Page 51 of Karma Kitty Christmas
Between that and watching Isaac trying not to lose his temper with Allegra’s mess (the yarn on the couch wasn’t the only time all the seat space had been taken by her stuff by any means), Luca thought that he really needed to up his game.
He slept over most nights of the week. Most of his clothes were at Isaac’s, his laptop was usually there, and the only food in his fridge in his apartment was beer, and even that had expired. He’d gotten a feel for Isaac’s morning routine, and the night before, as Isaac had tried hard not to yell at Allegra, Luca had gotten an idea.
“I…,” Isaac said, looking at the lunch, the coffee cup, the bagel that he seemed to regard as deepest magic, “I can’t believe all of this.”
“It’s no big,” Luca said with a shrug. “I should have started doing this in August, I just….” He gave a sheepish smile. “I’m a big doofus, and I didn’t realize what your routine would be. But don’t worry—I’ve got it sorted now.”
“But….” Isaac swallowed. “But you didn’t have to….” To Luca’s horror, Isaac’s eyes grew red-rimmed.
“It’s okay, Isaac!” Luca said. “I swear, I’ll get the hang of things. I told you I wanted to support you—this is, like, the least I can do. And if the lunch is too big or you don’t like the coffee—”
“I yelled at your sister,” he said again, and this time he finished with a wail, and before Luca knew what was happening, he had an armful of tearful teacher, brought to his knees by a bagel and smear, absolutely leveled by somebody else handing him his coffee and telling him to have a good day.
A FEWdays later, Isaac got home shortly after Luca and Allegra, looking… well, beat, was the only way Luca could describe it. He got home, dropped his briefcase on the ground next to the door, and stumbled to the couch, where Euclid was sleeping. Isaac picked up the boneless cat and held him, just held him.
And cried.
Luca and Allegra stared at each other for a moment, and Luca took a few steps toward him, only to be put off by Allegra motioning to her phone. She disappeared down the hall to make a call, and after a moment of watching Isaac, Luca followed her.
“Oh,” Allegra was saying, her voice subdued. “Oh. Oh no. Oh, Roxy—that’s so awful. Okay. Okay. We… we just didn’t know what to do.”
There was a pause, and then Allegra nodded at Luca. “Okay,” she said. “Okay, I’ll tell him. I… he’s devastated.”
Another pause, and this time Luca could hear sobbing.
“I guess you both are,” Allegra murmured. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.”
After a few moments, she hung up the phone and looked at Luca helplessly. “A carload of kids was driven off the road by a police cruiser last night. They… they weren’t doing anything wrong, but the cruiser tried to pass them and then swerved back into the lane. Two of the kids were”—her voice caught—“killed. One of them was someone Roxy and Isaac had both taught.”
Luca’s brain shorted out. “Marcelle?” he asked. “Sheryl?”
“No,” Allegra said, shaking her head. “No—nobody we’ve met, but… but you’ve seen them. Theylovethose kids and… and Roxy said something like this shakes up the wholeschool. Luca, what do we do?”
Luca gave a small smile. “Well, you go ahead and order pizza,” he said, “because nobody here is cooking tonight.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
He stepped close enough to hug his sister and kiss her temple. “I’m going to go sit next to my boyfriend on the couch while he stares into space. I think it’s my job.”
She nodded and wiped her face on his shirt. She was his sister, but that didn’t make her perfect.
“Two pizzas,” she said, her voice choked. “It’ll be easier to make his lunch tomorrow.”
“There’s the spirit.”
Isaac was still holding the cat when Luca got back, but he’d stopped crying.
Luca sank his weight into the couch cushions, and Isaac leaned against him, just that simply, his head on Luca’s shoulder.
“Roxy told you?” he asked, after the late afternoon shadows through the drapes had turned into early evening shadows.
“Yeah.”
“Her name was Delilah. I had her as a freshman. I… I was looking forward to having her in my junior class next year.”
Luca wrapped his arm around Isaac’s shoulder. “Isaac, I’m so sorry.”
Isaac nodded and turned his tearstained face up to Luca. “Do you… do you even have any clothes left in your apartment?” he asked.
