Page 59 of Dahlias, Sapphires, and Cool Autumn Dusk
Instead, I boldly kept going. Straight down the hall, out the front door—I am cutting school. I never skipped so much as a class before, not even while everything spiraled out of control in Chicago. I breathed hard, the air blowing out of my nose hot and angry. I turned seventeen today, making it a day for new things.
Where am I going?I didn’t know, but my legs kept going until I got to the park. I found an empty bench, then sat on it and looked around. Kids played, the sun shined, a normal day.Nothing to signify it as otherwise unusual at all, other than me skipping school.
Oh boy.I put my head in my hands, panic making me a bit lightheaded.What did I just do? Shit. I would be in sooooo much trouble. I stomped my foot. Damn it.
“Alatheia,” a voice called out and I jolted, startled into holding my breath until my pulse pounded in my ears.Is that…Bethany?She grinned as she jogged to my bench then sat down next to me. “Haven’t you heard me? I’ve been calling your name forblocks.”
I leaned back, still shocked she left school. “No. I guess I was kind of out of it.”
“Right? I figured.” She looked around, crossing her legs and relaxing into the seat. “This is a good spot to look at the lake.”
What is happening here?“What are you doing here?”
“I needed to see if you were okay. Don’t worry, I told Phoenix I would check on you. He’s probably trying to text you. Collins tried to take his phone while I stormed out, but anyway. I had to see you,obviously.”
I couldn’t think of anything obvious in the situation. “Sorry, I don’t understand.”
“I told you the other night, I get it.” She blinked at me, and suddenly her eyes seemed way older. “Wasn’t I clear enough? I almost got raped once. My old nanny’s boyfriend, who stayed with us two summers ago in Europe. She brought him to our house. I haven’t had a nanny in years, but she came to visit, and she brought him. I had a near miss. I didn’t realize that happened to you, too, until Marco told me. Afterward, I knew wehadto be friends.”
Well…this is unexpected. At least it explained why she went from making fun of me to friendly on the first day. “I’m sorry that happened to you.” Birds sang, their song somehow drowning out the city noises for a little while, but the cloudshung low, blocking the sunshine and causing a chill in the air. Rain threatened for the past few days but didn’t fall. “So to start with, you honestly thought I tried to seduce my uncle.”
She met my gaze, hers surprisingly steady. “Yeah, I can be a bitch when I’m threatened, according to my therapist. It’s probably because my father left us when I was young then my mom married Eurotrash.” She shrugged and took my hand, her grasp warm against my chilled fingers. “I feel threatened in that class. Honestly? I feel threatened inallof my classes. People here are rough.”
They really are. I considered the kids playing again, while I processed her words.
Maybe I would answer faster when Bethany texted me about her hair moving forward. She hit pretty low on the nastiness scale to begin with, and her logic made sense to me.Not to mention she ran out of the school and cut class for me.
“Happy birthday,” she said with a smile as she dropped my hand.
“Thanks.” I glanced around the park again, still not sure what to do with myself. “Hey, Bethany? I’ve never cut school before. Should I go back? Or should I stay away, since I left?”
Her straight white teeth flashed when she laughed. “Do whatever you want. They won’t bar you from the building, but you’re already in trouble. Might as well make a full day of it. I gotta go back for a test in the afternoon.” She rose and rolled her eyes. “But I’m glad you’re okay. Collins is such a witch. She blackmails families, or so I heard. I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s juicy, if it is.”
As Bethany made her way back to Pullman, I contemplated how I would use my new bad girl streak. Curious, I pulled out my phone.
It erupted, overflowing with text messages.
Phoenix hadn’t lost his phone, because he sent me a ton of texts. Most told me he was very upset about what happened, which I knew before opening the phone. Half of them said he would cut school to come find me, since he could see on the app I went to the park.
Barrett encouraged him to stay in class and out of trouble, because he would come for me. The twins also texted, most of theirs seeming pretty upset because I didn’t tell them it was my birthday.
I crossed my legs, leaning back on the bench until Barrett arrived. The gray sky threatened rain still, and everything about the situation suddenly struck me as really funny. I started to laugh, and I kept laughing until my sides hurt and tears rolled down my cheeks.I stormed out of a classroom where the teacher accused me of trying to sleep with my uncle.It sounded like something out of a melodrama, too theatrical for real life, even.
I laughed so hard, I doubled over and gasped for air as I tried to reply to the group thread.I’m on a park bench. I’m okay. I’m…not sure what I just did. I didn’t forget my birthday on purpose. I’ve never celebrated it before, so I honestly forgot. I planned to celebrate it, someday once I got away from my family and found friends.
“Well,” Barrett said as I still gasped and wheezed for air. “You have friends now. Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.”
He offered his hand, and I fell into his arms with a sigh as the laughter finally subsided. “Shouldn’t you be in class?”
“I am exactly where I should be.” He grinned at me. “Do you hear that?”
The softest bit of music drifted to us over the other sounds of the park, the musician somewhere far away from us. I didn’t really notice it until he pointed it out. “Sure. What is it?”
“I don’t know. Dance with me anyway.”
He spun me in a circle, twirling me and dipping me romantically. His smile sizzled down my spine, waking up a hunger for him I didn’t expect. “I don’t mean we’re your friends, although we are. Still, we’re more than that. Aside from us, you do have friends. Quite a few, it would seem. Phoenix said Bethany literally chased you out of class. Thanks for telling him to stay there. I don’t want him to get sent away, but I barely convinced him I had this covered. I caught a fast ride share, so if you don’t mind, I would like to spend the rest of my day with you.”
I pressed my head against his shoulder, closing my eyes as I confessed, “Well, I guess I have a temper.”
