Nathan

by C. L. Stone

  He fished his phone out of his clothes and answered it.

  “Where have you been?” Kota asked. “I sent you a text.”

  Nathan grimaced. He’d ignored it for too long. “Yeah?”

  “Like a while ago. Didn’t you get it?”

  “No, I was just swimming with Sang,” he said. He may as well say it. Kota would understand. If he was getting along with someone new, he’d let him stay if it wasn’t an emergency. “She’s the...”

  “She’s there? Sang is there?” Kota asked, his tone a bit more excited than just odd curiosity.

  “Oh,” Nathan said. “You know her?” Out of instinct, he turned, eyebrow cocked, to look at her. She didn’t mention, but it really never came up. She’d met Kota? When?

  “I don’t have time to explain, but can you bring her over? Nicely?”

  Why wouldn’t he do it nicely? But Kota didn’t have to say too much at the moment. There was something going on, and it involved her, and he needed to talk to her.

  And that made Nathan nervous. Something was up. It reminded him about Silas being there overnight at odd hours. Did that have something to do with her?

  “Yeah, okay. We’ll come over,” he said, and then hung up. Why wouldn’t she come? She’d been hanging out with him most of the morning. Why would he need to be more nice to get her to go over to Kota’s?

  But when he looked at her again, she did seem nervous, the color escaping her cheeks until she seemed very pale.

  He checked the sports watch he wore on his wrist. “Have to be somewhere?” he asked. Isn’t that nice? To make sure she wasn’t busy? Suddenly, Kota had made this completely weird.

  But then she hesitated with her answer. She just shook her head.

  She seemed worried. About Kota? About talking to him? What happened between them? He didn’t understand any of this.

  “Let’s get dressed,” he said, tilting his head toward the house, trying to be reassuring. “How’d you meet Kota?” he asked.

  “Long story,” she said.

  Guarded. The look on Sang’s face was way too familiar. He smiled at her and ushered her toward the house. “Tell me on the way to his house.”

  He monitored her as she walked, and he slid the door open for her. She stopped looking at him. Her head bowed a bit, looking at other things. Anything but him.

  As he got her clothes out of the dryer for her and followed her to the hall to the bathroom she’d use, he kept his smile. He wanted to reassure her this was completely friendly.

  “Need anything else?” he asked as she stepped through the bathroom doorway.

  “I don’t think so,” Sang said.

  Shoulders rolled in.

  Eyes still not meeting his.

  She was nervous.

  The spell they’d been under since they first met was gone.

  The moment she closed the door, he went to his room, phone in hand, ready to call Kota. But with her so close, he resisted, sticking to text messages.

  Nathan: What’s the deal? Why do you want to see her? What’s going on?

  Nathan’s body strained as he stared at his phone, willing Kota to answer him and fearing the answer at the same time.

  After falling into the tree, she didn’t want to go home, coupled with not wanting to go home to go grab a bathing suit when she was literally right next door.

  And she didn’t talk about home. At all. She downright avoided it.

  His phone vibrated in his hand and he nearly dropped it.

  Kota: It’s what I’m trying to find out.

  Nathan frowned, sat on the bed, despite his wet clothes and stared at the answer. His heart sunk.

  Whatever happened between Kota and Sang, Kota felt it too. Or maybe he knew more. Nathan felt so dense. This whole time he’d spent with her and he didn’t clue in about it.

  She could have gone off at any time. He might have never have noticed. He wouldn’t have picked up that tense look she got about going home.

  He wanted to go talk to her, but maybe Kota would be better.

  He changed quickly.

  Sang was too nice a girl to carry that rock of fear on her shoulders. The one that had her hunching over and looking down. Whatever it was, he’d understand. If she just needed someone to talk to...

  When he got dressed, he went back into the kitchen to wait for her. While he was waiting, he was half looking at the torn piece of paper of the Academy letter he’d gotten, reading the words and trying to figure out that puzzle.

