Xela
The rain must have washed off my cheap dollar store makeup I used to cover my bruised eye. I immediately covered my eye with the palm of my hand, "I ran into a table" I say, a bit too quickly. I can tell he doesn't believe it one bit. He grabs my arm and lowers it from my eye, "Who" is all he says. Just one word but it sends chills down my spine.
I shake my head, "I'm fine, I have to go." I say, turning and trying to get out of the car, "It was him wasn't it? Your step father?"
I freeze and look at him, "No it wasn't." I say, unsure of how convincing I sound. "I'm going to kill him" Ryder says, opening his car door and getting out. I quickly follow him, stopping him before he can get to the steps leading to the front door of my house.
"Ok look it was just one time and he was drunk it won't happen again please please please don't make things worse by going in there" I start blabbing and begging him to not go inside. He stops and looks at me, his anger turning into something else, worry.
"It wasn't one time" he says in a quiet voice, making me look to the floor. I'm expecting him to leave, maybe to be disgusted with me, but instead he pulls my arm back to his car. "You aren't staying here." Is all he says. I climb into his car, unsure of where he is going with this. "Ryder I'm fine." I say as he gets in and starts the car.
We drive in silence to a place I've never seen before. It's a nicer neighborhood with houses I could only dream of living in. After a while, we finally pulled up to a fancy black gate with two men standing by with... guns?!
Ryder didn't even blink at the guards as the gate opened and we went through. I sat up in my seat and turned to observe the two huge men even further. Holy shit.
When I sat back to normal, my eyes met a huge mansion with a glowing white exterior. We drove around a col de sac with a polished fountain in the middle spewing water up in intricate patterns. The grass surrounding was bright green, telling me they've never been short on water. The view only makes me more self conscious of where I lived. I can just imagine what Ryder was thinking when he walked into my house compared to this.
"Done drooling?" Ryder smirks, unbuckling his seatbelt and opening the door. I follow after him up a set of marble stairs, into a luxurious room. Looking up, the ceiling is far away with a golden chandelier hanging down.
"Xela?" A familiar voice enters the room, Denny. I give him a smile, "Hey" is all I can think to say. His eyes fix on Ryder, "What's this?" He questions, referring to us being together.
A woman moves through the room, looking to be in a maids outfit. She is about to leave when Ryder calls her over, "Please escort Xela to a guest room on the east wing." He says politely, smiling at the elderly woman. She nods and smiles to me, "Follow me, dear."
I look to Denny, then to Ryder. Denny looks confused and Ryder looks like he's telling me to just listen to him for once.
I follow the woman up a set of stairs and down a few hallways until we reach what seems like the far right end of the house. There are two doors in the hallway, the maid opens the one closest to me and reveals an extravagant bedroom. There is a king bed in the center with black accents everywhere. The walls are a dark color, making the marble floors appear to be glowing. The room is bigger than my entire house.
"I will make arrangements for a wardrobe to be sent up as well." The maid tells me. She is about to leave but I stop her, "What is your name?" I ask. She turns to me, "You can call me Farah." she says before leaving.
I stand frozen for a second after the door closes, unsure what to do. I explore around my room and find a massive bathroom and a walk in closet. How rich is he?!
The closet is empty, but that doesn't bother me. I won't be here for long. It's only a matter of time until my mom and Paul realize I'm gone and get mad. Or maybe they wouldn't even notice.
I finally decide that I deserve a nap, and throw myself onto the puffy sheets of the bed, loving how they swallow me up.
Ryder
I walk into the living room, hearing Denny following me.
"She is staying here." Is all I respond. Once we walk into the living room, Blake is sitting on the couch on his phone. His head turns to us, "Who is?" He asks, having heard our conversation.
"Xela" Denny answers before I can. Blake looks shocked and stands up, "Why?"
I look at the two of them, unsure what to do. I'm not sure if Xela wants anyone knowing about her step father, but they deserve to know since her living here will affect them.
"Her step father laid a hand on her, so I told her she is staying here." I say. They both look pissed, "How do you know this stuff?" Blake asks. I don't want to explain our relationship to them. I don't want to tell them how I've grown to like being around her or how I think about her more than I want to admit. I keep trying to tell myself she is nothing to me, but the truth is, even when I saw her in the alley that night she intrigued me.
I decide to ignore the question and move to the kitchen to make dinner for us. It is around midnight but I'm assuming she hasn't eaten yet. I start to cook pasta since I figured everyone has to like pasta right?
