Enough (9 page)

“Yeah, must be the guys from–” I stopped myself. This is not where I wanted the conversation to start at. “People care about me I guess.” I’m pretty sure all those flowers have a number on the cards. That’s how the guys are. I’m not in school, they think I’m sick and they also think penis would help me.

Now back to what Declan said.
In eight days I’ll be eighteen and my family will probably be here for it. I’m happy at the thought. I was sidetracked and in my own world that when I stepped onto the sidewalk I almost fell forward. My dream car was sitting right there. A 2012 yellow Chevy Camaro ZL1. I thought I died and went to heaven. I examined the car and it’s in perfect shape. I passed my fingers over the exterior, soft and gorgeous. Oh, man. My mouth is at my knees right now.

I tried peeking inside but the tinted
windows made it really hard to. That’s a shame. I would have loved to see if it has the Transformers symbol on the armrest. The doors unlocked and I looked around to see who it belonged to. No one was there except for Alex. Wait? This can’t be his. Can it? I mean he does have the Audi but that could have been a present. He said his family’s a bunch of doctors.

“Is this yours?”
I asked. He smiled and nodded. “Where have you been keeping him?” I gushed.

He looked at me surprised. “And w
hy would you assume it’s a he?”

I smirked at him. “Obviously it’s a he. Loo
k at him.” I checked the tires. Yes. Black 20” rims. This is the way I pictured my baby.

“Do you want to drive
him?” Alex asked.

I rose up slowly. I can’t believe
he just asked me that. I almost jumped with glee. I have to contain myself though. I’m not a child. “Yes! Are you serious?” He tossed me the keys.

“You do have a license
, right?” I nodded. I opened the door and got in. The interior was just how I liked it; black leather, automatic and the armrest had the Transformer symbol. Perfect.

“I fell in love with these cars because of Transformer
s.” I said starting the car. I sank into the seat. It roared to life beautifully. “Do you want pizza? I know this place in Revere that is to die for.”

I just want to drive this car. I’ll go to
China and back if I could.

“Sure, you’re the boss
.” Alex said.

I do
n’t know why he let me drive his car but I’m so excited. I left the windows closed. The winter chill is getting colder every minute and I actually like the privacy.

There was a parking space r
ight in front of the pizzeria and this car is meant to be looked at so I parked there. Driving this car pushed all the bad memories out. I felt like myself again, plain old Emily Vasquez, I like it.

We entered the pizzeria and ordered a large half cheese
, half pepperoni pizza. The guy said it should take no longer than fifteen minutes and that we can take a seat to wait. We sat in the back.

“C
an I ask you something?” I asked taking a seat at the booth. It blocked the Camaro but I didn’t mind. I didn’t want people to see me out here. I’m not embarrassed, I just don’t want people to say anything about what happened with Zach or the fact that I’m out with Alex.

“Yeah, what is it?” He asked.

Alex sat in front of me and I couldn’t help but smile when our knees brushed. This guy is smooth. He glanced outside then moved his eyes toward me.

“Why did you let me drive the Camaro? If that was my car, I wouldn’t let anyone touch it, nonetheless drive it. Why did you let me?” He s
tared at me for a while. I can see he’s thinking about something.

“Why not? You looked so surprised to see it outside your house. You were about
to drool all over it.” He teased. “You just looked so happy. I couldn’t let you not drive it.” He said with a smile. “How do you know so much about cars? I mean, besides Transformers.”

“My brother
, Declan. We’re close in age so he decided to teach me about guy things. You should see me at Rock Band.” I said smiling. “He’s just very protective of me. Wanted me to know how to change tires, oil, et cetera. Just in case I get stuck somewhere. Also that is my dream car.” I pointed outside. “My mom won’t let me buy a car because of the partying and the drinking but she said when I turn eighteen I could get one.” I frowned thinking about how that’s not coming true. I’m so freaking clueless. I forgot about that.

“What’s wrong?”
Alex asked.

I shook my head but he his eyes held mine and I cracked.

