Gabriel

by C. L. Stone

  But her face, with the multicolored hair and the curious, adorable look on her face, it was amazing.

  He couldn’t help it. The words just slipped from his mouth. “You’re stunning,” he said softly.

  She blushed again, down her neck again. She didn’t need any makeup, her natural blush colored enough of her face and the tone was spot on.

  “Don’t be embarrassed,” he said. His heart skipped, an adrenaline rush just being near her and being so bold. “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 was rambling compliments but Kota said to be nice. She probably could use some confidence. He felt he was being honest, too. He pursed his lips and then leaned a little to be able to get a better view, with his cheek against the side of her head.

  When he looked, she was looking back, through the mirror, right at his eyes.

  He was totally jealous of the green. The color was lighter under the fluorescence.

  She’d made no protest, no comments in return to what he’d said. Had no one ever told her this? Not one goddamn guy in her life ever said she was cute or anything? “I want to ask you something personal,” he said, “and I want you to be honest with me. You’ve never had a boyfriend, have you?”

  Her mouth popped open, making a cute surprised face and her lips formed an ‘o’. She didn’t answer him though.

  He had to be right. Really? Not one? Where the hell was she from? Did she even go to school? Were they all blind? Deaf? Didn’t even talk to her? At the least, they were complete idiots to not give her any attention. “I didn’t think so.”

  She made a face, using a little tongue out from between her lips. “You think I’m naive?”

  Not the word he wanted to use. “Innocent,” he said carefully, he didn’t want to insult her. He didn’t feel this was a bad thing to be. He picked up a lock of hair, curling the lock through his fingers. He could do that all day. She was cute. Her throat might be burned but her soul didn’t seem too damaged. Not that he had any chance in hell at a shot at her, not with the others around, but if they weren’t interested in her, they were idiots, too. Not one of them complimented her yet? If Gabriel wanted a chance, he wanted to be sweet, to tell her honestly what he was thinking. “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.”

  Her face went wildly red. “Should I tell you to... to back off?”

  Don’t get shy on me now. Gabriel wasn’t sure exactly what came over him but it was like if he didn’t take a chance, he might miss out. And he wanted to get to know her. All of five minutes after meeting her and she was a dream. Sweet. Actually looked him in the face. Didn’t mind his foul mouth. He wasn’t sure where it came from, but song lyrics started forming in his head and he tested them out. “Sang, heart on your sleeve. You watch out, I’m going to steal your heart.”

  Was that too strong? He wasn’t sure what to expect.

  She didn’t seem to be rejecting the idea.

  She wasn’t saying no. That didn’t mean yes, she was interested in him, but there was nothing like, “I just see you as a friend” or any other deterrent.

  He didn’t want to overwhelm her or anything, but it gave a little hope. Maybe he wasn’t so ugly. Maybe she’d give him a chance and get to know him, and he could get to know her. He smiled at her. Time to get back with the others and see what was going on anyway. He couldn’t keep her in here too much longer. He made a shooing motion with his hands to get her to go out. “Let’s get you out into the sunlight and see what your hair looks like.”

  Back in the bedroom, everyone was back. Victor was on the bed where he had been. Kota was at the computer. Nathan was at the window seat, using his phone.

  What happened? Must have not been interesting at Sang’s house. The other girl wasn’t here.

  They didn’t look up, not at first.

  When Sang didn’t venture very far into the room, he sidestepped her and held a hand out to motion to her hair. “See guys, this is how hair should look.”

  The way they all turned, like they hadn’t noticed them stepping out nearly made Gabriel laugh. They weren’t that oblivious. It was too obvious they were trying to look like they had been doing nothing but wait for her to get her hair washed.

  Kota readjusted his glasses, looking curious. Victor sat up, although he did appear surprised at the difference.

  Nathan sat up quickly and dropped his phone but caught it in the air before it fell too far. He stared at Sang after.

  “Did you change the color?” Kota asked.

  “I didn’t do shit,” Gabriel said. Hell yeah, it looked better. Not a wet clump like before. “I washed it and then blow-dried it out. That’s all her.” Now did they understand what he was talking about? Victor gave him shit before but he didn’t know, didn’t see what her hair looked like. Gabriel could tell it was unique from the instant he saw it.

  Sang seemed special, too. She could use the good attention, people seeing the real her.

  “You just keep it tied back in that clip,” Victor said to her. “That’s why it looks different now.”

  Gabriel forgot about the clip. Good point. She didn’t need that thing.

  She tugged a strand behind her ear. “It gets in the way when I’m busy,” she whispered.

