Chapter 51

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Chapter 51

Justin picked me up promptly at seven. He wore a rust-colored long sleeve t-shirt that almost matched the color of his hair and black jeans. When I stepped out to meet him, I looked around, and he let out a laugh.

"Subway, okay?" He asked.

I blushed and nodded. I don't know why I had expected a car and felt embarrassed that I was surprised he didn't have one.

"For the record, I take public transportation daily," I said.

"Okay."

"Even when I dated Robbie. He even took public transportation with me."

"Okay, you're the subway queen; I never doubted you."

I blushed, "that's not what I meant."

"Lia, I don't care if you came every day on the Bennetts private helicopter. I promise the judgment does not come from my end."

I relaxed a bit after he said that, and we made small talk on the way to the party. Oliver lived in Brooklyn, In the Crown Heights neighborhood. It took us about an hour to get there.

Justin was easy to talk to. I could see why he was so popular and had been elected student council president despite being a scholarship student.

When we got to the party, I suddenly felt nervous.

Our entrance was met with a resounding "Justin!" Everyone was so excited he was there, followed by a lower-toned "hi Lia," with everyone looking away awkwardly.

I suddenly felt like an intruder.

The party was bigger than I thought it would be. Justin made it seem like an intimate gathering of the Brighter Futures club, but I saw some faces I knew weren't part of the club. I also recognized some kids from the local charter school McMillan. Some of them used to play lacrosse with Liam. They also loved to crash most of the parties Trinity threw.

"Hey, guys, did you know Lia is from Miami?" Justin said, helping himself to a slice of pizza.

"Where did you move to?" One of the girls asked.

"The Bronx."

"So what is that, like a reverse JLo?" Another asked.

I paused, "Yeah, I guess that's true," I said, never having really thought of that.

"Do you play Mario Kart Lia?" One of the boys asked. He later introduced himself as Johnathan.

"Not often, but I have little brothers."

"Take a seat; we're playing drink and drive," he said, patting a beat-up ottoman.

"What?"

"You don't make it on the podium. You have to drink a beer and finish it before your next turn is over," he explained.

Eww, I thought to myself.

"Guys, why don't you show her how to play first, and then maybe she'll join you the next round?" Justin offered.

I opened my mouth to protest.

"Don't worry, they'll be so drunk by the time they're done they will have completely forgotten that you said would play the next round. That's how I always get out of it. I've owed them a round since last year."

"Thanks," I said.

"Beer?" He asked, holding one up.

"Sure," I answered, wrapping my fingers around the sweaty bottleneck. I didn't really want one, but I felt saying no would be antisocial. Especially when Justin had just saved me from a worse fate.

"So Lia have you applied for colleges yet?" A girl named Frances asked.

"Yeah, I turned everything in a few weeks ago."

"So responsible," she said in a tone that sounded as if she was holding back from rolling her eyes. "I keep putting it off. I'm sure you're finished too, Justin?"

"Just missing Harvard."

"Do you think you'll get one of the three spots?" she asked.

"Three spots?" I asked, interrupting them.

"Yeah, Harvard reserves three spots for Trinity students. More could get in, but it's rare," Justin explained.

"Oh," I said.

"Don't be worried. You're like the sure one at the school," She said, "affirmative action and all that."

I bit back a smart retort that would have surely rebranded me from trust-fund pet to straight up bitch,  "who else?" I asked, exhaling a measured breath. 

"Well, Justin, probably Ely," she said, pointing to the tall girl next to her, "and then maybe your ex, Robbie." She said, then turned to look at me.

"Speaking of Robbie," she added.

We were speaking of Robbie?

"How was it? Dating him, I mean. He never dates anyone."

"That's not true. He dated Abby," I said.

The taller girl, Ely, snorted, "Sure dated."

"Well, we can't say we're surprised it ended, but respect for making it farther than any girl ever had," Frances said.

"Umm. Thanks?" I answered feeling suddenly uncomfortable. 

