Chapter 37

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Chapter 37

After school, the sky turned a pale gray color. The temperature was already cold enough to trade in running shorts for leggings; I walked into the field wearing an oversize sweatshirt and stretched briefly before running. Something about the cold made stretching suck more than usual. I spent a year in New York now, and I didn't know if I would ever get used to this weather; I couldn't wait until it got cold enough and we could move over to the indoor track.

Not long into my run I heard the sound of someone running behind me and turned around to see who it was. Today I was the only one practicing long distance. The only other people practicing today were the field events.

Maria. I groaned inwardly, I knew the confrontation was coming. I would have preferred it not to happen when I would be out of breath. 

"Hey," She said, catching up with me.

"Hi," I said, my voice clipped. 

"Why are you avoiding me?" She asked the look on her face seemed strange. Like if I hurt her. I don't think Maria was used to her friends disappointing her. People tended to do exactly what she wanted them to do.

"I'm not avoiding you."

 This was a blatant lie, and she knew it.

"I called you so many times last week," she was being polite, not calling me an outright liar.

"I've been busy."

"So busy you can't send a two second text telling me you're alright?" 

"Yes."

She groaned in frustration, "Are you mad at me? I thought we were cool? I said I would help you."

 She tugged on the elbow of my sweatshirt, "I mean that Lia, I do want to help you. I'm sorry I lacked initiative. I just needed to get my bearings at school. I feel so overwhelmed."

I shot her a glance as I ran; her green eyes gave me an imploring look, almost begging me to accept her apology, "I'm not mad. I'm just busy."

"Lia."

"Maria."

"I know you went to see the guy," she said, and I could feel her staring at me as if she was waiting for me to meet her eyes. I refused to. Instead, I bit the inside of my cheek. How the fuck did she know?

"Lia, that was so stupid."

"How did you know?"

"Chris saw you getting on the back of Noah Ryan's motorcycle after school."

My jaw dropped, and my eyes narrowed, "I swear the next time Chris asks me for help in math."

"He told me because I asked him, Lia. I was worried about you. We both were; he even offered to go look for you."

I took a deep breath, "I had to go. I don't know when we would get a chance like this again. It was too good to pass."

"With Noah, though? He's so... rash."

"You sound like your brother. Look, Noah's my friend, and he helped me and.." I continued shaking my head, "he's not that reckless."

She gave me a look that told me she was not convinced.

"I took pictures," I said, changing the subject.

"Of the guy with the hummer? Seriously?!" She asked, surprised.

"Yeah, why did you think I went all the way over there?"

"I know just.. it all seemed so farfetched, you were so drunk that day."

"Well, I did more than that.  I also might have broken into his house."

She stopped running, her fingers dug into my arm, "you what?" she asked her face a mixture of shock and disappointment. 

"Does the Name John Fitzgerald mean anything to you?" I asked not willing to repeat myself. 

"No," She said, shaking her head, "stop, go back a second, you broke into his house? Lia, what if he was there? What if he had a gun?"

"He wasn't there...at first."

Her eyes widened.

I heard a whistle blow, "Gomez, have your reunion with Bennet while you run!" Coach yelled across the field.

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter. I got the pictures," I said, starting to run again.

"Lia, of course, it matters. You're my friend, and I love you; I don't want something to happen to you."

I frowned, I didn't feel like being scolded, not after the week I'd had. 

"See, I knew you were mad at me. Lia, that's not fair; what you did is dangerous and reckless. What if something happened to you? You can pretend as if you don't matter to me all you want, but do you know what that would do to my brother?"

I looked down at the green rubber track we were running on. I didn't really have anything to say. I already did it.

"I just want this to end," I said. I felt like I should just have a recording of myself saying that at this point. Make it my voicemail greeting.

"Lia, you getting hurt isn't going to end anything. Plus, that's what they want, if you're out of the picture they win. What good is that going to do?"

"I'm done with my 5k after this mile; I'll show you the pictures then," I said, hurrying up my pace. This conversation was too much for the day I just had. 

Maria tried to keep with me for a while before she finally couldn't. When I finished, I walked over to the sidelines to take five. I grabbed my phone and my water bottle and headed for the bleachers. Maria was already waiting for me, she looked as if she hadn't done any exercise. 

"I don't know those guys," she said, looking at the pictures.

"Really? I'm pretty sure the big one was at your house the day of the Bennet Bash. I never got to see him, but he drove the away in the hummer."

"No. I swear I have never seen them before," she said giving them a second look. 

"When I was in the house, the man's voice sounded familiar. Like as if I've heard it before."

