kota.”

  Great. She was the last person who needed to see anything. “It’s not what you’re thinking.”

  “It was something about Sang.”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  She dropped her haughty smirk. “Listen. I’m not here to give you a hard time. I’m here to help.”

  “You say help, but the best way to help is to stay out of it. There’s nothing you can do.”

  “You don’t know everything,” Danielle said. “You think you do, but you don’t. Marie and I know about Sang. We know about her real mom.”

  Nathan ground his teeth. He probably should have been surprised Marie kept that bit of information to herself for as long as she did. For now, he tried to pretend they were on the same team, to keep Danielle from talking around school or anywhere else. “Exactly how do you think you’re helping?”

  “Let Marie and I come over and spend the night tonight.”

  Nathan laughed, short and sharply. “You’ve gotta be kidding.”

  “I’m not kidding. I’m going to try to get Marie out of the house tonight. Her mom sleeps pretty heavily, so she probably won’t notice. She sneaks out now sometimes. I know Sang used to do that all the time. Marie told me about it. So don’t act like you’re above it all.”

  If Marie knew, she didn’t mention it. He had to give Marie a little credit for that. “Why do you want to stay here?”

  Danielle leaned against the counter, looking him in the eyes dead on. “I have an idea. I’ll be telling my parents I’m staying at her house.” She held up a single finger. “Just one night. I’ll explain everything. If you change your mind at that point, that’s up to you. Just hear us out.”

  Nathan considered his options. If he said no, she and Marie could go somewhere else. That could make it more difficult to figure out what was going on. However, if he let them spend the night, maybe pretend he was in on it, he could stop them before they did anything stupid. “Okay...” Nathan said. “I guess. But I get to make the final decision before you do anything. Sang’s happier now. And so is Marie. I don’t want to mess that up.”

  Danielle put a hand over her heart. “I promise, no tricks.”

  Nathan doubted it. He only hoped he wasn’t making the wrong decision.

  And he hoped Mr. Blackbourne was still listening. This was a distraction to keep him occupied, but he wasn’t sure if he was just asking for more trouble.

  The Truth Among the Lies

  Sang

  There were voices floating from the living room. I was pretty sure my name was spoken a few times.

  I was afraid to move. Nathan had said to stay, and I trusted him, but I was afraid of what was being said.

  Shame filled my senses, not just for Jessica catching us and not knowing the truth, but for leaving Nathan to confront it and not being out there for him.

  They shouldn’t have to do this alone.

  I wasn’t sure how Kota would react, or Erica or Jessica... They had been very nice to let me stay with them this whole week and support me. I felt like somehow this whole mess was a betrayal to them. Even if they didn’t really understand it.

  Even Kota knew about the relationship between myself and the rest of the guys, but he struggled. I knew he did. And now he was forced to face it. Forced to deal with the aftermath with his mother and sister.

  After several long minutes, I heard Kota’s voice again. His voice was stronger, more upset.

  “I don’t want to talk about it right now,” he said.

  Not good.

  A moment later, there were footsteps in the hallway and my heart nearly exploded, anxious. Luckily, it was Kota that appeared in the doorway.

  Him being with me when being confronted by Jessica and Erica, that made it better. Kota understood it probably wasn’t what Jessica thought it was.

  He took one look at me and with his back to Jessica and Erica, he flicked a finger to his lips, indicating to me not to say much.

  I would’ve been happy to not say anything if I could help it. If he had a plan, I was willing to follow it.

  Erica nudged Kota a little so she could stand beside her son. Her face was kind, but it still made me feel bad for what she may have heard. “Sang, it’s okay. Don’t be afraid.”

  Just the delicate way that she was talking made me realize that whatever had been said, they were upset with Nathan, and not me.

  That just made me feel so much worse about what was going on. I pressed my lips together, blushing and unsure what to say. So I stuck with what Kota said, saying nothing.

  Erica went on, “Jessica said Nathan tried to kiss you...”

  Kota spoke quickly, cutting off Erica and stepping toward me, hands up to offer to collect mine. “I don’t blame you. I don’t. He told me that he did try to kiss you. You had told him no. You don’t have to prove yourself. I believe him and I trust you.”

  I wanted to groan, but I couldn’t. I was afraid to say anything in the next few minutes, because I was pretty sure I wanted to clear up the entire situation. I wanted to help Nathan in any way I could. The only thing I could say was that he didn’t do it against my will, which just seemed to make things so much worse.r />
  “I...” I started to say then just stopped. I thought maybe that was better. Stutter a little, look like I was making an effort. I focused on Kota’s outstretched hands. I put mine in his, hoping this was the right thing to do if Kota was urging me silently to do it.