“It’s just that…my family is moving because we’re having problems here.” I said studying him. He doesn’t look like the kind to judge. So I went on. “We’re kind of tight on money. They’re moving for ‘a fresh start.’ Mrs. Diaz let me stay with her but nobody can get in touch with her. I don’t know what to do. I’m going to have to go to Seattle if I don’t find something. I can’t though. You know why.” I looked around but nobody heard our conversation. “I can’t just run away from that problem. Yes, I turn eighteen in a few days but my mom would never let me stay somewhere she doesn’t trust. I can’t get my own place either.”

“I c
ould offer up my place. It’s big enough. I can talk to your mom if you want? Is there anything else I could do?” His place? What the fuck? Just the thought of being in his house with him is sending tingles to all the right places.

“That would be nice
but she doesn’t know you. I highly doubt she will. Unless you have a secret power to change my life I don’t think there is anything else you can do. Thanks though.” I said. “What about your parents? Wouldn’t they mind?” He can’t just offer up his place like that.

Alex
sifted uncomfortably in his seat and I noticed he had this pained look in his eyes. Shit. Was it something I said?

“I li
ve alone.” He said. What? “After my sister died, a few months later my dad had a heart attack.” He looked down at the table. Holy shit. “My mom a few days after… I don’t really like to talk about it.” I nodded like an idiot. That’s just…awful. He lost his family. Why didn’t I know this? Tiffany is a bad stalker. “I lost everyone I cared about but I’m still here.” I don’t know what to say. My life was pretty rough but this… This is horrible. I’m a fucking coward. I’m raped and I go straight to suicidal Emily. There are people out there with real problems. I feel so ashamed of myself.

“I’m
sorry. I don’t know what to say.” I said.

“Miss, your pizzas ready.” The
guy called out behind the counter.

Alex was getting up but I put my han
d on his, “I got it.”

His eyes found mine then h
e smiled and sat back down.

As I was walking to the front counter
, a group of guys walked in. “Look at that. I wonder who it belongs to.” One of them said. “I’ve never seen it around, maybe just someone stopping by.” I guess they were talking about the car. When I reached the front counter, the guys sat at a booth to my left. “Wow. Look at that beauty. I surely haven’t seen her around.” I looked to my right but there was nobody around.

Ugh, guys.

I paid for the pizza and I asked the guy if he had warm soda.

“Sorry
hun, only cold.” He said.

“Ah
, come on, surely you have warm soda around. Don’t be cruel to the girl.” A guy at the table said.

The guy glanced at
me and I said it was fine. I don’t really need it. We could bring the pizza to my house and enjoy it there.

As I turned to my left
, I froze. The group of guys are from Wilks Academy. I know them. Zach and Liam and two others from the football team. “Would you look at that, I already know her.” Zach said. I saw his nose, it looked swollen and I guess it’s broken. Liam smiled at me and the rest of the guys looked at me in surprise. “Life of the party, huh? That’s what everyone says.” said Zach.

“Leave her alone.” I was actually surprised
to hear Liam say anything. I don’t know anyone who tries to tell Zach what to do. I started walking back to Alex when Zach said something that frustrated me.

“
Aren’t you going to say sorry?”

I walked back to his table.

“Sorry for what?” I snapped.

“For this.” He
said pointing to his nose. “You just hit me out of nowhere and left. I expect an apology.” I looked at him. I know what I was going to do if I stood here any longer. I would probably drop the pizza and attack him.

“You shouldn’t expect shit from me. All the times you grabbed
me, did you say sorry? Fuck you.” I breathed heavily. “You made my life miserable. I started drinking because of you.” That’s not true but it just came out. He stayed quiet. Nobody knows that he grabbed me harder then he should have and how he hit me once, except Bryan of course. He’s the only one I told. The group stared at me . “I should have punched you years ago.” I took another deep breath and walked away.

“You don’t know
what you’re taking about.” Zach said.

I turned to face him.

“What happened, Zach? You weren’t always such an asshole.” I said. He didn’t say anything. Whatever. He’s not my problem. “I hope you work things out with Sophie.” I said walking back over to my table. “Because you’re not fun when you’re a dick.”

