Infinite (Strange and Beautiful, Book 1) (37 page)

“Yeah,
okay, so you asked if that’s why Sky and I were fighting because you
didn’t
want an answer?” I smirked. “You’re just as bad as a girl wanting to know all
of the latest gossip.”

“I
am not,” Luke laughed.

“Yes,
you are,” I said, smiling despite myself.

“Okay,
maybe—just
maybe
—you’re right,” he shrugged. “And for the record, I
don’t think he’s out of your league. I don’t think the battle’s been won already
either, but if you want to give up, fine. Just go ahead and let Skylar sink her
claws in and use him for the next few months until she gets bored and finds her
next target.”

I
felt more than a little stunned at Luke’s words. It seemed that not only did he
believe in me, he paid more attention than I thought. Most of my life I’d felt
like the trivial trials of my life didn’t concern him, but it appeared as
though I was wrong at least in this case.

Somehow
Luke had managed to pick up on what was going on between Skylar and I. He also
seemed concerned when he thought Mark was bothering me that day at lunch. He
even knew enough to recognize Skylar’s boyfriend patterns. I guess he was more
perceptive than I gave him credit for. It felt so odd to make this realization.
He was actually paying attention to me without me even knowing it.

I
felt a little guilty about it because I’d always considered him to be grumpy
and self-absorbed much like Skylar. Maybe that wasn’t the case, after all. He
was giving me advice in his own twisted seventeen-year-old guy way. I guess it
really showed he actually cared, and it caused a warm ache in my chest. I
realized maybe I hadn’t given Luke enough credit.

When
he needed help learning how to do the laundry, he’d come to me. Of course, he’d
gone to Skylar first, only to discover she was just as clueless as him. Instead
of turning to Mom, he’d asked me. Then when I decided to make dinner for the
family, he hadn’t seemed reluctant or surprised like the rest of the family.
Maybe he really did believe in me. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

We
got to school before I could even come up with some sort of response. Luke left
me sitting in the car, but before he shut his door, he said, “Shut your mouth
before someone walks by and thinks you’re a blow up doll, and lock the doors
when you get out.”

Naturally,
those words snapped me out of my stupor. Leave it to Luke to be sentimental and
nice one minute and his usual vile self the next. I took a deep breath and
climbed out of the car and locked the doors before I headed into the building.

My
talk with Luke seemed to raise my spirits a bit. I still wasn’t sure what I was
going to do about the Jackson and Skylar situation yet, but it was nice to hear
Luke wasn’t necessarily on Skylar’s side. It felt good to have someone other
than Tegan on my team.

Although
I suppose Mark was on my team if he was willing to kick Jackson’s ass for me,
but I wasn’t sure if or who he was bullying now since he’d decided to befriend
me, so his offer very well could have been out of need to pick a fight. I
wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I was mostly glad he’d quit making my life a
living hell. I still wasn’t sure what to make of that, but I figured I might as
well let bygones be bygones. I’d much rather be Mark’s friend than his enemy,
but I hated to think he was picking on someone else now.

Tegan
wanted to talk Jackson strategy during lunch. Despite her initial fear of Mark,
she seemed to have moved past it because she even made attempts to ask him for
help.

For
once, he was quiet and sat back, looking mildly amused at the banter of two
fifteen-year-olds. He really didn’t have much advice to offer, and I didn’t
feel like talking about it.

Finally
Tegan took the hint and gave up and went back to eating her lunch. I just
wanted to have one day where I wasn’t worried about Jackson or Skylar or
anything like that. Even if only for a day, I didn’t want my day to end in
dramatics complete with the Lindsay Lohan imitation.

I
figured I’d probably go back into “you’re ruining my life” mode the next day
when Jackson showed up to hang out with Skylar, but I kept trying to push those
thoughts to the back of my mind. I kept telling myself I’d worry about it
later.

Neither
Luke nor Skylar were home when Tierney dropped me off at home after school, and
they still hadn’t shown up by the time my dad arrived home, so I made the
assumption they both had to work. Luke had been delivering pizza for Pizza Hut
since he got his license. He never said much one way or another about liking
the job, but he never complained or talked about looking for another job, so I
figured he must have liked it well enough.

