Untouchable - Chapter 28 #2
I finally opened my eyes. It was refreshing that he hadn’t called him Janitor Jimbo.
But the fact that he had nothing more to say sealed the deal.
“Yeah, well you do now. So go ahead. Call him Janitor Jimbo behind my back. Go tell all your friends that you and I are fucking. But if you ever show up at my window again…I’ll… I’ll…push you off the fire escape.”
He smiled. “I know you don’t mean that.”
“I was falling for you, Matt. And I’m too tired to fall anymore.
I’ve already hit rock bottom once this year.
And I don’t want to hit it again. I can’t hit it again.
Because I won’t be able to keep going this time.
” Matt’s jacket was still lying on the chair by my bed.
I walked over and lifted it up. “So take your varsity jacket and give it to someone you’re not embarrassed to talk to at school. ” I shoved it into his chest.
“I’m not embarrassed of you.”
“Really? I needed you to speak up today. Not on my behalf. On my uncle’s.
You’re a fucking coward, Matt. I thought I could rely on you.
” I shook my head. “Today you found out that I’m the janitor’s niece.
And like the rest of the school, you said nothing.
But I heard you loud and clear. You can let yourself out. ” I left Matt alone in my room.
“You forgot to change,” my uncle said with a laugh.
“I changed my mind. I’m happy exactly the way I am.” I plopped down on the couch beside him. “Now, what movie are we going to watch?”
He lifted up the remote as I settled under a fuzzy blanket. He turned on Wedding Crashers, probably because we’d watched it last week and we’d both laughed so hard. I knew he was trying to distract me from my crappy day. But I couldn’t focus on Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson’s hilarity tonight.
There was a knock on the door.
“Now who could that be?” My uncle yawned and stood up. “Keep watching, kiddo. I’ll be right back.” He patted the top of my head.
The movie wasn’t funny anymore. It was more about love than I even realized the first time I’d seen it. And I wasn’t in the mood to watch their love stories unfold when I’d just set mine on fire and threatened to push it down the fire escape.
“Mr. Sanders, my name is Matthew Caldwell. We talked on the phone earlier this week. I’m the one your niece is doing that school project with.”
Fucking Matt. He was like the plague. Following me around. Hiding in dark corners. Making me feel like my heart was dying. I’d told him to leave. Not show up at my front door. I paused the movie. But I didn’t know whether to run to the front door and make him leave or just hide out in here.
“Matthew, it’s a little late,” my uncle said. “I think it would be better if you came back tomorrow. Or maybe some other time when you’re not sporting a black eye.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. My uncle would get rid of him for good.
“I know it’s late. And I know Brooklyn is grounded,” Matt said. “But I really like her. And I was hoping to get your permission to take her to homecoming.”
What the hell?
“Does she want to go with you?” my uncle asked.
Go, Uncle Jim! Kick him out!
“I really hope so. But I messed up today. The way Isabella acted at lunch…I should have said something. I should have stepped in. And I’m sorry. I’m not just here to ask you for permission to take Brooklyn to homecoming. I’m here to apologize to you too, Mr. Sanders.”
There was an awkward stretch of silence. I was clutching the remote so hard in my hand that my knuckles were turning white.
“You have nothing to apologize for, Matthew. It was my fault for wanting to keep it a secret in the first place. I was just trying to protect her. You can see how much good that did me.”
Apparently my uncle was a lot better at forgiveness than I was.
He cleared his throat. “But Brooklyn’s been through a lot. And I think she’d appreciate an apology too. Why don’t you come in?”
Traitor! But even as I thought the word, my heart softened. Or maybe it was because Matt appeared in the living room staring at me like he truly was sorry. Sorrier than he had been in my room. I just stared at him.
“Brooklyn, I’m sorry about today,” Matt said. “When Isabella started talking about you and your uncle I should have said something. And I promise if she or anyone else at school is ever mean to you again, I’ll be there. I’ll have your back. You can rely on me.”
He couldn’t promise that. What about the blackmail? I kept my lips pressed together. I couldn’t mention any of that in front of my uncle. It felt like Matt cornered me into forgiveness. He was as asshole-ish as ever.
My uncle cleared his throat, saving me. “I’m going to give you two a minute. I wanted to stop by and talk to Mrs. Alcaraz anyway. I’ll be back.”
I waited for the front door to close before I stood up. “You shouldn’t make a promise you can’t keep,” I said. “And homecoming? Seriously? That doesn’t exactly keep us a secret.”
“But I believe you. If I’d had any idea that James was blackmailing you…screw him. And screw Isabella. I’m done. They deserve each other.”
“Is that whose Isabella’s secret would hurt? James?”
“I’ll tell you everything as soon as I talk to both Isabella and James. What he did to you…I don’t care what excuse he gives. But I owe him this. He’s one of my oldest friends. Hell, he’s one of my only friends. Or at least, he was one of my oldest friends.”
I nodded. I didn’t fault him for wanting to talk to James first. He was loyal to the people he loved. I understood that. I just hoped James didn’t lie to him about what happened. It was my word against his. And I didn’t have sixteen years of friendship with Matt on my side.
“Everyone will know that we’re together by Monday. I promise. So what do you say? Come to homecoming with me?”
I’d already said yes to Felix. But just as friends. If Matt could figure out a way to get out from beneath Isabella’s thumb, I could figure out a way to break the news to Felix. “Okay.”
Matt smiled. “And no more threatening to push me down the fire escape?”
I laughed as he pulled me into his arms.
“I’m falling for you too,” he whispered as he held me tight.
“I said I was falling for you. As in…past tense.” I was smiling so hard that my cheeks actually hurt.
He laughed. “Maybe you can just pick up where you left off then?”
I already had. Right when he apologized to my uncle. “Yeah. I think I can manage that.”
When my uncle came back, we all sat down on the couch to watch the movie together, me between the two of them.
Matt laughed at the movie in all the same places that my uncle and I did.
And the longer the night went on, the more normal it felt for Matt to be there with us.
Matt didn’t even make fun of the non-buttery popcorn I made.
Although I’m pretty sure he did make a weird face after his first bite.
I gave him credit for continuing to eat it though.
He smiled down at me as he stole some of my fuzzy blanket for himself.
I could really get used to this.