Garrick pierced me with his gaze, pinning me in place and ensuring I didn’t run out of the room gasping for air. I wished I could understand what was going on inside his head. He had a sturdy brick wall built around his mind that seemed completely impenetrable.
I reached over awkwardly and gave him a playful punch to the arm. “So, what do you say, house buddy?”
He sighed, like talking to me was the most difficult thing in the world to do. I tried not to take it personally, that was just Garrick. Outside he was a bear, inside I was certain there was a cuddly teddy there somewhere. I had seen more than a few glimpses, especially in the early days.
“Come on, you know you want to,” I challenged him, raising my eyebrows in question. I could see him coming around, the set of his jaw was softening as his resolve crumbled.
“Fine,” he eventually sighed.
“I’m glad that’s finally settled.” I stood, heading for the door. “Lochie is picking us up at ten o’clock to take us home. Be ready and don’t make me come looking for you.”
As I reached the door, I barely heard Garrick. “Thanks, Amery, for everything.”
I turned around. “I owe you my life, you don’t have to thank me for anything.”
I left Garrick to his packing, at least he could pack with a purpose now. I already dreaded what Lochie was going to say when he turned up tomorrow and I had a passenger in tow. Hopefully it wouldn’t come down to violence again.
I barely had time to think about it again for the rest of the night. I managed to find Kyle and made sure the satellites had everything in hand. They seemed to have organized transport for most of the members for the next day and the second lot would leave the day after.
Most of the satellites were going to their own homes, some of the homeless members were going to stay with them. Kyle was the lucky winner who had the pleasure of Krom’s company in his house. I would bet my life he snored, a loud, booming snore that would probably shake the windows. It wouldn’t surprise me if I heard him from my house. A few of the satellites were staying back to man the bunker and keep it ready for use.
When ten o’clock the next day rolled around, it felt like I had had no time to prepare to leave. I shoved my few clothes and toiletries into a bag and called it packing. I found Garrick in the hallway, staying true to his promise not to make me go looking for him.
“Ready?” I asked, a lot more chirpily than I felt. I was a bundle of excitement and nerves.
“Ready. Are you?” I held up my plastic bag for him to see. “Ah, classy.”
“With a capital K.”
He stood aside and let me pass, climbing the ladder first. The plastic bag kept hitting against the metal, I hoped it would last long enough to get home. Garrick’s possessions were in his satchel, swung over his shoulder. That was smart packing when you had to climb a ladder to escape.
The daylight made me squint, I had to blink several times until I could see anything except a bright white light. When Garrick joined me, we walked toward the road and looked around. Lochie was already waiting, as eager as a beaver.
“Hey, beautiful,” Lochie said as he swept me up into a hug. “I am so excited for you to be coming home.”
“Me too,” I replied, the smile spreading across my face felt real. I was excited to be going home, I just wished it was under better circumstances. I remembered Garrick standing beside me. “Garrick is coming home too.”
“He needs a lift somewhere?”
“No, he’s going to stay with me. Let’s go.” I headed for the car, optimistically hoping to sidestep that particular conversation. I would explain later on, in private, why Garrick had to come but I wouldn’t do it with him standing right there. He wouldn’t like to have Lochie’s pity, I was certain of that fact.
They followed me a little slower than I would have liked, they had to glare at each other for a few moments first. There wasn’t a word spoken in the vehicle. Not when we were heading toward Portview, not when we pulled up in the driveway of my house. Awkward didn’t even begin to describe it. At least it seemed like the media had given up and stopped camping on the lawn. Everything almost felt normal.
I had to knock on the front door, my hands too shaky to dig my keys out of my handbag. I felt nervous while I waited for the door to open, and then silly. Why was I so anxious about seeing my own parents and going inside my own home? It didn’t make sense.
I guess I was worried things had changed in my absence. The Department could have said anything to them to turn them against me. Maybe they didn’t even want the dramas anymore? Perhaps they moved and didn’t tell me? Changed my room into a gym? Sold all my clothes? Anything was possible.
When the door swung open, all that stress melted away. My mom was standing there in front of me, and before I knew it, she was hugging me so tight I could barely breathe.
She couldn’t contain her questions for too long. Dragging me into the house, Mom made sure we were all inside and the door was closed before letting me go. “What are you doing here? Has something happened? Are you okay?”
“One question at a time,” I laughed, giddy with relief. “All the project members are safe and being returned home. I’m here to stay.”
“The Department has let you come home?”
“Not exactly. The leader from Trucon has kind of taken over,” I tried my best to explain but was failing dismally. I would have to go through it all with her before long. “I’ll tell you everything, I promise. Where’s Dad?”
“He’s getting some groceries,” Mom replied. She looked at the two guys standing on either side of me suspiciously. “And who are your friends?”
“You remember Lochie, from school?” I waited until she nodded. “And this is Garrick, he was the guy helping me when we escaped from the complex.”
“So you’re the infamous Garrick.” She smiled kindly, accepting the hand he put out for her to shake.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Jones.” I didn’t know he could be so polite, Garrick sure had his best manners on. Mom seemed to enjoy it as she beamed at him.