I
realized, hopefully, I’d be working somewhere this time the next year. I had no
idea what kind of job I would get. It would probably mostly depend on what
places were hiring, but I didn’t think I’d mind working at a music shop like
where Skylar worked. Not actually with her, of course, but somewhere similar. I
didn’t think I’d mind working in a clothing store either. Tierney worked at
Abercrombie & Fitch and got great discounts on clothes. I thought something
like that would be fun. The more I thought about it the more I couldn’t wait to
start working. Having my own money and more freedom to buy things on my own
sounded great.

I
heard Dad arrive home around five. I figured he probably headed straight for
the living room to watch the news. I figured Mom would probably be home before
too long even though my stomach was already starting to rumble with hunger.

I
was working on homework while listening to the Foo Fighters’ The Colour and the
Shape album when there was a knock at my door. I knew it had to be Dad. Not
only was he the only one home, as far as I knew, but he and Luke were the only
ones who bothered to knock.

“Come
in,” I said, looking up from my schoolbooks and toward my bedroom door.

The
door opened and Dad stepped inside. He took a look around the room, almost as
if to survey the space for the first time, but then I realized he hadn’t been
in my room in ages, so it probably was like looking at it for the first time.
Finally his eyes settled on me. He walked into the room and looked over my
shoulder. “What are you up to?”

“Just
doing some homework,” I shrugged. “Algebra.”

“Ah,
the joys of math,” he commented. His words dripped with amused sarcasm.

“Yeah,
I can hardly contain myself,” I said, grinning up at him over my shoulder.

“Well,
how about you take a break and we take a stab at cooking dinner tonight for
your mother?” he suggested.

“Really?”
The idea that Dad wanted to cook dinner for Mom was enough of a shock but
wanting
me
to help came as an even bigger one.

“Yeah,
you got any other recipes up your sleeve?”

I
smiled and nodded. “I can think of a few.”

“Well,
then what do you say?” he asked. “Can you help your old man?”

“Sure,”
I nodded. I pushed my chair back and followed Dad downstairs.

I
looked through the cabinets, surveying what we had to work with. Finally, I
concluded we had all the right ingredients for baked pasta. I instructed Dad to
start the water and salt it for the pasta while I gathered everything we’d need
for the sauce.

Unlike
when I helped Tegan and her dad cook, it felt awkward to work with Dad in the
kitchen. He generally shied away from anything to do with cooking, but I
thought it was nice of him to put forth some effort. I knew things were still a
little strained between my parents. They had been ever since Mom started her
job. It wasn’t as if they were fighting constantly, and some of the hostility
had faded, but they still seemed a little distant with each other. I was sure
part of it came from being busy with work.

I
had to admit there were still times when I’d come home from school and miss
seeing Mom first thing, but I knew she really loved her job. Anytime anyone
asked about it, her eyes lit up. Even though I was still adjusting to the
changes, I was happy for her. I hoped maybe Dad noticed, too, how happy her job
made her and that he’d decided to try cooking dinner to help take some of the
burden off of her.

“So,
how are things going with school?” Dad asked as I stirred together the
ingredients for the sauce.

“Pretty
good,” I replied, which was true. All of my trouble revolved around my personal
life these days. “I think my English Composition class is the hardest one. My
teacher is pretty strict, but I’ve been doing better.”

“That’s
good to hear,” he nodded. “Do you have the same teacher Luke and Skylar always
complained about?”

“Yeah,
Miss Barkley.”

“Well,
I’m sure you’ll pull through. If Luke could manage, then you shouldn’t have too
much trouble,” he commented as he continued to stare at the pot of water.

I
considered pointing out that a watched pot never boiled, but I controlled
myself. Instead, I focused on the conversation at hand. “I’ll be glad when this
semester is over,” I commented. “I’m going to miss taking Spanish, though. Mrs.
Willis is my favorite teacher.”

“I
wouldn’t get too anxious about things speeding up,” Dad said. “High school is
known to fly by.”

“I
can believe that,” I nodded.

