As It Happens (Accidentally In Luck #2)

9. All the Answers, Ever - Cora

*Cora*

"So," I asked as Neo navigated the Friday night traffic, "where are we going?"

"Well, I was just going to go back to my place because it's nice and quiet there, but I didn't want to scare you, so we're going to a park I know. It's quiet too and well lit and in public and stuff," he said, glancing over at me with a look of apprehension I didn't understand.

"Neo, why would I be scared?" I asked, bemused at the idea.

His expression was guarded as he replied. "Elle mentioned I was scary looking and I realized you might think the same thing. I didn't want to frighten you."

I blinked and was silent for a minute. I had put two and two together and realized Neo had been the scary dude on the bike who'd told me, Mom, and Dad that Daniel had "died" and yeah he had been scary then, but not now. He had come to mine, Daniel's, Theo's, everyone I love's rescue, he had taken care of Daniel's body, he'd called me when he went to bury him. Despite how tough he looked, I knew Neo had a good heart and he didn't scare me.

Hell, I realized looking past the scars, tattoos, and the 'I've-seen-shit' look in his eyes that he was younger than I would have guessed.

"Neo," I said suddenly, "how old are you?"

I could tell I caught him off guard because he blinked, looked back and forth at me and the road a few times while also opening and closing his mouth a few times. "Uh," he got out finally, "I'm 21. My birthday's in January."

Younger than people would guess, I knew, younger than I would have guessed too. But even younger than Daniel was? No, that would not have been my guess. I didn't even know what to say to that, he was only two years older than me. I'd turned 19 in April this year and he'd only turned 21 a few months prior to that. I knew he'd had to have gone through a lot, too much, to only be that much older than me. My heart went out to him. Unsure if he would appreciate the sentiment, I didn't continue with the subject and just answered his earlier question. "No, you don't scare me."

"Why not?"

This time it was me that got caught off guard by the question, but I didn't have to think about it before I knew my answer. "In the last year I've learned that the image people show to the world isn't always who they actually are," I told him, shrugging.

We were silent after that, both stuck in thought. I couldn't believe how young we all were anymore. I sure as hell felt older than 19. E and Jay just turned 20 in May (me and Elle had thought it was cute that their birthdays were only like two weeks apart) and Elle would still be 18 until November. Daniel was 21 when he died for real and now I knew Neo was only 21.

All of us had been through so much that our ages didn't seem right anymore. We'd seen death, pain, and war and only Neo, the oldest, was just legally old enough to buy alcohol. It seemed ridiculous.

Neo pulled into the park's lot and, to my surprise, we weren't the only ones there. There was a young couple watching their toddler trying to climb up a slide and another couple pushing their two kids on the swings.

Again, I felt so much older than I was. These people would probably lead normal lives, no gangs, no violent deaths. The life I thought I would lead once upon a time.

My attention fell on Neo again as he parked, but he made no move to get out of the car. "You see past all this, don't you?" he asked, motioning to his tattoos and scars.

"Yeah," I said, "I figured they have some kind of story and a story or two doesn't make up a whole person. So, while that's all I saw at first, eventually I saw underneath."