“When did you get a that?”
Tessa shrugged her shoulders. “I got bored waiting for you. I did buy some stuff for you guys.” She threw a bag of beef jerky to Reed.
He mumbled his thanks as he dug into the jerky. Darkness had fallen, and they hadn’t eaten since their meeting with Dave which seemed like days ago.
Tessa popped a bottle and passed it up to Ari. “Here’s some caffeine. We have a long drive.”
“Thanks,” Ari said, realizing how much Tessa had done for her. It would be hard to say goodbye.
“No problem.”
“No, really,” Ari continued, playing with the lid on her drink. “I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without you. You’ve helped with the agent, the car—”
“I love you too, now shut up. You’re more exciting to hang out with than anyone else in school, even if you do suck at gaming.”
“I don’t suck.” Ari protested, bringing up the ongoing debate.
“Hey, the fact that I hang out with you regardless says a lot.”
“Thanks ... I guess.”
“Wake up Izzy so we can listen to some tunes.”
“Izzy?”
“My in-car computer,” Tessa replied. “Or you can lose to me again. I have my game loaded on Izzy too.”
“Bring it.”
The trip flew by with gaming and never-ending cans of caffeine while Izzy drove. They joked, laughed, and slayed fictional monsters. While Ari enjoyed her friends, part of her knew it was the last time they would be together. It was hard to imagine leaving those two.
“Izzy,” Tessa spoke to her computer, “I need a pit stop.”
“Searching for the closest restrooms,” Izzy replied in an English accent.
“We only have thirty more minutes. Can you hold it?” Reed asked.
“Yeah, but my bladder can’t.”
Izzy pulled over at a public restroom stop. Neon orange lights lit the seedy parking lot in the middle of the night. Ari could tell home wasn’t far away. She had to give Tessa credit though—Tessa didn’t balk at the graffiti-lined block, or benches that looked like a bird’s toilet.
Ari didn’t like to think of Tessa going alone, and she did need to go to the bathroom too. “I think I’ll go too.”
Getting out of the car, the smell of rain hit her. They must have missed the storm, but the puddles still littered the road and sidewalk. She had a slight pang of homesickness, of popcorn on rainy days, and her mother who she hoped to see one more time.
“Might as well.” Reed got out of the car and headed over to the men’s restroom.
Tessa grabbed the old metal door and the stench hit Ari first.
“This is a dump,” Tessa protested as they walked into the barely lit bathroom. “At least we only have to pee here.”
The girls were careful to only touch what was necessary in the bathroom. Once back out, Ari wrapped her coat a little tighter around her. The dim orange lights guided them back to the car.
Turning a corner, Ari and Tessa stopped short, almost running into a large man dressed in dark clothing
“Hey, do you girls have a minute? I lost the charge on my car.” He approached with one hand in his pocket.
“No, we don’t,” Tessa continued forward.
Knowing something was off, Ari reached for her but was too slow. The man pulled some sort of device from his pocket and struck out at Tessa. She fell instantly, twitching on the floor. Ari tried to help her friend, but the large man seized her arm, dragging her towards him. Tessa looked so helpless, alone on the damp sidewalk.
“Tessa!” Ari yelled for her friend.
The man covered Ari’s mouth with a gloved hand and yanked her in close. His dank, smoky smell encompassed Ari as she struggled to free herself. He tightened his hold to the point of pain, and Ari cried into his thick hand.
He leaned down next to her ear, his voice sharp and serious. “Sorry, honey, but you are the one we want. You can come calmly, or I can hit your friend again with a voltage that may be permanent.”
Ari’s heart pounded as she stared at her friend on the ground. Ari wanted to fight, but she wouldn’t. She couldn’t let him hurt Tessa.
“Don’t hurt her.” Ari pressed down the fury building inside of her. She might be forced to go along now, but she wouldn’t stop fighting once her friends were out of harm’s way.
