"Hey Ted." He looks up from his desk as I shut the door.
"Oh, not again." He lets out an exasperated sigh as I walk over to his desk and take a seat. Ever since my mom disappeared and my dad stopped talking, Ted has become a big part of my life. I can't say it's been great, but I will admit, it's nice to have someone to talk to that understands what it's like to miss someone. He's not the best guy in the world, but it's better than nothing, right?
"Ted, this isn't bad I promise." His eyebrows shoot up. "Ok, I was sent here, but a kid in class brought up a subject that shouldn't have been spoken in class and I had to defend myself." He gives me a look, so I explain further. "No one can bring up mom and not get put in their place." His eyes fall back to his desk, which is cluttered with the files of the missing girls. I guess it isn't only law enforcement that has to deal with this. I never thought that a school would have to worry about it, but I guess I was wrong. Especially since most of them were students here.
"It's been a hard transition, but I feel like we're both getting better. I know I usually look the other way, but where is this boy who brought her up?" His eyes slowly narrow and I feel like I need to defend him. Curse him and his gorgeous face!
"Ok, he didn't bring her up directly, but he brought up the subject of her. I don't think he knows anything about what's been happening here, so if you could give him some slack..." I'm not sure how to end my sentence, so I just cut off. I guess I'm more like Lucius than I thought. Ok, bad thought bad thought. Let's think of something happy.
"Must be Lucius Doetsch." It's hard not to look surprised since he's the principal and all, but to know everyone by name...damn. He deserves credit for that. "Is he outside?" He points to his door and I nod. "Come in Lucius." Just as Lucius opens the door I whisper to Ted, "Try to be nice." He gives me a smile, but it's in no way comforting.
"So I hear you gave my niece a hard time in class." Lucius's eyes widen as he looks between Ted and I. Yes, it's true. The principal is my Uncle.
"Yes sir. We were having a debate about unexplained disappearances. Believe me sir, I had no idea it was a sensitive subject."
"As the principal I'm not allowed to let my emotions get the better of me, so instead of giving you detention, I'll let you off with a warning. Just make sure you watch what you say around here. Things haven't been exactly normal." Lucius nods his head, but his stance is rim rod straight. His manners are exquisite, but he'll need more than that if he wishes to survive here. "The two of you should get back to class." He quickly writes on a piece of paper. "Here's your pass."
"Thank you Mr. Jacobs." He heads toward the door.
"I'll see you later Ted," I say as Lucius and I leave his office.
"You didn't need to do that." I look at him confused, but keep walking, ignoring the fact that I know he's watching me. His eyes just distract me and I can't afford to make it obvious that I think he's one attractive looking guy.
His eyes are just so blue I could get lost in them and I can't have that. Not now. Not ever. "You didn't need to defend me to your Uncle. I may be new here, but I shouldn't get out of certain punishments." I hold up my finger in a 'hold on' gesture as we pass Melody and exit the office. Once we're out I explain.
"Lucius, there are some things that you should know. You should be given a warning this one time because you are new. You have no idea what this town has been going through and it's only fair that you get a warning first. I mean, you couldn't know that..." I break off before I spill everything. Why do I want to tell him everything? No one should be burdened with my life. No one. He grabs my hand, taking me by surprise.
"It's okay. You don't need to tell me until you are ready." I pull away, my eyes narrowing.
"How do you know I'll even tell you?" He thinks he can get me to spill my whole life story? I don't think so.
"Devyn, I can see you're struggling. I'm fighting my own demons right now and I know that all you need is someone who will listen and I'd be more than happy to be that friend if you'd let me." I look down too ashamed to meet his eyes. Especially since he hit me right on the mark. He reaches over and squeezes my hand as if to reassure me, but I still can't look up, so he reaches over with his other hand and lifts my chin to meet his eyes. "Devyn, you have no idea how you affect people. You are so strong and you can't even see it." I shake my head before he can go on and take a few steps back, increasing the space between us..
"You came here knowing nothing, so I let you off the hook." I turn around and before I've taken a step, Lucius reaches out and grabs my wrist. I don't even look at him, but before he can say anything, the words I was trying to keep in come out. "We shouldn't be friends," I whisper as I walk away. Why did I say that? Ugh, I will be lucky if he ever wants to talk to me again. He was just trying to be nice and I freak out. Maybe this is the real reason why Jess was the only one of my friends to stick around. I'm too hot and cold for their taste.
* * *
My next three classes seem to go by in a blur. I meet Jess at our usual spot under the shade of the best tree on campus and start to dig into my lunch. The school always makes this gross food, so I make a big deal of packing my own. It's great that my uncle's the principal, because he'll always tell me not pack a lunch on cookie day. He's awesome like that.
"Did you hear about the new guy?" Jess says this coherently for once as she tries not to spit out the bite she just took.