  She wanted it shorter? “Just wait until I get my scissors,” Gabriel said. He shifted so he could touch her hair again, running his fingers through. It was as soft as it looked. “I can give it some depth.”

  “I don’t think I should,” she said. “My parents will notice.”

  Oh yeah. He didn’t mean to forget. Would they be upset with a little haircut? How did she get her hair cut now? “Your parents are a complication.”

  “We’re working on that,” Kota said.

  “I...” she started to say but stopped.

  Her throat bothering her more now? Gabriel leaned into her. “Just whisper it to me. I’ll tell them.”

  She made a sigh like she was frustrated. Totally understandable. She whispered to him. “It’s probably better like I’ve been doing. I can get out in the morning and no one notices.”

  He spoke to the others. “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, and he went to sit on the carpet again where they had been before.

  She moved away from Gabriel to go sit next to him. But before Gabriel could get there, Victor plopped down next to her.

  Motherfucker. He should have moved faster. Now he couldn’t sit next to her without it being awkward.

  Kota spoke. “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.”

  She appeared scared, shaking her head. “No. We can’t.”

  Gabriel was wondering if maybe not all of them went. What if just one of them did?

  What if he could? He got along great with older women. They loved him at the salon. Maybe he could win over the mom.

  Kota nodded, seeming to consider what she was saying. “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. “Is she going to want to?”

  “She’s not that bad.”

  He had to be kidding. Any girl but her. “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 chimed in.

  Or literally anything. She was a snob that didn’t have anything to be a snob about.

  “She’s who we have to work with,” Kota said. “Or we
could try Jessica. But she's young, so I don't know how that would work.” He looked at Sang again. “In the meantime, I was wondering if you’d allow us to give you a cell phone to use.”

  Oh hell yeah. Cell phone. Then they could call...Would she call him? He’d love to hear her talk.

  She seemed surprised by this and started stuttering. “M... me?”

  Kota continued. “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.”

  He made it sound like they were trying to work together. Kota could be such a robot.

  She rubbed her palm at her head. A headache? “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. He smoothed out his jeans.

  Gabriel tried not to quip at him. And he was getting after Gabriel for his comments earlier? How come it wasn’t okay for Gabriel to tease her?

  “It costs money,” she said. “I don’t really have a way to pay for it.”

  “That’s not something you need to worry about,” Victor said as he looked at her.

  Don’t go showing off. Gabriel wanted to roll his eyes. He always complained people liked him for his money, and while any one of them would have chipped in for it, and Academy says to share and everything, he made it way too obvious sometimes he came from money.

  “We’ll find an inexpensive one at the convenience store,” Kota said. “Nothing fancy. It’ll allow for phone calls and text messages.”

  She seemed nervous, not looking at them. This all wasn’t normal, but she didn’t need to be embarrassed. If she only knew the things they’d gone through. A phone would be essential to helping her out.

  “I’ll have to be careful,” she said. “If my parents ever found it, I don’t know what they would do.”

  If they tried anything, Gabriel would burn the whole goddamn house down and get her out of there. And her sister. Fuck those parents. He really wanted to know what was going on. Overbearing dad? Super religious mom? They’ve seen similar things. He expected it to be something crazy.

  “Do you have a place to hide it?” Nathan asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Maybe. There’s an attic door in my room,” she said and then touched her lower lip with a single finger, like she wasn’t exactly sure if that was good either.

  “Why not just under your pillow?” Gabriel asked. Right next to her head, no one would see it, right?

  “Someone will find it,” she said.

  She seemed confident about that. Maybe this was risky.

  “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. Knowing Victor, he’d get just top shelf, top of the line one and not even think of the color. He turned to her and smiled. He’d been wondering what she’d like anyway. “If you’re going to get a new phone, you’ll need a good one. What’s your favorite color?”

  She blushed. “Pink.”

  Nice one. Nothing to be ashamed of. Good because she’d match pink a lot. He loved the color too. A lot. But it didn’t match anything in his skin tone and everyone would give him so much shit for the color anyway. He heard enough from Pam in what he liked to wear. Might even be his favorite color, too, but he usually didn’t tell anyone. “Yeah. Good choice. Get her a pink one.”

  Victor did that smirk where he found it amusing to be taking orders. “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 her.

  Victor shifted and strained his face. “One inconspicuous, sturdy, pink cell phone. Do I need to glue sequins to it and include an antenna array?”

  Couldn’t they give him some goddamn suggestions without him making it a thing? It was her first phone; she should get something special. “Do they have those?” Gabriel blinked at him, pretending he didn’t know and that was just something he could order.

  Victor shot him a look. “I’ll be right back.” He fished out his keys and headed to the stairs, stomping down the stairs and banging the door as he left.

