Close to You

“See that? That’s my house,” I tell them.

Alex slows the car to a stop in front of my house, craning his neck to take in the towering lilac-gray walls.

“Wow. You live in a mansion.”

“Thanks for the ride.”

“And thanks for the smoke.” Riley grins at him. He grins back, his sapphire eyes lighting up as he looks at her.

I watch as they hold each other’s gaze for a beat too long. Ansel glances back at them, and I clear my throat.

“Um… If you two are done with your secret eye language, I’d like to get some sleep. I have school tomorrow,” I interrupt, unlocking the door and sliding out.

Riley breaks away from Alex’s gaze. “Right, I have a train to catch tomorrow. Goodnight, Alex. Bye, Ansel.”

Ansel nods at her, and I stand there, wondering if I should say goodbye to him too. It feels strange for some reason, so I decide against it and head towards my house.

“That was a fun ride,” Riley remarks as we walk towards my front steps.

Alex’s car roars away behind us. I glance at her smiling face and raise my eyebrows. “Sure was, wasn’t it? And the smoke? You liked that too?”

She narrows her eyes. “What are you implying, Rain?”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Nothing at all. You just seemed to be really into staring into his eyes.”

She drops her shoulders, looking at me with a straight face.

“I know what you’re thinking. It’s not like that. And what about you, huh? You didn’t say goodbye to Ansel because you couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes.”

~How does she know me so well?~

I look away. “That’s not it.”

She laughs. “Ha. Sure it is!”

“At least we didn’t have an eye make-out session.” I stick my tongue out at her, and she playfully punches me in the ribs as I reach for the doorknob to check if it’s unlocked.

It is, and I’m not surprised. My mom and Jeff usually stay up late.

I push the door open, and they’re on the couch, laughing at some TV show they’re into.

My mom finally looks over when she hears the door close, and her smile fades.

“And where have you been, young lady?”

“As if Jeff hasn’t already told you,” I mutter, my mood plummeting.

Riley senses the tension and clears her throat.

“Hi, Mrs. Jones. Uh, I’ll be upstairs, Rainey.” She quickly exits, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of the brewing family argument.

My mom gets up from the couch, ready to give me her half-hearted lecture. She knows she doesn’t really care. She’s just trying to save face, and she’s not doing a very good job at it.

“It’s almost midnight, and you didn’t even take one of the cars.”

“I don’t like driving those things. Goodnight.”

I walk past her, and she sighs. That’s all she ever does: sigh. She doesn’t have the energy to argue with me most of the time, because she genuinely couldn’t care less if I ended up on the streets.

As I pass Jeff, I catch him staring at my legs, and I frown.

“Keep your fucking eyes to yourself.”

“Rainey!” My mom holds her forehead. “He’s older than you. How can you talk like that?”

“Exactly. He’s thirty-one and I’m eighteen! He should respect me.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re delusional, kid.” Jeff stands up from the couch and heads towards the kitchen.

“Oh really? Am I?” My face turns red with anger. “You don’t want me to start talking. You don’t want me to remind you of what you did when—”

“Rain, go to your room!”

“But Mom—”

“Go!”

I sigh. “Fine.”

I turn to leave, but she keeps talking.

“It’s not my fault things didn’t work out with your father. And you acting this way is spoiled and immature. Grow up.

“That’s why what happened at Freetown happened. Because you don’t know when to just chill out.”

I turn to look at her, and she just glares at me. I’m not surprised. My mom would always take everyone else’s side over mine.

I don’t say anything to her. I just head upstairs to my room.

Riley is sitting on my bed. Her worried expression tells me she heard everything.

“Is everything okay?”

I nod. “Yeah. I’m gonna take a shower.” I head towards the bathroom to cool off. I won’t be coming out for a while.

***

The burning sun on my face tells me it’s morning. Riley and I get up and get ready for school.

She borrows one of my tops, since she didn’t bring any extra clothes. I skip breakfast with Jeff and my mom and leave the house without saying goodbye.

Her tight expression tells me she’s still upset about our argument last night.

Riley watches me as I close the gates to my house. “I’ll be back for the weekend. Don’t look so sad.”

“Yeah.” I shrug. “It’s just that when you’re back at Freetown, it’s just me here, surrounded by people who don’t care about me.”

Her expression softens, and it reminds me how much I hate pity.

“Okay, hold up. Don’t give me that look. I’m heading this way.” I pivot and start to walk away.

“Wait, Rain.”

I glance back at her, secretly wishing she’d decide to ditch her home and stay here forever.

She grins. “Want to do something fun before we head to school?”

I cock my head, considering. Riley’s idea of “fun” usually involves some kind of risk.

I tap my chin, pretending to think it over. “Does this fun involve me getting seriously hurt?”

She chuckles. “Maybe.”

A small smile pulls at my lips. “Sounds like a blast.”

Her grin widens. “Great. Let’s go.” She tugs me along with her.

***

“Does it hurt?” Riley leans in close to inspect the needle that’s etching an infinity symbol into my inner arm. She’s practically on top of me, and the tattoo artist keeps shooting her wary glances.

“Riley, I can’t tell if you’re the one giving me the tattoo or not,” I tease.

“I need to make sure he’s not slicing your veins. I don’t want your death on my conscience.”

“Well, he didn’t slice your veins, so I’m hoping the universe will be on my side too. We’re both sinners, after all.”

She laughs, lifting her arm to admire the matching infinity symbol she got inked on hers.

