Siempre (21 page)

Travis and Alana turned to look at him when he came out of his room. Alana was sitting on the couch with her laptop—probably because Travis had overruled her and turned the TV to the History Channel.

“Hungry?” Travis asked.

“I want a shower first, but yeah.”

“I got a text from Michael. He hasn’t talked to her, but Lupe’s back in the dorm. His roommate saw her.”

“Thanks.” Sean sent a text to Jaime to tell him, but he wasn’t surprised when he didn’t get an answer back.

When he walked back out of the shower, Travis’s door was closed, and Alana had turned off the TV. He didn’t think anything about it until he’d come back out of his room dressed and Alana was too quiet.

“What’s going on?” He looked at Travis’s door and then back at her.

“I don’t really know. He took his phone in there ten minutes ago,” Alana said. “I tried to listen at the door, but he’s too quiet.”

“You don’t know who he’s talking to?”

“Okay. I do. Well, I’m not sure, but I think it’s Michael,” Alana said.

“Do you know why?”

“Not really. When he told Travis that Lupe was home, he wanted to know why Travis was asking, and Travis didn’t tell him. Then a few minutes ago he started texting Travis. I guess when Travis didn’t tell him anything, he decided to confront Lupe.”

“And?” Sean asked when she didn’t continue.

“And I don’t know. Travis stopped telling me what the texts said and locked me out of his room.”

“You can pick that lock.”

“He knows that. I think he used a chair.”

Sean knocked on Travis’s door harder than he probably had to.

“If something’s going on, I should get to know about it,” he called through the door.

When Travis opened the door a few seconds later, he was off the phone.

“I’m not really sure you want to know this,” Travis said.

“Why?” Sean let him pass, but he followed Travis to kitchen.

“Because if I tell you, you’re kind of obligated to tell Jaime. He would want to know, and you’re probably not going to want to tell him.
I
don’t want you to tell him.” Travis pulled eggs out of the refrigerator and turned on the stove as he spoke. “I’m not his boyfriend. If I want to withhold information for his own good, I can damn well do whatever I want, and I think you should let me.”

Sean thought for a minute before asking, “Can you tell me why you don’t want him to know? Is it possible to tell me without telling me what it is?”

Travis focused on the omelet he was making instead of answering, and Sean let him. Travis would talk when he was ready. While he waited, Sean played on his phone and read over every text message he’d gotten from Jaime since Thanksgiving to remind himself Jaime cared about him. Jaime would come back. And when he came back, it wasn’t going to be just so he could break up with Sean like his family wanted him to. Eventually, Travis put the omelet on a plate in front of him and came around the counter to sit on the stool next to him.

“She wants to tell him something, and she got Michael to trust her enough to pass the message to me. I told him he couldn’t call you himself and he’s scared enough of me that he listened, and Lupe’s not going to do it herself either. I don’t trust her. I know you don’t trust her.”

“But Jaime will want to,” Sean filled in.

“His judgment with her doesn’t seem to be that great,” Travis said.

“I don’t want to know. I really don’t want to know, but if he knows I know there’s a message and I kept that from him….”

“So tell him that, and then tell him I’m not telling you. Because I’m not.”

“Travis.”

“I’m not talking about it. The end. I’m not telling you what she said, and I’m not telling him. I’m also not telling Aleksandra after he gets pissed off and sends her after me. You can all just be pissed off at me if you want, because I don’t give a shit.”

“I’ll let that go until I talk to him,” Sean said. He knew exactly how that would go. If he wanted to ignore it and eat his omelet, it wasn’t like Jaime had been able to answer his last text anyway.

“I’m not changing my mind either way,” Travis said before getting up and going into the bathroom without looking back. A minute later, the shower started, and Sean had no choice but to give up for the moment.

His phone vibrated, but it was only Aleksandra.

I don’t know what you said, but he seems a little better. It’s possible he’s lying to me because he’s only texting, but he doesn’t usually. Sorry I demanded some of his limited texting time, but I’m sure he’ll text you later.

