by Box Set
“They don’t offer the classes I want to take.”
“What do you want to take?”
He finished rubbing the shampoo in and then pushed my head a little until I was further under the running water. He cupped his hand into the water to redirect the flow to run over the base of my neck. “I wouldn’t mind learning bass. I already play guitar. There’s one class at... um... another school.” His fingers smoothed over the locks of my hair. I thought I felt him curling some of the strands but it was hard to tell.
His hesitation confused me. “Another school?”
“Just one of the private schools.”
“Are you considering going to the private school next year?”
His hands moved away from my head and he was silent. I thought I might have said something wrong but I heard a bottle being squeezed and he was rubbing something between his hands. “Might.”
“Is there a requirement to get in?”
He moved his fingers through my hair again, taking time to work the conditioner through every strand. “There’s always a requirement for a private school, sweetie.”
The endearment made my breath catch. People don’t call other people sweetie up north, not unless they were sweethearts. I wondered if there was a hidden meaning, or if that was just how people talked here in the south, like I’d seen in movies.
“So it means you won’t be going to my school if you go to the private one,” I said softly.
“Maybe,” he said. “Victor’s so mean, isn’t he? Did you see him kick me? I was trying to be nice and fix your hair and he’s kicking me.” Was he dodging the question, or was it obvious?
“He’s not so bad,” I said, thinking of the day before, how he had held my hand on the way out of the mall, and of the sheet music.
“No, he isn’t bad. He’s just a pain in the ass, sometimes.” He finished the lather and then had me dunk my head into the water once more.
When I was finished and dripping into the sink, he found a towel in the tiny bathroom closet and held it out to me. I wrapped my hair into it while he dug around in the cabinet under the sink. He pulled out organized blue bins, reaching deeper inside for one near the back.
“So how do you know everyone?”
“Huh?” he asked, pulling an older model brown dryer out from under the sink.
I swallowed and tried to stage whisper. “I mean, how did you meet Kota? And Victor? When did you all become friends?”
He pushed the blue bins back underneath the sink and plugged in the dryer. He snapped his fingers and pointed at the closed toilet seat. When I was sitting, my head came up to his stomach. He flipped on the dryer and started combing his fingers through my hair. “I met them all in kindergarten,” he said. “We went to the same elementary school. Everyone but Silas and North.”
“Who’s North?”
“Another one of the guys,” he said. “There’s me, Kota, Victor, Nathan, Silas, North and Luke.”
“Who’s Luke?”
“North’s brother.”
I blinked. Seven of them.
Gabriel reached for the hair brush on the counter and started smoothing out my hair. “You see, everyone except North and Silas grew up together. Silas didn’t move here until maybe when we were ten. North came about a year later.”
“Where was North?”
“He was living with his dad in Europe,” he said, brushing my hair up against the air from the blower. “They live with their uncle now.”
“Do they stop by here often?”
“You’ll see them sometime,” he said.
A silence grew between us as he focused on fixing my hair. With the way I was sitting, I couldn’t see what he was doing to me. Mostly it felt like he was just drying it out, but he was doing a twist thing to add a little volume. It was more than I ever bothered to do.
There really was no reason for me to do more to it. I usually never saw anyone but my own family. Marie would trim my hair for me. She wasn’t very good, but with my hair pulled back, no one noticed.
When he was done, he put down the dryer and the brush onto the counter top. He smoothed his fingers through my hair. “Your hair is soft. I was right about the color, too. It’s chameleon.”
“Huh?”
“Changes color depending on the light.” He put the brush back in a drawer and then tossed the blow dryer under the sink. I wondered if Kota would be upset he didn’t carefully put it back where he’d found it. Gabriel curled his finger to me. “Come here, step in front of me.”
I stood in front of the sink and he stepped behind me. His eyes appeared over my head in the mirror and his fingers crept up to my scalp. He was playing with my hair, threading his fingers through the strands and combing out the locks to the tips of my hair. He tried curling a few strands around his fingers and then smoothed the hair back out again. “You’re stunning,” he said softly.
My cheeks heated and I could see myself blushing in the mirror, all the way to the tips of my ears.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” he said. “You can’t be embarrassed by the truth. Look at that cute nose you have. You know what? It doesn’t even matter when you blush. That’s just nature’s makeup. Heavy makeup looks like shit on a girl. You don’t need it.” He pursed his lips together and then brought his cheek to the side of my head so I could see his whole face next to mine in the mirror. He focused on my eyes by looking through the mirror. “I want to ask you something personal and I want you to be honest with me. You’ve never had a boyfriend, have you?”
The question caught me off guard. I shook my head and my mouth shaped into an ‘o’.
“I didn’t think so.”
I made a face at him. “You think I’m naive?”
“Innocent,” he corrected, his voice softer now. He curled a lock of my hair through his fingers. “I’ve been flirting with you this whole time and you haven’t once told me to shut the fuck up or do that stupid thing girls do when they want another compliment.”
I was beet red. Flirting? “Should I tell you to... to back off?”
