Claimed

by Portia Moore

  It’s like there’s an unspoken understanding that we don’t touch. I don’t know why, really, that’s just how it is.

  Other than that, though, we’re inseparable. We’re not in the same classes since he’s two grades ahead of me, but we hang out on breaks, sit in the hallways together, and help with each other’s homework. He hasn’t come over to my house again, and he never asks me to come over to his. That’s the other thing we don’t talk about—our families. I know there’s something wrong with his, too—some secret like I have with my father being an alcoholic. But I don’t ask what it is. I don’t want to accidentally shatter what there is between us, this growing friendship that’s quickly becoming more important to me than anything else in the world.

  We’re sitting in the hallway one day, me helping him with his English homework, him helping me with math, when the sound of footsteps approaching stops in front of us. We both look up, and I see a pretty girl about his age standing there. Her long, thick red hair is in a braid and tossed over one shoulder, and she’s wearing makeup, a frayed denim skirt, and a light pink, tight short-sleeved sweater. When she raises her arms, it rides up a little to show a strip of her tanned stomach, which I know is against the dress code, and makes me irrationally angry because I can see Zach’s eyes flick to it. He’s a teenage boy, and she’s pretty, I think to myself, trying to rationalize it away. But that just makes me more upset.

  “Hey Zach,” she says, pressing her glossy lips together. She tosses her hair, her long lashes fluttering, and I can see that Zach is staring at her. I’m flushing red as I think about how I must look in comparison, with my baggy jeans and messy blonde ponytail, just Vaseline on my lips. I get all my stuff from thrift stores, just like Zach, but somehow he makes it look cool, whereas I’m sure I just look frumpy and gross. Not like this girl, who looks straight out of Seventeen.

  “I could use some help with my math homework if you’re tutoring,” she says in that high, bright voice. “I’m just so bad at algebra.”

  “Actually, she’s helping me,” Zach says with a grin I wish he’d just use with me.

  “Well, maybe I can help with…other stuff,” she purrs, grinning at him flirtatiously before sauntering away.

  His eyes follow her as she does.

  I hate it, but tears spring to my eyes. I look away, trying to wipe at them before Zach notices. But he’s perceptive, and when I glance back towards him, he immediately looks at me, concerned.

  “You okay?” He peers at me, his brow furrowed.

  “Yeah,” I mumble, flipping a page in my book. “I’m just worried about this stupid test.”

  He moves a little closer to me, and I feel my heart flutter in my chest. But he’s just looking at me worriedly, and that’s not what I want.

  “That girl,” I mutter. “She’s just…you don’t really like her, do you?”

  “I don’t know her,” Zach says with a shrug and a smile, but I can tell he’s evading the question. He’s evading it because he thought she was pretty, because he was sucked in by her shiny hair and her glossy lips and that bit of tanned stomach.

  “Never mind.” I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter, anyway.”

  “Are you mad?” he asks, a tiny hint of amusement in his voice.

  “I’m not.” I force a smile onto my face. My stomach growls. Zach frowns again and pulls a Payday bar out of his bag and hands it to me. “You didn’t eat anything at lunch,” he says, quickly changing the subject.

  “I wasn’t hungry,” I lie, but tear it open.

  “My mom wasn’t feeling well this week, and my dad was supposed to get groceries. He didn’t…but he remembered to get beer.” I say the last part with a laugh, wanting it to sound like a joke, but I fail miserably. Still, Zach forces a smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

  “She only works a half a day today, so she’ll make sure there’s something to eat tonight,” I say, quickly starting to gather my things up.

  “We have ten minutes left,” he says, his beautiful face scrunched up in confusion.

  “I thought I’d give you time to go and see what that girl can help you with,” I tell him, hoping I don’t sound as jealous and irritated as I am.

  “She doesn’t want to help me with school work.” He laughs knowingly, and I roll my eyes.

  “I may be younger than you, but I’m not an idiot,” I say, rolling my eyes as I walk away from him.

  Zach looks horrified. “Rain, what the fuck?” I’m surprised to hear him curse. I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard it from him before now. He jogs to catch up with me. “I didn’t say you were an idiot. You’re one of the smartest girls I know.”