“Okay, then. Let’s go.” He pushed a device into her side, presumably the same one that knocked out Tessa. His free arm wrapped around her, keeping her close as he guided her back to the parking lot.
She kept her steps heavy and slow as she searched the parking lot for Reed or any other people.
“Don’t try it,” the man warned her in quiet tones.
A gunshot exploded nearby. Ari flinched, the loud noise ringing in her ears. Thoughts of her friends unarmed and alone flashed in her mind. She strained to find them, but couldn’t see much in the dark, as her captor, apparently uninjured, tightened his grasp. He hurried his pace, pushing Ari along.
She continued, as if numb, along towards a dark van. Tessa and Reed—they couldn’t be dead. If they were hurt, all bets were off. She had to know they were safe. Doing the only thing she could think of, she bit down on her captor’s hand. He swore, but through the glove it wasn’t enough to make him loosen his hold. She kicked and scratched and fought harder than she ever had before, adrenaline pounding through her body. It couldn’t end this way.
Then a shock bit into her side, and Ari crumbled to the ground. Just like that, the fight was sucked out of her. It felt like an elephant had stepped on her chest as she struggled to suck in air. She stared at the tire of the van and wondered if she was going to die there.
The man dragged her upright. Her legs felt rubbery, unsteady. His rough hands pulled her close. “Stupid girl, guess we have to do this the hard way. Just so you know, that was only the low setting.”
“Stop.” Reed spoke from somewhere in the darkness. “I just shot your friend and I won’t hesitate to do the same to you.”
Her captor turned them both around, keeping her in front of him as a shield. “You don’t want to play with me, kid.”
One glimpse at Reed, and Ari could tell something was wrong. He was leaning to one side as he kept a gun firmly trained on them.
Reed focused his cold anger at her captor. “Not playing.”
“As I see it, you’re not such a good aim with a gun, and you won’t chance shooting me if it means killing her.”
With obvious effort, Reed took two steps closer. In the low neon lights, blood trailed down Reed’s face from a cut on his brow. “You have no clue how many hours I’ve plugged.”
The man behind her relaxed his stance a bit but kept his hold tight. “She’s worth too much to stay with you, bud. That is reality.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Ari glimpsed Tessa quietly walking towards them. Her feet shaky. Ari bit her lip, praying her friend was okay.
Ari pulled against her captor’s grasp, to no avail. Thoughts flashed through her mind, but she worried any action she might take had consequences. “Careful, Reed.”
“Listen to your girlfriend.” The man pulled her back against the corner of the van, and someone swore behind them.
Without warning, a jolt of electricity raced through her body, stronger, deadlier than before. Her jaw clenched, and her arms and legs involuntarily contracted. Her face pressed into a cold, wet puddle, and she closed her eyes, wanting for it to all be over. Without giving her a chance to collect her thoughts, hands lifted her off the ground. She attempted to swat at them, pushing them back and squirming against their tight hold.
“Ari, it’s me,” Reed said in a hurried voice. “Come on. We’ve got to get out of here.”
Confusion swarmed around Ari’s already muddled brain. But it was Reed. His touch was sure and familiar. And if nothing else made sense, he always did.
Reed laid her down in the back seat of the car and sped out of the rest stop. He was talk
ing, though most of the words flowed over Ari at first. She picked them out one at a time as if her brain was filled with alphabet soup.
“Ari, come on talk to me.”
She struggled to respond. She turned her head, but it was a slow process. Forming words appeared to be just as difficult.
“Tessa, are you sure you didn’t hit her?” His voice was heavy with worry.
“I hit him straight in the back. Hope that bastard wet himself,” Tessa said from the front seat.
“Maybe it was the water on the ground. What did you hit him with?” Reed asked.
“A little toy my dad got for me when I turned twelve, an amped up stun gun.”
Ari finally put all the right consonants and vowels together “Reed.” The words came out in a whisper. She tried again, louder. “Reed, I’m fine.”