  Kota nodded and pulled me into him, getting me into a hug.

  I leaned into it and hid my face in his chest. I felt bad enough to not want to look at the others. I don’t know how he knew what I needed right then, but he did.

  I felt a third hand on me, near my head, and I thought it was Erica.

  “You’ll be okay,” Erica said. “Kota, I know you trust them. But she is a pretty girl. And if you ask me, she is the only girl that they have spent any time with of the last several months. I didn’t want to say it, but it was just a matter of time.”

  “We shouldn’t talk about this now,” Kota muttered.

  Erica released her hand from me and then said, “What he did was wrong. I don’t want to diminish it. However, I am willing to accept that he is young, and probably a little confused. You let him know it wasn’t okay. I don’t want him to think he can get away with kissing someone if they didn’t want him to.”

  At this, I had to say something. I turned myself away from Kota a little bit to face Erica but kept my cheek pressed against his chest. “He wasn’t being that pushy.” I wasn’t sure how else to say it, but I really didn’t want to give them the wrong impression about him like that. “I’m not sure what was heard, but he wasn’t trying to force me, he was just...saying he wanted to. He wasn’t going to force me.”

  Kota quickly pushed his palm against my cheek, partially covering my mouth. “That’s enough for now.” He sighed. “We should talk, but let’s give it some time. Let’s eat breakfast, give ourselves a chance to calm down. We’ll talk about it then.”

  He didn’t want me to say anything else. Maybe I was adding to lies. It was hard enough to lie to her now, but I didn’t want Nathan to be blamed for something far worse than just trying to kiss his best friend’s girlfriend.

  Kota waved his family members away. They backed out into the hallway and retreated. Kota stayed with me, hugging me for a minute after they were out of sight.

  It gave me a moment to breathe. We couldn’t stay long, but it helped. I want to ask him what happened just now with Nathan, but when I pulled back a bit, I caught sight of his knuckles, one edge split and bleeding, the rest very red.

  Instinct had me reaching to touch the red knuckles. When I did, he pulled back, hiding his hand behind his back.

  He looked at me, shaking his head slowly and putting a finger to his lips.

  Don’t talk about it.

  If that was the case, then it had to be something to do with Nathan. He probably couldn’t say much with Erica and Jessica near.

  What were we going to do now?

  The Past Unforgotten

  When Luke arrived with food from Bob’s, Kota pretended to get a phone call that there was a lecture at the university he forgot he volunteered to help host.

  “Want to go with me, Sang?” he asked.

  It was very unlikely I’d stay without him at that point, but I had a feeling he knew we needed to get out of the house. “Yes.”

  “It’ll be good for the two of you to go out,” Erica said. “Take her someplace nice after.”

  Kota turned to Luke. “I’ll drop you off at the diner, or at home, if you’d want?” His tone was awkward, and I had a feeling he was asking Luke not to refuse the offer.

  “Uh, sure,” Luke said. He picked up our containers of pancakes. “Let’s take this on the road.”

  Leaving the Lee house felt like escaping. I dressed quickly in jeans, a simple T-shirt that I was sure wasn’t mine, and wore one of Kota’s green hoodies.

  We piled into Kota’s sedan, with me in the front seat and Luke taking food containers into the back. “Please tell me I can eat in the car,” he said. “And where are we going?”

  “Hang on a second,” Kota said. He buckled his seatbelt and started the car.

  In moments, we were pulling out of the drive. I sensed we were just waiting until we were out of visual range.

  Kota released a long breath, almost making a whistling sound with his lips in an o shape. “I am so sorry about her.”

  “What happened while I was in the bathroom?” I asked.

  “I was gone for two minutes, and we’re already in trouble?” Luke asked, a blond eyebrow raising.

  Kota quickly went over Jessica showing up to tell him Nathan was kissing Sang in the bathroom. Then he caught us up about Nathan and him discussing it out on the front lawn, and how they fake fought to make it look like Kota was angry with Nathan.

  “We didn’t know how else to handle it.” He pushed a palm against his cheek, rubbing, but focused on the road. “Can I ask you something?” he asked me.

  “Sure.”

  “Nathan didn’t...really...make you do anything, right?”

  I gasped. “No! Of course not!”