  I stare at him. Zach thinks I’m smart, and that’s great, but I’d rather him say I was one of the prettiest or the hottest or something I know would be a complete lie. I reach up to touch my hair self-consciously, my eyes still fixed on his, my heart suddenly pounding in my throat.

  What if I kissed him? Just stood on my tiptoes and planted one on him right here?

  It would ruin everything. Besides, I don’t even know how to kiss anyone.

  The thought makes me sad for the first time ever, and I wonder what’s wrong with me. Why am I having all of these weird feelings? One moment I’m happy, the next I’m sad or mad, and then I’m taking it all out on Zach, who's only ever been nice to me.

  “Look,” Zach says, straightening and crossing his arms. He’s all business suddenly, his face bright with excitement. “You know the guys? Well…they know how to get stuff. Money, food, stuff like that. They do it all the time. They don’t get tons of stuff, just enough to help each other out...”

  “What?” I’m even more shocked by this. It never occurred to me that Zach’s friends were thieves. “You mean…stealing stuff?”

  “I mean taking things from people who it won’t really matter to, for the people who need it,” Zach says, looking slightly defensive. “We’re not bad guys, Rain. And you need the help…”

  I frown at him, suddenly angry. Zach is stealing! Why would he do that? What if he got caught and sent to juvie or something?

  “You’re stealing?!” I ask, and the way the color drains from his face, I know he is.

  “It’s not…” he starts to say, but the hallway is flooding with people, and we’ll both be late to class if we don’t go soon. “I’ll see you later, Rain,” he says, and there’s a tinge of sadness in his voice.

  I don’t see him on the bus like I usually do. The space next to me feels cold and empty as I ride home. It’s the first time since the day we met that we haven’t ridden home together on the bus, or walked together. I haven’t had an opportunity to miss him, but now that he’s not here, I do. It feels like a small hole in my chest, like something’s missing.

  I think about what Zach said all night as I lay in bed. I try to push the thought out of my head of him going to jail or getting in trouble. For the first time, I wish we had money, that I could help him instead of him always helping me. I think of the guys he’s always hanging out with, and I hate them. Zach wouldn’t be doing that kind of stuff if someone didn’t introduce it to him. I wonder what he was doing when he missed the bus. Probably meeting his friends. I wonder what they’re doing now, if they’re somewhere out in the city, robbing someone, or a store. I should be more upset, but I think about how hungry I was today, how helpless I feel that I can’t make things better for my family. If Zach feels like that too, why should I be upset at him for trying to make it better, for doing something about it?

  I hear the shouting start through the walls. My mother’s voice raises, high and angry, and I can hear my dad’s voice faintly slurring, deep and pleading. I can’t hear the words, but it doesn’t matter. I know what they’re saying. It’s the same thing it always is—my mother telling him to get a job, to stop drinking, to go to rehab. My father saying he can’t find one, that he’s tried, that we can’t afford it. Making excuses until my mother is at her wits’ end and starts to shout. I wonder if Erin c
an hear it too.

  I’ll never let myself be in a relationship like that, I promise myself faintly as I pull my pillow over my head and burrow deeper in my covers. I’ll never let a man treat me like that. I’ll never marry anyone who won’t respect me. I’ll be alone before I’m in a relationship where all we do is fight.

  I can still hear them shouting as I fall asleep.

  Chapter 5

  Rain

  Present day

  What the hell just happened? is all I can think as Vincent walks away, leaving me completely dazed and confused. My eyes stay glued on him until he disappears from my sight. He said he’d be seeing me soon, but he didn’t even ask me for my number. This day has been insane, but I try to think positive. I have the items, and I’m not in jail.

  Once Vincent is gone, I make my feet move and walk to where Mallory parked the car. She still has it running. I open the door and get inside, and Mallory looks over at me in complete shock.

  “How do you have bags? They don’t give you bags when you steal things!” she shrieks nervously.

  I sigh. “I’ll explain everything later, but for now, let’s just go and sell this shit.”

  Once we sell everything I had gotten at Chic, we have more than enough to pay the remaining amount that we owe. As soon as we get back in the car after selling everything, I call Jack.