  Despite the Academy knowing they were due to start their school project soon, someone still sent word they needed some help. New recruits? A babysitting job?

  Something else to ask Kota about.

  He sighed, stuffing the torn paper into his pocket and glancing at the door Sang was behind.

  He might have to make a choice, taking the job or helping Sang out...if she needed it.

  6

  When Sang got out of the bathroom, Nathan wanted to ask her a million questions.

  He hesitated. Her jeans still were a bit messed up since they hadn’t washed them exactly, so dirt was still sticking to them. She seemed just a bit more relaxed than a minute ago.

  He tried to smile, to be reassuring. Now that he knew something was up, he wasn’t sure what to do.

  It was best to get to Kota’s house and figure everything out.

  Once they crossed the street and reached the Lee’s porch, she started messing with her hair, pulling it back, twisting it again into the clip she wore. It didn’t make much improvement, still a mess. Wet, tangled, wild.

  He couldn’t help grinning at her. “Looks like shit,” he teased. He probably looked the same with his hair, all over the place and sticking up.

  She made a face just before the door opened, but he caught it.

  That was good. She wasn’t completely nervous.

  Jessica Lee had answered the door, wearing a pink dress with flowers on it. Was that new? He hadn’t seen it before. Nathan held his grin and was ready to tell her the dress looked nice when her cheeks turned bright red and she rushed off, turned into the left hallway and disappeared, probably to her room. She left the door open for them though.

  Great. One look at Nathan and she was running? Goofy girl, what’s up with her?

  Apparently, Sang wanted to know the same thing. She was looking at him with an eyebrow up.

  He had a suspicion and tried to guess as to what that was about, shrugging. “She caught me sparring with a friend one day.” Should he say who? She probably wouldn’t know who he was talking about. That she’d come by the shed one day when he’d finally been able to get Silas, big buff Silas, into a locked hold that he’d never been able to do before? It probably seemed intimidating that he was able to get Silas on his back at all, given how much bigger he was.

  He continued, “It probably looked like I beat him up pretty bad. I heard Victor tell her one day if she didn’t get straight As like her brother, I’d come over and do the same thing to her.” He wouldn’t dare, of course, but maybe she was nervous. Now that he was thinking about it, he hadn’t seen her around without her mom and Kota in the same room. He’d have to talk to her later, tell her he’d never ever do what Victor said. She should know better. She’d known him for years.

  It still gave Sang a laugh, for which he was grateful.

  Kota materialized at the door and seemed curious at her cheerful face, even as he held that timid concern in his expression. “There you are,” he said. Kota touched at his glasses, adjusting them on his nose. “What happened to you?” he asked Sang.

  She simply stared at him and replied in a soft voice, “You were looking for me?”

  His eyes narrowed, and Nathan caught the twitch at his lip. Just a small frown but it was there. “What?”

  Something was clicking in his head, but he was still putting it together when he responded. “Her voice is gone,” he said. “She can’t talk.”

  Kota cocked a brow and his face tensed, clearly holding
back frowning as he looked at her. “It was fine yesterday. What happened?”

  Nathan’s heart raced. That was it. The only time Nathan could imagine Kota had time to meet her was yesterday. And if he said it wasn’t normal, then...something happened over night. But Sang said she wasn’t sick.

  He was ready to suggest she was talking too much, which is something he joked about earlier, except it was the way she reacted. Her lips moved like she wanted to say something but she didn’t. And was she shaking?

  He wanted to reach out to her. To assure her. But he was too stunned, lost in thought.

  It wasn’t from talking too much. It was something else. Something much worse, only he couldn’t figure it out. She wasn’t sick. Because she went swimming and seemed fine otherwise.

  His brain kept going to the bruise at her hip. Was that part of it?

  What the hell happened to her?

  Kota frowned. “I almost went over to your house,” he said. “I wasn’t sure how to reach you. I tried walking by just in case you happened to look out. I wondered if you were in trouble.”

