Chapter 23
Quill
Sneaking Around
First Day At School
Carlos Rafael Rivera
Even from a distance, the sight of my best friend – dressed in an elegant matte brown dress with black leaf patterns and a white collar – gesturing wildly at Thomas made me grin.
Thomas spotted me and immediately mirrored my grin, causing Lara to turn around before her eyes widened.
“Oh my God, Quill!” She rushed toward me, and for a moment I wished I had the childlike joy that always sparkled in her eyes. “Is it true that you made Zachary Faber cry?”
I raised both eyebrows, once again surprised by how quickly rumors and news spread on this campus.
“Who told you that?”
Thomas joined us.
“The whole campus is talking about you.”
“Let them talk,” I snorted amusedly, and we set off through the large park, on the path that would lead us to the parking lots.
“It was pure luck that I was able to speak from experience in that debate. Anyway, Zach will survive. And...” I shrugged with a grin, because I knew that thought was absurd. “Maybe I changed his life today.”
“I'm less worried about Zach. The guy wins all the debates in the debate club, and I'd like to know how you did that.”
“Emotions, Thomas.” I looked past Lara to Thomas, who was cleaning his glasses as he walked. “It's always the good old emotions.”
I sounded like an expert, but I was an amateur, glad that this had been the last debate I would ever hold.
“Is it true that Lara's dad tore you apart?”
Lara's eyes widened.
“Wait, what?”
The heat that exploded in my face was overwhelming.
“And summoned you to his office?” Thomas continued with a smirk.
The blush on my face was impossible to hide, so I let my gaze wander through the park and spotted Monica in the distance, engrossed in a heated discussion with two professors I didn't know.
“Oh my God,” Lara exclaimed. “Please tell me that's just a rumor!”
“He didn't want me to blow my cover,” I reassured her.
Her expression spoke volumes. Either she hadn't expected this from her father, or she was embarrassed by his clearly justified behavior.
“Wait a minute,” Thomas narrowed his eyes. “Your dad knows?”
“Long story,” Lara waved him off and her expression returned to normal. “Anyway...” She hurried enthusiastically to her car, an orange Ford Taurus. “Let's get off this campus.”
Lara opened the driver's door, and I could see that Thomas still had questions, but he closed his mouth again, gave me a quick, searching look, and I smiled as innocently as possible. Finally, he looked back at Lara.
“I still have two lectures.”
“Oh, come on, Thomas.” She gave him her puppy dog eyes, which not even her dog could top. “I really want to introduce you to Streusel.”
I grinned at Thomas, who couldn't stand pets.
“This weekend.” He pointed to his eyes with his index and middle fingers before pointing to me and Lara with the same gesture. “And don't forget to mark Oktoberfest in your calendars.”
Lara had explained to me that it was a huge festival in Maplecrest, inspired by the German version, but without the typical clothing.
If her gushing words were to be believed, the smell of salty pretzels would lure you through the decorated streets, while rides and food stands would be set up downtown and the movie theater would show all kinds of all-time favorites for a whole week.
Even an old roller-skating rink would reopen this year.
But it wasn't until mid-October. That meant another whole month of Thomas raving nonstop about all the movies he would drag us to see.
That Don’t Impress Me Much
Shania Twain
Thomas said goodbye, and Lara rested her chin on the back of her hand on the roof of the car and sighed.
“Then it's just the two of us.”
My best friend winked playfully at me.
“And I think that now that you live in Maplecrest, we should definitely do more things together.”
Caught out, I returned her smile.
She was right. Far too often, I retreated into my own little safe, albeit lonely, world.
“I don't have a best friend for nothing, even if she spends the whole day buried in her books.”
In my defense, I hadn't been reading much lately. And I certainly wasn't going to tell her that I was reading all the books from her father's list as if I wanted to memorize them.
The heat in my face would probably be a permanent guest today.
Lara playfully narrowed her eyes and tapped the roof of her car with the palm of that hand without rose gold rings.
“Get in.”
In the car, she turned on the town radio, so that loud music blared out as she pulled out of the parking space.
“Where exactly are we going?”
Lara pulled out so quickly that I had to claw myself into the seat.
She always drove like a maniac, never paying attention to the speed limit, as if driving were her only outlet for all the seriousness and reason she otherwise imposed on herself.
“A storm is coming.” She pointed to the sky, where dark clouds were indeed gathering. My favorite weather. “Which means...” She turned up the radio, grinning. “Aunt Quill can get ready to teach a little four-legged friend how to swim.”
