AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Silas glanced around his bedroom blankly, trying to find something to talk to her about. “I just wanted to make sure you got home safe.” That was something stupid to say. Of course she was, she was talking to him on the phone now.
She was quiet for a long time. “How did you know my number?”
Right. That should’ve been the obvious question. “Kota had it.” As soon as he said it, he realized Kota had not been given her phone number. He’d just made Kota seem like some sort of stalker when it was Silas asking that got him to look it up.
“Oh,” she said quietly.
He wasn’t sure if her short responses were because she was quiet and shy or if she didn’t really want to talk to him. Maybe she was tired, like Kota suggested.
“He said I should wait to call. He said you were probably freaked out still from this afternoon and we needed to give you a break.” Maybe he was blurting this, a little like tattling on Kota, but he was never the sort to not just talk about what was on his mind.
“I... I’m fine,” she said quickly.
“Who is it?” the mature woman’s voice came through the line.
“It’s the school,” Sang said.
Uh oh. If Sang had to lie about who she was on the phone with, then it wasn’t a good idea to call her.
Silas frowned. It was just a phone call. Or was Sang grounded and wasn’t supposed to be chatting? “Not safe to talk?” Silas asked.
“Uh huh,” Sang said.
He probably shouldn’t call her again, at least until tomorrow. But then, he’d be busy... “I won’t be around tomorrow,” he said. Then he realized he couldn’t get into telling her why. “I’ve got practice.” That was good enough. He just didn’t want her to think he would be avoiding her.
“That’s okay.”
He hesitated. He wanted to say something else, but words jumbled in his mind. What else could he offer? “Talk to you later?”
“Yeah,” Sang said.
“‘Bye,” Silas said, and he hung up.
He regretted hanging up the moment he did. He forgot to give his number. Hopefully, she had some sort of caller identification. If she wanted to reach out to him, she could.
Would she?
Silas dropped the phone onto the bed.
He stood there, looking at it, and then sat down when his fast-beating heart started to slow.
And after a few more minutes, he was on his back again, staring at the ceiling.
Sang being unable to talk bothered him. Was she in trouble because he had called and she wasn’t supposed to take phone calls right now?
Would she call him back if she could?
He wasn’t even sure if he’d been clear at all, that she could call him, that he was concerned...
Maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned practice. He could drop going with North so he could be available.
He stared up at the ceiling. What was she in the middle of that she wanted to run away from? She was nice and sweet, and seemed far from a rebellious type.
The phone rang suddenly. Silas popped up, scooping the phone up and checking the screen.
North.
Silas answered it. “Yeah?”
“Kota said he got the letter. Sounds like everybody did.”
Right. The letter. Silas tried to pull his thoughts from Sang and focus. “I haven’t opened it yet.”
“We’re still waiting to hear back from Mr. Blackbourne. He’s been out all day. It sounds like a new job, but we’re about to start at the school. I’m not sure if the timeframe works. It may overlap.”
“We could use the favors.”
North grunted into the phone. “We could always use the favors, but the school is our big payoff.”
Silas glanced out the window. “Our payoff may take time. The entire year at that school, maybe.”
“True,” North said. “It might. If we’re here for a year, may as well enjoy it.”
Silas shook his head. “If I had one school year to enjoy, this wouldn’t be the school I would have picked out.”
North was silent for a moment. “Maybe if it isn’t too much trouble, if this new job only needs one or two of us at a time, then we can do it. They wouldn’t have bothered sending letters like this if they didn’t think we could.”
“Maybe...” Silas said.
Silas didn’t really have an answer for him. Sure, they could all use more favors. They’d spent a lot. The school, if it worked out, meant they’d graduate.
But they didn’t really know what they were up against, either.
And then there was Sang...
Silas got off the phone with North. At first, the apartment was still.
Then there were footsteps, like that morning.
Theo trailed from his bedroom to the kitchen. There was clicking. The stove was being turned on.
He was lighting a cigarette on the stove.
Charlie must not be home.
Silas toyed with the phone in his hands. He adjusted the volume of the ringtone. He wanted to keep it close. He was itching to get Kota to go check up on Sang. Maybe he was becoming paranoid. The conversation with her still bothered him.
Theo was bugging him, too.
He stood up, walking out of his bedroom.
Silas stopped short as Theo came around, coming back down the hallway. A cigarette hung from his mouth.
Theo paused in the hallway, a dark eyebrow going up. “Ti?” He wore the same pajama clothes as that morning.
“Want to go out tomorrow?” Silas asked.
Theo scrunched his face. “Why?”
“School starts soon for me, but I was thinking that maybe we s
hould get out on the weekends sometime. Make it a regular thing. Go to the beach?”
Theo’s eyes darkened, and he glanced at the wall. “Dirty beach.”
Silas pursed his lips for a moment. Theo called American beaches dirty, compared to the near pure white beaches in Greece. “Maybe catch a movie?”
“Varetó...”
Boring. Silas shrugged. “You name it. We’ll go.”
Theo waved his hand at him, altering his course to walk around Silas.
Silas sidestepped to block him. “Is it me?” he asked. “We used to hang out. Before...”
Theo stared at the carpet in the hallway, not looking up. The cigarette smoke floated above his head, mixing into his hair. “Leave me alone.”
Silas released a breath and slowly stepped to one side, allowing Theo through.
Theo took his opportunity, darting down the hall, disappearing into his room and shutting the door. Music blared soon after.
Silas remained in the hallway.
Something was wrong with Theo, too. It wasn’t just the smoking. It wasn’t just that he was pacing in the morning and too afraid to ask for a light from their father. He was unhappy, depressed.
Silas wanted to help, but Theo didn’t seem to want it. He’d try again every day to ask if he wanted to go out, or to go to therapy.
Maybe he’d make dinner tonight for him and ask again.
He wasn’t sure what else to do. When someone didn’t want help, it became nearly impossible to do much more than just keep offering and wait until they accept.
After dealing with Theo, Silas finally realized what bugged him the most about Sang’s situation.
She didn’t hang up on him when he called.
She stayed on the phone with him, for as long as she could. She could have hung up. She could have said very early on something like sorry, can’t talk, or whatever.
They’d worked to connect with her in whatever way they could that morning.
She was reaching back by staying with him on the phone.
Did Kota say she wanted to go back, or did he suggest she should and she accepted because she didn’t want to burden Kota?
Silas’s brows furrowed, and he went to his room. He paced the floor by his bed. He replayed her conversation in his mind, trying to be sure he wasn’t being delusional.