  She touched a fingertip to her lower lip, looking unsure. “Sorry,” she said softly and stopped there.

  Why would she be in trouble? Nathan tried to wait, looking between them for someone to catch him up, but when no one said anything, he blurted. “What’s the problem? What’s going on?”

  Kota adjusted the collar of his shirt, tugging at the button like he wanted to undo it. “Well, it’s something we’ve got to figure out. Come on in. I’ll look at your throat.”

  Sang immediately blushed. Her hand drifted from her lip to touching the base of her throat in clear surprise at his answer. “It’s not a problem,” she said, then tried to smile.

  But it wasn’t real. It only held for a moment, like a lie on her lips.

  Nathan sucked in a breath and held it, resisting that urge to take her back to his house, back to the pool, back to when she was genuinely smiling. Something had happened and they needed to face it, but the way she looked now scared him.

  She walked into the house and before she’d change her mind and run off, he got in and closed the door. Not that he’d stop her leaving, but she clearly needed help. And she seemed willing to let Kota examine her.

  She was at least that trusting of them to come along to talk to them. Did that mean she’d be open to help?

  Her eyes darted around Kota’s house, like it was unfamiliar to her.

  “Where’s your mom?” she asked Kota, her voice cracking.

  Wait...did she meet Erica? Had everyone met Sang before him?

  “She’s at work,” Kota said. He looked around the living room and seemed to second guess staying there. “We should head up to my room. But keep an ear out. Victor and Gabriel should be here in a minute.”

  Nathan almost grimaced but held it when Sang took an unsure glance his way. He wanted to seem confident for her and when he wasn’t sure he could, he followed Kota, trying to hide his face.

  Did they know?

  This was a lot of people coming around when she already seemed hesitant. Wouldn’t more people make her feel more shy about talking to them?

  It wasn’t that Victor and Gabriel couldn’t be trusted, but when he was getting fixed, getting help from the Academy, it took a lot of time to build trust with all of them. Kota was blowing past that and just inviting everyone over for this.

  But despite Nathan’s worries, Kota moved with some determined purpose. He cleared the stairs up into his room. Nathan caught that his computer chair wasn’t at his desk, but at the window, like he’d been looking out.

  Nathan smothered a frown. He had a clear view of Sang’s house from there.

  He’d possibly been watching for her. For how long?

  Nathan hadn’t done things like that since one of them needed help.

  On his way with the chair, Kota stopped at the desk, picking up a slim LED flashlight from a drawer. He brought it and the chair to the middle of his room, and then pointed at it, looking right to Sang. “Sit.”

  Nathan grimaced. A command. He was trying not to give her a chance to get out of an exam. Not that Kota was a doctor, but they all picked up a few things from Dr. Green by helping him study for his doctorate.

  But she did respond, sitting in the chair.

  Kota shifted to stand in front of her. Nathan came up next to him, and when Kota held the flashlight to her face, turning the light on, he couldn’t help leaning in.

  “Open up,” Kota said.

  Another command. He had that knack for getting people to do what he wanted by not asking as politely as he normally did. A Mr. Blackbourne trick. Sometimes you had to cut it short like that.

  She swallowed visibly and opened her mouth. Nathan tried to see, but he wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Redness? And his angle wasn’t great. He didn’t want to get in Kota’s view either.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Nathan asked.

  “It’s...burned,” he said.

  Burned? Like she ate hot food? Was that all?

  Kota flicked the light off and then with his other hand picked up her chin and had her look at his face. “What happened yesterday when you got home?”

  Sang hesitated. Even as he looked at her and compelled her, she resisted.

  And if she hesitated telling them why, it was bad. It wasn’t hot food. It was something else. Something worse she was embarrassed to tell them about.

  Kota frowned, and in a surprising move to Nathan, knelt in front of her, taking her hand in his. “Sang, I’m going to assume if you’re not telling me, it’s something bad. I’m going to ask you some questions. Just nod if I’m right. Did you get into trouble yesterday with your parents?”