He’d be lying if he said part of him wasn’t jealous, but if things were reversed, he had to admit he’d text Travis as much as Jaime, so he texted back to thank her for the update and settled on the couch with Alana. Half an hour later, when he got a new text, he almost didn’t want it.

Did Michael say anything about Lupe besides that she was back? Did he talk to her?

“You can just tell him the truth,” Alana said after he showed her. “Travis still isn’t going to talk.”

He did and he called Travis about it, but Travis won’t tell me what he said.

Why?

He doesn’t think it’s a good idea to tell you and if he tells me, I’ll tell you.

Jaime answered faster than Sean expected, but maybe he didn’t have time to think about his answers if he didn’t have much time in general.

Did you actually ask him or are you letting him not tell you because you trust him?

I do trust him, but will ask him again anyway for you. He probably won’t tell me. He’s really stubborn when he thinks he’s right.

“Travis!” Sean yelled toward Travis’s door without getting up. He’d only come out of the shower a few minutes before, so Sean wasn’t surprised when he came out of his room shirtless.

“Why are you yelling? There’s not a fire.” Travis threw on his tank top as he walked to the couch and sat down.

“What did Michael say?”

“No,” Travis said without even pausing. He picked up the remote and started scrolling through the screen guide.

That’s not fair. Travis barely even knows me.

Jaime’s next text came before Sean could answer.

Do you know if Lupe wants me to know whatever it is?

Sean groaned, and part of him wished he hadn’t pushed Travis at all so he wouldn’t even know that much.

“Want me to steal your phone and tell him I did it?” Alana asked.

“No.” It would be easier, but he wasn’t about to cut off what contact he had by choice.

She does. But I asked him again and he said no.

Ask him seriously.

Sean sighed, but he took the remote from Travis’s hand.

“Okay. You have to tell me. He knows I don’t really want you to, but he’s right. He has a right to know. So what is it?”

“No.”

“Travis.”

“I’ll tell you that she’s fine. She’s not injured. She’s not dropping out of school. She’s not starving. There’s no reason to worry about her. That’s all I’m saying.”

I asked him. I promise. And I got confirmation that she’s ok. She’s not dropping out of school. And that’s it.

When Jaime didn’t answer, Sean tried sending an apology.

“Travis. He doesn’t believe me and he’s mad at me. That doesn’t help things.”

An hour and no texts later, Travis must have realized Sean was starting to edge toward mad.

“If it makes you feel better, I’ll call Michael and tell him that I’ll go there tomorrow and talk to her in person. She can try to convince me that she deserves to talk to him then,” Travis said.

“She made Michael call you when she could have called on his phone. She’s too scared to talk to you herself.”

“She showed up to a week of classes and her evaluation when I was mad at her. If she cares about talking to him as much as she cares about her grades, she’ll talk to me.”

“Okay. Call now. Call him right now.”

“No listening at the door,” Travis said as he got up.

“If that worked, Alana would have already told me what was going on.”

The twenty minutes Travis was in his room made Sean wish Alana hadn’t given in when her mom asked her to come home. He fiddled with his phone and reread every text message Jaime had sent him in the last few days. He opened the computer and made himself answer Elizabeth’s e-mail. He was sure his response ended up rambling and panicky. He jumped in his seat at the sound as Travis’s door opened, and Travis didn’t even mock him.

“She agreed to meet me on campus tomorrow afternoon. I’m not making any promises, but I’ll talk to her. If I think it’s a good idea for Jaime to hear anything she has to say, I’ll let her e-mail me whatever she wants through Michael, and you can send it to Jaime.”

“She could send it from his e-mail directly to me.”

“And then you’d have to send it, even if she sent something stupid.” Travis sat back down next to him on the couch. “Trust me. Let me handle this. You worry about Jaime and yourself.”

Sean gave up and nodded as picked up his phone to tell Jaime about the meeting. He copied Aleksandra on it to save Jaime the time later. At least he knew Jaime would answer that if he could, so Sean could relax a bit during the hours he had to wait before he got a response.

