Fortified (7 page)

M
oving hadn't been
Orlando's idea of a good time, at first. Gone were the days of enjoying physical labor. Like most teenagers his age, he liked to spend as much time in bed as he could get away with. By the time the weekend rolled around, however, he was so happy to be out of the house and school, he'd have done just about anything to not have to see his parents, his sister, or his ex. Even lift heavy boxes and listen to Nia's rant of the day. It wasn't like Dallas had a lot of things to be moved anyway. A bag of clothes, leftover food from the wing where he'd been hiding, and all of the goodies Orlando bought to keep him from going insane. Everything fit into one large box, a backpack, and three grocery bags. All of the other essentials had been ordered and delivered to the spacious condominium he'd bought near uptown. The location had to be close enough where traveling wasn't a pain, but far enough away from people who might recognize Dallas.

“A new game system? Aren't your parents going to see the bill and freak?” Dallas asked as he looked over the new box with all of the equipment inside.

Orlando pinched the bridge of his nose. “Eighteen, complete control, remember? They can't look at my bills anymore otherwise they'd have never let me furnish this place for you. Well, okay, they could open my mail but that'll stop once I remind my Dad that's a felony. I don't get why they care so much about how I spend
my
money anyway. Things could be so much worse. Don't they read the tabloids?”

“Tell us how you really feel,” Nia quipped from the kitchen where she was unpacking a box of new glasses.

“How about you mind your own business?” Orlando snapped back.

Dallas held up his hands. “Guys, come on. Please be nice, or at least fake it? Otherwise this is going to be a long day.”

“I am being nice,” Orlando said. “There was a plethora of meaner replies in my arsenal.”

“And Orly knows I only have warm squishes in my heart for him.” Nia blew him a kiss. “It's not my fault he makes it so easy to pick on him.”

“Our spats keep me entertained,” he added.

Dallas shook his head and pulled out the video game console so he could put it over by the TV. “If you say so. Anyway, Orly, sometimes it's hard to remember you're all grown up now because the last time we spent time together we were only fifteen. I feel like we're back in those days,” he said.

Not sure how I feel about that,
Orlando thought. Being fifteen again meant that he was back to being a selfish brat. It also meant Dallas was back to feeling alone and lost.
He wouldn't kill himself again, though, would he? Not when he just came back. There's so much he's got going for him now. And Nia… I would think that even if he didn't want to stay for me, he would for her. They're too…schmoopy to be having a rough patch.

When Dallas committed suicide, Orlando had been devastated. For so long, he blamed, hated, and punished himself. He'd been neglectful, wrapped up in popularity, sports, and girls. Even going so far as to lie to Dallas so he could go to a party. If he'd not gone, if he'd chosen to be with his friend in need, then Dallas might not have died in the first place. Whatever he could do to keep it from happening again, he would.
I'm going to be a better friend.

Dallas glanced at him. “The self-loathing thing is getting old, man.”

“Stop reading my mind,” Orlando said. He groaned. “You know I don't like it when you do that. And it's hard not to feel this way after everything that's happened. If you didn't want me to take it personally, maybe you should have thought about that part more thoroughly before you…” He bit his lip.

If Dallas was bothered by the comment, he didn't act like it. “Before I slit my wrists?”

“Right…”

“Maybe someday I'll try to explain what was going on in my head that day, but it's...hard to articulate right now. In retrospect there were so many factors at play. But I can also accept responsibility for my actions. No, I hadn't been thinking too much about how it would affect everyone else, and I definitely didn't think you'd believe it was your fault. When your head gets into that kind of a place…” He paused. “I'm sorry. I promise, I won't do anything that extreme to try and solve my problems.”

Orlando wanted to believe him, desperately. For now, everything seemed great, stable. How long would it last? Life never stayed easy. With the war an added factor, it'd all get complicated fast. The days where they'd be able to bond and reconnect would become fewer. The happy, joyful bubble wouldn't stay forever. He refused to think about it any further, not then.
Moving, focus on moving.
“So I hope you like the colors I picked for the walls and furniture. I didn't want to do anything too wild.”

