Chapter 1 #2
“It’s not a great time to meet my family,” Seth continues. “I think maybe we need to take a pause.”
“A pause?” I echo faintly.
“Yes.” He nods. “A pause in our relationship. It’s become too comfortable. Predictable.” He hesitates, then adds, “Boring.”
Ouch. That last one hurt.
“I want a little more excitement. You know?” Seth drums his fingers lightly against the desk. The sound is obnoxious, scraping like chalk across my nerves. “Not just dinner and a movie every Friday night.”
“I thought you liked predictable. You said routine is healthy,” I say automatically, because that’s exactly what Seth had said.
I’m not thinking about the naked man in my closet right now.
I’m too busy realizing I’d talked myself into believing that Seth could be my happily-ever-after and now every word he says makes that idea more and more ridiculous.
Seth exhales like I’ve missed the point. “It’s more than that. This,” he gestures at me, “this just isn’t working.”
I stare at him, waiting for the rest of the sentence. The part where he says for now.
But those words never come.
“I mean,” his look turns vaguely apologetic, “you live with your mom.”
I go still. “You know why that is.”
“Of course,” he says quickly. “And it’s admirable. Really. It’s just—” he hesitates, like he’s choosing his words carefully, “it’s not exactly ideal for where I am in my life right now.”
Something hot and sharp unfurls deep inside me. Spreads outward.
“Where you are in your life,” I repeat.
“I’m thinking long-term,” he says, already defensive. “I need someone who can move forward with me. Someone who’s…available.”
Available.
Like I’m a meeting slot.
Or a parking space.
“You mean I won’t let you sleep over. That’s what you’re talking about. How I won’t fuck you with my dying mother next door.”
He flinches.
“That’s not—”
“My mother has cancer, Seth.”
“I know,” he says, his voice tightening. “And I’ve been really supportive of that, but…”
But.
There it is.
No but I know it’s hard. No but I see how much you’re sacrificing. No but I’m sorry.
Just but.
Which really means but I didn’t sign up for this.
The silence stretches for half a second too long. He must mistake my quiet for acceptance, because he smiles, relieved, like something’s been settled between us.
“I’m glad you understand.” The chair screeches as he stands. “I’ll let you get back to it.” One last hard squeeze of my shoulder, like he’s comforting me instead of breaking up with me.
“Happy Easter, Nora,” he says as he walks away.
The door clicks shut behind him.
I stare at it for a second.
Then another.
And then, because apparently I’ve been holding it in for six months, something hot and vicious snaps inside me. I grip the edges of the desk, squeeze my eyes shut, and hiss, “Are you fucking kidding me?”
There’s the creak of the storage closet door opening. The sound of footsteps that come closer and then stop several feet away.
“I do not like that little man,” the stranger says. I lift my head slowly. “He spoke to you with disrespect.” Something dangerous flashes in his eyes. “I do not permit that.”
“I don’t either,” I answer back.
Wait.
“Oh, for the love of—” My gaze snaps to the naked man now standing in front of me.
In my classroom. At an elementary school.
I messed up. I should’ve called the police just now, told Seth what was going on, ran out of the building screaming, anything, but instead I got distracted by Seth’s little visit.
Great.
Now I’m furious with Seth and with myself.
I jump to my feet and stab a finger at the man. “You need to get out or I’m calling the police.”
The man’s brow wrinkles. Together we pivot to look at the shattered phone on the floor by the dry-erase board.
Dang it, I’d forgotten about that.
Sorren shakes his head at me. “Please,” he says. “I must explain.”
I judge the distance from the door to me and find it too far for escape. That’s okay. It’s time for plan B. Let the crazy man talk, then run when he lets his guard down.
“Fine, but this,” I say, letting out a humorless laugh. “This better be good.”
He inclines his head once. “The Great Eldryn did not misguide me.”
“I don’t care about your great whoever,” I snap.
“You should,” he says calmly. “Because my uncle seeks to kill me.”
The lights flicker, and a loud hum buzzes through the classroom ceiling like something up there is struggling to stay alive.
“If he finds me here…” His voice lowers. “My uncle will not spare you.”
I stare at the ceiling as the lights flicker again.
What is happening?
With a loud pop, each bulb goes out. Darkness swallows the room.
For a second, there’s nothing but the sound of my own breathing.
Then his voice comes out of the dark, “Or those you love.”
“Say what?” My heart skips, and not in a good way. “That’s impossible.” My stomach lurches the way it does on a rollercoaster, but I cling to logic. “He, whoever he is, doesn’t even know I exist.”
In the dim light filtering through the classroom windows, I see Sorren look down.
To my finger.
To the planet Band-Aid.
“He does now.”