Friends vs. Family

by C. L. Stone

  Victor went to the trunk of his car, pulling out a clean white shirt. “Always carry a spare.”

  “I can go put it on in the restroom,” I said.

  “Put it on here,” Gabriel said. “No one’s watching.”

  “I can’t...”

  “Just do it quickly.”

  My cheeks lit on fire. I accepted the shirt. Victor stepped back into place, his back turned to me. Gabriel hung his arms over the open door, blocking the window with his frame. The boys focused on cars around us, distracted.

  I ripped the big t-shirt off. The warm, moist air of the south touched bare skin that I was sure had never before been exposed. I slipped my hands through the sleeves of the shirt, catching the Armani label. I was pretty sure that was an expensive brand. The shirt was probably more expensive than all of my old clothes combined.

  While it was still big, it was far nicer than the t-shirt. I buttoned it up to my neck. “Okay,” I said.

  The guys all turned around, checking out the finished product. The hem of the shirt stretched over the top of the shorts-turned-skirt. It was enough and hid the wrinkle where Gabriel had used duct tape to correct the size.

  Victor’s fire eyes lit up to a smolder. “It’s not bad. You look pretty good in my clothes.”

  “It’ll do for now,” Gabriel said. He picked up my wrist, unbuttoning the sleeve and rolling it up my arm to make a cuff above my wrist. “At least you won’t be tripping over your shorts today.”

  Relief washed over me. Gabriel approved for now. The guys had come to the rescue again. “Thank you. Really, I mean... thank you,” I said, my words fumbling. There was no way to express the feelings I had for them at that moment. How many times have they gone out of their way to help me? I was starting to lose count. It made me wonder why they bothered to be around me when I really was so much trouble.

  Gabriel’s eyes fell on my face. He stared at me for a moment, his lips moving but nothing was coming out.

  Nathan collected my wrist. “Let’s get out of here before anyone thinks we’re taking turns.”

  I had no idea what he meant but the others followed close behind.

  On the bus that afternoon, Danielle never got on.

  “She got sent home around third period,” Derrick said on his way to the back seats.

  “Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it?” Nathan said under his breath, the corner of his mouth lifting.

  Weekend

  I dreamed of a hovering dark ghost that wanted to devour anyone who did wrong. Thieves, murderers, rapists, it enveloped them in darkness and they disappeared.

  And I was the thing it wanted the most.

  “Sang,” Victor’s smooth baritone voice drew me from the depths of my dream. My forehead was resting on his arm that he had stretched out underneath my head and I’d been curled into him. His free hand swept over my cheek, brushing my hair from my skin. “Wake up.”

  I half remembered Luke saying we were late the morning before, and I sat up quickly, afraid I’d slept in again. “What’s wrong?”

  Victor rolled onto his back and looking up at me. “I was going to ask you that. You were shaking.”

  I sucked in a slow breath through my nose, stretching my back and pushing a palm at my face. “I was?” Did I always shake when I was sleeping? No wonder I scared Silas so much.

  It was dawn. I realized it was Saturday. We weren’t late for anything.

  “Were you dreaming?” he asked. He sat up, the blanket falling away from his chest. He’d taken off his Armani shirt he’d worn the night before and was left in a ribbed tank shirt he’d worn underneath. It was fitted to his chest and stomach. My eyes refused to stop staring at his lean, strong physique. It was the most undressed I’d ever seen him. I barely remembered him crawling into bed. After letting Luke sleep in the bed with me the night before, it felt wrong to chase him back to the attic.

  I blushed when I realized he was staring at me with the same intensity.

  “Mmm... maybe. I don’t remember,” I said, the fib dripping from my lips and I was more than positive my lie was obvious.

  Victor’s fire eyes sparked. “Are you sure?”

  A finger wandered to my lip, and I nodded, afraid to admit to lying and afraid to tell him the truth about the dream. His fire eyes forced me to put extra effort into not shaking in front of him. The dream seemed too small a thing and unimportant.

  Victor’s head tilted, looking uncertain. “Okay... well do you want to get going?”

