Page 38 of Unsaid Things

Chapter Sixteen

“I know. It’s frustrating. But you just have to memorize which verbs are stem changers. You’ll start to get a feel for it the more you practice.” Abby smiled encouragingly at Sarah, a freshman girl worried about her Spanish II grade.

Sarah nodded, chewing on her lip, her brown eyes still concerned. Abby handed her back her latest assignment. “Just keep working. You’re doing good. Keep turning in your assignments and coming to lab, and you’ll be fine, okay?”

“Okay.” Sarah took the paper and stuffed it in her backpack, slinging it over one shoulder on top of her gray Marycliff sweatshirt, tendrils of her messy bun falling down over her neck and around her face. Abby felt a strong pull of sympathy for the girl, like you might for a lost puppy. This was her third round of teaching the language labs in the foreign language department for Spanish I and II. She’d started over the summer and continued on through the school year. The freshman seemed to get younger every year, and some of them seemed so lost and alone in her class that she just wanted to adopt them and take them home and tell them that everything would be okay.

Instead, she watched Sarah leave the room, then picked up the assignments she’d collected today and headed into the office across the hall to gather the rest of her things. She’d just finished the last lab on Friday, and she wanted to hurry up and get these grades entered into the computer so she could leave. It was her birthday weekend, and she knew Lance wanted to do more than just the party that Megan had planned for tomorrow. He’d hinted at making it an extra special weekend, and she was excited to see what he might have planned. Even though she still didn’t like surprises in general, his surprises had grown on her. They were always sweet and thought out with her likes in mind—a little present, a romantic dinner, a night in with their favorite takeout and a movie. What would he have planned for tonight?

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t pay attention to where she was going, navigating the office space to get to her desk in the corner of Dr. Ramirez’s office more by memory and peripheral vision. So she was surprised when Dr. Ramirez called her name.

Her head snapped up from the old computer she used for her grades. “Hmm? Did you need something?”

Dr. Ramirez shook her head, peering at Abby over the top of her reading glasses. “No. I’m almost ready to leave for the day. But did you not see your visitor in the main office?” She inclined her dark head toward the door.

Abby followed the motion, leaning back in her chair to look out the open doorway. In a chair against the wall across from the receptionist’s desk slouched her brother, his knees spread wide, taking up as much space as possible, his hands folded across his stomach, his head leaning back against the wall with his scuffed and faded hat pushed down over his face.

She sighed. What was he doing here? He’d come to her apartment before. Why not go there again? Unless he was trying to avoid Lance? Hmm. Maybe so.

“He says he’s your brother.” Dr. Ramirez peered at Abby over the top of her reading glasses from where she sat going over papers at her scarred wooden desk. Her brows were drawn down, and the corners of her eyes creased with concern.

“He is.” Abby had told her professor a little about her family background. She was sure Dr. Ramirez remembered that her brother had left just before she’d started college. She’d been a brand new freshman, struggling to make everything work between taking care of her mom, going to classes, and trying to work part time to cover additional expenses. Dr. Ramirez had taken Abby under her wing like the little orphaned puppy the student she’d been helping earlier reminded her of.

“I didn’t realize that you were in contact with your brother.”

“I wasn’t. He showed up a couple days before Christmas. He’s been staying with my mom.”

Dr. Ramirez moved closer to Abby, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay with him being here? You don’t seem happy to see him.”

Abby shook her head. “I’m not. I don’t know why he’s back in town. He wants something, but won’t tell me what. Or how long he’s planning on staying.”

“If you feel unsafe I can call campus police, or …”

Dr. Ramirez trailed off as Abby shook her head again. “No. That won’t be necessary. I’ll talk to him. He has a reason for coming here, but I won’t find out what it is unless I talk to him. I’m sorry he’s here disrupting everything.”

With a dismissive sound, Dr. Ramirez waved away Abby’s apology. “Don’t apologize, Abby. You couldn’t have predicted this.” She paused, looking thoughtful before continuing. “I want you to know that you can come to me if you need help. With anything.”

Abby nodded. “Okay.” But she said it more to pacify her professor than because she had any intention of taking her up on her offer. She could handle this on her own. And even though Dr. Ramirez had taken her in, Abby wasn’t like that scared little freshman. She was stronger than that. More independent. She’d been taking care of herself since long before she turned eighteen. She’d handle her brother and find out what he thought showing up here would do. Without anyone’s help.

She stood and moved toward the door, aware of Dr. Ramirez staring after her. Her brother shifted in his seat as she approached, straightening up and pushing his hat back onto his head. She’d figured he’d been feigning sleep. He’d probably been trying to listen in on her conversation with Dr. Ramirez. With the door open, he’d might’ve caught some of it, though they’d kept their voices down, so she couldn’t be sure how much carried out here. Not that it mattered. Standing before him with crossed arms broadcasted that she wasn’t happy to see him. She saw no point in hiding her feelings. So if he’d overheard their conversation, who cared?

“Why are you here, Aaron?”

He tsked. “So harsh, Abby. Can’t a guy come visit his sister?”

“Not when that guy is you, no.”

He looked up at her and stood, his habitual smirk in place, his blue eyes calculating. She knew that look. He’d worn it almost constantly by the time he left. A far different person than the brother she’d grown up with, the one who’d fixed her lunches until she was old enough to do it herself. Who’d put Band-Aids on her knees and comforted her when their mother was too wrapped up in her own problems to deal with theirs. He’d hardened as he’d gotten older, growing more calculating, trying to get everything he could out of anyone who offered, and many who didn’t.

Very different from her. She tried not to take anything from anyone if she could help it. She worked hard to make her own way and stand on her own feet, not relying on anyone else to be there for her, having learned the hard way that she couldn’t trust people.

Aware of the open office doors and the receptionist sitting feet away, working on her computer, but also listening to their every word, Abby gestured toward the door. “Let’s go across the hall to the empty classroom. We can talk there.”

She led the way to the classroom she’d just vacated, Aaron following behind her. Once inside, she shut and locked the door so they wouldn’t be interrupted. When she turned around, Aaron had propped himself on the corner of a desk, one foot dangling, the other still on the floor. She maintained her distance, crossing her arms again. “So tell me why you’re here, Aaron. I’d like to get this over with so I can leave.”

His eyebrows went up. “Big plans tonight?”

“Not that you’re likely to remember, but my birthday is tomorrow. So yes. I have plans. But even if I didn’t, I’d still rather keep this short.”

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