Deviation (Book #2 of the Taylor Series)

The Help

"Julie...?" Lauren calls from her bed and I hope to God this isn't her starting a conversation with me at 3 AM. I check my phone and am bummed when I see it's only midnight.

"What, hetero?" I snap, and she shushes me. I stop breathing for a moment just to make sure that Violet is still asleep. When I hear her gentle breaths and light snores, I know we're safe.

"Can I tell you a secret that's been eating me up all day?" She asks, and my ears perk up. I jump from my hammock and trudge my way to her twin bed.

"Oooh gossip! Tell me more, tell me more." I whisper and finish the Summer Nights lyric in my head. She laughs lightly and pulls the covers back so I can lie down beside her. I clear my throat and wait for her to tell me this hot, extreme news.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone. Not a single person can know about this. Got it?" Her voice strains, and silence follows her words. God, did someone commit a murder or something? I've never seen Lauren be so secretive and serious. She's more the artsy, whimsical, tell-all type.

"Uh, yeah, that's definitely going to happen." I giggle sarcastically, "You do know that I'm the Nicholson with the biggest blabber mouth, right?" She stays silent for a moment before I guess she accepts that fact.

"Well, it's about Danny..." She mutters, and I roll my eyes. Everything she talks about nowadays is Danny. It doesn't surprise me that the biggest debacle of her life involves him.

"NO WAY--" She cuts me off by slapping my elbow.

"Stop. This is serious." She says in a solemn tone. "His parents were talking to me today about their heritage and they mentioned something very interesting and very dangerous to me."

I hum, "That their son is transgender...?"

"No, that Danny's father doesn't just come from Serbia. He's also part of the Romani people." I raise my eyebrows. Who are the Romani people? A gang? The Serbian Mafia? I wouldn't have a clue. It's not like I read up every day on these so called, 'Romani people'.

"What is that?" I voice my confusion, and she sighs.

"I didn't know either until they explained it to me. Romani is the preferred term, but they're more commonly known as Gypsies in this messed up society." She explains, and I'm nearly lulled to sleep by her low, warm voice, "Back in the day, European people saw the Romani people with brown skin and thought they came from Egypt, so they called them Gypsies. The first Romani people came from Northern India." I nod, but I fail to see the problem.

"And...?"

"And, the situation with the Romani people in Serbia was pretty bad back in the day. It's still bad now, but nothing like the way it used to be. After his father died from the terrible living conditions the Romani were forced to live in, Danny's father moved here with Danny's grandmother. He changed his name so that he'd blend in more with our society, but his mom kept her husband's last name. They were going to move back after he earned enough money, but he fell in love with Danny's mom and they've been together ever since." She explains, and I'll admit, it's a touching story, but that doesn't change that Lauren explained it in the most light, subtle voice I've ever heard.

I'm almost asleep when Lauren whispers my name again. I hum though I'm not really listening to what she's telling me. How could I when listening to her voice is like downing an entire bottle of Nyquil?

"I just... I'm not sure how I'm supposed to act around them now that I know this huge secret. His grandma already doesn't like me because I'm an outsider. She'd prefer Danny date another Romani girl, not me; not an ethnically boring White girl." She sighs, and I snuggle into her shoulder. I'm silent for a moment before she asks me what she should do. My eyes ache with sleep, and my mouth dries from the lack of dinner tonight.