I made it to Alex and sighed.

“Can we go? Zach’s here.” I said.

Alex
turned around, saw him and then nodded.

“Yeah
. Sure. Here, don’t forget the keys.” He said taking the pizza from my hands and handing me the keys.

“You still trust me?”
I asked surprised.

He nodded and said, “Always.”
Wow.

When he got in
the car, Liam came out. “Emily…”

I was just about to o
pen the driver side door. “What!” I didn’t mean to snap at him but it was just in me.

“Is it true? T
he stuff you said in there?” Liam asked.

I glanced inside. The guys
looked at me with surprise, probably because the car. I looked at him. “Why would I make it up?” I said.

He nodded.

“I’m not good friends with him. I’m just here because I know the other guys. If he gives you another problem, let me know.”

“Sure.”

I started the car and glanced up at him. He smiled and went back inside. I put the car in drive and drove.

It was 5:30 pm when I drove us back to my house. I parked the car and handed the keys back to Alex as I dug in my purse for my own. I opened the front to be welcomed into complete darkness. I guess my family is still dealing with “the situation.” I turned on a light, just to make sure they worked and they did. Good, I don’t need to be reminded of that night.

We walked into the kitchen and I got t
wo glasses out. “I asked for Pepsi but they didn’t have it. What would you like to drink?” I asked. Who’d have thought I’d be asking Alex Payne for a drink. Definitely not me.

“Whatever you have is fine. I don’t mind.”
Alex said. I’m very aware that his eyes are on me. I looked for soda everywhere but couldn’t find anything warm. I looked in the fridge. Of course there they were. Does my family know I hate cold soda? I tilted a Coca-Cola at him and he nodded. “Sure.”

Alex set the pizza on
the table and we ate. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until the pizza was gone. I was still craving another slice. “Do you want to go back to my room?” I asked. God, desperate. “I mean…we have a pool table in the basement but basement’s aren’t my thing so I’d really like to not go down there. And my Xbox is upstairs. Mom doesn’t like the bitching down here.” My mom would kill me if we were alone upstairs but I don’t care anymore.

“
You play Xbox?” I saw the surprise in his eyes. “I have to see this.”

W
e went upstairs and plopped onto my bed.

I
turned on my phone to see the latest updates. As it was getting started, I looked at my window. It’s cold in my room. I can’t believe I didn’t notice. Alex glanced at the window.

“Did you leave that open?”
He asked. I shook my head. I walked up to it and found a note:
Emily, you should make sure your windows are locked before you leave the house.
Alex glanced over my shoulder to read it.

Something fell downstairs and w
e quickly turned around. “Stay here. And close that.” He said. I closed the window and followed Alex out. “What did I say?” Like he is going to tell me what to do in my house. Please.

I turned on the hallway light.
Nobody was there. Then I heard the front door close. I expected it to be my family but when no one talked or even walked up the stairs, I knew something was wrong. Alex glanced at me and I shrugged my shoulders. I went to Declan’s room and found his lucky baseball bat he kept by his door. Alex raised an eyebrow at me.

“It’s better than nothing.” I whispered.
Alex shook his head with that smile of his on his lips. He grabbed the bat from me and again, we touched. It felt nice.

We head
ed downstairs slowly. Since the stairs are next to the front door we didn’t have to walk much. The lights were on and we didn’t see anybody. We opened the front door…no one.

“
Let’s make sure everything’s locked.” Alex said. He doesn’t know where he’s going so I led the way. We checked all the windows and the back door. Everything was locked. After what happened on Saturday, I removed the spare key from under the plant and set it in the table in the entryway so I wouldn’t have to worry about that.

When everything looked good, w
e went back up to my room. A text message came in a few seconds later. I expected it to be Tiffany or Bryan hearing about my outburst at Quinn’s Pizzeria but it was unknown.
Him
.

Him:
Emily, you’re not suppose to have guests in your room when nobody is home. You’re being a bad girl. What did I tell you about that?