Wait, what?
Just A Girl
No Doubt
“Not so fast!” squealed my best friend, who was holding Streusel in the water with both hands.
The puppy kicked his little legs and, with her help, managed to stay afloat, but he splashed water all over the Rydells' bathroom with his wagging tail, so I had to move the radio, which was drowning out the rumbling thunder outside, a little further away.
Lara had explained to me that Streusel always hid under the couch, shivering, during thunderstorms, and that she therefore always used this time to distract him with a bath and music.
And one thing was clear. This four-legged friend loved water.
“You have to let him go,” I giggled, holding one hand in front of my face, and the next splash of water landed on my neck.
My sweater was already completely soaked, but I didn't care.
“If I let him go, this clumsy dog will drown.” Lara looked at him with concentration. “God, Quill, he’s still too small.”
“He’s not. How will he ever learn to swim if you don’t give him the chance to try?”
“He will…”
“...not drown,” I laughed amusedly.
I pushed Lara aside and took the struggling dog in both hands.
“I'm entrusting you with my heart right now. Just so you know.”
Lara sounded panicked as she grabbed her camera and took a picture of us.
Grinning, I carefully let go of the dog, who started kicking even harder, but then moved across the tub, his head stretched upward.
“Oh my God!” Lara squealed euphorically and put the camera aside. “Oh my God, Quill, he's swimming!”
“He really is swimming.”
We both laughed as the dog swam through the foam until he had too much of it on his snout.
“Oh my God!” Lara immediately knelt down again and reached for her dog to wipe the foam off his snout. “I could never leave him here alone.”
Even though Lara seemed worried, I could see how good it made her feel to take care of dogs. Until now, she had only ever told me about it. But her devotion to this puppy was like that of a loving mother to her child.
A ringing sound drowned out the radio and any good mood evaporated from my mind.
“Are you expecting visitors?”
Lara and I were alone at her home. She had assured me that her father stayed late on campus on Thursdays. But she had also told me that Monica or even Tony sometimes dropped by spontaneously, and the idea that Tony might find me here overwhelmed me out of nowhere.
If Davian found out that he was my brother...
“No, that must be Dad.” Lara picked up the dog, who was now kicking in the air, before looking up at the bathroom clock.
“He always comes home at this time. When he rings the doorbell, he has groceries with him.” She looked around for the towel and I handed it to her, feeling increasingly overwhelmed. “Could you open the door for him?”
Great.
“Sure.”
I tried my best to hide my nervousness and left the bathroom on the ground floor at the end of the hallway, only to open the front door wide a few seconds later.
Davian entered without looking up, four grocery bags in his hands, but when he looked up and saw me standing next to the open door, he paused.
LOVE LOOKS PRETTY ON YOU
Nessa Barrett
“Quill...”
His soaked hair now shone a deep brown. Water ran irregularly down his temples and forehead, disappearing into his eyebrows before continuing down his cheeks.
This man was a work of art created by nature, the rain just another color on his canvas, on which all the nuances of life had layered over the years.
“Surprise.”
I smiled, looking at him apologetically as the cool autumn air from outside blew against my heated cheeks and further tousled his hair.
Two brown leaves were stuck to his dark blue felt coat.
I automatically reached for them, pulling off the first, then the second, before looking back at a frozen Davian with a smile.
“Now we're even.”
Since I couldn't close the door, I grabbed two of the bags, trying to ignore his warm, wet hand, which twitched for a split second, and took half of his groceries.
Davian let me, seeming not to have expected me here.
“What are you doing here?”
I looked for any hint that he didn’t want me here, but there was only confusion in his voice.
“Lara invited me.”
His gaze wandered down my body and I felt myself getting warm far too quickly.
“Why are you so wet?”
The next moment, Lara appeared in the hallway and Davian took his eyes off me for the first time.
“What happened to you two?”
Streusel lifted his head from the mountain of white towels in Lara's arms and my best friend grinned at her father.
“The dog is clean.” She eyed Davian the way he had just eyed me. “The question should rather be: Why do you look like my dog?”
Lara and I grinned at each other.
Davian sighed and stepped into the hallway so I could close the door.
“I forgot to fill up the gas tank and had to walk the last mile.”
“Dad,” Lara laughed, and we both followed her into the kitchen. “You can take my car tomorrow. I'll ride with Monica or Tony.”
“If you really don't mind...”