He gave her a questioning look. “If you didn’t sound like a ninety-year-old stroke victim, I might believe you. But you’re talking, so that’s better.”
Ari hummed an agreement. Glad to see the fear and anger leave Reed’s face, she laid her head against the seat and stared at him from the back. Going over her last few conscious moments, she realized just how lucky they all were to have survived. She thought about the dirt bag saying that once she left she would never see Reed again.
She didn’t want to leave Reed. She didn’t want to leave his sweet smile, his soft lips, and his fingers that were rough and often ink-stained from his drawings. She loved every part of him. Maybe it was the near-death experience, but she didn’t want to lose him. Ever.
“Come with me,” Ari told Reed. Her own words sounded stilted in her ears.
He took his eyes from the road momentarily. “I am coming with you, Ari. Don’t worry, I think maybe we should go to my house instead of yours. In case whoever that was gets your address. Your mom should be okay. She’ll be at work. They’ll probably watch her, but if we don’t make contact, she should be fine.”
Ari must have been tired, too tired to remember not to worry about all of that. She pushed herself up to a seated position. After a moment the spinning subsided. Glad to be reminded her mom was safe at work, she repeated her request. “I mean, come with me to work for VisionTech.”
His brow crumpled slightly. “What? I still haven’t graduated.”
“Forget graduation and a job you hate. I’ll make enough money to pay off our schooling. You can do whatever you want, do what you love. You could draw.” Ari had been thinking about it for some time but felt too selfish, or maybe too scared, to mention it before. But after that night she didn’t care anymore.
“What?” The surprise on his face would have made Ari shrink normally, but she couldn’t seem to be bothered when she still couldn’t feel her toes.
“You hate school. You want to do your art. So, do it.”
“That isn’t a job.”
“You don’t know that. Dave might hire you when he sees your work.”
“There’s my mom to think about and school ...” He faced the dark road ahead of them. “I just don’t know.”
A cold spread through her body as Ari turned to stare out the dark window, unsure if she’d said the right thing.
CHAPTER 31
When Reed opened the car door, the cold air woke Ari to her surroundings. Dawn was still several hours out, and the only light came from the car’s interior lights. Ari slowly climbed out, and Reed pulled her into a hug. Her muscles ached as if she had been run over.
He kissed her forehead. “I was worried about you back there.”
She drank up his touch before he pulled away a few seconds later. Turning around, she realized they were back in their own neighborhood, more specifically at Reed’s apartment. The three-story brick building was painted brown with additions built on like an afterthought. It was chaotic, messy, and smelled like the cigarette butts littering the alleyway, but it was the closest to home she’d been in a while.
He motioned to Tessa, who was passed out in the front seat. “I guess we need to wake her up.”
“Yeah,” Ari agreed. “She saved our butts back there.”
“Yes, she did.” Reed stared for a moment as if he were somewhere else, momentarily lost in thought.
Ari leaned over and rapped at the window.
Tessa lifted her arm, covering her face to glare at Ari.
“Leave me here,” she shouted through the closed window.
“Not in this neighborhood.” Ari opened the door. “I like you too much.”
Ari reached inside and pulled Tessa out, while Reed grabbed the bags.
Tessa was on her feet, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Are you sure my Izzy will be alright out here?”
“Do you have a good security system?”
“Yeah, she’ll be fine.” Tessa waved away her concern and headed to the building.
“Is your mom home?” Ari asked Reed as she held Tessa in one arm and her small bag in the other. As they approached his door on the bottom floor, Ari wondered if Reed’s mother was about to be startled awake.
“No, she’s been on the night shift for a while now. We can crash in my room.” Reed used his code to open the door.
Ari wished Reed’s mom was home, so she could hug her one more time. His mom was a staple in their neighborhood, one more person Ari wouldn’t see for a long time.
Reed lugged up their bags. “Take Tessa to my room. She looks like she’ll collapse any minute.”