"Why did it end? He looks at you so intensely. There's definitely residual feelings there," Ely asked.

I felt a knot in my throat, and my chin tremble.

"Hey, guys, have you seen the full moon? It looks crazy," Justin said, interrupting us.

"No?" Ely said.

"Come on, let's look at it," he said, grabbing my hand.

"Justin, you are so weird," Frances said.

"Where are we going?" I asked, grateful to have the conversation end.

"Up to the roof. Sorry, by the way, they're really curious. They'll get over it, though, once it's old news."

"Thanks...again," I said.

"Don't worry about it. My sister can be a brat."

"Sister?"

"Francis is my twin. She's older by like a minute and will never let me forget it."

I paused. They looked so different. Frances was tan with her blond hair in a blunt bob. She always wore dark mascara and the color black. Justin looked average, well  as average as he could considering his red hair and freckly....everything.

The roof was full of more Trinity and McMillan kids. I walked towards the edge to get a better view of the skyline. 

"Wow, this view is so nice," I said, genuinely impressed. 

"Yeah, and it's a rent-controlled apartment. Take that one-percenters," Justin joked.

I chuckled.

"How old are your brothers?" He asked.

"Eight."

"And the other one?"

"No. They are both eight. They're also twins," I said.

"Ahh. Sounds fun."

"Loud is the adjective I would use."

"Yeah, Frances and I could get pretty loud, especially in the mornings. My apartment only has one bathroom," he said.

"Wow, how are you still alive? I can't imagine the war scene that would form if my brothers and I had to share a bathroom in the mornings."

"Are they future Trinity students?" He asked.

"No, they're still in Miami, and I am pretty sure they will stay there."

"Oh. I thought they were here with you."

"Nope."

"You miss them?" He asked.

"Yeah. A lot more than I thought I would. Do you have any other siblings?"

"Yeah, another sister."

"She goes to Trinity?"

"No, she goes to McMillan. She's around somewhere. She's a sophomore."

"Ohh," I said, not expecting that.

"Your friend went there," he said by way of explanation. He didn't need to explain anything I knew what McMillan was. Still, his statement threw me off.

"Friend?" I asked.

"Liam."

I snorted. "I would hardly call Liam Fisher a friend."

His eyes widened, "Oh sorry, I saw you guys at one of my friend's lacrosse games."

"Well, we were friends until I got to know him."

"Yeah, I hate that guy. I always thought it was weird you were friends."

"What? Why?" I asked, confused.

"I don't know. You seem nice. Liam is a dick. Like he thinks the sun shines out of his ass."

"I was fooled," I said, shrugging. "You know," I added, "you and my friend Noah would get along. You both hate Trinity kids so much.

Justin looked taken aback, "I don't hate trinity kids? I mean, some are horrible people like Liam, but most are okay. I make one-percenter jokes, but I don't mean it. I mean, I hope to be a one-percenter at some point. That's why we work so hard, right?"

"I suppose," I said, "sorry I misunderstood."

"It's alright. So, Lia, I think due to the friends you made, I can make a safe assumption you've never had the pleasure of eating halal stand food."

"No?"

"Want to split a shawarma wrap? My treat."

"Sure," I said. Any reason to get out of this party was a reason I was willing to take.

Justin turned to go down the stairs, and I took one last look at the skyline before I followed him .

The next day I regretted eating halal stand food when I kept burping shawarma-flavored burps all morning.

'What did you do to me?' I texted Justin.

'What happened!'

'I have the worst heartburn.'

'It puts hair on your chest! See you in math!'

I noticed he ended all his text sentences with exclamation points which I thought was amusing considering he was such a prodigy with writing.

That day at school, I noted that Robbie was gone. It made the day a little bit easier. I could almost lie to myself that I had gotten a grasp on not looking at him every few minutes. When school ended, I walked towards the bookstore to buy a novel I needed to read for English.

I picked out my book from a bookshelf that was conveniently titled: School Reads. As I rounded the corner, I felt someone touch my arm.

