Red Alert/Red Notice (The "Super Jerk" Prequel)

14 - Secret

^^Above, chapter title credit: Song by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (O.M.D.)^^

{Raina}

The holiday season arrives fairly uneventfully. El invites me to spend Christmas and New Year's with her family, since mine seems much too dysfunctional to notice whether I come home or not. I jump at the chance, naturally. Any time I don't have to spend at home is time not wasted.

Despite that, the fact that I may have to go home eventually crouches in the back of my mind. I've managed to circumvent two trips now, but when summer vacation comes, I'm not sure I'll be able to put it off any longer. Even though I'm sure by then I'll have enough courage to face whatever that visit entails.

The thought's pushed from my mind when we arrive in New York City, only a forty-five minute drive from school. The tall buildings tower over us, casting dark pools of shadow over the streets. Some might have found it constricting, but I feel safe here. Like I could disappear and no one could find me. Not even my fractured family.

"Come on, country girl, this is my place," El says as she climbs out of the opposite side of the taxi. "I'll get the suitcases if you make sure this hoodlum doesn't drive off."

"Twenty-forty-five for that insult, kid," drawls the taxi driver.

El rolls her eyes, but pays the fare anyway. After we've unloaded, I can't help but stare up at the stately brick apartment building we're standing in front of. There's an awning and a doorman and everything, and the door's even opened for us when we approach.

"Thanks, Ken," El says, with a little salute.

"Any time, Miss Forbes," Ken answers, touching the brim of his cap and winking at me.

"Ken's been the doorman since I was a baby," El explains as we step into an elevator and she pushes the fourth-floor button. "And Mom's helping his kids through private school."

I nod, but say nothing. Unlike the visit to Geoff's, I don't feel constantly out of place or judged. El told me once that I was welcome to come stay any time I wanted, and I was truly grateful to have that one small refuge.

When we enter her apartment, no one's home. El says we arrived in the middle of the workday, and neither of her parents are off yet. That's fine with me, because I could use a little bit of solitude, even if this isn't my home.

Halfway through setting up my place to sleep in her day-bed, the telephone rings. El gets up to answer it, and even though I hear her talking in a low voice, I can't tell what she's saying. She sounds almost afraid, like something bad's happened.

"Who was that, El?" I ask when she comes back.

"A friend of mine," she says, running one hand over her face and looking tired. "His name's Hank."

"Hank?" I repeat, trying to remember if she'd ever mentioned him.

"Yeah. Apparently he's got big news, and he wants me to be the first to know."

"Is he coming over here?"

"Yeah, in about twenty minutes. We should watch the fire escape, he said."

≈

Hank stays true to his word. Twenty minutes after the phone call, there's a sharp rapping on El's bedroom window. Outside is a lanky boy, only a year or two younger than we are, with bright blue eyes and snow caught in his unruly curls. El jumps up and opens it, and he tumbles inside in a heap.

"Hank, Ken knows who you are," El says in a mildly chiding tone as she helps him up. "He'd let you in the front if you just asked."

"Yeah, but..." Hank nervously rubs the legs of his battered jeans, his eyes landing on me. I see something bright and silver flash across them. "Who's that?"