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I glare at him. “She was about to take her car, drunk,” I begin bitterly.
“Damn it, she always has to do the opposite of what we ask her to do. You should have let her do it, let her learn from her mistakes.”
I raise an eyebrow and put an index finger in his direction. “Aren’t you tired of being a big, reckless, selfish jerk? Would you have let her drive? What if she had died?!”
I can see that he is shocked by my insults, but I don’t give a damn.
“That’s the second time she’s gotten wasted because you make her feel bad. I don’t know what’s going on between you two, and I’m not going to interfere with your bullshit ultimatums. But you better get your head out of your ass, man, because you’re going to lose her forever.”
I don’t wait for his answer and walk to my car, discovering Yeleen sound asleep in the passenger seat, a little saliva dripping from her half-opened mouth.
34. Guilty?
Iris
I can see Tucker’s pickup truck waiting for me in the distance, parked in the lot in front of my building. To say I’m dreading the next few hours would be an understatement. After our…talk on Monday, and then our confrontation on Wednesday, we’ve been kind of avoiding each other all week. We haven’t talked, not even during lunch with TJ and the rest of the gang yesterday. I didn’t really have a choice but to join their table when Yeleen called out to me in the distance. Her eyes silently thanked me for bringing her back, but we didn’t exchange any words about the events. As I imagined, no one must really know about her troubles with Trey.
Well, actually, I could have had lunch somewhere else. But…I didn’t want to be alone in my corner. I swore to myself that I was a new person when I came here, and I’m starting to realize that human contact is essential to my reconstruction. So, once again, I settled in with their Pack, even laughing at TJ’s dumb jokes. Damn, I felt like I was surrounded by buddies. And I wasn’t afraid of how others would look at me. Even though I tried to ignore the few glances Tucker gave me on the sly.
What could I possibly say to him?I admit, I want you too, Tucker, so bad, even. But I can’t, because sleeping together again would bring new complications, and that scares me. Because I mustn’t get attached?Yeah, definitely not a good thing.
I reach his car and open the door silently. He glances at me a little more kindly. I think he’s calmed down in the last few days. Or maybe he’s planning revenge for my victory on Wednesday.
“Hi,” I say with a little smile.
He takes a deep breath, starts the engine and finally answers me. “Hi.”
A minute passes silently. And to think we have an hour’s drive to kill…it might get awkward quickly.
“So, your class?” he finally asks me.
Surprised that he starts the conversation, I decide to answer him. “Well, not bad, actually. It was about behaviorism. And you, sociology?”
He just nods and clenches his fingers on the wheel. So cordial. Damn, that doesn’t sound like us.
“Did you finish writing your report?”
“Yeah, I sent it to the teacher this morning. Did you?”
I nod while digging through my bag to find my copy of it. “I printed it out too.”
I stare at the outside of the car and slowly sink into my thoughts.
The trip promises to be long…
***
Brighton is completely different from Denver. The courthouse is quite small and fits in well with the charm of the city. It doesn’t feel like a totally austere place where a lot of trials are held. Tucker pulls up a few feet away, and I pick up my bag before noticing he’s not moving, still sitting behind the wheel. He’s watching me intently, looking worried.
“What?” I whisper.
“Is this going to be okay?” he asks, leaning towards me. He moves back almost immediately, as if he had just realized what he had done. “I know you’ve been through a lot of shit, and you told me your parents were murdered. So…”
I put a fake smile on my face. “Of course, I’ll be okay.”
I’m strong. At least I try to be. And I’ve been working on this for a long time.
I’ll be fine. I just need to focus on the case, not my own life.