"Lia, darling!"

"Oh, hi, Ms. Ryans."

"Ms. Ryans is my ex-husband, just Poppy," she said, smiling at me.

"Sorry," I started.

"Nothing to be sorry about; I haven't seen you in so long. Did something happen between you and Noah? Did he do something?"

"No. Noah and I are still friends; I've just been swamped. You know, with school," I said, holding the book up.

"Oh, of course. I was just looking forward to having you over for dinner, and you know, every time I mention it to Noah, he just waves me off. You know boys at that age, they can't stand their mothers."

"Yeah, I have two brothers. I know exactly what you're talking about," I said. This was a lie. Both my brothers were total mommas boys, like the genuine Latinos they were.

She eyed the book I was holding.

"Oh, you're such a good kid. Does Noah have to read that too? He never tells me anything."

"Well, we have the same English teacher, so probably. To be fair, it was just assigned today; I'm just getting ahead."

"Well, in that case, let me grab one for him."

"I'll show you where it is," I said and reached into the aisle to grab another copy.

"Thank you, Lia," she said as we walked toward the register.

"This all?" The man asked as he put her book in a plastic bag.

"No, add her books too," she said, pointing at me.

"Oh. No, no, it's okay," I said, my eyes widening.

"Lia, I insist. You've done so much to help my son."

"I really haven't. I can pay you back."

"Come to dinner tonight. We'll call it even," she said, giving me a smile, "that will be all," Poppy told the man who rang her up.

I started to say thank you, but she had already started walking out of the bookstore. Did she want me to follow her?

I followed Poppy down the street towards her apartment. About halfway there, we stopped at the flower shop.

"Do you like flowers, Lia?" She asked.

"Sure," I said.

"Which are your favorite? I just love Lilys."

"Umm, those are nice I said, pointing to some powdery pink flowers towards the back."

"Peonies are lovely. You know they fit you as a flower."

"Poppy!" A lady said, coming from behind the counter.

"Geraldine, my darling, how are you doing?" Poppy said, enveloping the woman in a hug.

"Who is this?" Geraldine asked, looking at me.

"A friend of Noah's," Poppy answered in a tone that mothers use to imply more than friendship.

I gave Geraldine a tight smile.

"She's lovely, cute as a button," she said and pulled me into a hug that I was not ready for.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" She asked me.

"Cecilia," I said, my voice muffled.

"Lovely name."

"I thought it was Lia," Poppy said, smiling at me.

"No, Lia's a nickname."

"Cecilia is such a beautiful name," Geraldine said, "so what can I get for you, usual?"

"Yes, and add some peonies," Poppy said.

Noah's mom talked to me the entire way to her house. She had so many questions; she reminded me so much of Maria. She had a way of talking to people where she could make them feel as if they were the most important person.

We went up to her private elevator when she asked, "Lia, do you have any dietary restrictions? I'm going to ask our chef to whip something up."

"Nope. I can eat anything. I'm not picky either; please don't do anything special I'm sure anything will be delicious," I said, suddenly feeling nervous.

When the elevator doors opened, I remembered how nice Noah's apartment was. He slept so often in the art room I sometimes forgot he lived in a suite of one of the most expensive hotels in New York.

"Noah, my darling, look who I convinced to have dinner with us," Poppy said, handing some bouquets to a waiting-maid.

"You mean, coerced?" Noah asked drily.

"Oh Noah, try not to be so sour about everything," Poppy said, walking by him and pinching his cheek, "Lia, you can put the peonies in that vase," she said, pointing to an empty vase next to me.

"I can go," I said quietly to Noah as I placed the bouquet of flowers as neatly as I could.

He let out a sigh, "no. I like that you're here. I just know she pushed you to be here. It's embarrassing. I know you don't actually want to be here."

"That's not true. Noah, you're my friend. Why wouldn't I want to be here? Is this because of Robbie?"

"What?"