  I nodded. Not that I really wanted to go but because it gave me an excuse to escape his questioning and a chance for him to forget, or so I hoped.

  He pulled himself up until he was standing on the floor. “Go shower and dress. I’ll call Nathan, and let him know we’re heading over.”

  I started to move and then paused. Something felt out of sync to me. I was still half asleep, uncertain of exactly what it was.

  “What’s wrong? Do you hear something?” he asked. He was standing by the attic door, looking back at me.

  My cheeks warmed again when I realized what I was missing was sitting in someone’s lap. They’d done it so often that now when it didn’t happen, I felt out of place. It was Victor’s first night with me. He didn’t do it like the others. Maybe he didn’t want to.

  “Sang,” Victor stared at me for an answer.

  I shook my head. “Sorry,” I said. I drifted to the closet, pulling out the clothes I wanted to wear.

  He frowned, waiting until I was at the door before he opened the attic and crawled inside.

  I drew a bath, taking a little extra time to wash, shave and take care of my hair. Victor had warned me we were going out today and I didn’t want to look as shaggy and worn as I felt. I wanted to soak but I knew Victor was waiting for me.

  The bath drained as I dried off. I slipped on the pair of blue shorts I’d worn into the woods and a light gray shirt Kota gave me after we got home from school.

  I opened the bathroom door and leapt backward. Victor was leaning against the doorframe in the hallway. My hand fluttered to my chest. “Victor?”

  His fire eyes locked on mine again. “Do you always take baths in the morning?”

  What was he doing in the hallway? He could tell I was taking a bath? If he’d been listening at all, he must have known. How long was he out there?

  “I... well I felt like one,” I said, which was mostly true. “Did I take too long?”

  He shook his head slowly, the fire dimming. “No,” he said, the soft frown remaining on his face. He turned away from me. “Check on your mom and let’s get out of here.” His voice dripped with something heavy, downcast.

  It broke my heart. Maybe there was a reason he didn’t like me. I’d been lying to him all morning. I summoned some courage and pressed forward, vowing to try to be honest with him the rest of the day.

  My mom was asleep in her bed and I left her a banana, a box of raisins and a bottle of water. Marie was asleep, her music playing and would sleep until late in the afternoon. I was surprised she was home, but I suppose she couldn’t go out to Danielle’s house every evening. Her parents might notice. Maybe I should have been worried that my mother or Marie would check on me. According to Victor, we had too much to do and he didn’t seem too concerned if we were caught out.

  We met with Nathan in the woods behind my house. He was kicking at some leaves near the wood slab bridge. When he heard us coming, he looked up, smiling.

  “Got everything?” he asked me.

  I nodded, hiking my book bag up on my shoulders. They’d warned me to bring anything I’d needed as we might swim at some point. There wasn’t much in my bag except for a change of underwear and the charger for my phone. I had the phone tucked into my bra.

  Kota, Silas, North and Luke would be gone for most of the day at the diner. They were going to be putting in a new floor, bringing in tables and overseeing the installation of a new walk-in freezer and other equipment.

  Nathan reached for my hand, wrappi
ng his fingers around mine. “Let’s get going. I left Gabriel at my house.”

  Victor trailed behind us, and my heart weighed with the guilt of the terrible morning we’d had. I wanted to take it all back. I was worried he didn’t like me now.

  We walked through the woods to Nathan’s backyard. Nathan led the way to his back porch and opened the sliding glass door for me and Victor.

  Victor walked around us, collapsing onto the leather couch. Gabriel was sitting on one end. He handed off a controller to Victor. I caught Soul Caliber, a fighting game, on the wide screen TV. The couch was wide enough that all four of us could sit. Victor scooted closer to Gabriel and let go of the controller long enough to pat the seat next to him, his eyes expectant on mine.

  Relief flooded through me. He wasn’t going to stay mad at me, at least.

  I dropped my book bag on the floor by the foot of the couch and sat down next to Victor. Nathan sat on the edge, putting one arm on the armrest and stretching to put his other arm on the couch over my shoulders. His fingers dropped over my collarbone.

