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I snuck into the bathroom. I bathed, dressed. I twisted my hair, clipping it back while it was still wet. I tiptoed down the stairs. The sun still wasn’t quite up but it was starting to nudge the tree line.
I checked the fridge, hoping to find something to make us for breakfast.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Kota’s voice drifted to me.
I turned, half spooked. I let the fridge close itself behind me.
He leaned against the kitchen counter, his arms crossed over his chest. He still wore the dark gray pajama pants and the green T-shirt he’d worn to bed. His calm smile lit up, soothing. “Morning, sunshine.”
I couldn’t help but smile in return. “Good morning.”
His head tilted and he touched a forefinger to the bridge of his glasses, sliding them up further along his nose. “What would you like to do today?”
My lips parted. He was asking my opinion? It threw me off. “What?”
“Things have been kind of crazy lately,” he said. He pushed himself away from the counter, stepping closer to me. “I thought it might be a good idea to take the day off.”
“We get days off?”
He laughed. “Did you think we work all the time?”
Yes. “It seems like it.”
He stepped closer, until he was tilting his head down to look into my face. “Let me prove you wrong. What do you want to do today?”
My mind blanked out. I had no idea. Here he was, offering me something I’d wondered about. What happens if I wanted to do something? Would they listen? Now I had the opportunity to let him know what I wanted and I didn’t have an answer. I did, but the answer was stupid. Because I did it every day. “I wouldn’t mind just hanging out with everyone.”
“Where?”
I had a choice of that, too? Even then, I didn’t have an answer. It didn’t matter. “Here’s fine, if they want.”
???
Like magic, by that afternoon North, Silas, Luke, Nathan and Kota were playing basketball. It took until noon for North and Luke to appear, because they’d been working at the diner, but they eventually showed up.
I was playing basketball with them, too, but failing badly. Mostly I was standing around as others weaved and dodged around me to throw the basketball. My knee felt better. My ankle was sore. My muscles were tense but I managed to warm them up and they felt better. The boys were easy on my sore body, but not easy on doing their best to win. Cheating wasn’t working.
I also felt something missing.
Answering my unspoken wish, a familiar gray BMW pulled into the driveway. I stepped out of the way of the flurry of moving bodies racing toward the basket, drawn to the car’s arrival.
Out stepped Victor and Gabriel. Gabriel flashed a smile at me, waving, wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a neon orange tank top. Victor wore his usual Armani white shirt and dark slacks. He smiled, too, though a little more subdued.
Gabriel leapt ahead of Victor, nearly tripping as he half jogged forward. I raced toward him, meeting him half way. Gabriel caught me around the middle, spun me once and drew me close for a tight hug. His arms closed in around my shoulders, and he lifted me, stumbling a few steps as he carried me like that.
“Hey there, Trouble,” he said.
“Meanie,” I replied.
He put me down and smirked. “Heard you missed me.”
I beamed, unsure of what to say.
“Me, too, right?” Victor asked, coming up beside Gabriel.
Gabriel backed up and Victor collected me. His hug was softer. His fingers traced across the ribs along my back.
“Hi, Princess,” he said.
The basketball rolled past our legs. Gabriel crouched to pick it up. He hollered and tossed it back, running after it and joining in on the game.
Victor held on to my hand, and we stood together. I realized despite seeing him yesterday, it felt like eons since I saw him outside of school. I felt uniquely shy with him now. I stared off into the game, unsure.
His thumb traced over the back of my hand. “You don’t have plans next weekend, do you?”
I didn’t have a schedule that I knew of. I was at the mercy of Kota and the others. “Not as far as I know.”
He tilted his head toward me. “I believe I owe you a date, don’t I?”
I bit my lip shyly, wanting to ask him about the other girls Silas had told me about. Karen’s suggestion to get to know them one at a time came back to me. I should take my time with each of them, I confirmed. Only then would I know for sure.
“I’d like that,” I said, being completely honest. I liked Victor. I enjoyed being near him.
“I’ll plan something special.”
“What?”
His fire eyes blazed. “You’ll see.”
Silas struck out at the basketball being held up by North. His fist smashed against the ball, sending it sailing. The ball flew across the drive, striking at the roll up door of the shed, leaving a slight dent.
“Shit,” North said, breathing heavily and putting his hands on his hips.
“We can fix that,” Silas said.
“It’s fine,” I said, not really concerned with a small dent in the door.
No one listened to me. The seven of them clustered together around the shed.
“It still rolls up, doesn’t it?” Nathan asked, brushing his fingers through his hair.
Kota stooped, hooking his fingers through the handle and yanked up. The door rolled up noisily, revealing the box filled, messy space inside. The bikes Derrick had fixed up before were in front. The rest was still as I’d left it.
The others gazed inside, curious.
“What’s in here?” Kota asked, looking back at me.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Old things. Junk, I guess. My mother had told me not to touch it before.”
They all exchanged glances.
Kota sighed. “Someone grab those bikes. Let’s get started.”
“What? No!” I said. “Wait, you don’t have to.”
Gabriel laughed, hooking an arm around my neck and pulled me in until his forehead was touching mine. “Don’t you ever learn? You can’t show us something like this and expect us not to do something.”
I groaned. Academy boys. Never a day off. Here was a brand new project and their curious eyes were already sparking, calculating on what to do with it all. Family first.
Gabriel pulled me out of the way as Nathan and Luke started dragging the bikes away. North and Silas picking up the bigger wardrobe boxes, shoving them aside to examine further into the space.
“I forgot about all of this,” Silas said. “I saw it before but it slipped my mind.”
“Me, too,” Nathan said.
“We’ve been busy,” Kota said. He caught the edge of tape at the top of the wardrobe boxes and yanked it. He unfolded the top, peering in.
I pushed a finger to my lower lip. Having been told not to go through all of this, even after what my mother had done to me, made me nervous. I appreciated the thought behind what they were doing, but wasn’t sure what to say.
“Hey,” a voice called from up the road.
We all turned. Derrick was walking up the drive.
“What’s he doing here?” Nathan asked, although low enough only we would hear. I looked over at him. He flashed his eyes at me, asking.
I shrugged, but blushed. Was he still angry?
“What’s going on?” Derrick asked, eyes going to the bikes on the ground outside off the shed.
“Cleaning up,” Kota said. “Want to lend a hand?”
“Are you okay with us doing this?” He looked at me for confirmation.
My heart thundered. He was the only one who seemed concerned enough to ask me first. “It’s no big deal,” I said, standing on the fence and not wanting to insult the others. I knew they meant well but I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning out a shed. “It’s just junk. We don’t have to do it today.”
“Might as well,” Nor
th said.
I swallowed a protest, feeling the encroachment of them but unsure how to tell them.
“Should we check with Marie?” Derrick asked. “It’s her stuff, too.”
They all paused, as if this thought hadn’t crossed their minds. Kota rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Is she even here?”
“I came over to see,” Derrick said. He nodded toward the house. “I’ll go check.”
