Chapter 3
Three
Enoch
My feet were sticking to the damp mats as I carried the mop and spray disinfectant back to the storage closet.
My stomach was growling loudly, and I was on the verge of hanger, so I quickly collected my bags from the staff locker room and headed back out front.
Jae was hunched over the front desk speaking to Becca.
I smiled at her in a silent greeting before sliding beside Jae.
“Hey,” I said as I slapped Jae on the back.
“Oh, hey. You heading out?” he asked, cocking his head to the side as he looked at me.
“Yeah. I’m starving.”
“Okay, can you drop me at home on your way? My dad’s gonna be here for another couple of hours and I’ve got homework.”
“Sure,” I nodded, swinging my bag around and pulling out my car keys.
“Bye, Becca. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I waved as I headed towards the exit, passing a group of small kids dressed in their jiu-jitsu uniforms.
“Bye,” she called out behind us from the front desk.
I unlocked my car and swung my gym bag into the backseat. I drummed my fingers patiently against the steering wheel as I waited for the group of people standing behind my car to move. My stomach growled loudly again, and I patted it as if the action would comfort it.
“So, my dad said I’m filling in for your Tuesday and Thursday classes. That’s all?” Jae asked once we were pulling out of the parking lot.
“Uh, yeah. I mean, for now. I dunno how long I’m going to have to be doing this whole tutoring thing, but I expect until my grade improves.
I think two days a week should be enough, but I can get someone else to cover if you’re not interested,” I explained, squinting against the glare of the setting sun which was annoyingly right in my line of sight.
I need to remember to text Eden and ask her if my sunglasses are in her car.
“Nah, man. It’s no problem.”
We lapsed into a comfortable silence. Jae wasn’t much of a talker and, honestly, I didn’t mind because he had made my thoughts drift back to my tutoring session.
“Hey,” I abruptly called out, turning my head momentarily to look over at Jae, “Do you know a girl named Shiloh?”
“Uh,” he drew the word out in thought for a moment. “You mean from school?”
“Yeah. She’s a senior. Is she in any of your classes?”
He clicked his tongue for a moment before responding, “Nope. Never heard of her. Why?”
I shrugged, chewing on my bottom lip. How have neither of us ever noticed her? It’s not like we go to that big of a school.
“Do you have a crush on her or something?”
“No,” I scoffed. Although, I didn’t know why it triggered that kind of reaction. I thought she was extremely crushable based on the two hours I spent with her. “She’s the girl that was helping me at the peer tutoring office.”
“Oh. Well, she’s probably in all AP classes and you know that we’d never survive in one of those.”
“Excuse you, I took AP US History last year.”
“Right. And are you in any AP classes this year?” he asked.
“Well…no. But that’s just because I don’t need to be in any when I’m not going to college.”
“You know what I meant, dip,” he said with a chuckle. “But I’ll amend my statement to say that we’d never willing subject ourselves to the academic torture of AP classes.”
“Thank you,” I nodded with a sarcastic grin in his direction.
After dropping Jae off at home, it was only a few more minutes to mine. I parked in the driveway behind my mom and smiled at the sight of my dad’s truck parked beside her. I forgot that he was off.
I blew out a breath, my lips vibrating against each other as I stepped into the house, kicking off my shoes into the hall closet.
“I’m home!” I dropped my bags on the stairs and passed through the hall and into the kitchen where the smell of food was making my mouth water.
“Hey, honey,” my mom smiled as she turned around to face me. “How was work?”
“It was good,” I shrugged, picking a crouton out of the bowl of salad on the table and popping it into my mouth. “When’s dinner gonna be ready?”
“Uh,” she eyed the clock on the oven, “five minutes. Go wash your hands and call your sister down here.”
I nodded and snuck another crouton before walking out of the kitchen and into the downstairs bathroom. I washed my hands and splashed some water on my face that was feeling sticky from sweating at the gym.
“Esther!” I shouted from the bottom of the stairs. I groaned when she didn’t respond and climbed the stairs two at a time.
“Esther!” I called out again, as I knocked on her bedroom door.
“What?” she shouted louder than necessary, making me think she had headphones on.
“Come eat,” I said loudly through her door, before spinning on my heel and bumping into my dad’s shoulder. “Oh! Hey, Dad.”
“Hey, bud,” he smiled, leading us down the stairs. “How was your day?”
“Good,” I smiled, squeezing his shoulders as we descended. “How was your day off with Mom?”