"I know you told him about the cabin," I said, playing with one of the powdery petals.

"Lia, I swear I thought he knew. I tried to play it off afterward," he whispered.

"It's okay. I mean, I was pissed at you, but I should have told him. I can't put all the blame on you."

"Why didn't you?"

"I don't know why I didn't. I guess I just knew it would be like the straw that broke the camel's back. Our relationship was so fragile, and I think I would have done anything to keep it from breaking."

I heard him swallow audibly, "seriously," I said, turning towards him, "it's my fault. I was the one in the relationship. I was the one who should have been honest."

"How are you holding up?"

"As well as a line of dominoes during an earthquake. I'm just trying to focus on school at this point."

"And..."

"And?"

"What about the mystery behind Bobby Sr's disappearance?"

"Working on it."

"What?" He said, sounding somewhat appalled.

"Kids, come see this cake Marion made."

"Who's Marion? I asked."

"Our chef. Lia, what do you mean working on it? I thought you were done with that."

"Nope. Let's go look at the cake," I said, following the hallway to where I heard his mother's voice.

—-

After dinner, we sat on the floor in his room. I had eaten so much I had to undo the zipper on my skirt.

Noah sketched something in his journal, and I flipped through the English book.

"Your mom got you the book for English, by the way."

Noah made a gagging motion where he stuck out his tongue.

"Yeah, she got me this other book too; I think I was so confused with everything that I don't remember saying thank you. Can you tell her when you see her again?"

"Another book for your heavy book bag," he said, looking up from his drawing.

"That's the plan, Stan."

"You know," he said, reaching under his bed, "I got this for you. I was going to give it to you on your birthday."

I raised an eyebrow, "my birthday that is in 10 months? That birthday?"

"What? No. Your birthday is next week."

"Noah, I think I know when I was born."

He shook his head, "I saw you write the date on your Italian homework. November 8th."

I felt my mouth twitch as I tried to suppress a laugh, "I wrote it the way they write it in Europe. My birthday is on August 11th."

I had never seen Noah blush a deeper red, "oh," he said. We sat in what, for me, was a comfortable silence, and what for Noah was probably his own version of hell for a few minutes when he finally spoke up again, "well, you can have it anyway," he mumbled, holding out a poorly wrapped package.

I burst out laughing, "thank you, Noah, that's really sweet. Do I open it now? Or do I wait 10 months?"

"Open it when you get home; I'm kind of done with feeling like an idiot for the day."

"Aww, come on. Fine," I said, leaning my head back against his bed and flipping open my new book.

"He broke up with me because he wanted to protect me," I said after a pause. I don't think I had really talked about it with anyone yet, because who would I talk to about it? Nicole couldn't know. Maria would say I told you so. The only person who knew just how messy my life was, was Noah.

"He made a big show of it too, took all his dads journals," I sighed. 

"Well....he has a point, Lia," he said after a moment. I didn't really expect that, although I didn't really know what to expect. Still, it made me upset.

"I'm not a child Noah," I said, closing my book.

Noah ran a hand through his hair. At the beginning of the year, his head had been short of shaved. It had grown out to a short spiky length that usually contained a cowlick he didn't bother to run a brush over.

"Well, then stop acting like one; it's not a game. That guy almost killed us. That guy probably actually killed their dad. A rich wealthy man with a lot of power. What would they even do to you?"

I bit my lip, "I don't care. I need to figure this out at this point."

"Why? To prove a point? No one thinks you're dumb, Lia. You have nothing to prove."

"That's not why."

"Whatever. I'm glad he took those journals away. I never thought I would agree with Bobby Bennet, but I guess here we are."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "You know copy machines exist, right?" I asked as I stood up and grabbed my back pack.

He did a double-take.

"I'm going to go home. I have a lot of homework to catch up on. Tell your mom that dinner was delicious and thank you," I said, zipping up my skirt.

"Lia!" I heard him call after me, but I was already closing the door to the elevator. 

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