My eyes widened at the thought of him in my house
again.

Al
ex glanced over my shoulder and read the text. “He texts you?!”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I said.

“Why isn’t he in jail?” Alex asked holding my eyes. “Emily, you went to the police, right?” I shook my head ashamed. “Fuck!” Alex said standing up and pacing my room. I just watched him. “Did you at least go to the hospital?’ My silence was his answer. “Emily…” His eyes found mine and my heart stopped. “Did he use a condom?” I honestly don’t know. And I’m ashamed to answer his questions. I’m a stupid teenage girl who didn’t do anything right. “Does anybody know?” Alex finally asked.

“No.”
I said barely over a whisper.

He came back to my bed and sat down. Who knows what he’s thinking about but he stayed quiet for a while. I didn’t want to interrupt so I sat back and stared at my hands.

“Is it all right if I spend the night? I want to make sure you’re safe. At least until your family’s back.” Alex finally asked. I nodded.

I laid
down a few minutes later and looked at him.

“Why do y
ou want to be around me? I know why but you never talked to me before. We only talked during school and that was because it would be weird not to.” I said. “The walk to the party was the real first conversation we had. Why did you stick around?”

He held his jaw and looked down at my bed.
“You want the truth?” I nodded. “I always thought you were too good for me. The people you hang around… I felt like you probably didn’t want to get to know me.” That was exactly the way I felt about him. He never initiated the conversation before. I would say hi and he would smile, say hi back then look away.
I’m
too good for him. Are you serious?

“That
’s funny because I thought the exact same thing about you. I wondered if you heard about the rumors and decided I was bad news.” I said.

We laughed at the thought. If we both had the courage to talk to each other
, things would probably be different now.

My phone chimed
, breaking the moment. I glanced at Alex who glanced back at me. I grabbed it and saw it was Declan. “It’s just Declan…They took longer than expected and will be home in a few hours.” It’s already eight pm. Where could they possibly be?

Alex got up and walked over to a chair on the right side of my be
d. “What are you doing over there?” I asked confused.

“I said I w
ould spend the night. You can go to sleep and I’ll drift off later.” He wants to sleep in my room. In that chair.

“Don’t be ridiculous, my bed if big enough for both of us and
then some. That chair is not comfortable.” I said. Alex just stared at me. “I will not go to sleep unless you are on this bed.” I said clearly. I would never tell a guy to get in bed with me but that isn’t the case here. I’m just being nice. He walked over to the bed and laid out on the comforter. I sighed. “Hold on.” I got up, walked over to my closet and grabbed a black comforter. It was the only non-girly one I have. I grabbed his sweats he lent me from the top of my dresser and told him to change.

“I’m comfortable in these.”
He said. I rolled my eyes. He’s wearing faded jeans that makes him look sexy as hell but they don’t look comfortable to sleep in.

“Yeah and
I’m comfortable going to sleep in heels. Go to the bathroom and change.” I said.

“I didn’t know you were so bossy.”
He said as he grabbed them from me. I gave him a look and he smiled. It will take a lot of me to control myself with him in my bed.

I didn’t change. Just in case Declan, Scarlett or my mom walk in here
, they won’t get the wrong idea. I left my bedroom light on and the door open. That should convince them. “You should get some sleep. Friday is always a busy day at school.” I said facing him.

He looks good under my black comforter. Yum.

“Are you going tomorrow?” He asked. I thought about it. I don’t think I’m ready to see anyone or tell anyone yet.

“I doubt it. I’ll put the alarm on for you.”
I said.

“No, it’s fine. I’m a morning person without anything to wake me up. You sleep in late.”
Alex said. I smiled.

“You’
re too nice. And by the way, you never told me where you were hiding him?” I said pointing outside to the car. “I would remember if you drove me home in that.”

“I was getting it t
ouched up. I used the Audi. I promise that when I see you again, I’ll bring Bumble Bee.” He said. We laughed.