"Have you even asked Nikos?" Denny walks into the kitchen with Blake right behind him. I shake my head, "Nikos is out of town for the next two weeks, we can figure things out after that." I don't know if Nikos would be open to having Xela move in with us, I mean he would have to understand her situation right?
The second I saw the bruise on her face, everything had clicked. The way she flinched when anyone came near her, or how she winced when she leaned back in her chair. It all made sense. I had originally suspected her mom of neglect after what I saw at school, but nothing this bad. I know I may be overstepping and maybe she doesn't want to live here, but I can't stand letting her be in the same house as her step father.
I keep remembering the night I was over and her parents walked in on us. I knew she looked scared but I just figured it was because she snuck a boy over or something. I can't help but wonder how many more bruises she is hiding from me under makeup.
"Okay" Denny says, taking a breath. I look to Blake who also nods. "Don't tell Nikos, he will just freak out and try to come back early." I say, straining the spaghetti into a bowl. The two of them head to bed, reminding me how late it is.
I make a plate of pasta and pour some sauce on it before going upstairs. My heart is racing as I am about to knock on her door. There are only two rooms on the east wing, mine and a guest room which is now hers I guess. Just seconds after I knock the door opens. "Finally I was bored out of my mind." She says. She is changed from before, and now wears one of my t shirts and shorts, which are both way too big on her. I can instantly tell she was enjoying the bed, because the covers were completely messed up.
"Why are you wearing my shirt?"
"I have no clothes, I just went searching in the room across the hall and found this." She tells me, crossing her arms. Her eyes look to the food in my hand.
I reach the plate out to her, internally smiling when her eyes light up and she takes it. She drops to her butt on the floor and sets it in front of her. "Has anyone ever told you how weird you are?"
She glares at me, "It's not my fault nobody installed a table in this room."
She pulls her hair back into a low ponytail, her eyes not leaving mine. My mind travels to endless scenarios just at that simple act, causing my friend to wake up. She doesn't seem to notice however, and just takes a bite of the food before looking back up to me. "You sitting?" She asks, her hand patting the spot next to her.
I let out a sigh and sit down, secretly liking how she taps where she wants me to sit.
I watch her as she eats, she doesn't seem to notice. We haven't talked about the kiss we shared. I can't tell if she regrets it or not, I mean I definitely don't. At first she was surprised and didn't kiss me back, but after a second she melted into the kiss and kissed me back with more passion than I've ever experienced.
I'm not a guy who enjoys kissing girls. I mean it's fine, but when I get with a girl kissing is the last thing on my to do list. But with her all I've wanted was to kiss her for a while, and now that I have I can say I would happily spend hours doing nothing but that. I could sense a little bit of inexperience in the kiss, which is good because I wouldn't want to imagine her kissing anybody else.
"Did you make this?" She asks between bites. "Yeah I did." I respond, laughing when she gets spaghetti sauce on her face. "I was going to thank you before you started laughing at me." She says, wiping the sauce from her face.
We talked for a while, long after she finished eating. I just planned to drop off her food and leave, but now I found myself wanting to stay, even as the clock ticked on to 2 AM.
She yawns and stands up. I raise my eyebrows at her, "Where are you going?" I ask, trying not to sound disappointed at our talk being over. "We have school tomorrow ding dong." She tells me. I stand up and dust off my pants from sitting on the floor.
"I will get you clothes to wear by tomorrow." I say to her, picking up her empty plate. She just nods, "Do your parents care that I am here?" She asks. I can't blame her for asking, but a part of me is irritated to have to talk about them.
"My parents aren't in the picture. Denny's dad takes care of us. He is out of town for a while."
She makes a face like she is saying 'oh', but doesn't push the subject. Most girls I'm with are nosy and always have to know every detail of my life. It's refreshing to speak to Xela when she knows when to not ask questions. Actually I take that back, she can be annoying as hell when she wants something.
"You don't have to let me stay here, you know,"
I give her a look, not liking how she is thinking, "Nobody here minds, and it's better that you are here then in your house."
"How long will I stay here?"
I shrug, honestly not knowing the answer, "As long as you want." I'm realizing how we haven't really thought far into the future at all, and how she will have to return home eventually. The thought makes me sick.
"Will I be able to get some things from my house?"
"Yeah I can take you tomorrow if you want, but you aren't going inside alone." I hate how protective I sound with my words, but that's what I am. The only thing that had stopped me from beating her step father to death was making sure she was okay, and now that she is I am ready to teach him a lesson.
Xela let's out a big yawn, "Goodnight, Xela." I tell her. She gives me a weak smile, "Goodnight."
Just before I am out of her room she stops me, "Thank you for looking after me." She says before standing on her top toes and pecking my lips.