“I’ll go get her,” Kota said.
“Oh, I meant you could stay here with Sang and I could...”
“It’s okay,” he said. “I should get Sang home anyway. Her parents might be asking about her.”
I stiffened. He didn’t tell his mom about my parents? She didn’t know they were gone? I wish he’d told me sooner. What if I’d accidentally said something?
And why was he trying to dump me back home? My heart thundered, unable to slow from Kota’s kisses and from the sudden change of plans. What was going on?
MR. GRIFFIN
Ten minutes later, Kota walked with me toward Nathan’s front door. Kota’s car was parked in Nathan’s drive so Nathan and Gabriel must have returned from the store.
I gripped the book bag straps, staring off at the red and brown bricks of Nathan’s house. We had left quickly. I didn’t ask, but sensed Kota’s urgency.
And then there was the way his eyes avoided looking at Mr. Morris parked not too far from his house. Did this sudden change have to do with him?
Kota knocked at the door and before he could bring his keys out to unlock it, Nathan answered.
Nathan’s eyebrows shot up. “Something wrong?” he asked, he stepped aside, allowing us room to enter the foyer.
“Need to go pick up Jessica,” Kota said. He walked only a few feet into the entrance space and stopped. “Mr. Morris is watching, so I wanted to do it instead of sending my mom. Just walking her over.”
“Oh,” Nathan said, his face lighting up. “So I do get Sang tonight? Not just for dinner?”
Kota did an eye roll. “Just for right now.”
“Don’t let me rush you. She’s good here with me.”
My heart fluttered. Kota was coming back? Maybe I just didn’t understand. Or he didn’t want Mr. Morris following both of us, just him. But this was probably part of Mr. Blackbourne’s orders not to involve me in anything relating to the Academy, even if it was just a decoy ride to get Jessica. I dropped my bag to the floor, feeling a bit better about the situation. It really wasn’t under Kota’s control, so it couldn’t be helped.
Kota started for the door. His sneaker skidded on the floor when he stopped short. He turned back and reached for me. His fingers threaded through my hair as he held my head still. He dropped a kiss on my brow quickly. “I’ll be back,” he said. He released me, and was out the door before I could say goodbye.
I hovered in the hallway, looking after him through the slats of the blinds. Nathan stepped up behind me, an arm encircling my waist as he watched out the window over my head. Kota started his car, pulling out of the drive.
When he was out of view, Mr. Morris’s brown sedan remained behind. I counted off the seconds, waiting for him to start up his car and follow along. Was he trying to make sure Kota was out of sight before he started up? Why be sly about following him now when he made it very obvious?
But even after a few minutes, when I was sure Kota was further down the road, Mr. Morris remained.
Nathan squinted out the slats next to me. “Did he fall asleep?”
I studied the windshield. I thought for a moment he was right, but then I spotted slight movement. Mr. Morris shifted like he was reaching for the radio.
“He’s awake,” I said.
Nathan frowned. “He’s not following Kota.”
“Who is he watching, then?”
“I don’t know,” he said. He pulled his phone out, dialing. “Kota,” he said. “Mr. Morris is still here.” Nathan angled his head around, looking up and down the road. “Don’t worry. We’ll be boring.” He hung up.
“He’s watching us?
“Maybe. Or he’s pretending to do his job when he isn’t really. Mr. Morris should take a hint, following us is pointless.” He sighed and tugged me. “Come on.”
I trailed behind Nathan further into the house, finally noticing how tight his red T-shirt was around his shoulders. He’d worn that same shirt a couple of weeks ago. Was it shrinking? Or was his frame getting bulkier? Standing behind him, I felt immensely smaller than before.
“Oy,” called Gabriel from within the house. “Is that her?”
“Yeah,” Nathan said as he rounded the corner. I followed him into the kitchen.
Gabriel was behind the island. His blond locks looked freshly parted and combed, styled against the russet. His school blazer, shirt and tie were gone, and he wore only the white ribbed undershirt and the slacks. The cotton clung to his lean, muscular form, and while I meant to look up at his face, I couldn’t stop gazing at his body.
Gabriel looked at Nathan, cocking an eyebrow. “Are these mashed potatoes supposed to look so ... wet?”