“Mom, could I talk to you alone for a minute?” I led her into the kitchen, leaving the boys in the living room for a few moments. Hopefully they wouldn’t kill each other for a few minutes. I spoke quietly, not wanting to be overheard. “Garrick doesn’t have anywhere else to go, his parents left the project and don’t want anything to do with him. Is it alright if he stays here? He won’t be any problem, I promise.”
Mom took me in a hug. “He’s welcome to stay for as long as he needs to. I’m just so glad to have you here, Amery. I can’t believe you’ve come home. Are you hungry? I can make some lunch for everyone.”
Tears started to sting my eyes, happy tears for once, as I was overcome with love for her. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to. I haven’t had anyone to look after for over two months, you are going to let me completely spoil you. I’m not compromising on that condition.”
“Lunch would be lovely then,” I grinned. I hurried to get the guys and we helped put lunch on together as a team. Dad came home just in time to enjoy the meal without any of the effort.
Dad took one look at the teenage boys flanking me and pushed them aside to sweep me into a hug. I never wanted to be out of my parents’ grasp again.
We ate lunch, updating my parents with everything that had happened since I last saw them. Both Garrick and Lochie were unusually quiet, I guessed meeting the parents tended to do that to teenage boys.
By mid-afternoon, my voice was starting to get croaky and fatigue was setting in. I just wanted to retreat to my room and pretend the last two months had never happened. I walked Lochie to the door.
“Thank you for today,” I started. I stayed a respectable distance from him. Our relationship was the only detail I hadn’t told my parents yet. “I’ll call you tomorrow?”
“You better,” he grinned. He leant over and kissed my cheek, I so badly wanted something a bit more
passionate. It was a good thing he couldn’t read my mind, I would have been blushing a bright shade of red.
“I promise.”
“I’m glad you’re home,” he whispered in my ear before leaving me standing there, unable to do anything except watch him leave like a love struck fool. Only Lochie had that affect and he seemed to enjoy being able to do it to me.
I closed the door and returned to my parents in the kitchen. Garrick had retired to his room already. Good, I needed to speak with them alone. I had to come clean about Lochie, I couldn’t hide our relationship from them and I didn’t want to either.
“Mom, Dad, do you have a minute?” I asked carefully. I prayed they wouldn’t completely overreact like they normally would have done. Surely the circumstances changed everything?
“Sure, honey, what’s wrong?” Mom asked, hanging up her dishcloth.
“There’s something I need to tell you about Lochie and I. We’re kind of… a couple.” I held my breath, waiting for the reaction, the lecture that was about to come.
They exchanged a glance before my mom spoke. “I figured that was the case. You have never hated anyone in your entire life and you sure had it in for that boy. That could only mean one thing.”
“You’re okay with it then?” I asked hopefully. Mom smiled warmly but my dad remained stone faced.
“I can’t say I’m okay with it,” he started. “I don’t like the idea of any boy putting their grubby hands on you. But I guess I’m going to have to get used to it. Lochie is alright, as far as teenage boys go.”
I rushed over and hugged them both. Thank goodness they didn’t know where Lochie had already put his grubby hands. Apparently all that anxiety and nausea was for nothing. I wished I knew that a few weeks ago. “Thank you. I really like him, he is a good guy.”
“I hope he realizes I will kill him if he puts one foot out of place.”
I laughed with relief. “Lochie knows that I will kill him if he puts a foot out of place, Dad. Trust me, he’s on his best behavior and will stay that way.”
“Good to know,” Dad agreed.
I left them alone and found Garrick in the guest bedroom. He seemed to be just as tired as I was so I left him to it and went to my own room.
Nothing had changed, not one thing. Even my clothes were still strewn about the place, exactly where I had dropped them and been too lazy to put them away. I was so touched my parents hadn’t been in there, they never stopped treating it as mine even though I wasn’t there.
I curled up on my bed, thinking I might be able to sneak in a short nap before dinnertime. It was a thousand times more comfortable than the bed at the bunker. A million times better than the complex. I drifted off in no time.
I didn’t wake up until morning, too comatose to move all night long. As much as I wanted to slip into some old clothes and lounge about, I didn’t get that luxury. At least I got to wear clothes that were actually mine – and clean. That was a luxury in itself.
I found Garrick with my parents eating breakfast together. They seemed a picture of domestic bliss already. So much for all the time I had wasted worrying he wouldn’t fit in with them.
“Good morning,” I greeted, grabbing a bowl of cereal and popping the toaster.
“Morning,” Garrick and Dad replied at the same time.
“Good morning, honey,” Mom said as she gave me another hug. I don’t think I’ve ever had so many hugs before in my life.
I took a seat at the table, eating slowly so I could put off what we had to do for as long as possible. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to return to my former life, I just wasn’t sure the people would be happy for me to.
“The cameras are back outside,” Dad warned. “They know better than to step foot on our property, but they’ll take photos as soon as you go outside.”
“It’s best to ignore them,” Mom added.