His lips parted and he started to sing. “Sang, heart on your sleeve. You watch out, I’m going to steal your heart.” The way he was singing was sweet and his voice flowed from his lips as smooth as water. It was clear he’d had some lessons. He stopped singing and waited as if expecting me to say something. When I didn’t, he beamed. He turned and shooed me with his hands. “Let’s get you out into the sunlight and see what your hair looks like.”
I was blushing badly as I followed him back out into Kota’s bedroom. My mind was whirling so fast that I felt like I needed to stay behind and calm myself. It just shocked me that I hadn’t recognized the things he was doing as flirting. Or was he teasing?
My hair did feel really good.
He padded back out into the bedroom and then side stepped, holding his hand out toward me in a presentation. “See guys, this is how hair should look.”
Victor was still on the bed, fiddling with the medallion at his neck. Kota was at his computer, typing something in. Nathan was sitting in the window seat, punching something into his phone.
They all turned at the same time to look at me. Kota stopped typing and readjusted his glasses. Victor sat up, his mouth open. Nathan dropped his phone but caught it before it fell to the carpet.
“Did you change the color?” Kota asked.
“I didn’t do shit,” Gabriel said. “I washed it and then blow dried it out. That’s all her.”
“You just keep it tied back in that clip,” Victor said. “That’s why it looks different now.”
I pulled a strand behind my ear. “It gets in the way when I’m busy.” I wasn’t sure if he heard me.
“Just wait until I get my scissors,” Gabriel said. He reached back to me, running a finger through a lock of my hair close to my face. “I can give it some depth.”
“I don’t think I should,” I said. “My parents will notice.”
He made a face. “Your parents are a compl
ication.”
“We’re working on that,” Kota said.
I blinked at him. “I...” I swallowed.
Gabriel leaned in to me. “Just whisper it to me. I’ll tell them.”
I sighed and then whispered in his ear. He leaned in so closely that my lips touched his lobe. Even as I leaned away to avoid it, he kept himself close. He smelled like warmth, floral.
He repeated what I said, “She thinks we should keep like we’re doing now. She’s okay with escaping every morning and just not telling them where she’s going.”
“That’s part of it, for now,” Kota said. He stood up, moving to sit on the carpet again. I moved over to sit next to him. This time Victor got up and sat on the floor next to me. The others joined us. “I made a promise to you, didn’t I? I just think we need to figure out a way to reach you. We probably also should slowly start just showing up. I mean, maybe your mom would get used to us.”
My eyes widened and I shook my head. “No. We can’t.” They still didn’t quite understand, but I didn’t want to worry them anymore. The swallowing vinegar was bad enough but who knew what else she would do to me if she knew for sure boys were talking to me? Would she fulfill her promise about the bleach?
He nodded, rubbing fingers at his chin. “Maybe we should start with a girl. There’s Danielle who lives up the street. We could ask her to go over.”
Nathan rolled his eyes, looking away. “Is she going to want to?”
“She’s not that bad.”
“Unless you try to talk to her,” Gabriel said.
“Or sit next to her on the bus,” Nathan said.
“Or walk by her in school,” Victor added.
“She’s who we have to work with,” Kota pointed out. “Or we could try Jessica. But she's young, so I don't know how that would work.” He turned back to me. “In the meantime, I was wondering if you’d allow us to give you a cell phone to use.”
My head tilted backward a little and I stammered. “M... me?”
“I think it’ll be the best way to check in with you and make plans if we’re going to make any. It’ll be the best way to communicate.”
I rubbed a palm over my head. “I don’t know. You guys are going through a lot of trouble for me already. You still hardly know me.”
“It’s a cell phone, not a marriage proposal,” Victor said. His strong, lean hands smoothed a wrinkle on his jeans.
“It costs money,” I said. “I don’t really have a way to pay for it.”
“That’s not something you need to worry about,” Victor said. He locked his fire eyes on me.
“We’ll find an inexpensive one at the convenience store,” Kota said. “Nothing fancy. It’ll allow for phone calls and text messages.”
I glanced at the carpet, still feeling uncomfortable. How strange it felt that they were including me into this circle. Now they were pulling together to get a cell phone for me. Guilt weighed on me that they even thought to spend any amount of money on someone like me. As I looked at all of them, it seemed as if this decision had already been made. They were just waiting to tell me. “I’ll have to be careful,” I said. “If my parents ever found it, I don’t know what they would do.”
“Do you have a place to hide it?” Nathan asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Maybe. There’s an attic door in my room,” I said, pushing a finger to my lower lip.
“Why not just under your pillow?” Gabriel asked.
“Someone will find it,” I said. Unless I stayed right there in my room, it’s easy enough to unlock the door and poke around. My mother could easily search my room, if she wanted and Marie often did anyway. A phone was the last thing I wanted any of them to find.
“You do it the best you can,” Kota said. He turned to Victor. “Can you go find one?”
Victor nodded and stood up.
“Get her a pretty one,” Gabriel said. He smiled wide and turned to me. “If you’re going to get a new phone, you’ll need a good one. What’s your favorite color?”
I blushed as the attention was diverted to me again. Should I be honest or say something I thought was cool? “Pink,” I said, trying to be honest.
