Love's Cruel Redemption

by C. L. Stone

  I blew out an exasperated sigh. “I think Kota was going to go back and tell her.”

  “I’m not sure it’s a good idea,” North said. “I don’t think we’ll tell Uncle.”

  “He’d tell the Academy,” Luke said. “But they’ll know eventually, anyway.”

  I gulped, swallowing a bit of fries down. I took the bottle of water on the tray and took a drink to clear my throat. “Not until we’re okay with it, right?”

  “If they find out before we’re ready,” North said, “before Nathan and Kota or even Silas are on board...”

  “Silas isn’t?” I asked.

  “Sometimes he is,” North said. “Sometimes he’s not. I think he’s thinking about Kota and Nathan. If they won’t, then he won’t.”

  The information deflated me. I knew Kota struggled. I struggled with it and continued to do so, but Mr. Blackbourne and the others seemed so confident. It’s not like we were forcing ourselves to do it, but I wasn’t going to be okay with it unless they were absolutely sure they wanted this. “I don’t want to make them.”

  “No one is making anyone,” North said. He wiped his fingertips on a napkin and then poked me in the nose once shortly. “Listen, Baby, don’t start doubting it now. The others will come around. It just takes a bit to get used to the idea.” He pressed a palm to his chest. “I wasn’t ready at first, but...I was the one who spoke with Lily’s team first. I saw their house, their life. When I thought about it after, I stopped thinking of we shouldn’t and just kept considering the options.”

  “Does that make it easier?” I asked.

  “It changed my mind.”

  “Sang,” Luke said, getting my attention. He pulled a half-bitten fry away from his mouth. “We’re not forcing anyone. You heard Kota and Nathan. They’re trying to figure out how to tell Erica about it. They’re more on board than you think they are, maybe more than they realize themselves.”

  I quieted and ate at my food along with the others. I didn’t have much to offer them. Uncle, Pam, Charlie, Erica...any other family out there, or friends they had. Who would find out and who wouldn’t? It felt like we were facing these decisions way too soon, way before we were ready.

  But I wasn’t sure if we’d ever be ready.

  The Plot that Thickens

  Nathan

  That evening, Nathan sat on the couch with his arms crossed. There was a movie playing, but he wasn’t really watching. He’d seen Night of the Living Dead so many times. But also, he couldn’t stop thinking about when the current situation could be resolved and Sang could possibly come back.

  Movies just weren’t the same without her.

  Silas was sitting in the master bedroom alone. The girls were anticipated to arrive at any moment. The door was locked on his side. He’d be here just in case.

  When the doorbell rang, Nathan muted the movie and got up to answer it.

  Danielle and Marie stood at the door. Danielle was in the same tight clothing as earlier. Marie was more casual, wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her expression was tight, like she didn’t really want to be here.

  Nathan wondered if Danielle was making her be here.

  Danielle carried a backpack, and she slid it off her shoulder. “Let us in,” she said.

  A bit rude. Nathan considered his options. There was the strong chance that Erica or Jessica would see this the longer he left them out there. Then what would they think of him in either case, letting them in at night or turning them away? Better to get them out of the front door.

  He stepped aside. Danielle led the way. Marie was more cautious, just stepping inside and waiting until Nathan closed the door before she followed him into the kitchen. She didn’t bring anything with her and kept her arms folded tightly at her stomach. She glanced around, noting the interior and surroundings, but avoided making eye contact.

  After all the help he and the others had given Marie, did she not like him? Was she that uncomfortable around him?

  And then he wondered if it was all the years of being told strange things from her mother. He sometimes forgot Sang and Marie grew up in the same house. Even if Marie didn’t seem to get the same punishments, she still got the same lectures and was very restricted.

  Danielle made her way to the kitchen area, and the first thing she did was glance toward Nathan’s dad’s bedroom and start walking toward it.

  “Where are you going?” Nathan asked.

  She tried the door handle and found it locked and looked back at him. “We can’t both sleep on the couch.”

