I put my seatbelt on, kicking off my sandals and putting my feet in the seat, curling up. My heart was pounding a mile a minute, excited and nervous. I’d only been to Silas’s apartment building once, and I hadn’t seen the inside. I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Silas’s strong arm flexed as he gripped the gearshift, putting the car into reverse, and pulled out of the drive. He focused on the road as he pulled his seat belt around his body after he’d already started down the road. When he’d clicked the belt into place, he leaned forward, pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and fiddled with it with one hand as he drove.
“You shouldn’t text and drive,” I warned him, my head against the headrest as I looked up at him. As if I could tell him what to do.
He flashed a smile at me. “I’m not texting,” he said, and put the phone to his ear. After a couple of seconds, he started talking. “Kota? I’ve got her. She’s coming home with me. House is locked up.”
“Hi Kota,” I said.
“And she says hi,” Silas repeated. He slipped the phone over to me, holding it out. “Here, he wants to talk to you.”
“Hi Kota,” I repeated into the phone as I pressed it to my ear.
“Hi Sang.”
“Are you still working?”
“Yes.”
“Is this a thing where I go to someone’s house overnight and when I come back, there’s a new pink couch and a security system and laser beams?”
Silas’s laughter boomed, almost masking Kota’s laughter in the phone.
“No,” Kota said, “although remind me about the laser beam security system. I might look into it.”
“Where are you? Are you coming?”
He sighed. “Sorry, sweetie. I can’t come see you. But behave and listen to Silas.”
“Okay.” I had to smile at him thinking he had to tell me to behave.
I hung up the phone, holding it back out for Silas. We were on the main road now, heading for the interstate.
He waved his hand at me. “Hang onto it for me.”
Hang onto it? Without thinking, I slipped it into the other cup of my bra. It felt awkward now, as it was a habit to tuck my own phone on the side over my heart and never used the other one. Still, when the phone was between my breast and the bra fabric, it was like it disappeared.
Silas caught me doing this, and a broad grin stretched across his mouth as he turned onto the interstate.
I blushed, unsure if I should have done that. I glanced out the window, watching the wall of trees on either side of the road fly past.
“So what did Kota say?” Silas asked, flipping a dial on the dashboard to lower the blast coming from the air conditioner, quieting the car.
“He said he might get laser beams and that I had to behave.”
Silas’s booming laugh rattled my bones. “You? Behave? I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Hey,” I said, pushing a finger to my lower lip as I gazed back at him. “I’m always behaving.”
“Mmm hmm,” he smirked. “Until we ask you to do something. Then you’re questioning us at every step of the way.”
“I don’t do that,” I said.
“Oh yeah?” he asked, giving me a side glance as he changed lanes to pass a car. “I can’t get you out of your own house without you asking me why we’re going.”
“I wasn’t expecting it! It was just a surprise.”
“And what about when we ask you not to get into fights, and you jump in?”
“That’s different.”
“And when Gabriel tells you to leave the house when you’re held hostage in the closet?”
I folded my arms against my stomach, frowning. I didn’t really have an excuse for that. He was lecturing me about it now?
“I trust you,” I said, fully believing I did. “Sometimes I just see things differently than you do and I just... Like when I was in the closet. You guys didn’t know what I knew. So I did what I had to do to make Gabriel listen so we wouldn’t have to involve the cops at all.”
“That was dangerous,” Silas said, focusing his eyes on the road, his grip on the steering wheel tightening.
“But it worked,” I said. “Maybe I’m not the only one who needs to learn how to trust. Don’t you trust me?”
Silas’s lips twisted. “Let’s start now,” he said. “Give me some faith. When I say run, start hauling your pretty ass.”
I smirked at him, blushing at what I wasn’t sure was a compliment. “And if I asked you to run?”
He laughed. “Sweetie, you better believe if I have to run, it’s going to be me chasing after you.”
I smiled at this. “By the way, did you know you were running for homecoming king?”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I’m not running.”
“Someone said you were.”
“I didn’t sign up for it,” he said. “I just got voted in.”
“Oh,” I said. “What happens if you win?”
“I’m not going to.”
“Why not? You could.”
Silas smiled as he sped up to pass a car. “I don’t want to and I don’t have the time. I shouldn’t take it from some other guy who wants it.”
“It’s not fun?” I didn’t think I’d like to participate, but shouldn’t Silas have a chance if he had the opportunity? Isn’t it a big deal to be voted for homecoming king?
“It’s a lot of pictures and shaking hands and kissing babies,” he said. “And even after homecoming is over, I’d probably get asked to do a few more things. I’m not really interested in it. And I’ve got football, school, the Academy...”
“Would you want to if you didn’t have the Academy stuff to worry about?”
He was quiet for a long moment. “Probably not.”
“Why not?”
He looked over at me. “Not really the type.”
“What type are you?”
He laughed. “Apparently not homecoming material. You have to be enthusiastic about that sort of thing.” He reached over, patting my leg. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not missing out. I appreciate being voted in for it but it’s not what I really want to do with my time.”
I fell quiet, watching the scenery pass by. Every once in a while, I stole glances at his face as he drove. His broad lips and nose and Greek features were incredibly handsome. He was starting to be popular at school, especially with the football team. The other Academy guys were friendly, but Silas was the one making an effort to fit in. Wouldn’t being homecoming king help?
. Maybe he was right and didn’t want to, so I shook off the idea. It oddly made me feel better about it.