Blue Money | Nick Robinson

Chapter Seventeen: Need

Instead I lean forward, wipe her tears with my thumb and gently place a kiss on her forehead. She takes a deep breathe.

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," I brush a hand through her tangled hair. "Human emotion isn't a bad thing."

"What do we do, Anna?"

"I would have done something by now if I knew what to do."

She nods.

The sound of footfalls and a small thud from the door make us both jump up, linking hands together. We both breathe a sigh of relief when we see it's Eileen holding two bottles.

Her heels click as she approached us, wearing a fur coat that envelops her small body and she reeks of vanilla soap.

"Hey, why the long faces?" She does her signature pout.

"I need a drink," Dawn ignores her question and snatches one of the bottles of wine from Eileen.

"Did you see Nick? He's supposed to be here by now," I say, glancing at one of the large clocks on the wall.

"No, I saw Lance though," Eileen shakes her head in confusion and plops down on the couch. Dawn nearly chokes on the wine she just took a sip of and I raise my eyebrows at Eileen. "He's being expelled."

"WHAT?" This time Dawn really does choke and I lightly pat her back with the hand that was just holding hers.

"Yeah, apparently a car is coming to pick him tomorrow morning. Calaway is pissed about his son being a fag or whatever," Eileen sighs, somewhat sarcastically "Tragic."

"He's bi and don't use that word you're like the straightest bitch here," Dawn scolds her as i process the information.

"Sorry," She replies widening her eyes in slight annoyance, popping open the other bottle of wine.

"So, he has no idea Layla sent the email from Lance's address and we have no proof of it," I slouch onto the couch. Eileen and Dawn both offer me wine but I shake my head.

"Come on, honey, you could use a drink," Eileen waves the bottle. Her nails are a shiny pink and they gleam in the starlight.

"I need Nicholas," I mumble.

Neither of the girls respond and I can't help but feel a small ache that Savannah isn't with us. She was warm, she glowed brighter than anybody I've ever met. I remember the first night I met her and she told me to take a goddamn deep breath and just be here. It feels like it wasn't even me, I feel different than I was when I first stepped onto the pavement.

"Anna?" Eileen snaps her fingers at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say.

"I didn't ask."

The library door opens and closes. Nick is standing there with Blake and i resist the urge to run into his arms.

I seem to tune out the next few moments. Everyone says hello to each other, wine is passed around. Nick comes over to me as Dawn and Eileen chat with Blake, their voices are honey gentle when they speak to him; he is too breakable right now.

Nick slides his hand down my arm and pulls me closer to him. We walk to the second floor of the library and go to the very back, it smells like old paper.

"You're worried," He sighs, rubbing his hands down my arms.

"Oh, gee, how transparent of me," I mumble, tugging on my hair. Nick grabs my hand with his. I'm so tiny compared to him and his hand encloses mine. He places a kiss on my knuckles. It's soft.