Nathan hurried to the stovetop. “I thought you could read directions.”
Gabriel picked up the box of instant mashed potato mix and scanned. “It said add all this milk. I don’t think the measurements are right. I added the flakes and now it’s almost soup.”
I stepped up next to Gabriel, glancing into the pot. “It just needs a few more flakes.”
“Are you sure?” Nathan asked.
“You should listen to her,” Gabriel said. “She can cook.”
I stirred the pot. “The flakes will poof out after a minute.” I measured another half cup of flakes, and dropped them into the pot. “It’s not really an exact science. If this makes it too thick, you just add a little more milk until you get it right.”
Gabriel dropped the box of flakes onto the counter. “We should have just eaten out tonight. But anyway, come check it out.” He took my hand, leading me to the fridge, opening it to show me the stocked shelves. “Coffee, bananas, strawberries,” he said. It wasn’t everything they had in the fridge, just what he pointed out. “And we got one of those new fancy blenders. We’re going to make smoothies in the morning.”
“With coffee?” I asked with a smile. It was the way he said it that was funny.
His eyes widened “Aw shit. I didn’t even think about that.”
“You can’t make coffee smoothies,” Nathan said.
“Sure you can,” Gabriel said. “It’s just adding like a banana and maybe some ice to those Frappuccinos.” He shut the fridge and turned to the counter, snapping up a bottle of pills. He pushed on the cap to open it, and shook out one. “Here,” he said, holding it up to me. “Take one.”
“Vitamins?” I asked, taking it from his hand. I knew Dr. Green wanted me to take these, but I’d never had them before. The pill looked huge, like it was meant for a horse rather than a person. Nathan filled a glass of water for me. I swallowed the pill down. Barely.
Gabriel shook the bottle in his hand, making the pills rattle. “It’s supposed to be a good brand. And it’s marked for women so I guess that’s even better. I should probably make you take two.”
“She needs to eat real food,” Nathan said. He bent over, examining the contents inside the oven. “This chicken should be done in a bit.”
“Come on, Trouble,” Gabriel tugged me by the hand again. Nathan shot me a look like I didn’t have to let him pull me around like that if I didn’t want. I didn’t mind. Gabriel didn’t get a chance to see me as much as Nathan or the others, so any chance we had to be together, I wanted to make sure to take full advantage of it.
Gabriel guided me to Nathan’s bedroom and started sifting through the closet, organizing my clothes and some of Nathan’s too. I stood beside him, simply watching as he worked. I admired the red crystal studs in his ears. His hair was growing out a little. Brown hair was emerging at his scalp, replacing his blond locks. I wondered if he was going to grow it long like Luke’s hair, down to the shoulders.
“We might have to redo this closet sometime,” Gabriel said. “I want to stick some extra clothes over here for everyone. Since the diner’s open, we’re going to need to keep more things here. Kota’s closet is getting full.”
“How much stuff do you keep in his closet?”
“Right now, there’s spares of these ridiculous school uniforms. Ac
tually I need to go through his closet, too. There’s old things he wears that are faded or worn. He’ll hang onto clothes for forever.”
“If you need to store more things, we could use my house,” I said. “At least the attic.”
“Sweetie, we’re trying to get you out, not move everyone in.” Gabriel picked up a skirt and held it up to my body. “Where did this come from? Try this on.”
I took the skirt from him. It was a short pencil-line skirt. It was more formal than I remember Gabriel buying for me, but then, that day was a blur of clothes. “Didn’t I try this on the day we went shopping? I mean, it’s new.”
“You haven’t worn it yet?”
“The price tags are on all the ones I haven’t worn.”
He checked, and a price tag was hanging off the back. “Christ, I buy you clothes and you wear the same things all the time. Wear this tomorrow.”
“It’s cold out.”
“The school’s warm inside.” He tossed the skirt at me. “Try it on.”
I grunted, going to Nathan’s bathroom. I shut the door and quickly put the skirt on. I stomped back out again, holding my arms out, waiting for him to give a thumbs up or down.
Gabriel looked up from shuffling through Nathan’s dresser. He tilted his head. “I bought that for you?”
“Wasn’t it with the others? It’s not one of my old ones and I don’t think this belongs to Marie.”