I wasn’t mad at you. I know you’re trying. I knew if you were letting Travis not tell you, it was because you want to help me. But thanks for getting him to go talk to Lupe. I want to talk to her, even if you all think it’s a bad idea.

It was late enough that the lack of sleep made Sean get up from the couch so he could lie down and text Jaime from his bed, but still early enough in Arizona that Sean doubted he’d have a long time to talk.

How are you doing?
Sean asked instead of giving in to the urge to beg Jaime to come home.

The same. I e-mailed the school that I had a family emergency and might have to take a semester off. I’m not sure I’ll be gone that long, but I don’t want to just not show up if it gets worse.

Is there anything I can do?

Not right now. I have to go, I told my mom I’d go to mass with her. Get some sleep. I think they suspect I’m texting at night and I want to talk to you, but they won’t let me sleep late, so I’m exhausted. I’ll sleep tonight and stay up tomorrow for you, ok?

Sean swallowed his disappointment and texted back an agreement. The last thing Jaime needed was to exhaust himself.

T
RAVIS
WAS
already gone when Sean stumbled into the living room the next morning, but Alana was back.

“He just left,” Alana said. “He said to tell you that he’s not meeting with her until four, and then they have to actually talk, so try not to send him a hundred texts asking how it’s going. He left early because he wanted to go pick up some things from the studio before he went. But then he contradicted himself and said to text him if you started to freak out or something happened or if I thought maybe something might happen, so you can probably just ignore that and text him as much as you want.”

Sean settled on the couch next to her and tried to listen to her commentary on the movie. He ate when she told him to eat and went through stretches and a minor workout when she pointed out they’d been too lazy since they’d come back. As the day stretched on with no word from Jaime, he caved a few times and let himself text Travis so Travis could tell him to stop worrying.

When Aleksandra called at four thirty, he was still in the shower so he wouldn’t cave and interrupt Travis, but Alana called through the door that she was on the phone.

He rinsed his hair and dried off just enough that he wasn’t completely dripping when he wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out to take the phone.

“Have you heard from him at all today?” Aleksandra asked.

“No. Have you?” Sean answered.

“Sorry. He’s probably just busy. I just haven’t heard anything, and I was worried. I was hoping he wasn’t answering me because he only had time to text you or something. But that’s stupid. He can text fast enough to tell me that in between texting you.”

“I’ve been telling myself he hasn’t had time,” Sean admitted. “Do you think something’s wrong?”

“No. Sorry. I told Alana not to make you get out of the shower, but she said you’d want her to. I’m just worried and I haven’t heard from him either. He’d be mad I called and made you worry more for no reason.”

“It’s okay. I get it. I’m worried too.”

“I also wanted to know if you’d heard from Travis how things are going with Lupe. I got impatient.”

“He hasn’t called. He promised he would call as soon as he could. So they’re still talking.”

“So I’ll let you get dressed. Just call me if you hear something, okay?”

Sean handed the phone back to Alana after he hung up. He didn’t bother repeating his instructions to get him if anything happened in the few minutes it would take him to get dressed.

“He’s probably okay. Maybe he hasn’t been able to charge his phone or something. He’s kind of hoping they forget he has it, so maybe that’s all it is.”

Sean was saved from arguing with her when Travis called.

“Hey. We’re not having a long conversation about this because I have to get home and you can argue with me there,” Travis said.

“You still don’t trust her.”

“She didn’t bother trying to lie to my face, but I don’t think it’ll do any good for him to hear what she has to say. That’s it. You can tell Aleksandra that, and if you want to argue about it, we can do it when I get home.”

“But it’s going to be like arguing with a wall, isn’t it?”

“Well, you can tell Jaime you tried.”

Jaime didn’t answer the text he sent, and Aleksandra just sent back a text that Travis was probably right anyway.

When the day turned into night without any message from Jaime, Sean decided he didn’t have the energy to fight with Travis if Jaime hadn’t asked him to. He sent a text to Aleksandra at eleven and she confirmed that she hadn’t heard anything either, so he turned all the alerts on his phone to the loudest settings and followed Alana to bed. If he slept through everything, she’d wake him up.