Ricochet (TGC book 2) (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 5

Even though Nick said he would still be fine by tomorrow, I wanted to make sure Leo was safe, so I went to his house Saturday morning. Since we started blocking each other, we still hadn't been able to find our way around each other's shields. I had to just knock, like a normal person. I guessed he was still sleeping, since his parents greeted me at the door.

Geoffrey and Jeanette Taylor were in their late forties. They’d been married for almost twenty years and were never able to conceive. When they decided to adopt, they had wanted a child that wasn’t very much younger than their married years. Leo was seven years old when they adopted him, and they had been married for over nine. They still didn’t know about his gifts, and although he would never admit it to anyone, he was terrified to tell them.

“Hey, Mr. and Mrs. T!” I greeted them cheerfully.

Mrs. Taylor smiled kindly at me and her husband waved his hand slightly in greeting. “Hello, Cody. I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry to drop in unannounced,” I apologized.

“Oh, don’t say that. Come on in. You know you’re always welcome here.”

“Thank you,” I smiled, stepping inside. “So, how was Leo’s surprise?”

Yesterday, Leo had told me his parents were busy for his birthday, but that they had done something special for him the day before. 

They exchanged confused glances. “Surprise?” Mr. Taylor repeated.

“Yeah, he said you did a surprise for him, for his birthday.”

They still looked puzzled.

“Maybe I misunderstood,” I allowed, not wanting them to question Leo about it. If he lied, and his parents found out, he would think I sold him out.

Mrs. Taylor sighed tiredly. “No, it wouldn’t surprise me if that was exactly what he told you,” she admitted sadly. “I can’t believe he still won’t let us do anything for him.”

“Leo never let us celebrate any of his birthdays,” Mr. Taylor clarified. “We stopped asking after he got angry on his fifteenth, but we never forget. We always try to get him a small present he wouldn’t mind, but he just keeps them on a shelf.”

I felt truly bad for them. I could tell how hard they were trying to make him feel included in the family, but he was still resisting thinking of them as such. To him, they were temporary. He had already admitted to me he was going to move out the minute he turned eighteen.

It wasn’t that Leo didn’t care about them. He really wanted a family, but he also didn’t like the thought of someone replacing his parents. The main problem, though, was that he believed he could never be honest with them about who he really was, and he didn’t want to lose more people. He was sure that if he told them the truth, they would kick him out or something, which I personally thought was insane. But he was stubborn and rarely ever listened to me.

“I’m sure he doesn’t mean anything by that,” I tried defending him. As his best friend, I felt obliged to say something in his favor, even if I wasn’t completely on his side in this.

Grateful for the effort, Mrs. Taylor smiled hopelessly at me. “I appreciate that Cody, but we’ve always felt like he doesn’t want to be with us, no matter how much love we give him.”

“That’s not true,” I protested, this time fully meaning it. “I know for fact that he’s really desperate to be accepted. He just doesn’t think he deserves it, that’s all. That’s why you feel like he keeps pushing you away; he doesn’t want to get attached to someone he feels won’t love him for what he truly is.”