Storm clouds darken his blue eyes. “Nope. My parents were too busy with their parties and people much more important than me. The housekeeper was—is my teacher. She’s the only one who gives a shit about me. Especially when I started getting into trouble. They definitely didn’t,” he shakes his head, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. They don’t want anything to do with me since that.”
My heart breaks a little for him. No matter what, I’ve always known Mom loves me. From the sound of it, he doesn’t even have that. For some reason, I need a minute so I turn toward the sink and work on the dishes. After what felt like only half a minute, but could have been longer because I’m somehow almost done with the dishes, Gabe speaks. “Listen, I know for some reason you’re not completely comfortable hanging out with me. But I like talking to you. One night, one hour, that’s all I’m asking.”
“No! I’m not uncomfortable spending time with you, Gabe. I want to. My mom’s a little overprotective though. She doesn’t really like me out at night by myself…” But I’m not going to be by myself. I’m going to be with a friend. And like I told her earlier, I know the rules. He needs a friend, and I know how that feels. There’s no way I’m walking away tonight. “I can’t go far and we have to be sure I’m home exactly when I would have been if I stayed at work.”
He smiles at me and it gives me a case of the warm and fuzzies. Now, I’m apparently not only a pervert, but a slut too, because for the first time, Gabe makes me feel like Caleb does.
“I’ll take care of you. Your mom won’t suspect a thing.”
This rebel thing is kind of fun.
Giddy, I glance at the clock. Yikes! It’s already 7:45. “I need to hurry and finish these dishes if I want to get off in time.”
Gabe takes off his jacket, and pushes up the sleeves on his dark, button-up, expensive-looking shirt. “Scoot over. We’ll get these knocked out in no time.”
I might have squeed a little inside.
Chapter Nine
My hands are shaky as I open the passenger door for Gabe. It’s weird seeing a guy in Mom’s tiny car. She’s never dated and of course I never got to know my dad.
“Is there somewhere you want to go?” Gabe asks me.
My answer is embarrassing. “No… I don’t really know where we should go.” I know there are places people my age go, but the last thing I want to do is risk seeing the LP somewhere. “You?”
“New in town, remember?” He crosses his arms. “Hmm, I have an idea.”
I’m a little shocked when Gabe tells me to drive to the parking lot of the grocery store. It only takes a few minutes and on his instruction, I park under a street lamp that’s out of the way, but not completely isolated. What are we doing here? My thoughts must show on my face because Gabe immediately answers my question.
“We don’t want to go anywhere completely public and risk seeing someone who might mention to your mom they saw you. I thought you might not want to go anywhere completely private either, so this is all I could come up with.”
I feel like an idiot. Like he has to wear his kid gloves with me because I’m the girl with no friends. “I wouldn’t have minded somewhere private.”
Gabe smiles. “I guess I’m being a gentleman for no reason, then.”
We both laugh. The urge to ask him more about his parents and his life bubbles inside me, but I’m not sure how to bring it up. I’m apparently not very good at this friend thing. But he just seems so different. Like he’s seen so much and I wonder if it’s because of the way he grew up. He said he’s eighteen though. Shouldn’t he have graduated by now, or if he does this year, is he leaving afterward?
“Want to play a game?” His blue eyes glint in the interior light and I notice the darker blond mixed in with his lighter yellow hair.
O-kay. Totally not what I expected us to do. “Um, sorry. I left my board games at home.”
“Very funny. I mean a get-to-know-you game. You ask me a question and then I ask you one.”
If I didn’t know better, I’d think he could read my mind. I’m of the thought that’s a little too close to believing in the impossible for comfort, so I don’t. “Sure. You want to go first?” Because I honestly don’t know what to ask him. I know what I want to know, but what if he’s talking about favorite colors and most embarrassing moments?
“As a matter of fact, I do.” He smiles. “What really happened to your forehead the other day?”
Ugh. Great. He has to go and start with a hard one. What happened to being a gentleman? What am I supposed to tell him? I’m known as the vamp freak and got cornered by Stacy Cavanaugh and her friends? But the lies are starting to pile up for me and I feel pretty bad about that, so I decide on a mostly-truth. “There’s this group of girls who don’t like me. They decided to show me how much. That’s all.”
The look on his face tells me he already knew it was something like that. “Why were you embarrassed to tell me that?”