I nodded, another reason to stay inside the house for as long as possible. If it weren’t for Krom’s orders, I think I would be a permanent shut-in.
“They’ll get used to you being here eventually, they’ll lose interest,” Mom said, patting my arm to reassure me. If only the media was my biggest concern, I would have been happy. It wasn’t so much them but all the other people in the world that scared me now.
“How did they even know we’re back?” I asked, curious about how the news could spread so quickly. I thought we were more covert than that.
“Krom has been over the news all morning,” Garrick answered. I tried to get a read about whether he was giving me good or bad news. But, typical Garrick, he was unreadable. “He’s trying to convince people they don’t have anything to fear from us being returned to the community.”
“More like trying to make sure we’re visible,” I replied. The more people that noticed us, the harder it was for the Department to do anything. They couldn’t exactly round us up again if we were under the watchful eye of the public. Perhaps Krom really did know what he was doing.
We finished breakfast and ran the gauntlet to the car. The camera flashes and questions being thrown at us were overwhelming. I tried to ignore it all and focus on walking. Just like Dad said, they didn’t dare step onto our property. I wondered if he went all Special Agent on them sometime in the last few weeks. That would have been worth seeing.
Once in the car, we drove to Portview High School, starting the process of returning to our former lives. We couldn’t put it off, the sooner we started fitting in again, the sooner our people could leave Trucon. And, hopefully, avoid a war between our planets in the meantime.
Principal Tobin wasn’t all that happy to see us, but he did eventually let the four of us into his office. We had timed our arrival so the rest of the students were already in class, trying to minimize any interruption.
We sat across from Tobin as he frowned at us. I discreetly crossed my fingers, hoping he was more accepting than he looked. “So you said on the phone you want Amery to return to classes here?”
Mom fielded that one. “We do. We understand she has been gone for a few months but you know she’s a straight A student, she will catch up.”
“A few months is a lot of time, especially in her senior year.”
“She’s keen to get going.”
“You want to enroll another student too?” He checked his notepad. “Garrick Smith?”
“That’s me,” Garrick put his hand up in a wave. “I’m a straight A student too, you can check with my old school.”
Principal Tobin shifted in his seat like he had pains in the stomach, grimacing and clearing his throat. “Yes, uh, that’s all well and good, but what about the disruption this will cause to the other students? You know there is quite a lot of… attention on your… kind at the moment.”
I couldn’t stay quiet. “Principal Tobin, we all understand your concerns, but the sooner we get back to normal life, the better it’s going to be for everyone. You have our word we will do everything possible to avoid any disruptions. We just want to get back to our education, that’s all.”
He eyed me suspiciously, ignoring the others. “I have hundreds of other students to consider.”
“We don’t want special treatment.”
“I won’t be able to guarantee how the other students will treat you.”
“We can look after ourselves. We won’t be provoking any unwanted attention, I can assure you.”
He relaxed back in his seat, buttoning up his tweed jacket over his potbelly. The button started to strain as he expelled his breath. “Miss Jones, I wish I felt better saying this.”
I held my breath, expecting to hear the big fat no that was headed our way. I guess we would have to find another school, Krom wouldn’t let us give up. We had to integrate into the community, that was the order. Normal seventeen year olds went to school, therefore we had to as well.
“You can come back,” Principal Tobin finished. “But only because of your previous track record. You have always gone out of your way to help other student
s and I believe that has built up a substantial amount of goodwill here. You are welcome for as long as it is not detrimental to the others.”
“And Garrick?”
Tobin didn’t seem as happy about that decision. “He can attend too.”
I wanted to hug him. It was so much easier being able to return to my old school. Perhaps if everything went well, I might even be able to graduate like I always planned on.
Images of all my friends and I wearing our graduation cap and gown filled my head. I thought I would never be able to do it after everything that happened, but thanks to Principal Tobin, it felt within my grasp.
“You can start tomorrow if you like,” he said, making me even happier again. In less than twenty-four hours I could get back to my life, see Lola and my other friends, go to class. I wondered if I still had a locker? What were the classes covering now? So many things ran through my mind, I barely registered leaving the principal’s office.
We returned outside and walked toward the car. I felt like going home and packing my bag already. I never thought I would be this excited about going to school.
Someone grabbed my arm from behind me, I instinctively spun around, poised to attack whoever it was. I stopped short of punching when I saw Lochie’s grinning face staring at me.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said quickly, letting my arm go. It dropped back to my side like a dead weight as my heart started to return to its normal beating again.
“It’s okay,” I sighed. “Shouldn’t you be in class or something?”
“I saw you through the window,” Lochie said before realizing we weren’t alone. He nodded a greeting to the rest. “Morning, all.”
My parents mumbled a hello back, Garrick didn’t say a word.
He turned his attention back to me, lowering his voice. “Are you free now? Do you have anything else to do?”
“We were just going to go home and catch up,” I replied equally as quiet, well aware of the burning ears behind me. “We’re allowed to come back tomorrow and start school.”
Project Integrate Series Boxed Set Page 52