“Before
long, you’re going to be a senior and talking about going off to some expensive
college on the other side of the United States,” he grinned. I glanced at him,
and even though he was joking, which was odd enough, I thought there was a hint
of sadness in his eyes. I guessed he was thinking about Skylar, who would be
graduating in the spring.

“It
won’t be that soon,” I shrugged. “Besides, I have no idea what I want to go to
college for.”

“You’ll
figure it out,” he commented. “You’re growing up awfully fast, Sil.”

I
stopped stirring at Dad’s words. I turned and looked at him. It was odd to hear
him say I was growing up. Most generally I thought Dad considered me an
immature kid. I often wondered if he was even aware I was fifteen, but it
seemed as if he, like Luke, was paying more attention than I thought.

“I’m
really proud of you,” he said after a minute or so. He tore his eyes away from
the water, which still hadn’t started boiling, and looked at me.

“Proud
of me for what?” I was feeling a little thrown by Dad’s unusual behavior.

“Well,
I thought when your mom started working it would be the hardest on you since
you’re the youngest. I guess I thought maybe you depended on her the most,” he
sighed, shaking his head a little. “But I was wrong about that. I realized I
depended on her for a lot more than either you or your brother or sister.”

He
looked back to the pot of water, and I went back to stirring while Dad kept
talking. “Even Luke and Skylar have had a hard time adjusting, but you took it
all in stride and really held it together. You haven’t complained once. It just
shows me how much you’ve grown up. Right under my nose, I might add.” He
laughed a little but then grew serious again. “I could swear it was just
yesterday you were sitting on my lap while I read to you.”

I
felt myself getting a little teary-eyed, but I smiled anyway. Dad often seemed
so uptight and uncaring. It was nice to hear him acknowledge I wasn’t a little
girl anymore, but it was also good to hear him talk about old memories from
when I was little. I wished I had more with him, but I was always more of a
momma’s girl.

Dad
had always worked hard. I knew it was so we could have all of the things we had
now. My parents had just put the down payment on the house we lived in when Mom
found out she was pregnant with me. I knew it couldn’t have been easy to manage
buying a new house and raising three little ones at the same time. I guessed
maybe that was what made Dad so worried about money. Either way, it was good to
know he still had a soft spot for me.

Before
I had time to over-analyze and talk myself out of it, I stepped over the few
steps to Dad and wrapped my arms around his middle. He seemed stiff and caught
off guard by my actions, but it didn’t stop me from whispering, “I love you,
Daddy.”

To
my surprise, he wrapped his arms around me, giving me a big squeeze and stroked
my hair lightly. “I love you, too, Cecilia.” I thought I heard a little quiver
in his voice and a small sniffle, but I couldn’t bring myself to look up to see
if he, too, had tears in his eyes.

After
all, I decided, he was probably already feeling embarrassed and awkward enough.

I wish I
could say bonding with Dad had somehow humbled me and changed my attitude in
other parts of my life, but that would have been a lie. The swell of joy I felt
from hearing Dad say he was proud of me faded into the background when Jackson
showed up at the house on Friday after school. My joy was replaced with my
previous confusion, distrust and resentment.

I
hadn’t spoken to Jackson since Tuesday, and I would have liked to keep it that
way, but I was on my way down the hallway to the stairs when he rang the
doorbell. Skylar shouldered past me, like I was even going to bother with
answering the door. If I’d had the time, I would have spun around and fled the
scene, but Jackson had already noticed me.

After
saying a quick greeting to Skylar, he smiled at me. “Hey, Silly. You going to
watch the movie with us?”

I
looked from him to Skylar, who was inspecting her nails as if thoroughly
uninterested. I sighed and returned my gaze back to Jackson.

I
shook my head. “Sorry, I’m busy.” I walked over to the stairs, prepared to make
a hasty retreat, but Jackson refused to let me off the hook so easily.

“Are
you sure? We’re watching
The Client
.”

I
stopped on the first step and stared straight ahead, willing myself not to turn
around and punch both of them in the face. It was ridiculous, but I felt
betrayed. I’d stupidly thought books and movies were my and Jackson’s thing. We
were the ones that had talked about
The Client
. He’d even suggested we
see it together sometime after I finished the book.