18
Mick Jagger has stolen a car!
Ah, Monday . . .
Or, in other words: AGHHH, MONDAY!!!
This morning all the students were up to their necks in work. Artie, Dash, Kiana, me, and everyone else were busy finishing up assignments. The past few weeks were just the warm-up. From now on, the term was about to hit us like Manny Pacquiao.
That said, being snowed under with assignments had its upsides.
Firstly, nobody had time to look at me sideways after finding out about my mom.
Secondly, and more importantly, I didn’t see Aegan for most of the week.
The only update I had about him came from Dash, who was in some classes with him, when we met after lunch at Bat-Fit.
From what I gathered, they had so many assignments, presentations, pop quizzes, and projects on the go that Aegan was studying nonstop, because although the Cash brothers might be assholes, they got great grades.
After all, the most ruthless minds are often the most intelligent.
In between studying, I mentioned little details about my interactions with the brothers to Dash and Kiana.
“Did you know I met a friend of the Cash family, Owen? I’d never heard of him.”
Dash raised his eyebrows. He looked shocked. “I thought he’d never be back here,” he said.
“What do you know about him?” I asked.
Dash glanced around, before leaning in to share the gossip. “They kicked him out for sleeping with a teacher last year. It was big scandal because she was married to another teacher. You know, the bald one for languages?”
“Maybe the school has let him back in?”
“Maybe his dad got involved,” he corrected me.” He’s one of the Santors—just as influential and prestigious as the Cash family, and lifelong friends of theirs.
“Cronies in power.”
“Owen has been really good friends with the three Cash brothers since they were kids, but he’s especially close to Aleixandre.”
Hmm, so Owen was the closest thing the Cash brothers had to a best friend in Tagus. I had to keep an eye on him then, although he didn’t come across as being anything like them. He seemed more laid-back and less problematic.
I suddenly noticed a small golden box sitting next to Dash’s books.
“What’s that?” I asked him, pointing to the little box.
“A gift,” he said, while writing in his notebook. “A friend bought them to get through the day.”
I leaned forward, took the box, and opened it. Inside were several long, dark sticks. They gave off an interesting smell.
“Is that incense?” I asked, trying to figure out what they were.
“Yeah, its therapeutic. Normally used in times of stress or anxiety. Take one if you want.”
Lower my stress levels? Yes, please, because my head was already starting to spin with everything: the assignments I still hadn’t finished, all the finishing touches my plan needed, and the stuff about Eli’s disappearance that still didn’t make sense . . .
“I’ll give it a try tonight with Artie,” I said, as I took an incense stick from the little box and slipped it into my backpack.
“Where is she by the way?” Kiana asked.
“No idea.” Dash shrugged. Sometimes she just wanders off for hours.
Maybe she was busy still seeing the IT guy.
That day I had literature class. Adrik showed up the same way he always did: serious, aloof, and quiet. His hair was all over the place—perfectly disorganized. It was like he’d just woken up, or he simply didn’t give a fuck about anything.
I couldn’t look at him without thinking about the night in the treehouse.
I kept going over how we’d laughed, how we’d been honest with each other, the ridiculousness of burning our clothes, not to mention those strange feelings when he mistook me for his pillow and almost crushed me.
But, feeling uneasy, I pushed those thoughts aside as soon as they came into my head.
He sat down, smelling of aftershave, and rested his forearms on the table. He stayed perfectly still, staring into space with a look on his face that clearly said, Never speak to me again.
But I did speak to him because I can never help myself.
“Adrik?” I said, throwing him a strange look.
He didn’t move. He looked like he wasn’t even breathing.
“Adrik?” I asked again; he was like a statue. “Adrik!” I said louder.
He finally reacted. He took a deep breath, looking annoyed, and turned his head. He rested his chin in his hand and looked at me with those lazy, grayish eyes.
“It seems the saying ‘if you don’t move, you can’t be seen’ is a lie,” he sighed, sounding fatalistic.
I frowned and put on my best annoyed face.
“What the hell? You thought I wouldn’t speak to you if you ignored me?” I shook my head, still surprised at how stupid he was being. “That’s for dinosaurs!”
