Part 13 (2/2)

He jerked, surprise on his face. ”What?”

”I said, did I do something wrong? Did I p.i.s.s you off somehow? Because I'm having some trouble figuring you out.”

Crank shrugged and looked out the window again, then said, ”I'm not an easy guy to figure out.”

”I'm not interested enough to try. It's just that last night you were all, stay the h.e.l.l away, and this morning you were friendly, and now I'm sitting in a car with an ice cube. I don't do moody.”

”I didn't ask you to,” he responded.

”Are you always such a d.i.c.khead?”

His eyes widened, and he looked over at me. Then he smirked and laughed out loud. We were still sitting at a red light, so I glared at him.

”You're actually really hot,” he said. The smirk on his face widened a little.

”You're actually really an a.s.s,” I replied.

He grinned and rolled his eyes, and if the light hadn't turned green, I might have punched him. But instead, he said, ”I'm sorry I was such a d.i.c.k last night. Look ... Sean's had a tough time. My mom left almost five years ago. And he's never gotten along well with the kids at school.”

I don't think he realized, but as he spoke, his hands tightened into fists. ”They treat him like dirt. And I don't want to bring someone around who he'll get attached to, only to get hurt again when you stop coming around.”

”Why would he get attached to me? I was only there one night.”

”He's already attached to you. Sean doesn't ask people for things. Ever.”

I blinked my eyes, trying to shove back a wave of empathy for that kid. He was nice, just a little different. But I knew what people were like in high school. Nice didn't cut it in high school. Teenagers could be vicious, and Sean was different. Very different. I could only imagine what he went through every day.

”He's a good kid,” I said.

”You've only seen one side of him. You haven't seen him having a meltdown, and freaking out and breaking things. You haven't seen his heart broken. People think Aspie kids don't want to have friends. It's not that at all. He wants friends desperately, but everybody rejects him.”

”Aspie?”

”Asperger's.”

I took a deep breath, my eyes tearing up a little, and Crank kept talking.

”I'd do anything, anything in the world, to make his life a little easier. But I can't. All I can do is protect him a little.”

We'd reached Central Square. I took a right and then drove slowly into the parking lot at the Metro. I took a deep breath and said, ”So you want me to stay away. Not come to his birthday?”

He shook his head. ”I don't know what I want, all right?”

Well, that made two of us. I squeezed my hands on the steering wheel. ”Well, maybe you need to figure that out. But don't be an a.s.shole while you do it. Because I didn't do anything but be nice to you and your brother.”

”Well, you did wreck my car.” As he said it, a grin appeared on his face.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. ”All right. There is that. I promise I won't do it again.”

He opened the car door, started to get out, then paused and looked over at me. ”All right. I'll call and let you know what the damage is. And ... do come Sat.u.r.day. Sean will be upset if you don't.”

”I'll be there,” I said.

Without another word he got out, slammed the door of the car and walked away.

Twenty minutes later, I had the car parked and leaned back in my seat for just a few seconds and closed my eyes. I was exhausted. It had been a long, late night after a long day on Friday. I'd hardly slept, and it had been an emotionally charged morning. I wanted to get back to my room and go to sleep for a couple hours before I went out with Barrett.

Which I really didn't want to do. I don't know why I'd agreed to go out to dinner with him. A couple days ago it seemed like a good idea. Now I wasn't so sure. But I'd committed, and he was going to show up at six o'clock, and I didn't want to be a complete b.i.t.c.h and cancel. So there. Stuck.

For just a second, I thought of taking the coward's way out and canceling via text message. Then I realized I hadn't touched my phone since ... the accident? Oh, no. When I hit Crank's car, I'd lost the phone. I frantically started looking, and there it was, in the back seat. I picked it up. Twelve missed calls.

Oh, for G.o.d's sake. Nine from my mother. Looked like she'd gotten over her aversion to cell phones. The other three were from Jemi. Now that was unusual. I selected her number and dialed.

She answered immediately, her soft British accent sounding urgent. ”h.e.l.lo? Julia! Are you all right?”

”Hey, Jemi ... of course I'm okay, what's wrong?”

Silence for a few seconds, and then she said, ”Um ... you ran out of the Metro last night upset and didn't come back to the room ... and you weren't answering your phone. I was worried. Where are you?”

”Oh ... I'm right across the street, I'll be back at our room in a few minutes.”

”I'm here. Your mother has called. A few times.”

”Thanks,” I said.

As I walked back to Cabot Hall, I realized I should have thought a little more. I wasn't exactly the type to stay out all night and not answer calls. I wasn't really the type to go out at all. And I knew my roommates had some kind of system worked out where they called each other, kept tabs on each other, if one was going to be out late. It was a safety thing, and smart, and had never really been necessary for me.

G.o.d, I was exhausted. I trudged up the stairs to the third floor and down the hall to our suite. When I got there, Jemi was sitting on the couch, her feet up on the coffee table, a textbook in her lap. She looked up and gave me an uncertain smile.

”Hey,” I said.

She opened her mouth to speak, but the phone rang first. She gave an unhappy smile. ”That will likely be your mother again.”

”Sorry,” I muttered, then walked over to the phone and picked it up. It had a tiny piece of gra.s.s stuck to the cradle. Which meant one of my roommates had searched the yard, found the phone, and brought it up here. Oh, boy, there were going to be questions.

”h.e.l.lo?” I said.

”Julia? Julia?” My mother said at a shout. I started to respond, but before I even had a chance, she said, ”Can you hear me? Answer me!”

”Yes, Mother.”

”Where have you been?” she demanded. ”I've been trying to reach you since last night.”

”I stayed at a ... friend's house last night. I forgot my phone in the car.”

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