The Way Back To You

Chapter 9

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I tap my finger against my chin, scrolling down a line of thick paragraphs on my computer. Alex's ambiguous sentence is still haunting me. Of course, it did occur to me to run after him and demand what he meant. The boy can't just drop a bomb like that and expect me not to have questions for him, but I was too late. He was gone.

So I resorted to the next best thing, which is why I now sit at my desk with my laptop balanced on my knee, trying to figure out where Alex really lives.

Okay....Now that I think about it, it may seem a bit odd, but I swear my intentions are pure.

I touch one careful finger down on my mouse and click down. I see a list of names and their corresponding addresses....But none of them is an 18-year-old half-Spanish wrestler named Alexander Winston Valdez.

I press a palm to my temple and close my eyes,  muttering indistinctly under my breath.

That's the second time I owe Alex, and this time a simple 'thank you' won't suffice.

The least I can do is find out what he meant when he said he didn't have a home...

Well isn't it obvious? He doesn't have a home.

I shake my head. Alex speaks in riddles. It's his "thing." That can't really be what he meant. Maybe he was teasing me? Maybe he wanted a reaction, or wanted my sympathy, or...I don't know what he wanted. But I'd be a terrible person if I didn't make sure, right?

I sigh and rub my eyes, shut off my laptop and crawl into bed. Yvonne sits on the other end of the room, paging through a book. Her hair is still as bright blue as it was when she first dyed it, though perhaps she owes that to the monthly barber visits, where she never fails to re-dye and keep it shoulder-length in a tight bob.

Her eyes snap to look at me, and she raises one thin eyebrow.

"Going to bed already? Without any dinner?"

Ethan sits on her right, turning to look at me. He's in the middle of chewing a bite of food. He swallows and sighs.

"Look, if this is about that diet you tried last month-"

"Shut up!"

I roll my eyes. "It's not that. I'm just really tired right now and need to sleep, okay?"

Ethan puts up his hands in surrender and turns back around, smirking.

I pull the coverlets over to one side and groan. "Oh...And get out of my room."

I shut the lights off and make sure my siblings leave before sinking down into my pillow and falling into an uneasy slumber...

                                                                                       ...

Mason and Quinn walk ahead of me, hands interlocked, chattering happily. I hang back in the hallway with Charity, waiting for the crowd in front of me to disperse so we can get to English.

Quinn stops in the doorway to Calculus, pouting.

"See you guys later."

She smiles at us in turn and moves her eyes to stare mistily into Mason's. He grabs her around the waist and presses his lips to hers.

Charity makes a small noise of dissent besides me and grabs my elbow, steering us ahead of them.

"Probably best to leave that sight when we still can, ya know? Trying to keep my breakfast down."

I laugh and slide my arm into hers. "I won't argue."

As we turn the final corner, I let go of Charity's hold and she stops to look at me, puzzled.

"Oh, uh, you go ahead. I've just got to...Use the bathroom."

It's a lame excuse, but Charity doesn't ask questions, thankfully. I slip away back down the hallway and find Alex jamming his books into his new locker.

"Alex?"

Alex straightens up, looks around, spots me and nods once. "Hey."

He bangs his locker shut, but it springs back instantaneously. I step forward.

"I'll close it, you just gotta...Bang it down twice to get it to lock."

He moves away while I shut it closed and stands there against the wall, staring at me sideways.

"Get home all right?"

I nod. "Yeah. I mean...You made sure of that."

Alex laughs derisively. "Right, right....I couldn't have you slinking about like a lost dog around the rings. Wouldn't have been very chivalrous of me, would it?"

I shake my head. "I, uh, suppose not....But how about you? Did you get home all right?"

I bite my lip and stare at him. He looks amused by my interest. "Oh, I found someplace."

"A hotel? Did you say...You didn't have a home yet? Or like an apartment? Some kind of...Complex...?"

The question hangs in the air between us. Alex shifts his hold on the books in his bag before beginning in a low voice.

"Did you ever hear the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat?'"

I purse my lips. "Well then. Good thing I'm a dog. Slinking around the rings, right?"