“I don’t know.” Now that he mentioned it, it does seem silly. “I guess I just feel like an after school special or something. You know, being that girl in school. The one who’s teased all the time.”
“All the time? What about your friends?”
This sucks. Like deadly-vampire bite, suckage. “Really?”
Gabe touches my hand. It’s so different than when Caleb did it. They feel different. And with Gabe, it looks easier…like it’s not this internal war Caleb always seems to fight. “You agreed. It’s your turn next and I’ll be in the hot seat. You can trust me, Abigail.”
Does it make me naive that I totally want to? That I feel like I can? “Well…I’ve never really had any.”
He slides his hand away, but it’s still close to mine. “I’m sorry. I know how that feels. Guess it’s cool we’re changing that together.”
My heart jumps to my throat. I know it’s strange, to get so excited about someone confirming they like me, but I can’t help it. In this moment, I’m no longer the freak with no friends. “Yeah. Very cool.”
“How did you get away from them? The girls?”
Did I mention weird before? It has nothing on how I feel about talking to Gabe about Caleb. Why? I’m not sure. “Well, there’s this guy, Caleb. We’ve hung out a little lately. He came and scared them away.” Talking about Caleb makes me smile and feel guilty even though it makes no sense. He makes me smiley. What’s wrong with that?
Gabe shifts in his seat as though he’s uncomfortable. “Good thing he showed up. If you met this…Caleb, that gives you someone to hang-out with at school though. Maybe they’ll leave you alone.” There’s a tension in his voice.
I look at the steering wheel because spending time with Caleb didn’t mean I’d have someone to spend time with at school. He has his own group of friends and I don’t fit into that equation. But then, if I’m good enough to skip school with and walk to and from school with, I should be good enough to at least have a casual conversation with at school. What does that say about him or me if he still ignores me?
“Did I say something wrong?” Gabe asks.
I snap out of my trance. Now isn’t the time to think about Caleb. I should enjoy hanging out with Gabe. “No, no. Sorry, I was just thinking about something. Is it my turn now?”
“Yes,” he answers simply. “And thank you for being honest with me about everything.”
Of course I can’t start right off the bat with something as serious as asking about his parents. I may be a noob, but I’m not totally socially stunted. Leading in, I ask his favorite subject in school. I’m surprised to find out its English like me. We volley questions back and forth. I learn his birthday, what he wants to be when he grows up and his favorite vacation spots. My questions start out timid, but as we go, I’m surprised at how easy it is to just sit and talk to a boy. When I’m with Caleb it’s I always have a million thoughts going through my head: studying his movements, wondering about something he says, trying not to sound like freak show.
Finally I build up the courage to ask what I really want to know. He’d been so sad earlier. I don’t want to make him feel that way again, but I also feel like he needs to talk about it. “You mentioned earlier that your parents didn’t have time for you. Why do you think that?” Guilt starts rolling over me. “I’m not trying to pry, but I just can’t see parents not caring about their kid.” Okay, maybe I am naive. So shoot me.
Gabe lets out a heavy breath. “No, believe me, they don’t care. My family’s different, Abigail. We’re very wealthy and my parents’ only concern is money and society. They spend their time schmoozing people much more important than me. I was there for show, when they needed me and that’s all. Other than that, I’m the responsibility of the housekeeper.” He’s ranting, talking almost without taking a breath. “The only person in my life to love me and they take her away from me. They fired her because they caught her letting me slough off on my lessons one day.”
I want to reach out and hug him, but I’m too scared. “Gabe, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he sounds distant now. “But that’s when things took a turn for the worse. I got into drugs, hanging out on the streets. I just wanted to escape my life and that’s the only way I knew how to do it.”
“Drugs?” I can’t hold back my shock. He doesn’t seem like the type. Now Caleb’s friends…yes. Gabe? No.
“I’m clean now; I promise you that. But I had some hard times. I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of, Abigail. I still do a lot of things that aren’t right. I think it’s just the way I am.” He shakes his head.
My heart drums steadily. He’s been on drugs and God knows what else. He said he’s done a lot of bad thing, but he doesn’t seem like a bad guy. He’s not. Maybe he was, but I know he isn’t anymore, and more than that, I know he’s my friend. Crazy as it sounds, I care about him. “You’ve done things you should be proud of too. Quitting drugs, trying to change your life. Those aren’t small things, Gabe. Cut yourself some slack.”