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“Where are you right now?”
“In a parking lot in Ted’s car.”
“Why don’t you just go back to your apartment? Nobody’s going to be looking for you this time of night. Maybe they don’t even know about you. How could they? It’s not like Ted told them to go check on you.“
“Maybe you’re right. I probably have a few days before people find out.”
“What about your dad? Could you call him?”
“I already did. He hung up on me.”
“What an ass. But I guess I’m not surprised since he was raised by Ted.” She pauses, then yells, “Okay, I’ll be there in a minute!”
“You need to go?”
“Yeah. Karla has dinner ready. She put out all the leftovers for us to make sandwiches and made all these desserts for us to eat while we watch movies. They have one of those home theaters like you see on TV.”
“Okay, well, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Nova, I’m really sorry I can’t help. If I think of someone you could stay with, I’ll call you back. But for now, I think you should just go home.”
“Yeah. Bye.” I start up the car and head back to the apartment. I don’t know why I didn’t think of going there before. It’s not like the cops would be waiting there to take me away. Like Rielle said, they don’t know about me, and maybe they never will. Maybe I could keep hiding out in the apartment until I turn 18. I just need to pay the rent, but I could do that, especially since Ted’s not taking all my money. I could ask Rod if I could get more hours at the rink and then maybe quit the diner since the pay is lower.
The diner. Shit. What if Lenny finds out Ted died and tells someone I’m by myself? All it would take is for me to piss him off and he’d turn me in.
As I pull into the apartment parking lot, I look around for any cops. There aren’t any, so I get out of the car and run inside the building. When I get to the apartment, I check to make sure I don’t hear anyone inside before opening the door. It’s locked, but I don’t know who locked it. I have Ted’s keys and mine, so who locked the door?
Going inside, I turn on a light and look around. Everything seems the same as when I left it. My milk glass is still in the sink and the box of donuts is still sitting on the counter. I open up the box and stuff a donut in my mouth, devouring it because I’m so damn hungry. I take the chocolate milk from the fridge and drink from the container. The milk and donuts remind me of Easton, which makes me feel sick, almost like I’m going to throw up. I go into my room and lay down on my bed, taking deep breaths.
“I’m fine,” I say to myself. “Nothing bad is going to happen.” I take another deep breath. “Nobody’s going to take me.”
I bolt up from the bed when I hear someone knocking on the door.
Shit. Did I lock the door? I can’t remember.
Leaving my room, I slowly walk to the living room.
The person knocks again. “Nova, it’s me. Easton. I need to talk to you.”
Easton?What ishedoing here? Why isn’t he stuffing himself with turkey with his girlfriend and perfect little family?
“Nova, if you’re there, open the door.” He waits a moment, then knocks again. “Ted? Are you in there? Could you open the door? I just need a few minutes to talk to Nova.”
I remain by Ted’s chair, frozen in place so Easton doesn’t hear me. He needs to go away. I have nothing to say to him and I don’t want to hear more of his lies.
He knocks again and waits for a response. When he doesn’t get one, I hear him talking to himself. “Where the fuck would they be? It’s Thanksgiving. Nothing’s open.” He knocks again. “Nova? Ted?”
He waits a few seconds, then I hear his shoes going down the hall. I let out the breath I was holding, relieved that he’s gone. I go to the door and check that it’s locked. It is, but I don’t think Easton even tried to open it.
Why does he think I’d want to talk to him after what happened today? I never want to see him again.
What if he shows up at the diner or the skating rink? I won’t be able to avoid him. Maybe I should quit those jobs and find new ones.
I can’t deal with this right now. I just need to eat something and go to bed. Maybe tomorrow I can figure out what to do.
Opening the fridge, I see Ted’s leftover steak. I take it out and feel a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. He’s gone. Ted was here this morning, and now he’s gone. And I actually feel sad, so maybe I’m not as broken as I thought. Then again, I’m not sure if I’m sad about Ted or something else, like how much I miss Easton. Just hearing his voice had my heart taking off, getting all excited, expecting him to burst through the door, give me a hug and tell me he loves me.
My heart is stupid. It doesn’t understand that people lie and just tell you what you want to hear. Easton didn’t love me. Sean did. But Sean is gone. I just wanted him back so much that I let myself believe Easton was him. And itishim, but he’s someone totally different now.