  He released the wheel shortly to wave his hand at me. “I trust him. I do. But...I have to ask. Not that I don’t trust him, but we all make mistakes. So if you ever feel pressured to do something you don’t want, like going out with me if you don’t feel in the mood...”

  I conceded. “I know you wanted to get out of the house. I did, too. And maybe it’s a good thing right now.”

  “I’m not sure where to take you.” He looked over at me. “With Volto out there and the chance of being followed by one of Mr. Hendricks’ guys...” He checked the rearview mirror. “Speaking of which...”

  There was a dark sedan behind us, similar to Kota’s car. I didn’t recognize it, and we all paid attention to the cars on Sunnyvale Court. When we turned right, it followed. It was too close, too obvious it was following.

  We were all quiet, watching the car as Kota drove into another neighborhood and made a couple turns.

  Eventually, it turned off. Either we were spooked and wrong about it, or the driver realized we knew and stopped following.

  I breathed out a sigh. “For a while, I forgot about Mr. Hendricks.”

  “Maybe that’s good,” Luke said. I turned to look at him. His usually cheery disposition had darkened into something much more serious. “It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. And you were supposed to be resting. Doc’s orders.”

  “I can’t be restricted to rest forever. I feel better.” I looked back at him. “I mean, things are better than they were. By a lot.”

  “We’ll all lay low for a few days,” Luke said. “This will blow over, too. It’ll be fine.”

  Kota’s phone on the dash rang. He handed it to me. “Answer it?”

  I blinked rapidly. Me?

  I slid my finger across the screen to answer the call and put it on speaker.

  “Kota,” Dr. Green’s voice came through immediately. “Tell me, who takes a man’s fine, leather notebook out of a section of notebooks clearly set aside as pristine...”

  “Dr. Green...” Kota said, sounding exasperated.

  “...examples of fine notebooks and scribbles a shopping list on the front page?”

  Kota shook his head, and the corner of his mouth tilted up in a small smirk. “Mr. Blackbourne did this?”

  “My mother. But do you know what Owen said?”

  He dropped the smirk and winced during his response. “That they are... just notebooks?” Kota replied.

  “He said it was good for me! That I’d never write in them because I treat them like Bibles.”

  “I don’t know—”

  “I just like them. I’ll write in them one day when my handwriting doesn’t look like a toddler still learning ABCs. They are way too nice for shopping lists.”

  “Be nice to your mom,” Kota said, looking over at me.

  “What?” Dr. Green blew a raspberry into the phone. “You’re sounding more like Owen every day. And not in the fun way.”

  “Well, my mom just caught Nathan trying to kiss
Sang,” Kota said, glancing at me once more before refocusing on the road.

  “Oh.” Dr. Green was quiet for a couple of moments. “Oh...Bad.”

  “Yeah, bad,” Kota said. He caught him up on what happened. “I don’t know what to do. I lied to her, but I can’t tell her about...I mean...”

  “About Nathan also wanting to date Sang?”

  “Yeah. We can’t tell her that. Right?”

  “Why not?”

  Kota snorted once and looked at me. “Tell him.”

  “I don’t know what to do,” I said.

  “Oh, is pumpkin there?” Dr. Green asked. “Hi pookie.”

  “I’m here, too!” Luke said.

  I made a small chuckle but refocused. “I don’t know her that well, but if she knew, what would she say?”

  Dr. Green spoke, “She’d probably...think it was a phase, yeah? You should tell her.”

  “It’s not like you’re telling your mom,” Kota said.

  “Good point,” Dr. Green said. “I don’t even know if I should.”

  Everyone was quiet for a moment. It was strange to consider what was happening. We were facing a reality. I’d nothing to lose with my family, because they didn’t want me. But Kota...would Erica or even Dr. Green’s mom...would Mrs. Midori ever understand? What about Uncle?

  “It’s all part of a decision we all have to make,” Dr. Green said. “In a way, it is just like the Academy. We decide how much to tell people, have precautions for those who may abuse their knowledge that we exist. In a way, we’ve been preparing for this sort of situation.”

  It surprised me he’d be so open about Academy talk on the phone. Maybe something changed in the rules lately? I’d been out for a bit, but they knew better than I did about security measures.

  “It’s not really the same,” Kota said.

  “Isn’t it?” Dr. Green asked. “What persona do you feed your mother when she asks about school? About where you were some weekends? When you were playing drums in a bar until four in the morning or helping Luke do...things?”

  “You play drums?” I asked.

  “Long story,” Kota said and shook his head. “But my mom will be around me. And the rest of us—”