Gabriel’s blue eyes brightened. “Yeah. Good choice. Get her a pink one.”
Victor smirked. “One pink cell phone.”
“Try to get her one that’s inconspicuous,” Kota added.
“One inconspicuous pink phone.”
“And get her a sturdy one,” Nathan said. “She might drop it. You know how accident prone she is” He grinned at me.
Victor shifted on his feet, looking annoyed. “One inconspicuous, sturdy, pink cell phone. Do I need to glue sequins to it and include an antenna array?”
“Do they have those?” Gabriel asked, blinking at him.
Victor shot him a look. “I’ll be right back.” He fished out his keys and headed to the stairs, storming down them and closing the door with a bang.
After he left, Kota adjusted his glasses again. “Well, that’s taken care of.”
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
Kota pointed a forefinger at me. “Sang, look at me.”
I focused on him. His smile and his eyes were so warm that it was hard to keep looking at him. Why did it feel he could read my own thoughts in my head? I wanted to hide my face.
“We’re friends, right?”
I blushed. Were we? It was the very thing I wanted to know from him. Are we still friends even after all of this? “Yes,” I said, hopeful it was the right answer.
“Friends help each other. Stop worrying, okay? We’ll take care of it.”
I twisted my lips, trying to come up with a reason to stop it, but nothing seemed to be the right thing to say. I felt helpless, moving along with a plan they had already plotted.
Nathan got up on his knees on the floor. “I’m hungry. I’m going to go steal a sandwich, Kota.”
“There’s a couple of frozen ones in the freezer,” Kota suggested. “Heat it up in the microwave for a minute.”
Nathan pointed a finger at me. “Do you want one? I’ll bring you up one. I know you haven’t eaten yet.”
I’d forgotten about that. I glanced at Kota, unsure if I should.
“It’s perfectly fine,” Kota said.
Nathan disappeared down the stairs.
“Now,” Kota began after he left. “We should probably talk about school and your classes.”
“Classes?” Why were we talking about this? I looked at Gabriel, but he was unreadable. Should we worry about this now? It did relax me, though, that they had seemed to move on from talking about what happened with my mother. I felt so terrible already, like I was causing them problems being around. It amazed me they were bothering. If they were willing to put up with me, I would do my best not to drag them down.
Kota nodded. “Registration is the day after tomorrow. Your parents will be taking you?”
I nodded. “My dad.”
Gabriel scooted over next to me. “Art class, right?”
I smiled at him. “If they don’t mind stick figures,” I whispered.
Kota got up to move to his desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out an envelope and brought it over. “This is the list of classes that will be available.”
He opened it to reveal several printed out pages. Some of the classes were highlighted in various colors.
“There’s the obvious,” he said. “English, geometry and a history class. Any particular interests there?”
I checked over the list. “What’s AP?”
“The more advanced classes.”
“The English one says they read novels?”
The corner of his mouth worked up into a smile. “I think it’ll be a pretty fast paced class. You’d have to read the required pages every day.”
“That’s not a problem,” I said. “Better than the text books.” I looked back at the papers he’d given me, but I could sense Gabriel and Kota exchanging looks. Was I being stupid? “Is the only Asian history cl
ass an AP class?” My voice failed with the last word, and I swallowed. Talking was taking a toll on my throat, and it felt itchy. I wanted to cough but I didn’t want to worry them.
“I think that’s for seniors. There’s prerequisites before you can take it.”
“How about world history?” Gabriel asked.
“I guess so.”
Kota knelt next to me. His body was close to mine as he looked over my shoulder and I could feel his warmth and caught his spice scent. He seemed so focused that it didn’t appear to bother him. “There’s not too many class varieties, unfortunately. You’d be able to take the AP geometry without getting too bogged down.”
I smirked. “I want to take the AP geometry?”
“It’s the same numbers; they just go at slightly different learning speeds. Besides, you’ll share the class with Nathan or someone else most likely. I can help if you need it.”
“What classes are you taking?”
He smiled. “Particle physics and the AP calculus, although I don't really need it. A refresher is always nice. They don't have anything better. I’ll probably take that AP English.”
“No advanced particle English?” I asked.
Gabriel rocked back with his hand on his chest and laughed. “If there was, he’d take it.”
“What’s so funny?” Nathan asked, coming up the stairs. He had two sandwiches wrapped in paper towels in his hands, and a bottle of water under his arm. He handed me one of the sandwiches. “I hope you like chicken.”
I nodded, taking the bottle of water from him, too. He dropped himself into the window seat and opened a grilled chicken sandwich on a seeded bun.
“We’re figuring out what classes Sang wants to take,” Kota said. “We’ve got three down. We need three more.”
“There’s the gym glass we have to do,” Nathan said. He came across the room, reaching for the open bottle of water in my hand. He took a chug of water, swallowing and handing it back to me before he continued. “Might as well take it now.”
“I think they separate the boys and girls for that,” Gabriel said.
“Yeah, into groups, but we’re all mixed together in that one gym at the same time. Like the boys get one half and the girls get the other.” Nathan took a bite of sandwich, chewing and then talked with food in his mouth. “I mean, if any one of us has the same class, we’re across the room.”
