‘You don’t have to do that.’
‘Yes, I do. Just send me your address,’ Maya says.
I rattle it off to her, and she firmly tells me to stay put before hanging up the phone. I go down to the ground floor, and my head feels a little less fuzzy. The cold night air and the phone call has sobered me up a little.
The more time that passes, the more it dawns on me what I’ve done.
‘Shit, shit, shit,’ I mumble again.
Chapter 26
Maya
I find Abba’s keys in the bowl by the front door. He and Amma are already asleep since it’s almost 2 a.m. The house is dead silent. I consider leaving them a note, just in case they wake up and freak out about me being missing. But considering how they both sleep like they’re dead to the world, I decide against it. Besides, I’ll be back in just a few minutes.
I pull out of the driveway, entering Dina’s address into the car’s navigation. I still know the address of her old house. I could probably drive there with my eyes closed, considering how often I used to go there when I was younger. It’s strange that I don’t even know where Dina lives now.
As I drive, my mind starts going into overdrive. I don’t know why Dina called me, and I don’t know what it means. Maybe I’m just a last resort, I try to tell myself. That would make sense, and maybe in a way it would be the best-case scenario.
The navigation tells me that the apartment complex on the left is my destination, and I pull up. I can already see Dina pacing back and forth through the glass front doors. Her eyes widen when she spots me, and she lets herself out of the door. I notice then that she’s dressed like she’s goingout – or was out. She’s wearing a black dress that accentuates every curve on her body. Her hair is loose, and even though it’s a little wind-blown and messy, it frames her face perfectly. She’s even wearing make-up. There’s slightly smudged eyeliner and mascara on her eyes; her cheeks are tinged a rosy pink, and her lips are ruby red.
The sight of her lights my insides on fire. I have to look away as she climbs onto the passenger seat. I grip the steering wheel, trying not to look at her out of the corner of my eyes.
‘Hey,’ Dina says softly.
‘Hey.’
I turn the car around, pulling onto the road back to my house.
‘I’m sorry for making you come all the way out here.’
I shrug. ‘It’s fine. And you were locked out. Did you lose your keys or something?’
‘No. I didn’t even take them with me. I went out with my flatmates, so I thought they have keys and so it doesn’t matter that I don’t have mine and … well.’ She stops there, though it doesn’t feel like the end of the story.
I glance at her out of the corner of my eye, even though I know I shouldn’t. She’s half hidden by the shadows, but that doesn’t stop my heart rate from increasing at the sight of her.
I grip the steering wheel more tightly, until my knuckles are white.
‘How come your friends didn’t come home with you?’ I ask after a beat of silence.
‘I was tired, so I decided to leave. They’re probably still having fun,’ Dina says.
‘You weren’t having fun?’ I ask.
‘I … was just tired,’ Dina says after a moment’s hesitation.
‘Hmm.’ I can tell there’s more to it, but I don’t press it.
I can feel Dina looking at me, and my face warms. I can’t look at her, though. I won’t look at her. I know that if I do, I won’t be able to stop myself from looking at her, and I need to concentrate on driving, instead of the rising beat of my heart, instead of my mind flooding with thoughts of Dina.
Finally, I pull into our driveway. Dina stumbles out of the passenger’s side as I close my door and lock the car.
She blinks up at the house, like it’s a place of wonder. ‘It’s been so long since I’ve been here,’ she says.
‘Nine years.’ The words slip out of me, though I don’t mean to say it.
Dina casts me a look over the roof of the car, and even though neither of us says it, I know we’re both thinking about the day that she came here to confront me.