  So much for graceful Victor. It made Gabriel want to laugh.

  After he left, Kota adjusted his glasses. He probably needed them adjusted again and didn’t take the time to go get it done. “Well, that’s taken care of.”

  “I don’t know,” Sang whispered.

  Kota pointed a forefinger at her. “Sang, look at me.”

  She looked at him. He smiled. “We’re friends, right?”

  She blushed. Again. Gabriel was starting to wonder if this was just permanent color and she just varied in shades from pink to red along her cheeks, sometimes down her neck. “Yes,” she said.

  Kota continued, “Friends help each other. Stop worrying, okay? We’ll take care of it.”

  Her lips twisted, like she wanted to say more or protest.

  No use, girl. You get your throat burned, it’s either communicate or they’d have to go to phase two. Or three. Home invasion even. She said she had an attic? Was it a decent size?

  Because if this wasn’t going to work, he was ready to go plant himself in it just to make sure someone stayed at the house so she’d not get hurt again.

  4

  Gabriel wasn’t too sure just the phone was the best idea, but at least it was something.

  He was still a mess of thoughts. He was excited to get to know Sang. He wanted to help her, save her from whatever she was going through. Her hair, he wanted to braid it, or trim it, see what he could do with it. When she was alone with him in the bathroom, she asked him so many questions, made him feel like she wanted to get to know him, to be around him. It was all of a few minutes in there alone with her and he was trying to give her some good attention. He was eager to do it again just to get that feeling back.

  Still in Kota’s bedroom, 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 said. “Heat it up in the microwave for a minute.”

  Nathan pointed a finger at Sang. “Do you want one? I’ll bring you up one. I know you haven’t eaten yet.”

  She seemed unsure, checking in with Kota.

  “It’s perfectly fine,” Kota said.

  Nathan disappeared down the stairs.

  No one offered Gabriel one? He was slightly offended. He thought about heading downstairs to get one for himself, but he didn’t want to leave the room. Not when she was still up here. He wanted to stay with her.

  “Now,” Kota began after Nathan left. “We should probably talk about school and your classes.”

  “Classes?” she asked.

  She looked at Gabriel, but he waited to see what she thought. Seemed like a weird thing to go over. Didn’t Kota want to know anything else? Like fun stuff? What’s her favorite music? Weren’t they supposed to get to know her better so they could help figure out what they could do?

  Or maybe this was how he was going to get to know her. Still, Gabriel wanted to interrupt, to get him to talk about other things, but he couldn’t find the words without appearing rude.

  Kota nodded. “Registration is the day after tomorrow. Your parents will be taking you?”

  Oh that’s right. She’s going to the same school. They could see her there. And the classes...they could share a lot of classes if they picked the same ones.

  She nodded. “My dad.”

  Gabriel scooted over next to her. With Victor gone, it was a chance to sit near her. “Art class, right?”

  Sang smiled, light and sweet. “If they don’t mind stick figures,” she said softly.

  The way she did that made Gabriel’s in
sides light and fluttery. Too cute.

  Kota got up to move to his desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out an envelope, the one he got from the school. “This is the list of classes that will be available.”

  He opened it to reveal several printed pages. Some of the classes were highlighted in various colors. They’d gone over them dozens of time. They hadn’t been to a real school in years.

  Gabriel wasn’t even sure he’d mind homework. It’d be nothing like the classes they did to learn ahead with the Academy. The accelerated programs focused not just on practical everyday adulting shit, like taxes and changing tires and so on. They also made sure you understood basic algebra, and if you had the mind for it, like Kota, sometimes physics and other things. No tests, you learned it to learn it forever, not just for a hot minute. Gabriel spent a lot of time in chemistry, particularly for beauty products, but also in general everyday things like what cleaning supplies were made of and how to identify what chemicals were by smell. Things they could come across on a daily basis.

  Things important to be an expert in when working with the Academy.

  He couldn’t tell her anything about it. She wouldn’t understand why he knew so much about certain things.

  Instead, they continued to talk about the school. They went over a few class options before they heard some footsteps on the stairs.

  “What’s so funny?” Nathan asked just as his head appeared. He carried two sandwiches wrapped in paper towels and had a bottle of water tucked under an arm. He passed Sang a sandwich. “I hope you like chicken.”

  She nodded and took the water from him as well.

  Gabriel’s mouth watered. Now that he could smell the chicken, he was tempted again to go get one, but he still didn’t want to go too far. Maybe he should have offered to get her something...

  Nathan sat himself at the window seat to eat his sandwich.

  “We’re figuring out what classes Sang wants to take,” Kota said to Nathan. “We’ve got three down. We need three more.”