“Brown leather is pretty classy,” Dallas said flatly, clearly disappointed in the topic shift. “The dark green you chose for the bedroom is good too. Not like I'm picky about interior decorating. It's not pink. That's probably the only thing I would have hated.”

“I want you to enjoy it enough to not let Nia redo it all,” he said.

Wincing, Dallas started to unload what was left in the box. “You're still okay with her staying here, right?”

“I've never been okay with her staying here.” Orlando folded his arms in front of him. “But I meant what I said: I can't stop you. It's not like I'll be here to check up on you anyway. I'm not going to babysit you and tell you how to live. You asked my opinion, I gave it. The rest is up to you. Just be careful.”

Nia let out a quiet snort and disappeared down the hall to the master bedroom.

“You'd do the same thing if it was your girlfriend in trouble,” Dallas mumbled.

“Probably.” Though he hated to admit it. Mostly because he knew it justified Dallas's actions. Living with a girl he'd only been dating for a couple of months still sounded like a bad idea, regardless if she had a crummy home situation. Her parents abused her verbally and physically. Nia had to get away. End of story. But Orlando also understood the kinds of temptations girls could present without them even realizing it. If Angela were in that kind of trouble, however, he'd do whatever it took to keep her safe.
Funny, I immediately think about her. Who am I to judge his love life? Mine is pretty messed up too.

Dallas opened his mouth, no doubt ready to make a comment about Orlando's thoughts. One of the joys of having a best friend who was telepathic—not.

Rolling his eyes, Orlando looked over the delivery bill from the furniture store. “Just say it, man.”

“What's going on? To make your love life so messed up, I mean. I'm worried about you.”

“I think I can only roll my eyes so many times before I start breaking a muscle up there,” Orlando mumbled. “Don't worry about me. The last thing anyone should do is worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

With a shrug, his friend ripped open the box containing the DVD player. “Tell me anyway.”

Can't we just be normal?
Orlando plopped onto the couch and sprawled out.
This was a good choice.
Out loud he said, “The usual love triangle of my life. I'm technically dating Tait, I think? We've gone out a few times and it's all emotional. I don't think we're official, but might as well be. At least, she's treating it like we are and I'm trying to hold onto as much distance as I can. Which is hard to do, by the way, because she's pushy.”

“No more randomly kissing Angela?” Dallas asked.

“Ugh, no, that was a mistake.”

“That bad?”

“That good,” Orlando said softly. “But if I'm serious about giving Tait a real shot...”

Dallas sighed. “Which I think is stupid and a waste of time. Just because she's forgotten what she did, will you ever be able to?”

“Alan did say we could be rehabilitated when the whole thing was over with...”

“You wouldn't do that. Not with everything you've learned. And I don't mean about the aliens coming here to fight, but your heritage, all of your new friends...me. You'd forget all of that.” Dallas ripped open another box, the sound almost drowning out his quiet voice. “I get you want to be fair, or that you think you're being fair, but it's pretty clear you're only half invested in this relationship out of duty. Angela factor aside, I get this feeling you're holding onto the past more than actually having an attraction to her.”

Orlando scoffed. “Have you seen Tait?”

“Yeah, she's hot. Non-physical attraction.”

“Are you having fun psychoanalyzing me? Cause you're doing a really good job of it.”

Laughing, Dallas tossed a piece of cardboard at him. “Guess I've found my new calling at life. But seriously, man, do you still care about her? You know, like
that
?”

“I care about her,” Orlando whispered. “That's never changed. I don't want to see anything bad happen to her.”

“But?” Dallas supplied.

Orlando groaned. “It's hard to tell if I want to date her or if I just want to keep her safe. I'm still convinced she was brainwashed into doing all of the work for the blue tribe. Somehow she was manipulated. But yeah...it's hard to forget. When we fought one another in the forest back in November, I could see the determination in her eyes, and I honestly think she believed in what she was doing. That she thought it was the right thing.” He frowned. “A normal person wouldn't believe in euthanizing teens unless they were somehow persuaded by…unethical…means. Right? So either she's being messed with, or…she's a bad person at her core. I feel like I won't know for sure unless I...try? Am I being stupid?”

