Who knew moving into a dorm apartment could be so much trouble!!! I'm starting to think Gabe's nickname may ring with some truth. Which kinda stings a little. I don't want to just be trouble for everyone.
Since my enrollment was so late I ended up having to share a five bedroom apartment. I'm excited. I've never had friends before the boys. But they know Max and Marie so they have to be nice to me.
I haven't met the girls yet but hopefully we will be friends. They'd already chosen their rooms and met each other six weeks ago.
There are five rooms total in this apartment and the empty one is the furthest away from the others right off the kitchen and living room area. I'm so relieved that I will have a space all my own away from the others so I won't always be waiting for someone to burst into my room. Maybe it will help me feel more comfortable here among strangers. Keep the flashbacks at bay.
"This is Sh^t! Sang, please! How could you possibly be okay staying here. This place is tiny and they can't design worth sh^t! I thought you said your Dad had money! Couldn't he bribe or pay off someone for a better room or even your own suite. I mean where are your cousins staying? I bet they don't have to share a tiny apartment with four strangers. Stay in a tiny room with the ugliest decor I've seen this century. I mean seriously do they ever update? This is suppose to be a prestigious prep school."
Glancing over at Gabe pacing around the room I see that Max is definitely regretting giving his consent for Gabe to come help me get settled. His face is scrunched up in a new expression. A mix between anger, annoyance and frustration. "Gabe! This is what Sang asked for. A normal experience. We're lucky we even got this. The other roommate backed out last minute. It's actually a little confusing how that happened..." Max's eyes widen slightly before he clears his throat. "Sergio? Wanna help me get Sang's last two boxes?"
Quietly I continue to place things around the desk in the corner. The room is small by their standards but I don't think they realized I was actually living in the attic space for the better part of 3 years. This is more space than I know what to do with. Had Gabe not brought clothes for my closet I wouldn't have even filled that up. The small dresser still has plenty of empty drawers and I've already unpacked all of my clothes. Not to mention the storage around the bottom of the bed. What am I going to do with all this empty space? Do I really have that little? I can't even imagine having so much stuff and no where to put it like others talk about. Will I be that noticeably different to others? All I've ever owned can fit in a duffel bag, my backpack and a handful of boxes. Thinking about her is hurting my head and my heart. She's stolen so much from me already.
"Trouble," Gabe says in a small voice as he timidly sits down on the bed. "I lost you" Looking up confused I meet his eyes and they're so sad. "Where'd you just go? I didn't mean to offend your choice. I know you want this. I'm just going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you too Gabe. I was just thinking that this is small to all of you but it's actually more space than I know what to do with."
Gabe's expression hardened, "Sang." Closing his eyes he leans his head back and takes several deep breaths. "I really want to kill her. For everything before and all the sh^t she put you through but mostly because there so much you've missed out on and you even don't know." He scrubs his right hand down his face very hard leaving marks and tightly fists his left hand on his leg to the point it turns deep red.
I move quietly and sit beside him. Slipping my arm through his I loosen his left fist and intertwine our fingers laying my head on his shoulder. I don't have to wait even a second before he lays his right hand over our intertwined ones so that I can cover that it with my other hand.
I don't know how long we sit like that. Too long really... more than enough time for Max and Sergi to go downstairs for the last boxes and return. But I don't care. I just want to enjoy this moment. I want to keep this moment with Gabe forever.
I'm about to be alone.
For the first time, I'm about to be free to make my own choices and to live.
I'm so afraid that this has all been just a dream and I'm going to wake up and lose everything I've ever wanted.
When Gabe moves, I look up to see him looking at me with such a strange expression. I didn't even know I whispered that out loud. It's just been a reoccurring thought since I woke up in the hospital. Gabe's eyes are full of something. It's not pity, it could be sorrow, but it looks different this time. He almost looks surprised and happy but no those don't quite fit either.
"Sang, beautiful, there is absolutely nothing in this world or the next that could keep us from you. And I do mean all of us. North, Silas, and Nathan would kill for you, protect you with their last breath. Kota and Sean would take care of you for the rest of your life. Victor and Mr. B would buy you the world if you'd let them. Luke and I would spend our entire lives working to keep that smile on your face forever. That's not even mentioning your brother or sister and then all of your Dads family." He moves bending his knee into the bed so that he can face me. "You are the most precious gift any of us have ever been given and we will never lose you." He gently touches my hair and swipes it behind my ear following the path down my cheek to touch his thumb to my lips. He pulls my bottom lip down slightly making me gasp and lick my lips. He groans and closes his eyes only to open them just as fast to look me straight in the eyes.
He begins leaning forward slightly still looking at me so warmly my heart starts fluttering and my stomach starts tingling. My breath catches in my throat as he gets just centimeters away from my face.
"Sang?"
"Mmm" I make a sound that's unintelligible.
"You're mine. Okay?"
I blink confused. I don't know what he means by that. Is he asking to be my boyfriend? Do I want that right now? We'd be so far from each other.
Then before I know it the entire right side of my face is wet and he moves to the left side running his tongue over my cheek.
Squealing I fall backwards into the bed to get away from him. Giggling uncontrollably by his outrageously childish behavior.
"What was that Gabe?!" I try to exclaim with mock horror between fits of giggles.
" I just wanted to claim you and hear you laugh one more time." He helps me sit back up. "I love your laugh Sang and I couldn't bear to spend our last minutes sad or angry about the past. So come on let me finish working miracles on your room. F^ck knows we need one."
MAX POV
I manage to wait until we get down to the two SUVs before I can't hold back my suspicions any longer.
"This wasn't a coincidence, was it?"
I'm met with silence as Sergio continues to walk digging the key fob out of his pocket, pressing unlock and popping the trunk.
"The roommate didn't just decide to transfer on her own, did she?" A grunt and shrug is the only response I get. "A scholarship foundation doesn't wait that long to contact the recipient. She couldn't still be waiting even if she applied late because even the students past the late deadline would've already been notified before Sang decided she wanted to have a normal experience at a school."
He pauses slightly and I know I have his attention. "We don't know where my mother is or who she has helping her. Marie and I have been working over time to do everything we can just to find a trace of her. We're terrified that she'll find Sang; get to her before we can. I won't let my baby sister suffer like that again. Not if I can help it. So tell me the truth."
"You don't have to worry about any of that. We take care of our own. Sang is one of us now. We won't let her down again. We won't be caught off guard or unaware again. The price was to high the first time. Sang will not be the cost of yet another mistaken moment of peace."
"Just promise me one thing."
"For Sang, anything."
"Protect her. When she doesn't know she needs it and even when she thinks she can handle it. There's so much she doesn't know; that she doesn't even know how difficult this is going to be for her. She has no experience, no knowledge or social skills to understand anything these kids talk about or do for fun. She's too innocent."
"Consider me her shadow. That's how safe I'll make sure she is."
"So tell me what you know about these girls that are dorming with her."