CHAPTER 21 #2
A final deep breath to fortify myself and I exit Frances. My strides are long and hurried. I keep my eyes on the ground and hope that I don't crash into another human brick wall. No way in hell can I handle two of them.
My phone dings.
Adam: Are you watching Sandlot?
I pull up YouTube and scroll.
Eve: Nope. Scrolling through my phone.
Not a lie.
Adam: Good. I don't think Benny the Jet Rodriguez is healthy for you.
Smiling to myself, I put the phone back in my pocket.
Walking with my head down I make it to my first class without incident.
The rest of the day and the rest of my classes go the same until my class with Cotton.
They're on different days, but we discovered that I have one class with each of the guys.
I haven't thought this part through. He's going to rat me out, which means I won't make it to my apartment.
I go in and make my way to my seat. Cotton isn't here yet, but it isn't long before I catch his tall, lean form.
We notice each other at the same time and his eyebrows shoot to his hairline as he cocks his head to the side.
He knows I'm supposed to be home. Will I even make it through this class without being manhandled all the way back to the car?
Cotton comes to sit beside me.
"No hoodie today."
Hmm. Those aren't the expected first words but I'm sure they're coming.
"Yeah. I left in a bit of a rush and forgot it at your house."
"And you came in anyway. Badass, Mason. Bad. Ass."
I can't hide my smile at his compliment. I feel badass. I am a badass .
"Not only that though, huh?"
Warily I look at him but, choose not to respond.
"You also escaped your ivory tower." He says with a quirked eyebrow and a mischievous grin.
"Are you going to rat me out?"
"Moi? I'll never rat you out, Mason. You can trust me. Just like Adam can trust me. I'm not going to insert myself into your relationship."
"He'll be mad."
"Furious. But he'll get over it. He and Cal are too busy getting their asses chewed out by the coaches at the moment to be too mad at us." He winks at me and turns to the front of the class, allowing us to sit in companionable silence.
.........................
It's time to see V. I'm giddy on the way over. Even when I've been home recently, I haven't gotten to spend quality one on one time with her. I stop at The Market and get all of V's favorite things: Bomb Pops, Sour Patch, banana Laffy Taffy, and mango ice cream.
As soon as we see each other, we squeal and stomp our feet before rushing together.
We squeeze the breath from one another and breathe in deeply, inhaling the other.
Still giggling, we plop down on the overstuffed couch and settle in to watch our show when my phone begins to ring.
I know who it is without looking. Adam should be heading to practice now. Deep breath. You've got this.
"Hey."
"Hey, love. How are you feeling?"
"Great. Are you at practice?"
"About to get started. What did you do all day?"
No one was home when I left this morning, and no one will be home now either since they're at practice. Cotton clearly didn't tell him that I was at school.
"Not much. How was your day?"
There's a pause.
"What did you do today, Eve?"
It's my turn to pause.
"I went to my classes and now I'm at home with Vaughn, getting ready to watch Grifters."
Another pause.
"I'll see you after practice. Be there when I get there."
"Yep." I pop the p in my response.
Vaughn and I laugh and binge on junk for the next hour. After Grifters is over, we sit and talk about Adam, Eli, Ada and everything else going on in our lives.
Vaughn wasn't born my sister, but she is my sister in every way that counts.
The retelling of her version of events of the time that Adam and Ada came to the door looking for me has me doubling over in laughter and tears rolling down my cheeks.
V is not someone to be trifled with. She's not big in size, but she is mighty in spirit.
I think the phrase was coined about her.
"Eli will be home in two weeks."
"I know." I squeal. "I can't wait to see him. Man, I've missed him so much."
"He'll expect gifts." She says with a laugh.
"I know. I've been working on something special."
"Ohhh that sounds interesting."
"I wrote messages on paper and then made them into small origami stars."
"Awww the big sap will love that, Eve."
I push breath out of my mouth.
"I hope so."
"I'm ready for him to stay home. I'm ready to really start our lives together and be done with this going months apart."
"Did you talk to him about it?"
"We've talked about the future and retirement a few times but, I'm the holdup. I don't want to take his work away from him, but I can't do it anymore. I miss him every second of every day."
Well, there's an origami star message right there.
"I think you should tell him. I hated saying goodbye to him and I've only had to do it once. I can't imagine what it's like to live like the two of you do."
Vaughn chuckles as she says, "Yeah we definitely haven't been able to be all folded up inside each other's ass cracks like you and Adam."
I throw a pillow at her, and she holds her hands up in defense.
"What's going on there? You should've seen him the day he came looking for you. He was crazed."
"Yeah...he didn't get much better by the time he found me. I told you he carried me out of there like a screaming toddler, didn't I?"
Vaughn starts laughing at the memory.
"Yes. I could picture it. Hilarious. I bet that was like something from your actual nightmares."
"All I was really thinking about at the time was how mad I was at the nerve of this asshat. I mean, who could've guessed they were siblings?"
We both burst into laughter.
"So, what about your night last night?"
Rubbing my face with both hands, I prepare myself for what's to come.
I tell her the events of the night, from what I remember to what Adam filled in for me.
I tell her about today and leaving my hoodie at Adam's, his demand that I stay home, and the nonchalant statement about us getting our own place.
"Wow. Shit, Eve. That's a LOT of rug to pull out from underneath a person all at one time."
"Yeah. I thought the same thing. I've been thinking about the comment that he made about Nathan all day. I want to ask you something and I want you to be brutally honest in your answer, Okay?"
"Yeah, you know it's the only way that I know how to be."
I smile at the sister to my soul because that's true. She only knows one way to give it and that's straight.
"Do you think that I've gotten any better in the time that you've known me?"
My friend has a soft smile on her face. She doesn't say a word and just looks back at me for a while.
"I won't pretend to know anything about what you go through. I obviously don't struggle with the same affliction, so I never know what to say or how things should be going with your treatment. I have wondered though, because no, I haven't seen any change."
The admission stings even though I expected it.
"You still wear the hoodie to classes. Until now, you've never met new people. You never go out. You don't seem to be pushing your comfort limits, but like I said, I don't know how it works, and I never want to make you feel pressured."
"Yeah. Adam said something similar. He has no qualms about calling me out.
I think last night scared him though. He told me I didn't have to go to the banquet.
Actually, he basically told me I'm not going.
He was pushing me before and pissing me off but now that he's not, I can see he was trying to help me.
Trying to get me out of my comfort zone and help me get better but now that I've cracked, he's trying to coddle me, which is way worse. "
"First of all, you didn't crack. I think Cotton's right. You had a trauma response. We have no idea what's happened to you. Honestly, I'm surprised that Nathan hasn't used his hypnosis skills to pull some of those memories out of you."
Apprehensively, I say, "I want to show you something. I don't want you to freak out and if I see pity on your face...just know that it'll destroy me."
She narrows her eyes and speaks slowly. "You're freaking me out here, Eve. What is it?"
"Just keep in mind that I don't remember it, okay? I have no idea how it happened."
"Just show me already, DAMN!"
I slowly turn away from Vaughn and lift the back of my shirt over my head.
There's a sharp intake of breath just before I feel the lightest of touches on my back just between my shoulder blades.
I keep still letting her take it in. Letting her touch me.
Letting her heal. Finally, praying that I don't see pity in her eyes, I turn.
There she is. My sister. The look in her eyes is one that I've never seen on her beautiful face before but it's a look that I understand instantly.
Rage.