  “Do you have my money?” he asks bluntly. A relieved smile spreads across my face.

  “Yes,” I answer. As soon as we go to the bank and deposit the money in my account, I send it straight over to Jack.

  “I can’t believe we pulled this off!” Mallory says excitedly as we close the door behind us to our apartment.

  “You’re telling me.”

  Mallory walks straight into the kitchen and pulls out a cheap bottle of tequila.

  “I think we deserve a drink,” she sings, and I can’t deny her that. I’ve never been much of a drinker, but after today I might take a few shots. She pours one for both of us, and after the first, she lets out a long breath.

  “So are you going to tell me what happened at Chic?”

  “I got caught,” I tell her plainly.

  Her head whips around to face me. Her brown eyes are so wide that they look like they’ll pop out of her head. “You what!” she exclaims.

  “I got caught,” I tell her again.

  “Well, what happened then? Because if you really got caught, then we wouldn’t be standing here.”

  “There was this guy. He came out of nowhere and he paid for everything.”

  Her eyes go bug-eyed. “He paid for everything!?”

  “Yeah,” I say, clearing my throat from the burning liquid going down.

  “Rain, that’s insane, and he didn’t…” She trails off, knowingly.

  “Well, that’s the thing. He said he wants to take me out, but the weird thing is he didn’t ask for my number or anything. He just gave me his card,” I tell her nervously.

  She frowns before laughing. “That’s so freaking weird. So some old guy just offered to pay for your stuff then tells you he wants to take you on a date but doesn’t get any of your information? Only you have that kind of luck.” She pouts.

  “The thing is, he wasn’t old. He was young. Well, not young like us, maybe thirty…”

  “Get out! What did he look like?” she asks, her interest growing by the second.

  “He was…he actually was really hot,” I admit, and her interest is even more piqued.

  “Hold on, let me get this straight. This hot, not really older guy—who again, is hot, and most likely rich—bought all your stuff for you, and you didn’t even give him your number?”

  “Ugh, I had more important things on my mind, like being ecstatic I wasn’t being thrown in jail. And remember, it’s weird whether he was hot or not,” I tell her, and she nods as if coming to her senses.

  “Yeah, you’re right. I’m glad you didn’t get caught, by the way. I would have felt so bad,” she says, coming and giving me a tight hug.

  I laugh. “Me too.”

  “So…you said you have the guy’s card. Let’s google him!” she sings, and for some reason my heart starts to pound.

  “I don’t know. I just kinda hope it’ll all go away, like he’ll forget about me or something.” I shrug and she frowns at me.

  “Just imagine how hella rich you’d have to be to spend thousands of dollars on a stranger and not even think twice about them,” she says dramatically.

  “I hope so because let’s be realistic…what would a guy like that want with me?”

  “Earth to Rain, you’re fucking stunning, babe.” She laughs and rolls her eyes.

  “Thanks, but a guy like that I’m sure is used to being around beautiful women, right?” She gives a half-shrug but holds out her hand, waiting for me to hand her his card. I pull it out of my pocket; she smiles triumphantly and starts to type furiously on her phone. I watch as her eyes grow wide.

  “Is this him?” she asks, her voice low as she turns the phone towards me. I take it in my hand and see the man from earlier cutting a ribbon to some sort of night club. He looks even more handsome than today when I saw him.

  “Yeah,” I mutter.

  “Jesus, he is hot!” she squeals, turning the phone back.

  “Rain, he just opened that club Dena was ranting about last week, about wanting to try to get a job at. It says that he owns it, Rain!” she says, pushing me playfully.

  “See, that proves it! If this guy owns clubs, he’s surrounded by girls all the time. He’ll probably just write off what he got me on his taxes or something. Also, if he owns clubs then I’m sure he’d want someone older than me who can at least legally get into one.”

  “If he owns the club, I’m sure he could get you in. But none of that matters because you didn’t give him your number.” She sticks her tongue out at me before sauntering out of the kitchen. I pull out my phone and google his name, allowing myself one last look before I resign myself for Mr. Jamison being what will make an interesting story to tell my kids one day…or maybe not.