"I don't know. I would have to hear it, But I know my grandmother's chauffeurs. That is not one of them. Do you think the guy from the house was someone different?" she asked. "Did they sound different to the voice you heard at the party?"

"I don't know. I was so messed up the day, I don't really remember any details."

"I'm sorry Lia," she said again. 

"Well, what about this?" I asked, flipping to the pictures I had found on the table.

She flipped through them, a frown on her face.

"No. I don't recognize anything."

"Really?"

"Yeah,  I mean, maybe the guy was hired outside the regular payroll. Maybe that's why we haven't been able to find anything on him."

I let out a frustrated groan.

"Hey, look, we found the guy with the hummer. That's a huge step forward. Now we just have to find out who he is. This is more than we've gotten in months. Can you send me the pictures?"

"Yeah, sure," I said, sounding as disappointed as I felt.

"The ones of the photos, too," she added.

We hung out for a bit longer. She helped me with my drills. When we finished, we walked together towards the bus stop.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride home?" she asked me.

"I'm sure," I said, "The traffic will make you want to throw yourself off the Brooklyn bridge if you took me. Thank you, though."

When I got home, my dad was already gone. I showered, put on my PJs, and sat on my bed to work on homework. I felt nervous. Impatient. I could barely concentrate on my school work.

At around 11, I heard a soft tap on my window. I had forgotten to tell Robbie to use my fire escape rather than the front entrance. Thankfully he climbed up anyway. I had a sneaking suspicion it might even be fun for him.

"Hey," I said, opening my window.

"Hi," he said and sat at the edge to take off his shoes.

I wiped my sweaty palms on my shirt, "Do you want anything to drink? Anything to eat? I didn't make dinner today. Practice ran late, and my dad isn't even here anyway, but I think I have some apples," I offered, almost rambling. I don't know why I was suddenly so nervous. More than I usually was when I was around him, I mean.

"No," he said, groaning as he climbed through the window, "I brought food."

He placed his bag on my dresser and looked down at me, "I mean, I brought food for us to eat; I stopped by a Thai place on the way here, they were busy, that's why I took a bit longer," he said, and I noticed the tips of his ears were pink.

"Well, I'm just kind of finishing homework," I said, pointing at the pile of work on my bed with my thumb.

"The math packet?" He asked, taking off his sweater.

"Mhm."

"Yeah, I brought mine. I haven't even started it. Want to work on it together?"

I nodded, "so was this was your ultimate plan?"

"What?" he said confused, he had the most adorable smile on his face.

"To get me to tutor you. So you could beat me," I gave him a shy smile. It was a lame attempt at a joke to ease the tension. 

He let out a soft laugh, "you caught me, Cee," he said and tucked my hair behind my ear.

"You want to shower? And then we can work on my bed?" I asked.

"I'll be quick," he said and pulled out some clothes from his bag.

When he was done, he sat on the edge of my bed, and after a moment of pretending to solve differential equations, I closed my book with the packet inside. It made a loud thump and the pages stuck out of the sides like lettuce.

"Was the drive here alright?"

"I didn't drive; I uh took a cab."

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Why would he do that?

"Yeah, it was fine, though; traffic wasn't too bad. I got some reading for English done."

"I thought you weren't coming at one point. You usually text more when you're on your way."

Robbie leaned in to kiss my cheek and then pressed his forehead to my temple.

"I was scared you would change your mind," he said; his hand was warm on my leg.

"No," I said, turning to look at him.

He looked at me with that look that made me feel like I was the most important person in the world.

I pressed my lips to his. We were soft at first, slow kisses that were so different from the hurried ones earlier in the day.

Regardless of the type of kiss, Robbie's lips had the power of making everything around me disappear.

I leaned back to give him more room in the bed. He was still sitting on the edge and leaning forward on his arm. I needed his hands free; I wanted them on me instead. As he scooted into the middle, I swung my leg over his, my forearms resting on his shoulders. His hands came up to grab my hips.

My lips met his again, this time deeper, longer kisses that could make me forget my name. His hands roamed everywhere, up to my back down my sides. I ground myself against him, and he groaned, his hand roughly gripping my ass. I did it again; I loved the noises he would make. They made me ache everywhere. I felt him groan into my mouth and then start pushing me onto the bed. I pulled at his shirt and greedily ran my hands over his chest when it was off.

"I love you," I said as he leaned over me and covered me with his body.

His hand cupped my cheek; he smiled down at me and let out a low hum. "Do you know how much I love you, Cee?" He asked and placed a kiss on my lips.

"Show me," I said.

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