“Honestly?”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “No, lie to me. That's why I asked...”

“Honest truth, I understand your logic, but yeah it's pretty dumb. You have certain feelings for
Angela.
The more you keep messing around with this Tait thing, the higher the chances are that Angela is going to get turned away and she isn't going to come back.” Dallas then had to keep driving it home. “You're on the road to burning the bridge. Girls don't like being strung along. You're being a scuzz man, and you're doing it to both of them. Tait isn't going to take it well either.”

“Why do you think I've been staying away from Angela?” Orlando asked. “Because I don't want to lead her on until I know what's going to happen next. It's getting hard to keep my cool when I'm with her, to not tell her how I feel or make a move. And yes, I know this is a sign I need to stay away from Tait. I just…I'm not over her yet.”

Dallas threw another piece of paper at him. “Seems to me you're pretty done with her, you're just having a hard time telling her no for good. If you want to waste your time, be my guest. Don't be surprised if Angela decides she's sick of waiting for you to stop playing your games. If you're truly not over your ex, just tell her that. Talk to her. Communication. It works.”

“You do think I'm a scuzz.” Orlando didn't have an amazing track record when it came to dating. His first girlfriend had been shallow and vapid. He couldn't quite say why they'd gotten together. Somehow they'd connected back in the days when he'd been a popular jock. After Dallas died, he flew off the deep end and she didn't want anything to do with him.

Orlando tapped his chin with his fingers. “I don't know what I'm doing, and now I'm a jerk. Or maybe I'm just trying too hard and being stupid.”

“The first, and parts of the latter.” His friend paused for a moment. “Just tell Angela how you feel and that you need some time before you jump back into another relationship. You weren't with Tait long, and you broke up only a few months ago. Given the circumstances, I'm sure she'll get it. You didn't leave because your feelings changed. This could just be part of the moving on process. You don't have to have a girlfriend, you know?”

Orlando was about to reply about how he didn't want to date Tait or Angela just for the sake of dating...but his phone rang. He gazed down at the caller ID.
Speak of the devil.
He answered it as Nia re-entered the room. “Hey, Tait, what's up?”

“Okay, let me talk and don't interrupt because if you do, I think I'm going to lose my nerve,” Tait said, her words rushing together. “Next weekend is prom, and I know we're not exactly a thing, but I thought it would be cool if we went together. It's last minute and the tickets were about to sell out, so I already got a pair. Peyton said we could join him and his girlfriend and a few other people for dinner at some swanky restaurant nearby the hotel where the dance is. I know groups aren't exactly your thing, but I thought it'd be less pressure than going alone. We'll do it Dutch-style, and everything. And I think I'm done.”

It took him a moment to understand everything she'd said. “You're asking me to prom? Shouldn't I be the one to do that?”

Nia and Dallas both exchanged a glance before Nia groaned, and Orlando knew that wasn't the right thing for him to say.

“Normally,” Tait said. “That's what I would have expected. Since I'm the one who messed things up, I decided to be a big girl and do it myself. We talked about going back into it slowly. How about an actual date? As friends, just to see how it goes.” Their conversations like this were the kind of thing he missed the most. When she seemed normal.
We didn't break up under normal circumstances. Dallas might be onto something about why I can't let her go. When we're just a guy and a girl, I still care too much.

“I...” He wasn't sure how to respond. The perfect opportunity to test his feelings had arisen, and he wasn't sure if he could take it. A date to spend time alone with her, real time alone, would allow him to talk to her more and see if he could figure out what was going on inside of her head better—to see if she had actually changed after the rehabilitation. He'd also be able to see how deep his own feelings ran. If he cared out of friendship, or out of more.
Prom is huge, though. It's not exactly a casual outing.