He chuckled, “It was great. Got the yard work done and Mom sent me on some errands. She wants me to build some bookshelves for Esty’s room.”
Esty bounded down the stairs behind us.
“Speak of the devil.”
“Shut up, Nox.” Esty shoved my shoulder as we all joined my mom at the round kitchen table.
My dad and I chuckled to ourselves at her attitude.
She had more sass than our older sister Eden.
I was glad to be avoiding her prime teenage years after I graduated.
I couldn’t remember Eden being that mean at twelve-years-old, but with a six-year age gap between each of us, it wasn’t a surprise that we weren’t close.
We just didn’t have anything in common. Which was why I considered Jae my brother and not just my cousin, despite how little time we may have spent together as children.
“Alright, let’s say grace,” my mom said, holding out her hand for me.
After the short prayer, we all dug into the food.
“So, who wants to go first?” my dad asked as he looked between Esty and me.
I silently asked my sister with a glance, and she shook her head.
“Okay, I guess I’ll go. I got my paper back in English and I got a B,” I glanced warily at my mom, and she nodded in approval. “And I stopped by the peer tutoring center like Ms. Mitchel suggested.”
“And how was that?” my dad interjected, shoving a piece of garlic bread into his mouth. “Do you think you’ll need more than what the peer tutoring can offer?”
“I mean it was just one day, but I think it’ll be fine,” I shrugged. I suddenly remembered the fact that Shiloh had shared with me and for some reason I had the urge to tell them. “Did you know that you can be allergic to your own tears?”
“Hmm. Really,” my mom asked with raised brows. “I thought you weren’t takin’ a science this year.”
“I’m not. I, uh, I found that out from the tutor I worked with. She’s allergic to her own tears and it makes her eyes all foggy looking because of scar tissue,” I explained through a mouthful of pasta.
“I hope you weren’t the one who pointed it out.” I grimaced at her reprimanding look. I gave her a sheepish smile, and she dropped her fork. “Enoch Michael Reznikovsky, you best be plannin’ to apologize for bein’ so rude.”
“I was just curious. I wasn’t trying to be rude.”
“Well, you were, and you owe that girl an apology.”
I nodded in reluctant agreement.
“You’re right. I’ll apologize.”
She nodded and motioned for me to continue my story.
“They offer tutoring Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays. I got Jae to cover my classes at Blitz so I can attend Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
“Good,” my mom nodded. “Esty?”
Esther recapped the last two days that our dad had missed while at work, but I tuned out her announcements because I was too busy thinking about what a dick I had been to Shiloh.
She really was doing me a favor, and I was pretty sure she was doing it for free.
I needed to apologize to her next time I saw her and hopefully I could prevent myself from staring at her.
But I couldn’t have stopped staring even if I had wanted to.
Shiloh had the most mesmerizing eyes. A muted hazel, like a leaf that’s in the middle of changing colors in the fall.
And the emotion in them. Like a siren song, or something equally intoxicating.
Cheese and rice, did I really just call her eyes a siren song?
I’ve been watching way too many K-dramas with Jae.
I’d only moved here when I was fourteen, but that would mean we’d been going to high school together for the last four years and I’d not once taken notice of her. And I knew I would’ve never forgotten the girl with red hair, fall-colored eyes and enough snark to make a grown man cry.
Did she know who I was? Was I the oblivious tool? Oh God, what if she gets bullied for her eyes and I was a complete asshole pointing them out like it was a flaw. She was wearing a hood like she was trying to hide…God, I’m an idiot. I’m definitely apologizing as soon as I see her.
???
October 2, Saturday
Shiloh
I took the meat out of the bag it was in and spread it across the grill with a pair of tongs.
It’d been six months since we’d had meat.
At least Javier’s new rank meant we had the cash to eat steak.
The sizzling sound told me it was hot enough and I grabbed the rest of the meat to cook.
I closed the lid before the smoke made my eyes water and returned inside to finish the salsa.
I heard footsteps and spun around with the knife in my hand.
I relaxed my tense shoulders in relief when I saw my brother. My stomach flipped at the sight of his still bruised face, and I repressed the swell of renewed anger.
Javi clunked the bag of ice on the counter and silently asked me with the gesture of his eyebrows if anything happened while he was gone.
I shook my head and turned back to the blender, switching it on.
When it had finished, I stuck my finger in and tasted it as I eyed the grill from the kitchen window.
“Hey, can you go flip the meat?”