  “Don’t go in there,” he said. “My dad always knows when I’m in there now, and we need to stay out.”

  That changed the determined look on her face. “I guess you’ve got an air mattress somewhere?”

  At least now she won’t dare try to sneak in. Silas would be safe in there tonight. “You can take my bed,” he said. “It’s big enough to fit two. I’ll take the couch.” He moved further into the kitchen. “Did you all eat dinner?”

  “Order a pizza,” Danielle said.

  “I’ve probably got a frozen one.”

  “I like delivered ones better.”

  Nathan turned his head so he could roll his eyes. He’d forgotten how bossy she could be. But instead of arguing the point, he picked up his cell phone and used an app to look at pizza options. He went to the kitchen island so he could put the phone on it and lean against it. While he scrolled through, he spoke. “What’s this all about? Why couldn’t you do this at your house, Danielle?”

  Danielle crossed the kitchen, heading toward the hallway where Nathan’s bedroom was. “Let me put this down. Marie, you tell him.”

  Marie’s lips twisted, and her face turned red. She’d barely moved since she came in the door, with her arms still crossed. Instead of saying anything, she waited and stared where Danielle had disappeared.

  Was she afraid of Nathan? She spoke to him before. Plenty of times.

  When Danielle returned, she went over to Nathan and peered over his shoulder. “Get something with chicken and olives,” she said.

  “Just tell me what’s going on,” Nathan said as he ordered.

  “Marie wants out,” Danielle said.

  “Of the house?”

  “Out of school,” she said. “Like you did with Sang.”

  Like Sang? Did they think she unenrolled? School restarted last week, and Sang was out on Doc’s orders. But she was going back, just not to class. She was pulled from class and she’d have a different set up, like the rest of them. They didn’t have normal classes any more either.

  He kept the information to himself. He just wanted to find out where they were going with this.

  Nathan raised his eyebrow and forgot about pizza, focusing on Marie. “Don’t you have just one year left after this or something? Why do you want out?”

  Marie frowned. “Sang’s got it so I’m in with that counselor woman every day. And she keeps asking me questions about everything.”

  Nathan blinked rapidly. Ms. Wright had given Sang a hard time not too long ago. But their attention returned to Mr. Hendricks and other teachers once it seemed she backed down. “She’s been after you?”

  Marie nodded. “Every day since we were back, and then before the break a few times. And Hendricks. Always threatening me with detentions and suspensions.”

  Nathan’s attitude toward Marie changed then. Marie had a weird trust in Danielle, but she knew better than to talk to Mr. Hendricks about anything private about Sang or about the boys, or else Hendricks would have been able to do far more damage to them. “I didn’t know. I wish you would have told me.”

  “Sang’s been in trouble, too, right?” Danielle asked. “They always ask about her and what you guys are up to, but lately it has been about Sang. Like why she wasn’t seen in school this first week we returned to class.”

  “We kept her out after she was passing out at your house,” he inclined his head toward Marie. “Doc’s order
s had her on bed rest.”

  Marie frowned again, her lips wrinkling a little. “I’m tired of being asked and I’m tired of worrying if I’ll end up in detention every day. I don’t want to have to go back. But if I don’t go, they’ll show up at the house or call and I can’t...”

  Oh. He saw the bigger problem. Mrs. Sorenson might turn punishments on her if the school started calling. The Academy could field the calls, but this was still a lot they were asking Marie to deal with until she graduated. Homeschool could be an option, but her mother wasn’t going to go to the school to sign paperwork and do all that was required in her condition. And wouldn’t that draw attention to Sang? The only reason they kept Sang in the same school was to not draw too much attention from Hendricks while it was still risky. He was clearly angling to get to them through Sang.

  Nathan scratched at his chin. “Now I see why you needed me.”

  “I know you can get her out,” Danielle said. She smirked. “Maybe even me. I wouldn’t mind bailing. Next year is my last year anyway.”

  Nathan didn’t like Danielle knowing this much about what they could do. He suspected she figured it out given all they did for Sang.