The two-bedroom apartment had a small kitchen, living space, and a single bathroom. It was similar to all the other buildings in the neighborhood. Ari lived in a building only two blocks away, except hers was a three-bedroom apartment, due to their family size.
The girls shuffled down the hall, while Reed moved to the kitchen. Ari glimpsed pictures of Reed as a child in frames on the wall. She loved the one from elementary school, back when she first remembered Reed. He was all knees and elbows, playing in the street with Marco and Ari.
Leaving the memories behind, she pushed open the first door and knew immediately it was his bedroom. It smelled like Reed, with a musky scent that could only be his. It smelled safe.
Without a word, Tessa threw herself down on the only bed in the room. She didn’t bother pulling down the sheets or taking off her shoes, but face-planted into oblivion.
Ari had always wondered what his bedroom looked like, and it was sort of how she imagined it. Drawings littered the walls and a small sculpture rested on a nightstand. Ari thought about going back to the sofa in the entertainment room but, for some reason, it felt safer staying together.
She grabbed the blue pillow Tessa wasn’t using and crashed on the floor. She didn’t bother with her shoes either, just rolled over and, with a soft sigh, fell asleep.
When the sun peeked through Reed’s window, Ari realized Reed’s arm was wrapped protectively over her waist. His arm gave her a sense of security, like a blanket she wanted to cling to more than anything. She didn’t want to move, but her mind started processing the previous night’s events and dwelling on what she had to do that day. She squeezed his hand gently, not ready to let go of him yet.
Reed released a happy sigh at her touch and pulled her close to him. “Morning,” he mumbled into her hair.
“Only if it has to be,” Ari replied.
She glanced at the bed. Tessa slept heavily, her chest rising methodically and a slight wheezing sound escaping her lips. Ari’s eyes darted around Reed’s room, now that she could see better in the daylight. An over-organized, dusty feel permeated air. He hadn’t been there for months. The only mess was the bags they’d brought with them. His walls were painted in swirling teals, like he couldn’t decide whether to paint the sky or the ocean. It was beautiful, just like him.
Reed kept his hand around her waist and turned her to face him. “I could get used to this.”
“Me too.”
He didn’t give her time to be self-conscious of morning breath or anything else as he leaned forward and kissed her. His firm lips res
ted against hers, sending a small spark down to her toes. That spark soon led to a burn within her, stronger than she’d imagined. While his hand kept a firm grip on her hips, her fingers rested on the soft spot on his neck, wishing she could pull him closer.
He brushed her thick hair back, and his lips traveled to her neck and ear. “Remember Tessa,” he whispered into her neck.
Ari froze, mentally flying back to reality where Tessa slept mere feet away. With a disappointed sigh, she stared at his face. His sharp cheek bones led to soft and slightly swollen lips. Scruffy, dark facial hair sprinkled his cheeks, and she itched to kiss him again.
His smile pulled up to one side. “What’s the saying? ‘Think of the Queen’?”
She laughed into his chest, inhaling his scent and letting it envelope her. “Well, if anyone could be Queen, it’s Tessa.”
“True.” He turned on his back and kept one arm around Ari.
“I can’t leave this,” she said as her hand rested on his chest. “I don’t want to leave this.”
“Oh, come on. I’m sure there will be other boys to kiss.”
Ari hit his arm, but not hard. “It’s not funny.”
“You can make a program with me in it, and then you can visit me anytime.”
Ari wished he could see her eyes rolling. “Please,” she replied sarcastically then with a serious tone added. “I want you instead. Flesh and blood.”
“I know.” Reed’s voice tightened. “You’re off to do amazing things.”
“It won’t be the same without you. I really do—” Ari stopped herself before she could say those three words that surprised her as much as they would have surprised Reed. The L word had never escaped Ari’s lips before, and she usually made fun of love struck teenagers who lusted all over the popular kids. Yet if she was going to be honest with herself, she did love him. She’d loved him before she knew what love was. He was the happy, sweet Reed, and no matter what happened in the future, part of her heart would always love him.
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