"His name is Lucius and what did he do?" It takes everything I have not to roll my eyes.
"I heard he totally brought up the sacred subject and got bitched out by a girl in his class." She laughs hysterically. "Who would do that? He's new, he doesn't know."
"Yeah, Jess that was me." Everything seems to stop. Jess's eyes widen as she spits out her food.
"Oh my gosh Devyn I'm so sorry. I-"
"Jess, don't even worry about it. Lucius and I are on good terms now." I pause before adding, "I think."
"Speaking of good terms." She nods her head in my direction. I turn around just in time to see Lucius standing in front of me. It looks like he's up for the challenge after all. I consider myself lucky.
"Do you mind if I join you guys?"
"No!" Jess nearly shouts. "I mean, no, I don't mind if you join us." She repeats quietly. He sits down with a big smile on his face. Yeah, enjoy bub. I'm sure I can say something to wipe that smile straight off your face. I smirk, thinking about all the things I can say, before taking another bite of my sandwich. Jess and Lucius stare and me and I realize I haven't introduced them.
"Lucius this is Jess. Jess this is Lucius." Covering my mouth with my hand. Hmm classy, but I hold my tongue, so nothing else can fly out whether it be food or my stupidity.
"So Lucius tell me about yourself." Before he speaks she clarifies what she's really after. Something I failed to do, now that I think about it. "Something we don't already know." He pauses for a minute and then says, "I speak 4 languages."
"Holy Jesus, which ones?" Jess asks. I stop, suddenly interested in what he has to say.
"Russian, French, Romanian, and of course English."
"French is known as the love language."
"I prefer Romanian." I say under my breath. I'm about to take another bite when I look up to see them both staring at me. "My mom spoke Romanian, so I technically grew up bi-lingual."
"I used to know some Spanish, but I stopped practicing." Jess says trying to get the conversation back to her.
"Deci, nu doar un alt chip frumos." Indeed I'm not jackass.
"Nu este mai mult decât îndeplineşte ochi mi sa spus." Lucius smiles and it's hard not to smile back...for once.
"Can we switch back over to English? I don't know anything in Romanian. What did he say?" I look at her with a smile on my face.
"He said 'Not just another pretty face.'"
"And she said, 'there's more than meets the eye I'm told." Jess looks back and forth between us before letting out a loud laugh. The bell rings and Jess laughs her way to class while Lucius and I shake our heads. It really wasn't that funny.
* * *
Once the final bell rings, I walk to my locker, ready to empty out my backpack and meet up with Jess. Only it's not Jess who's waiting for me, it's Lucius. I try not to smile as I walk towards him. I feel like I won the lottery especially since his presence at my locker doesn't go unnoticed. For once I don't mind that everyone's staring at me. What is this guy doing to me?
"So, it seems you were up for the challenge." He slides over, so I can open my locker.
"I'm sure you're not insinuating that our friendship will be a challenge, because that would be far too easy." I stop what I'm doing and look at him. "Oh, come on. Tell me you weren't happy to see me at lunch today."
"I wasn't happy to see you at lunch." His eyes narrow. "What? You didn't say to mean it too." His eyebrows immediately shoot up as he lets out a roar of a laugh. It's the most amazing sound I've ever heard. Oh my gosh, what am I saying? I mentally smack myself. Get yourself together Devyn. "So, what exactly are you doing at my locker anyway?" I continue to empty my backpack, trying to ignore the way his laugh still sounds to my ears.
"We're friends and I thought-" I cut him off before he can continue his thought.
"You're wrong." His face hardens.
"I didn't get a chance to finish what I was saying." I turn to face him.
"Ok, for one, nothing you've done so far is at all like other boys."
"How can you be so sure?" He lifts one eyebrow. He truly doesn't know?
"Let's start with the basics. You have better manners than everyone else here, including myself." He's about to interrupt when I place my finger over his lips. Before he notices how enchanted I am I remove my hand and continue. "Two, you dress really nice, which you should tone down just a little. Wearing slacks and a tie is a little too out there for high school and by the looks of it you want to fit in." He's about to interrupt again when I shake my head. "Please, your shoes give you away. A nice outfit with dirty old sneakers. Try again Hun." I turn back to my locker. I throw the last couple of books I have into my locker and shut it, facing him.
"You know everything don't you?" He leans against the lockers, folding his arms.
"No, but I like to think I do." I wink and he smiles. We start to walk down the hallway towards the exit and I mentally slap myself for winking at him.
"So, what do routy American teenage boys wear?" I can't help but laugh.
"Routy? You are just too nice for your own good." I shake my head. I look over as he raises his eyebrows. Does he ever not do that? "Okay, most boys will wear loose jeans" I stop and point at him "but if you sag them we are going to have major problems." He laughs as I continue. "Then they base the rest off their personality, I guess. So for you" My eyes wander up and down his body, "I suggest plain colored tees and if you want, a collar would look really good."