  However, Ms. Wright asking questions and Hendricks looking in on Marie posed big problems. In addition, Marie probably didn’t have the grades to get into an early college program. She didn’t have a license, nothing to help her.

  “I can’t make any promises,” Nathan said carefully. “But I can possibly look in on what’s happening at school and see if I can get them to stop. But even Sang will be going back tomorrow on Monday.”

  “I don’t want to have to go to class,” Marie said. “That’s where they call me down to the office.”

  Nathan sighed and nodded. “Show up, but don’t go to class. Actually, let us drive you in the morning. I’ll talk to Kota.” He ordered pizza, and he picked up his phone. “I’ll text him. He’s going to want to know about this.”

  Danielle hovered a little too close, but when Nathan moved away, she leaned over the counter. “I thought he was mad at you. After the fight... Did you and Sang break up?”

  “She’s going out with—” He suddenly realized a huge problem. At school, she went out with Silas. For a while, Danielle knew Sang slept at his house, but this week she was at Kota’s. He slowly lowered the phone and looked at her. “It’s complicated,” he said.

  She smirked and shook her head. “Don’t worry. I’ll fix it. That’s my favor to you. For getting me and Marie out of school.”

  Uh oh. “Hang on a sec, back up. What are you doing for me?”

  She shook her head, and her eyes widened to try to appear innocent. “Nothing. Haven’t done anything yet.”

  He squinted at her. Danielle’s modus operandi was sometimes to rile him up about something she might be doing, just to get him agitated, when she really didn’t do anything.

  Until she did. It was tricky with her.

  He sent a quick message to Kota. He was probably watching and waiting like Silas, just at his own house. He made that assumption and instead of texting him what she’d said, he kept it simple.

  Nathan: What do I tell them?

  Kota’s message came back after a minute.

  Kota: Buy time. Offer ride to school.

  Nathan nodded and put the phone away in his pocket. “Kota doesn’t mind giving a ride,” he said to them. He looked at the both of them. “The rest we’ll figure out. It’s not like you just sign a form and get out of school.”

  “Probably why Sang still has to show up, right?” Danielle asked.

  Nathan shrugged, not ready to give them a lot of information. “You said something about knowing Sang’s real mother.”

  “That’s what you get when she’s out,” Danielle said. “After Marie and I are out of school so we don’t have to go back.”

  Now he understood why Marie was reluctant and Danielle’s reason for pushing her. It didn’t seem like she’d do it out of her own good heart. Marie would have never come up with this on her own. “You already told us about it, remember?” Nathan asked Marie. “After your visit with your mother.”

  “But now she has more information,” Danielle said.

  Nathan looked over at Marie, and she seemed to reluctantly nod.

  Nathan focused on her. “What information are you leveraging for her?” He nodded toward Danielle. “You’re asking a lot.”

  She glanced once at Danielle and with a twitch to her lip, lowering into a heavy frown, she spoke. “Because now I know her real name.”

  Rise and Shine

  Sang

  I spent the rest of the day at Victor’s. I didn’t have to. I could have gone with North when he left for his shift at the diner or called Dr. Green or someone else. But Luke and Gabriel were happy to lay low at Victor’s for the night, so I joined them.

  There was school tomorrow, anyway.

  Victor’s bed was big enough for all of us with room to spare. During the night, people around me got up, and then someone returned. Part of me was aware of this but quickly forgot about it. I was getting used to their coming and going. They’d wake me if they needed me to do something.

  Sometime near dawn, my eyes fluttered open. It had been a dreamless sleep.

  I sensed the body next to me. My pillow and my skin smelled heavily of the scents from the bath bombs the night before, so I didn’t know who was next to me. I just saw the shape from the blanket over a relaxed body. With my eyes partially opened, I just knew it was one of them.

  I rolled over, burying my head into whoever’s back it was. It was partial warmth stealing, partial just wanting to be close. I realized he was sleeping on top of the blanket with another blanket thrown over on top of himself. A little odd. He’d kept a good distance on the bed. Was he trying not to wake me? What time did the switch out happen?