“So, what’s the difference then between you and a dinosaur?” he asked. I opened my mouth to speak, but to be quite honest, this guy kept surprising me. “Exactly, there is none,” he added, before I got the chance to say anything.
“How the hell am I like a dinosaur?” I complained.
“To start, both are grouchy and aggressive.”
I looked out the window. It was kind of weird arguing with him, considering we’d slept together in our underwear. Would he remember?
“No need to list the other similarities, I’m sure they’re good,” I grunted. I hesitated, before saying, “Do you remember we spent the night of the party in the treehouse?”
“Yeah,” he said.
I quickly turned to look at him. He hadn’t denied it. That was a good sign. Was it a good sign? I thought so.
“And . . . ? I was hoping you’d say something about the stupid things we got up to.”
“Like what? Should I reminisce about something we did?” he asked.
The way he was speaking made it seem like there was nothing unusual about what we’d done. And if that’s what he wanted to pretend, then fine.
“No,” was all I said.
The teacher showed up and started the lesson, and Adrik and I didn’t exchange another word except what was necessary. Mentioning anything else to him about the treehouse was pointless. I simply had to forget about it. Anyway, the best thing about that night was the information I got out of him.
“So, today,” the teacher said, just as class was about to end, “you’ll select a book from the genre you agreed on in the previous class.
You’ll meet up with your partner, and you’ll each take turns reading three pages out loud.
I want you to record a video of it and submit it to me tomorrow. Not in the next class, but tomorrow.”
The bell rang, and everyone started piling out of the classroom. I started putting my things away in my backpack. Adrik grabbed his backpack and got up.
“I’ll be at your apartment at three,” he said dryly, before leaving.
I exhaled wearily.
My days without the Cash brothers had come to an end. But my days of discovering things hadn’t.
I suddenly got a text from Artie.
Artie: Jude, remember the wooded area of Tagus that Dash told you about the other day? Let’s meet there the four of us in half an hour. I’ll send you the location.
I looked for a bike at one of the rental stations and set off.
The spot Artie was referring to was on campus, right at the edge where the buildings gave way to the surrounding forest. We were advised not to go alone, as it was easy to get lost. But it was so beautiful that groups would sometimes go there to hang out, so I figured that’s why she had invited me.
It took me ten minutes to get there thanks to the GPS. I passed a warning sign and then went along a path. The path suddenly came to an end, so I got off the bike and started walking the rest of the way. It was beautiful, full of trees and some bushes. When I got to the end, I didn’t see anybody.
“Eh, Artie, Dash, Kiana?”
I looked all around until I suddenly spotted something. It was a good bit away, but I could make it out: a car. There were two people sitting on the hood, with their backs to me. I figured it must be them, so I headed over.
As I got closer, I didn’t see Artie; it was two guys.
And one of them was none other than Aleixandre.
The strange thing—he wasn’t dressed the way he normally does. He was wearing sports clothes and a baseball cap, talking to the guy sitting next to him. I assumed he was one of his friends, though it was odd the other guy was also wearing a cap and dark glasses.
I was trying to figure out why Aleixandre was there and Artie wasn’t when, out of the blue, the other guy leaned in and kissed him on the mouth.
That’s right, Aleixandre and the guy were kissing. I was gobsmacked. So, I turned back and got the hell out of there.
I thought about all the times Aegan had asked Aleix where his girlfriend was. And what about Laila, his date at the party? I wasn’t sure if Aegan or Laila had any clue about this.
This shit was starting to heat up.
Big-time!
I jumped on the bike and raced back as it was obvious Artie wasn’t going to show up.
···
When I got back to the apartment, I ran inside. Artie was studying on her bed, and it sure as hell didn’t look like she’d been out or had any plans to. I looked at her, frowning.
“Why’d you tell me to meet you in the woods and then not show up?” I asked her.
I wasn’t exactly angry; I just wanted an explanation.
She looked puzzled. “I never arranged to meet you anywhere. But I got a message from you!”
She pressed a hand to her forehead, as though she’d forgotten to tell me that and was just remembering.
“I lost my phone this morning at a presentation in the auditorium,” she said.
Then who had sent me a message from her phone telling me to go to the woods?