  I willed my heart to stop fluttering so much.

  “When are we going?” Gabriel asked, clicking buttons on the controller. I wasn’t able to tell which fighter he was. They were both about half drained of health according to the screen.

  “When the stores open, I guess,” Victor said. “Around nine or ten or so.”

  I squinted at them. It was barely dawn now. “You guys wanted me come over this early?”

  Victor shrugged. “Had something else to do today?”

  “No,” I said. “I was just wondering.”

  Victor cursed under his breath as Gabriel’s fighter kicked his hard enough to knock him out of the setting and end the battle. The big flat screen television flashed with blood and gore from Victor’s fighter. Victor patted my knee, grinning. “You can come over when you want, you know,” he said. “You don’t have to wait for an invitation all the time.”

  I blushed, knowing if it were up to me, I’d never leave. “Meh, you guys will get sick of me eventually.” I meant it to be funny and cracked a smile.

  Nathan’s hand lifted from my shoulder and he chopped me on the head. “Shut up,” he said.

  “What did I tell you?” Gabriel said. “See what I mean? She does do that girl shit. I knew it.”

  I blinked in surprise, unsure of what they meant. “I’m sorry,” I said quietly, blushing.

  “You were doing that thing where a girl disses herself to get more compliments,” he said.

  “That’s not why she said it,” Nathan said. “She doesn’t like attention.”

  “What do you mean?” Gabriel asked, resetting the game.

  “Don’t you see her at school? She practically hides behind us. She’s totally oblivious when the guys are trying to make eye contact in class.”

  My eyes popped open. “What? When do they do that?”

  “See?”

  Gabriel pointed a finger in my direction. “Just don’t say shit like that. That stuff drives me crazy. I can’t stand it when I’m telling a girl she’s pretty and she’s just giving me a load of insecure bullshit.”

  I wondered if this was similar to what Silas was saying about the pouting and Gabriel asking me not to do it, but I didn’t know what to say to test it. I also wondered what girls he was telling such things to.

  Victor sighed heavily, sitting back against the cushion of the couch. “Stop it. Sang’s not like that.”

  “Gotta stop that stuff before it becomes a habit,” he said.

  Victor passed the controller to me. “Your turn,” he said. He patted my leg and got up, walking around the couch to head to a part of the house I couldn’t see.

  I picked up the controller, rubbing my thumbs over the buttons, feeling the warmth of Victor’s hands still on the smooth plastic. He didn’t hate me.

  “You know how to play?” Gabriel asked.

  I sat back on the couch, pulling a knee up to my chest, the other up against the couch in a half cross legged position so my feet were off the floor. “A little.” Total lie. The closest I got to a video game was watching one on television or on the rare occasions I could get on the home computer. Most of the time though I was so busy downloading new music that I didn’t waste a moment with a game. I wasn’t familiar with Soul Caliber and had no idea which character was better. I picked a scary looking one that resembled a zombie pirate.

  Gabriel picked one of the girls in a skimpy outfit and half of her breasts hanging out. He pushed the button for the game to start.

  “Kick his ass, Sang,” Nathan said. He lifted his hand from around my shoulder, folded his arms at his chest and leaned back to watch.

  I pushed the buttons for my character to move across the screen, smashing buttons to get him to jump and do random attacks. I really wasn’t fighting as much as I was trying to figure out what the different buttons did. Still, I was scoring some hits against Gabriel.

  We were halfway through when Victor came back with a bottle of Starbucks Frappuccino in his hands. He snapped the top open and stood over his old spot. Victor bent over, putting his fingers on my leg that had taken up space. “Move for a second.”

  “Sorry,” I said, lifting my knee until it was pressed up against my body to get it out of the way.

  “No hang on.” He sat down again, holding his drink up. He reached out for my knee, putting his hand on it and guided it until it was resting against his thigh and he left his hand hanging on my leg. “There,” he said.