  I eased myself out slowly from under the blanket to get under the one he had. My face pressed to a soft cotton shirt. My legs cupped into his.

  He breathed in heavily, sniffed and turned. I had my eyes closed and shifted enough for him to move over. He paused. I was still not entirely awake, and while my eyes tried to flutter to see a face, I could barely lift them. They were too heavy. I was still tired.

  For some reason, I thought it was Victor. My brain was registering his dark eyes and wavy hair.

  I gave up on trying to focus, relaxing. I probably just woke him, but I didn’t want to really get up yet either, so I just dove back into his chest once he'd turned. An arm slowly came down around me. A head turned into me, nuzzling my hair.

  Returning to Ashley Waters wasn’t appealing, and even though I wasn’t going to go to classes, I didn’t want to go. Staying in bed, taking another long bath, or perhaps going with Nathan on the walk we meant to do, or anything else. I preferred anything else.

  However, Luke mentioned getting to the bottom of whatever Hendricks was up to would help us in general. It may help the situation with Nathan and Kota to find a place where I could live where we wouldn’t have to worry about parents or anyone else seeing something they shouldn’t.

  But something else was rousing me as well. Moments ago, when my head was pressed to the pillow, my nose took in all those scents from the bath bombs and also general Victor and his house that had its own scents, and it was all mixing together. Now with my head buried into someone cuddling me, I breathed in and out slowly, and all those scents remained, heavy, and distorting other smells.

  But Victor’s was...weak. Weaker than it should be if this was him.

  One scent crept into my senses, but the mix made it more difficult to isolate and figure out.

  Until I realized it was soap. Spring soap.

  I was suddenly very awake, my eyes flying open, but my head was pressed into a chest. I stiffened, my brain putting together information that didn’t exactly work.

  Slowly, very slowly, I picked my head up, just enough to rest my chin against his chest, and fluttered my eyes to take a peek.

  I
almost didn’t recognize him. With his eyes closed, without his glasses, Mr. Blackbourne’s face was relaxed, missing all properties of the strict power I’d witnessed in him from the moment we’d met.

  His lips held a flicker of the millimeter smile, but a tranquil version that only emphasized a happiness I rarely saw in him.

  My heart went into overdrive. I lowered my head so he couldn’t see, but my eyes widened and I couldn’t do anything but stare at his chest. I was suddenly aware of everything. The white cotton shirt he was wearing was pressed to my skin. My legs were against his, feeling something like cotton pajama bottoms.

  And I was suddenly terrified, questioning what I was wearing. Memories of stripping down into underwear to jump into the bath came to me. But then I remembered right before bed getting up and putting on shorts and a tank shirt to replace the bra.

  Still...

  My fingers twitched, pressed against his body near his rib cage.

  As moments passed, and he didn’t move and remained curled up next to me, I slowly, ever slowly, relaxed again. His perfection could intimidate me. It was my own ideals that made him seem not even human at times.

  But he was Mr. Blackbourne. I had been with him through so much. And he knew things about me, had invited me to do things with him that I’d not even told the other guys about.

  Maybe it’s good I didn’t wake up before realizing who he was. I’d have been way too overawed to approach him.

  Moments passed with my face pressed into him. His arm was around me, with a hand at my back, holding me to him. On occasion, he lowered his head, his nose pressing against my scalp. His breath warmed my skin.

  An alarm went off somewhere nearby, playing gentle guitar notes and birds tweeting in harmony with a melody. It was soft at first, but slowly rose in volume to ease those sleeping to wake.

  And ever slowly, Mr. Blackbourne kept near me but twisted around. I eased back, relaxing on my side, still facing him, watching with one eye barely open.

  He reached for the phone he’d placed near the bed and picked it up. He slid a finger across the surface of it, placed the phone on his chest and relaxed back on the pillow. He sat up just a little to put an arm over my head above me, looking down at my face.