Riley suggested we get “friendship tattoos.” She picked the infinity symbol because it means “friends forever,” she said. I have to admit, it’s a pretty cool idea.

“You’re the only girl who comes in here and doesn’t bawl her eyes out,” the artist remarks, nodding at my dry eyes that are just staring at the tattoo designs hanging around his shop.

“Hey, I didn’t cry either,” Riley protests, sounding like a petulant child.

“No, you did, Riley,” I burst her bubble with a laugh, and the man nods in agreement.

“Yeah, you flinched, and I almost turned the symbol into a sloppy eight.”

I laugh, and she pouts. But her smile is back in no time as she slumps in the chair to keep watching.

***

“I like it.” I smile at the small tattoo on my arm while the artist starts to clean up his tools.

Riley grins. “Yeah, it’s cool.”

“Thank you.” The man smiles back.

My eyes land on a unique design in his sketchbook. It’s the number five with a snake wrapped around it. I’ve never seen anything like it. It seems to hold some special meaning.

I point at it, squinting. “What’s that?”

“Oh no. That’s not up for grabs. It was custom designed by someone.”

I stare at the design, fascinated. “Oh.”

“Anyway, bye!” Riley waves at the man as we leave the tattoo parlor.

We exit the mall and head down the street to the town’s bus stop.

I sigh, turning to face her. “Well, I have gym class in an hour. Considering I’m almost two hours late for school, I have a fence to climb.”

Riley chuckles. “Same here. God help you with that skirt you’re wearing. You’re going to flash the poor security guard. Uniform rules are the worst.”

I laugh, then my eyes drift to a bus parked nearby. “There’s your ride. You sure you don’t want to take one of my mom’s cars?”

“No, Rainey. I can’t drive to save my life. You don’t want to hear that I’ve died in a car crash, do you?”

“Absolutely not. How would I survive?”

She giggles. “Anyway, see you. Call me.”

I smile at her as she hurries over to the bus and hops on. She waves at me as the bus pulls away.

~Back to my lonely world.~

***

I despise gym class. It’s the one period I always used to fake being sick just to lie down in the nurse’s office.

Freetown never bothered to look into your sudden “illness,” but Crosshill seems like the type that would personally drive you to the hospital.

I haven’t gotten my gym uniform yet, because they didn’t have my size, so I brought a pair of shorts from home.

I settle onto a gym bench, watching as kids start to fill the room. Olivia and Lisa come in, laughing and chatting.

~Just when I thought gym class couldn’t get any worse.~

They spot me almost immediately, then they whisper something to each other and giggle.

I’m not sure what’s so funny. Last I checked, she was the one who face-planted at the party last night.

Kids start to fill the benches, and Olivia and Lisa sit right behind me. It’s unnerving. They could stick gum in my hair and I wouldn’t even know.

My eyes drift to the gym doors, and Ansel walks in. He’s wearing a gray hoodie with his plaid gym shorts. He looks surprisingly fresh, considering how late we got home last night.

Our eyes meet again as he heads toward the benches. I want to look away, but I can’t seem to tear my gaze from his, and he’s not helping, since he’s staring right back.

“Uh, excuse me?!”

The gym teacher’s voice snaps me out of my trance. He’s looking straight at me, gesturing for me to come over.

I glance around, wondering if he’s really talking to me, and a childish giggle comes from behind me.

“Yes, it’s you, dummy,” Olivia says.

I rise from my seat and trudge over to him.

~Am I getting detention for staring at a boy?~

“Yes, Mr.…”

“Henry. You do know you’re supposed to be wearing plaid shorts for gym class, right?” He tucks his notepad under his arm and gives me a stern look.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m new here, and I haven’t gotten my uniform yet. They didn’t have my size.”

“Alright, just make sure you have the right uniform for the next class. I won’t let it slide again, got it?”

I bob my head in agreement. “Yeah, got it.”

“Now, back to your seat.”

I pivot away as he addresses the rest of the class.

“Only plaid shorts in my class! Anyone who doesn’t follow the rules, ten laps around the field! I’ll be back shortly.” He exits the gym, and I trudge back to the benches.

It’s frustrating to be the butt of the joke because of a mistake the school made. It’s not my fault they ran out of uniforms.

I let out a sigh and slump onto my seat, only to be met with a wet sensation. I spring up and glance over my shoulder to find an open ketchup packet smeared on the bench.

Laughter bounces off the gym walls as everyone takes in the sight of the large red stain on my white shorts.

“Looks like someone forgot to check their period tracker this morning!” Olivia snickers, and the rest of the group joins in.

I sigh and turn away, taking a deep breath.

~Just count to ten, Rainey. Count to ten.~

“You really should watch where you sit, dummy,” she adds.

~I can’t. I can’t just sit here and take it.~

I’m about to spin around when a faint strawberry scent fills my nostrils. Someone steps up behind me, and I tense as a voice whispers in my ear.

“Don’t react. It won’t end well for you.”

I lift my head and lock eyes with Ansel. His deep blue eyes bore into mine, and I part my lips to respond, but he beats me to it.

“Hold still.”

He wraps his arms around me, and the gym falls silent as everyone watches. He ties his hoodie around my waist, covering the ketchup stain. His chest presses against my back as he knots the fabric.

His minty breath fans my neck with each exhale, and the closeness of his body sends a flush to my cheeks.

I look up to thank him, but once again, he speaks first.

“You can keep it,” he says simply, before turning on his heel and striding out of the gym.

I blink, stunned by the unexpected turn of events, and judging by the silence, the rest of the gym is just as surprised.