TRAIN [FIRST DRAFT]

Chapter 18: I Spent the Night

After supper, Celeste collected the dishes and retreated to the kitchen to wash them. Gavin said goodnight to the rest of us, and Mr. and Mrs. Griffiths swiftly showered him with compliments, for the food and his company, like robots with a mood switch. Everyone stood up in unison and walked Gavin to the door as he promised to train Molly and Cliff in the morning. That should be fun.

"Are you coming with me?" he asked me.

"I'll stay here with Aimee, make sure she's safe." I had to decline because when I looked at her, I literally couldn't do otherwise.

"Well, you parked me in."

"Yeah, I'll... yeah."

I pointed Gavin to the front door, which was already open. We strode to our cars – his being more masculine than mine – under the star-speckled sky.

"You sure you don't wanna come back to GINM?" he asked again.

"Not if I can avoid it," I admitted, taking the question as a joke. He knew that.

I stood in thought, leaning my hand on my car door: If only my mom had another job or stayed at home. What if she didn't know what Mitchel was a part of, if she didn't know about GINM. Maybe they'd still be married. Maybe my life would be normal.

Gavin brought me out of these thoughts; he was waving his slightly closed hand in front of my face, my keys clasped between his thumb and index finger.

"Bub, you there?"

"Yeah... sorry," I said, and took my keys.

I pulled out of the driveway, and in again when he left. By the time I climbed out my car, he was long gone.

It was about nine thirty and everyone else went to bed, but Aimee waited for me in the foyer and locked up behind me, and then she led me to her room. She halted at the door, motionless for a second, eyeing into her room like it wasn't hers at all.

"I think Celeste made my bed," she said as nonchalantly as she possibly could.

I shrugged, "Maybe," I replied.

"Maybe," she repeated, climbing onto the bed, "you were wrong about her."

She grinned, quite proud for her precocious conclusion. I looked at her, following leisurely.

"Yeah... no," I said as I plopped exhaustedly beside her. All the talk of AIM and Abba and whatnot had drained me, but I couldn't blame Aimee for being curious. I would be, too, if I were in her shoes. She deserved to know whatever she wanted to know, and I could tell by the look in her eyes that she had a question on her mind.

"Do we have a plan? Or are we literally gonna go in there, beat her up and hope that she surrenders?"

"I don't know. Unfortunately, I don't make the rules," I said apologetically. "Your idea sounds pretty good, though," I laughed, and so did she, but she was sure to smack me first.

"I'll just have to train extra hard, so that I'm prepared for anything." She contemplated that concept, daydreamed, but brought herself back into the world and looked at me. "I'm gonna wash up," she hopped off of her bed and left the room.

After a while, with nothing to do, I climbed into her bed. For a moment I thought it was completely normal, instinctive, but then I started overthinking...

"I'm fully dressed," I said, oblivious to the fact that I was talking aloud to myself. "She just has to lie next to me."

Was it weird that I almost felt guilty or intrusive or... like a pervert? What the heck, you're just sleeping!