  Nathan bit his tongue. It wasn’t that Kota was holding her hand, trying to keep her attention and show some compassion.

  It was that Nathan wanted to do it. He felt he should be doing it because he’d already held her hand a lot, and he thought he could comfort her. She was used to him.

  But when she nodded, he forgot about that twinge of jealousy and focused.

  “Was it because you left with us?” Kota asked.

  She shook her head.

  So she left with Kota yesterday, and yet her parents didn’t give her trouble about that. As Nathan looked at her, her head slowly lowered and she kept that blush on her face. He wished he could do something for her. He knew how hard it was to talk about family issues like this, especially with new people.

  He didn’t totally like how Kota was grilling her. Maybe they should take it easy. It took time to open up. Kota should know. He took the longest out of all of them to do it, for Kota to talk about what was going on with his own dad.

  Kota gripped her hand. “Did they have you drink something?”

  She bit her lip, closed her eyes and nodded.

  Nathan made fists and pushed them to his thighs to keep them still. That’s all they needed, right? Either proof of abuse or confession of it. Isn’t this enough to get her out or for them to do something about this?

  “What was it?” Kota asked. She didn’t answer so he continued. “Sang? Tell me. What was it?”

  Without raising her head, she whispered, “Lemon juice...and vinegar.”

  “Fucking shit,” Nathan let out in a bellow. “What the hell did they do that for?” Not that it mattered. He’d heard enough.

  It really all made sense to him now. How she didn’t dare go home when showing up soaked possibly meant trouble. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but anyone willing to do damage to someone else like that...

  With gritted teeth, he looked right at Kota. “We have to do something. They can’t do that.”

  “I know,” he said, although he kept his gaze on Sang. “Has this happened before?”

  She shook her head.

  “Why did they do it this time?”

  She looked at Nathan this time. And the look she gave him scared him. Sad. Wanting to be honest but afraid. He tried to calm himself, to sh
ow she could trust them. She wasn’t in trouble.

  Whoever did it to her...that person was.

  Eventually she spoke. “Silas called. A boy’s never called before. Please don’t tell him. He’ll feel bad. It’s not his fault.”

  Nathan grunted. “Start at the top. Are you telling me I can’t come for you if you’re at your house? I can’t call you? How bad are we talking?”

  His thoughts were cut off by a car honk. He suspected it was one of the guys. Kota’s mom never honked when she arrived.

  Now wasn’t the time for this. More people weren’t going to help. Look how embarrassed she was now with Nathan and Kota alone?

  Nathan wished Kota would make the call. Just get her out. They’d done physical damage in a demented way. Only, he knew the answer. Pulling her out now could cause loads more damage. Better to be very aware of everything. What if the state pulled her out only to place her with a relative who was worse than the parents were? This kind of stuff sometimes ran in families.

  Kota could have called in the Academy for this one, but why wasn’t he?

  Kota waited a minute, like he wanted to stay, but he got up. “Your voice will come back. You just need to rest your throat. Hang on a second.”

  In a flash, he was across the room, bolting down the stairs. Nathan, alone with Sang, turned to her.

  He wanted to know, flat out, how bad it was. “Why don’t you just say it? Do your parents beat you?”

  He couldn’t believe how direct he was, but he wanted to know for sure.

  She waved her hands through the air, more animated than she had been before. “It’s not quite like that. They don’t hit me or anything.”

  “But they don’t like you hanging out with anyone? What happens if I show up?”

  “Don’t. Please.”

  He frowned. The same way he’d feel if she showed up when his father was around.

  “Would they flip out if they found out you were with me today?”

  She nodded.

  From up in Kota’s room above the garage, they could hear Kota answering the door and talking to the others.

  No doubt filling them in a bit on what was going on.

  It wasn’t like they could hide it from them.