  The next morning, I wake up to screaming in the apartment.

  What the hell is going on? Is a peaceful morning too much to ask for around here?

  I roll out of bed and make my way into the living room. Lo and behold, it’s Dena standing there as if she didn’t just run off with all of our rent money.

  “You’re not just going to waltz back in here after stealing our money! Are you fucking crazy!” Mallory yells at Dena.

  Dena is frowned up, wearing the indignation of someone who isn’t a lying thief.

  “Look. I really didn’t have a choice. I’m back, and I’m going to pay you girls all of it. I promise!”

  My eyes are bouncing back and forth, watching their exchange.

  Mallory narrows her eyes at Dena and puts her hands on her hips. “I don’t believe that for a second. I think our money went up your nose!”

  Oh shit!

  “You’re being such a bitch,” Dena sneers at her. “I don’t understand why you’re even so upset. It’s not like you got kicked out or anything.”

  “The only reason we didn’t get kicked out was because Rain almost got arrested making our rent money back!” Mallory explodes.

  Both their eyes land on me.

  “Goody two-shoes Rain was almost arrested doing what, jaywalking?” she asks, amused.

  “It’s not funny, Dena. You have no idea what Mallory and I’ve been through while you were off doing God knows what. And yes, I came super close to getting arrested trying to make the money back that you took!” I shout at her, but her dark, perfectly arched brow only raises curiously.

  “Huh, never thought you had it in you,” Dena says, almost impressed. I roll my eyes at her. Dena and I have never really gotten along, though we don’t spend enough time with each other to say for sure, other than at work. Dena, like most of the girls I work with, is beautiful, with long thick dark hair, stormy grey eyes, and the body of someone who work
s out for hours every day. She’s one of the girls who makes the most at Funbags…but let's just say it’s all based on her looks because her attitude sucks balls just like it does in this situation.

  “Dena, we could have been evicted and I could have gone to jail. I don’t know what you did with the money but you’ve got to pay us back if you’re going to stay here,” Mallory finally relents.

  Dena sits down on the couch and sighs. “Look. I’m sorry, I messed up. But I wouldn’t have let Jack evict us. We weren’t going to be homeless,” she says convincingly, but it’s convenient that she’s so confident about that now after the rent has been paid. She looks at me and Mallory, neither of us buying into her sad save-the-day crap.

  “I swear guys. I obviously was coming back. I’m here! I won’t ever do anything like that again. Besides, all of our names are on the lease so you can’t kick me out,” she says, her voice even and her eyes narrowed at us.

  “I talked to Jack yesterday. He agreed to let Rain and I give him our own checks with our portion of the rent, so if you happen to not be able to pay yours, it’s you that’s going to be out on your ass, not us!” Mallory spits at her.

  Dena’s body slumps further into the couch. Her arms cross and her lower lip juts out. “Fine.”

  “You don’t really have an option. We weren't asking,” I tell her before heading out for my shift at Funbags.

  Work sucked as it always does, but it was almost like a vacation to be able to work and not be under the pressure of having to make enough money to avoid eviction. Both Dena and Mallory are working the dinner shift tonight so by the time I make it home, I have the place to myself. I clean up the kitchen since it’s my day and do the bathroom even though it’s Dena’s day for bathroom cleanup. Like most days, she “forgot.”

  I get in the shower and relax as the hot water scorches my skin. Things weren’t supposed to be like this. I’m super grateful to have a roof over my head and not be facing the prospect of sleeping on the street, but this isn’t what life was supposed to be here. I made $130 dollars tonight and I’ll have to put $90 away towards rent. After buying food, the remainder of that will go towards my cell phone bill. It’s not like I’m not used to living frugally. I’ve been doing that for as long as I can remember. But I feel like I’m wasting time. I wish more than anything I had gotten into school with Marcus. It wouldn’t have mattered if I had to eat ramen every day. At least if I was in school, I’d see a light at the end of the tunnel. My days would be productive. I’d be closer to getting a degree, making networking connections a little bit, closer to making a better life for me and my family. The way things are now, I’m not even able to send twenty bucks back home. Not that my mom would even take it.