Living with the Player

Chapter 16

"You're really not going to tell me where we're going?" I ask, my eyes glancing back and forth from the GPS to the road as I drive.

"Just trust me, Jennie," he says, reaching for the radio.

"I don't," I mutter under my breath. "You aren't taking me somewhere to kill me, are you?"

He just smiles. "As long as you behave," he says, looking at me through his lashes.

I press on the gas pedal, staring ahead yet feeling his eyes on me. "We're here," I say, pulling into a parking lot. He hops out of the car immediately and looks at me.

"Do you wanna wait here?" he asks, scratching the back of his neck.

"I'll go with you," I say and he pauses for a minute before nodding. He looks slightly nervous. He's never nervous, which is making me nervous.

We walk to the other side of the parking lot, hiding behind bushes like some 4th graders playing hide and seek. We wait and wait. His neck is craning to see something but there's no one there.

"We should go soon..." I say, looking at my phone, but my voice fades as I notice his hands shaking. Brows creased, I look at him and his face is unusually pale. Pressing my lips together, I reach out and pat his back softly, like my mom used to. "Are you okay?"

He takes a deep breath and looks at me, nodding but still pale. When I take his hand in mine to stop the shaking, he says, "My palms are sweaty," and tries to force a smile.

"It's okay," I say.

He breathes deeply in and out. "Let's go," he decides. Just as we're about to stand up, I see his other hand clench into a fist. He freezes in place.

"What's wrong..." My voice fades as I see what he sees.

Mr. Accardi, Nico's dad, steps out of the building back door and looks around with another man, a younger one. They're both holding cigarettes and laughing. I see them survey the place for anyone before embracing in a kiss.

Nico goes cold beside me, lips slightly apart, and face tense. He stares at them, absolutely stiff. His body isn't really doing anything different but his breaths start getting heavier. I don't know what to do.

"Nico," I say. "Hey, look at me for a second." Beads of sweat start forming at the top of his forehead and his breathing gets louder. He reaches out his shaky hand and I take it as a sign to hold it. "Do you want to walk around?" I ask and he nods. I help him stand up quietly and walk towards my car. "Breathe with me," I say, trying to remember anything that I ever learned.

Geez, our public school system is useless.

He breathes along with me for a few minutes, saying, "I'm fine. I'm fine. It's over."

"Do you want to go to the hospital?" I ask but he shakes his head.

"I'm okay now. Let's just go."

With that, he walks to my car and slips in, staring out the window. I drive in silence, contemplating if I should say anything. The radio plays softly between us.

"It was an anxiety attack," he says quietly. "I get them once in a while and I guess... this just triggered it." He looks over at me. "Thank you. I'm glad I wasn't alone."

I look back at him and smile softly. "Thank you for telling me. And, hey, you're not alone anymore. I'm your accomplice." He smiles slightly but it's small.

I clear my throat. "Do you wanna talk about your dad?" I ask carefully.

His eyes start to cloud and he's quiet for so long that I think he's not going to respond. Finally, he says, "I'm just surprised. I had a suspicion that he was seeing someone. I just didn't know it was him. I didn't even know he liked guys."

"How do you feel?"

He shrugs. "I'm not... I'm not mad because it's a guy. I don't know if I'm mad at all. I'm just... confused."

"That's normal," I say. "I would feel confused too." He's quiet. "Are you okay going back to school?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," he says so smoothly it sounds rehearsed. "Thanks for coming with me, Jennie."

"Of course," I say. "And I won't tell anyone so if you need someone to talk to... we do live in the same house."

"Yeah," he says breathily as if remembering, as he stares at me with a sense of peace. "We do."

A/N: Eek Friday the 13th!