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“That’s okay,” I assured her. “It’s no hassle for me to ride the whole way.”
“Hop in.”
“I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you, Mrs Itani.”
“Call me Lori.”
Now I felt awkward. “Lori, I’m okay, but thank you.”
Her lips turned down as she stared at me with sudden concern. “Sweetie, it’s a long road, and it’s getting dark. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
“But the bike—”
“Rick will make sure it’s back at your place.”
She knew where I lived? I wanted to ask that, but for some reason the words clogged my throat. Maybe Rick would want directions to return it and didn’t know where I lived.
The more I stood there debating her offer, the more ungrateful I must have looked. Here was a polished woman—Leo’smother—offering to drive me the whole way. She was being polite, and what was wrong with me to hesitate at all?
She hadn’t been a problem since that incident on the first day of school. I’d smelled the alcohol on her, knew what drunkenness did to a person. I’d seen Kurt behave in ways that wasn’t him when he was drunk. She had probably behaved in a way that she regretted, and I knew what that was like, to be a certain way when I got angry or upset.
I didn’t feel any alarm bells at her offer. Instead, I felt this immense desire to please her. To make her like me. She would see how nice I was, how nice I was to Leo, also. I would convince her I was a good friend, and that Leo meant the world to me, and that I would never,everuse him. I could see myself being friends with Loraine—no,Lori—Itani.
“Um, okay,” I finally said, climbing off my bike. I stood for a moment, unsure of where to put it.
“Leave it on its side, Rick will come straight back for it.”
“Can I put it in the trees, so no one can take it?”
She nodded, smiling wider. “Perfect. Sure.”
I took the bike off the road and into the bush. I hid it behind the closest tree to the road. No one would see it, especially once it was fully dark. There were no lights along this road, so it was a perfect hiding spot in case Rick didn’t wind up coming for it.
I returned to her nice car, catching her eyes flicker over me quickly. I should have worn better clothes, I thought. I was in tight black leggings that barely skated the boundaries of what I could wear in Kurt’s books. He claimed it showed off too much of my body, which was why I paired it with a long, dark sweater.
I slid into the backseat, already overwhelmed with the rich scent of leather and sweet perfume. I set the backpack next to me, and then winced, thinking maybe it wasn’t clean enough. So, I settled it down between my legs before clasping my hands together in my lap.
Lori twisted around to look at me. “Comfy?”
I smiled kindly. “Yes.”
“Tell Rick your friend’s address.”
I told him, and then Rick began to drive. I sat there for a minute, looking out the window, never feeling completely comfortable.
“So, tell me about yourself,” Lori said now, drumming her long fingernails against the door. “You’re such a big part of my boy’s life, I realize I need to know more about you.”
I really didn’t know what to say. I struggled for a few seconds, resorting to, “I’m in the tenth grade with Leo. I’m on the volleyball team, and I tutor math—”
“I see.” Her fingers drummed faster. “I wanted to apologize for last year. I was just being that overprotective mother. I realize how unfair I was.”
“That’s okay—”
“People around Brown Bay look up to me. Sort of like the Queen of England. They expect me to set the best example. I am under a lot of pressure most days. It’s very hard being me, you understand. Very hard making sure my boy is falling into line—you know, we’re supposed to represent the perfect family.”
“I can’t imagine how hard that must be.”
“Of course you can’t. You’ll never know, and that’s okay. It’s okay to be at the bottom, sweetheart, so long as you know you’re never going to climb out of it by taking shortcuts.”