"Where would one find these items?" I stop and stare at him. I know we live in a small town, but damn, no need to call us out on it.
"We have a lot of work to do. Come with me." I grab his arm as we exit the building towards the school parking lot.
"I'll drive." It's a good thing he said that since I don't have a car. But based on the look he's giving me, he already knew that. We walk over to a black Audi.
"This is your car?" I can't help myself. I run my hand over the sleek hood of his car. He doesn't say anything and after a while I look up to find him leaning against his door watching me. He smiles at my enthusiasm. "It's nice." I walk over to my door and open it sliding into the passenger seat. He gets in, but doesn't start it right away. I look at him, eyebrow raised.
"Do you mind if we bring my brothers along? They would need to tone it down too." He does the whole 6th grade air quotes around 'tone it down' and I laugh.
"Sure." He finally starts the car. "Are your brothers older than you?"
"I have one older brother otherwise the other two are younger." Why weren't they in school then? As if reading my mind he answers. "They're a bit more rebellious than I am, so I was sent to scope it out. They'll be there tomorrow." I can't help but smile. "I should probably warn you." I look over at him and my heart starts to race when I see his face. "They're a bit crazy." I let out a sigh a little too loudly. He looks at me curiously before looking back towards the road.
"Does your entire family have cars like this?"
"Actually this is my step father's car. I own a jeep. Its better on mountain roads than Spar's." I look at him confused. "Spar is my step father's name. His real name is Spartak, but Spar is his nickname." I nod deciding Spar is a lot easier to pronounce.
After a couple of minutes, my phone rings.
"Hello?"
"Where do you think you're going?" I freeze.
"Uncle Ted?" Why is he calling from a number I don't recognize?
"I saw you leave school with Lucius and he better be driving you home. Your father has already heard of this." My eyes narrow as I look out the front window.
"What? Why would you do that?"
"You know you aren't allowed out of the house after 5." I look at the clock.
"It's 3:30 Ted."
"Do not get smart with me young lady or I will tell your dad about being sent to the Principal's office again."
"You wouldn't." My dad doesn't need to know. It will only freak him out.
"You better be home in ten minutes." I hang up and groan.
"I'm sorry Lucius..." Before I can finish Lucius is pulling a U-turn and driving us back the way we came. Good thing I live in that direction, otherwise I would be telling him to make another U-turn.
"Maybe another time." I don't respond. The last thing I want to do is get my hopes up. I haven't been aloud out in seven years without parental supervision. Not only because of my mom, but because Tanner never came home. I tell Lucius when to turn and how far to go until we get to my house. My uncle's sitting on the front porch. He rises as Lucius pulls over, but before I get out I turn to Lucius.
"I'm really sorry." He gives me a smile.
"It's okay, Devyn. We'll figure it out." I smile back as I get out of the car. Once I shut the door my uncle start grilling me. I wouldn't be surprised if Lucius heard most of what he said before he drove away. I couldn't be more humiliated. When I finally reach the front door I'm fuming.
"You know better than to leave with a complete stranger."
"He's my friend and he's not a complete stranger. We have classes together, Ted." I glare at him, but he has one of his own already fixed on his face.
"Oh, really? Being sent to the Principal's office together makes you friends?"
"Believe it or not, I can make friends." For the first time ever he rolls his eyes.
"I don't think that's what he expects from you."
"Expects? Do you really think I would give in so easily and to someone I just met?" Before he can speak I go on. "Do you think me so naïve? Am I really a slut to you? I haven't been out in years and I wanted a little time to hang out with my friends. I'm sorry mom died and that everyone has to deal with me, but for once in my life I wanted to do something for me." His face softens, but only a fraction.
"Your mother knew better than to go outside so late at night." He runs his hands through his hair as he turns to face the street.
"She wasn't alone." He turns his glare back on me. "Maybe if you took the time to hang out with us more you would have known that mom and I went on runs every day around that time." In two seconds he grabs my shoulders and starts to shake me before I can even comprehend what he's doing.
"What happened? What did you do?" I shove him off.
"You would love that, wouldn't you? Blame everything on me, so you could cope better. I knew you were putting on a show in the office just to seem nice. I don't know who you are anymore." He hits me before anymore can be said. That's the thing with my uncle. As a kid he taught Tanner and I self-defense and his first lesson was that slaps are too weak. But I never imagined he would use that technique on me. I immediately grab my face.
"I'm sorry-"
"Don't touch me." I shove past him and shut the door in his face. Like every time I come home the lights are off and my dad is already in bed. He hasn't worked since mom disappeared. The only reason we still have this house is because Uncle Ted pays the bill every month. Neither one of them know that I work on the weekends. I'm saving up, so one day when shit hits the fan again, my dad and I will still have money to get by. I quietly retreat to my room. Never have I been more emotionally exhausted then I am today. I finally meet a guy that in all honesty freaks me out, but there's something there, something about him that makes me want to stick around. He's nice and keeps me on my toes. My mom said I would always be into adventurous guys and I guess I never met the right one. Until now.