  Victor had distracted me badly and now it was even worse as it felt like I had my leg in his lap. His hand was on my inside knee. My heart thumped and I wasn’t even watching the game anymore. My eyes kept going to his hand.

  “Hang in there, Sang,” Nathan said.

  “I’m trying.” I started smashing all of the buttons at the same time. My zombie pirate did some special move I managed to unlock and drove a sword into the girl. It was enough to get Gabriel’s girl to die and the game ended.

  “Ha!” Victor laughed. He held up his coffee in salute.

  “How’d you do that?” Gabriel asked, pushing a button to skip the replay of the fight.

  I shrugged, blushing. “Don’t know. Smash all the buttons?” I passed the controller over to Nathan, looking at him. “Playing?”

  Nathan’s fingers brushed against mine as he took the controller from me. He scooted until he was sitting at the edge of the couch, putting his elbows on his knees as he played.

  Victor held out his half-finished coffee to me. “Want some?”

  I shook my head. “I’ve never had coffee. It’s bitter, isn’t it?”

  They all laughed. Victor pushed the edge of the glass bottle to my hand. “Try a sip.” I hesitated and he grinned at me. “It’s sweet. There’s chocolate in this. It’s a mocha.”

  I took it, wrapping my fingers around the chilled bottle. The condensation on the outside of the bottle wet my hands. I held it to my lips, letting the coffee wash over my tongue. It was almost like milk with a unique additional taste in it and a hint of chocolate. I licked my upper lip after. “It’s not bad,” I said.

  “Want one?” Victor asked. “There’s more.”

  “I’ll get her one,” Gabriel said, tossing the controller onto the couch after he’d already got knocked out by Nathan in the game. “I want one, too.”

  We spent a good portion of the morning taking turns playing the game. I won a couple more times. Smashing buttons only worked for so long, though. Still, it was nice just to be included with them and with something where I wasn’t causing them any trouble.

  The coffee, however, made my insides shake like crazy.

  Around nine thirty, we headed out to Victor’s BMW parked in the driveway.

  “Shot gun,” Gabriel called as we all approached.

  “Sang gets shot gun,” Victor said.

  “Aw,” Gabriel said. “She didn’t call it.”

  “I drive, I get final say.”

  I blus
hed again, trying to look sympathetic to Gabriel. Gabriel sauntered forward, opening the passenger door for me.

  “Maybe on the way back?” I asked him.

  He smirked and shook his head. “Just get your pretty ass in the car.”

  I got in quickly, trying to mask how hot my face felt. He shut the door for me and got in behind me. I slipped my seatbelt on so Victor wouldn’t get after me about it.

  A thrilling sensation swept through me as we started out of the neighborhood. I was leaving my family behind to go hang out with my friends. It was hard to fully enjoy it knowing I had to escape my parents’ house.

  In the back of my mind I was worried my sister would sneak into my room and maybe take something else. What if my mother went looking for me in one of her crazy rampages? One of these days, I hoped I could get permission so I could feel more confident and fully enjoy going out. It was a fantasy I knew wouldn’t ever happen.

  As it was, I had to settle for knowing for the moment there was nothing to do but enjoy the day as best as I could. There wouldn’t be very many opportunities like this.

  I kicked my sandals off, putting my feet in the seat and drawing my knees up to my chest.

  “What’s wrong?” Victor asked, his fire eyes catching mine again, the same intensity from this morning returning. “Are you cold?”

  I blinked at him and shook my head. “No, I’m fine.” It was another warm day. I didn’t understand why he would ask. The car was cooling quickly with the air conditioner on full blast but it was far from chilly.

  He eyeballed me for a moment, a lock of his wavy hair falling across his forehead. It was stunning against his beautiful face. He flicked the air conditioning lower on the dash. “You tell me if you’re cold.”

  “Really, it’s okay. I’ll tell you if something’s wrong.”

  “Will you?” he asked quietly but before I could answer, he was skimming through radio stations.

  We got to the mall a little after ten. The parking lot was nearly empty but I guessed it was still early for some people on a Saturday.