He wants
to see me again. Yes! But then I thought about Bryan. Maybe to some people I’m a slut. I almost had sex with him and now I have Alex lying in my bed. Nothing will happen though. I’ll try to keep that promise.

“Don’t try anything.”
I said.

“Like what?” His eyes bore into mine. I almost lost myself and leaned in to kiss him. Almost. I looked away and hid under my blankets. Guys are guys.
The only thing on their mind is sex. And right about now, so am I. I have to control myself.

“
You know what.” I swiped a stray hair off my face. “You call him bumble bee.” I said with a smile. “That’s exactly what I wanted to call mine.” Transformers really hooked me in.

My eyelids became to
o heavy for me to keep open. They eventually closed and the only thing I remembered was the smile on Alex’s face.

***

The n
ext day I woke up around 3:00 pm and Alex wasn’t on my bed. Right…school. I changed the bandage and I have to say, I’m proud. It looks good. I’m not a doctor but the cut looks like its healing.

I heard the front
door close so I looked out of the window and saw Mom and Scarlett leaving. Before I went downstairs, I changed my shirt and jeans but kept on the sweater from yesterday.

“Declan
, where is Mom and–oh…hi.” I said confused. Alex was talking to him. “I thought you left.” I said.

“I did.
I came back.” Alex said.

D
eclan looked at both of us with raised eyebrows.

“Well
, I guess I’ll leave you two alone. By the way Alex, sweet ride.” Alex glanced my way and smiled. Declan went upstairs. I don’t know what is going on but my family is purposely leaving me alone with a guy. Do they think I’m lonely and need a man? But Alex isn’t a bad choice. I don’t mind one bit.

“What did you do today?”
I asked.

“Nothing really, skipped school,
woke up late.” He said that like he did it all the time. Oh, we’ve got a bad boy in the house.

“I knew I should have
put the alarm on.” I said walking into the kitchen to grab a water bottle. “Do you want one?”

“No, th
anks. I’m fine. I should go. Your brother asked if I could check out your mom’s car. I did, it was fine.” I don’t know what he’s in a rush for but I guess I can’t keep him waiting any longer. He does have a life.

“Al
l right, see you soon?” I asked. Alex nodded. I walked him outside and saw him drive away in the Camaro.

***

I don’t know how I can
still be sleepy but I went to my room, crawled into bed and fell asleep again. Declan came into my room some time later. “Em, wake up. It’s five o’clock. You slept all through Friday and Saturday. What’s up with you?” He’s lying. “Come downstairs. Mom wants to talk to you.” That’s all he said. Shit, he’s not lying.

I pulled the “Life
of the Party” sweater over my head. I think I pulled something because it felt like something tore on my skin. I went downstairs and walked into the kitchen where my family was sitting at the table.

“We have something to tell you.
” Mom said. “We got everything figured out and we’re not going to be moving.”

I pulled my head back in surprise.

“What? How?” I asked. They all looked at each other like they have a secret not worth sharing.

“Someone bought the house a
nd left it to us. It’s ours again. Since the owner paid it in full, we don’t have to worry about the payments. I got my job back too. Declan and Scarlett still can’t go to school but we could probably work something out.” Mom said. I smiled. This is great. This is what I wanted.

So I left them and headed upstairs to talk to Tiffany and Bryan.

Declan walked into my room with a weird look as I grabbed my phone. “He didn’t tell you?” He asked. What is he talking about? “You guys have been spending some time together. I thought you knew.”

I raised an
eyebrow at him.

“What are you talking about?”
I asked.

“Alex…h
e bought the house.” Alex? What the hell? “He said he would buy it. He didn’t want you to move away because you have something to do in Boston. Didn’t say what but it sounded serious.” Alex bought the house? That’s not right.

I do
n’t know what the hell is going on but I am going to find out.

I put
some flats on and left my room. Declan followed me out. “Where are you going?” He asked.

“Can you bring me to Alex’s place? I thin
k I remember the way.” I said. He stared at me like I was an idiot. I guess I am. “Okay, I’ll drive myself then.” I grabbed Mom’s keys and went outside.