When I open my closet I freeze. It's empty. What the hell is going on? Where are all my clothes? I back up still staring into my closet when I see someone in the corner of my eye. I turn quickly to see my dad standing just inside my door. He has huge circles under his eyes and he's wearing the same sweats from yesterday and the day before and the day before that. He wears them for a week, maybe two at a time. He only lets me wash them when I pester him enough that he changes.
"Dad, what's going on?" He looks down and I realize there's a suitcase at his feet.
"Honey, I'm sorry-" Before he can continue I interrupt.
"Dad, no. Please, please don't send me away." Tears start to form in my eyes.
"I can't take care of you anymore and you're uncle has agreed to-" I gasp drowning everything else my dad says out. I have to live with my uncle? The one who just punched me in the face? The one who will realize I'm out on the weekends? The one who will enforce curfew so much I will have no friends?
"Dad, you can't. I'm fine here. I'm old enough to take care of myself and things have been difficult recently, but that doesn't mean I'd leave you here alone. And if this is about the boy I was with, I'll end it. Please, please don't make me go."
"With all the disappearances, your uncle is better suited to protect you." Protect me? Seriously? Has he not seen my face?
"You don't want me around, fine." I storm over to my dresser and start throwing my hair brush, make-up, some pictures, jewelry, and anything else I'll need into a bag and then I storm past him into the hall towards the bathroom.
"I want you here, but..." He breaks off, but I continue to rummage through the bathroom grabbing everything. I get ready to storm past him again, but he grabs me. "Honey, your mom would want a better life for you." I narrow my eyes.
"How dare you." His eyes widen. I haven't raised my voice at him in years. "How dare you say this is what mom would have wanted. Mom wanted us to be a family; she would never want you to give me away. Mom would have fought for me, but I guess I'm no longer worth it to you. I will forever be just a reminder of her and the fact that she's never coming home." I walk past him and grab my suitcase from my room. "Mom would have realized the moment I walked in that I was hurt, but you have been so blind. You won't even look at me. Today's the first time in months that you've even spoken to me and you can honestly see and hear no difference?" He finally looks up and his eyes widen. "Save it." I cut him off. "Goodbye dad." I run down the stairs and out the front door. Uncle Ted stands and follows me to the car. I expect dad to run out and stop me, but he doesn't. He doesn't show up in the doorway. He doesn't show up in the window. He doesn't even show up to shut the door. I throw my bags and myself into the back seat not trusting Ted enough to sit up front. He doesn't try to engage in conversation, figuring I'm still too pissed to be nice or calm about the situation and he's right. I don't want to talk to him...ever if I had my way, but that doesn't stop him from looking at me periodically in the rear view mirror. I decide to stare out the window the whole way then risk eye contact. Once we reach his house he pulls into the garage, shuts off the car, but doesn't get out.
"I'm sorry I hit you, but you have to believe that this is the best way for -" I open the door and get out before he can finish. He doesn't know me. He may be my Uncle, but that doesn't mean I have to like him.
"I'm not in the mood, so if you could show me where my cell is that would be great." His jaw tightens, but he grabs my suitcase from the back and walks inside leading me down the hallway to the loft area.
"I have to finish cleaning out the spare room, so for now you get the couch." He sets my suitcase down and leaves. I glare as I drop my bag and slump onto the couch. My life could not get any better than this.
I end up falling asleep on the couch, because the next thing I know Ted is in front of me waking me up.
"It's time to get up. I have to be at the office early today." I groan and roll over. "If you aren't ready in ten minutes you're going to school looking like that." I roll my eyes as he walks away. Five minutes later Ted yells down the hallway. I fall off the couch startled when I realize that I have five minutes to look gorgeous and cover the bruise that is inevitably on my face otherwise I know for a fact Lucius will notice.
We arrive at school 20 minutes before anyone else would actually start showing up which means it was 35 minutes before school starts. Instead of shadowing the worst man ever I decided to walk around. He gives me a look, but I decide to ignore it as I walk back out into the hallway. My first stop is the bathroom to make last minute touches to my face. The bruise is practically unnoticeable, but I send a silent prayer that Lucius and his brothers won't notice. Oh my God! His brothers are going to be here today. Oh, shit! Wait, how did Ted know it was Lucius? He was checking up on me wasn't he? He knew who was in my class from the very beginning. That asshole! I'm far off in my own little world that I don't realize someone else is in the hall until I run right into them.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I wasn't paying attention at all." I look up and meet Lucius's amused gaze. "What are you doing here?" He looks around and then responds.
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Author's Note:
I used an online translation for the Romanian, so I hope it's correct.