The Debt 4 (8 page)

“No, it’s nice to be here, I can watch
everyone in the hotel coming and going.
 
I can even see the paparazzi clamoring around in front of the
exit.”
 
Skylar giggled.
 
“You and Jake Novak sure have gotten
them excited.”

“I guess we have,” Raven said.
 
“Okay, I’ll be down in two
seconds.”
 
She hung up and then
grabbed her one suitcase that contained all the things Kurt had brought for her
to wear and use while staying at the hotel.
 
Since she would be checking out and
leaving, she decided to simply bring it with her.

By the time she was done talking to Sky,
it would be pretty much noon, and that meant meeting Jake in the lobby.

Her stomach danced with anxious
butterflies as she imagined Jake walking with her, out of the hotel, the
photographers snapping their pictures.

And then, the long drive back to
Massachusetts—but it would feel far too short for Raven’s tastes.
 
She wished it could have taken a month
instead of four or five hours.

She got off the elevator and walked,
towing her suitcase, until she saw Skylar sitting at a small table right near
the entrance to the hotel restaurant.
 
The entire wall was glass, so patrons could look out into the hotel
lobby and the hotel guests could look in and see everything inside the
restaurant as they crossed through.

Raven felt a rush of love for her friend,
and concern too, as Skylar waved back at her.
 
She was sitting with a cup of coffee and
a scone, and she looked almost happy.

Don’t
go crying now
, Raven
scolded herself.
 
It will only make her feel bad if you do
that.
 
Remember, she’s fine and
maybe the test will come back clean.

Raven walked into the restaurant and
parked her suitcase next to their table, leaned down and gave her friend a peck
on the cheek before finally sitting.

“You look gorg,” Skylar said, eyes wide,
taking a big sip of coffee.
 
“What a
hot mama.”

“Thanks,” Raven laughed.
 
“What about your clothes?” she
said.
 
“You didn’t bring a change of
outfit either.”

“My parents brought me stuff from home
when they came.”

“That was thoughtful of them.
 
Where are they staying, anyway?”

“Here,” Skylar said.
 
She put her coffee mug down.
 
“Jake didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

Skylar picked a piece off her scone and
ate it.
 
“He booked my parents a
suite here, and it’s open-ended just like mine.
 
All we need to do is inform the front
desk if we want to add a night and they do it.
 
He’s paying for everything.”

Now Raven really did want to cry.
 
“Wow, I didn’t have any idea Jake set
that up.
 
That was really nice of
him.”

“Yeah, and he’s been staying in contact
with the hospital on my behalf.
 
No
word yet, but they think they’ll have results back in the next day or two for
sure.”
 
Skylar gave a smile but this
time it was strained, and Raven could tell.

“You holding up okay, Sky?”

Skylar nodded but it wasn’t very
convincing.
 
“The hardest part is
just waiting. I just want to know either way.
 
It’s too hard trying to hope, because if
it’s…if the news is bad, I need to focus on beating this.
 
But I don’t want to assume the news is
bad, so I’m like just trying not to even think about it.
 
Which is impossible, turns out.”

“I feel like I’ve been a bad friend,”
Raven said.
 
“You’re going through
all of this and I’m jet setting around with Jake.”
 
She played idly with a spoon as she
stared at the tabletop.
 
“I’m sorry,
Sky.”

“You haven’t done anything wrong,” Skylar
said.
 
“You’ve been my biggest
support, you’ve helped me more than anyone—you and Jake both. I don’t
think I could get through this without you guys.”

Raven looked up at her.
 
“We’re supposed to leave for a couple of
days, but I’ll cancel.”
 
She grabbed
Skylar’s hand.
 
“I’m not leaving
you.”

“Jake told me already,” Skylar said.
 
“And I already told him it’s fine.
 
My parents are here with me, I’m okay
for now.”

“You and Jake sure have been talking a
lot,” Raven joked.

“Raven, don’t be silly.
 
He’s been checking in on me here and
there, just like you.
 
Are you
really that insecure?”

“Yes.”
 
She grinned a little.
 
It was true, she was insecure, and she
had reason to be.
 
But she wasn’t
honestly concerned about Jake checking on Skylar.
 
She actually thought it was pretty
amazing of him.

“The guy is all about you,” Skylar said,
interrupting Raven’s thoughts.
 
“I’ve seen guys in love before, and he’s definitely head over heels,”
Skylar continued.

Raven felt her cheeks flush.
 
“I’m not sure it’s as clear cut as you
think it is.”

“Or maybe you just like torturing
yourself.”

“Maybe.”
 
Raven sighed.
 
“So you’re sure you’re okay if we go out
of town for a couple of days?”

Skylar nodded.
 
“Look, even if I do get the result back
today or tomorrow, and even if…even if it’s not good…there won’t be anything
happening right away.
 
I’ll be meeting
with doctors and specialists and scheduling treatments, but nothing’s going to
happen while you’re away.”

Raven thought about it, but even though
Skylar kept saying she was fine, leaving just felt wrong somehow.
 

Or
maybe you just want to find an excuse not to go home.

She didn’t know which it
was—perhaps a little of both.

Just then, Raven saw Kurt walking by, and
he was on his cell phone, chattering away.
 
Inadvertently, she scowled, as just seeing him made her a little sick
inside.

“What’s wrong?” Skylar asked her.
 
“You got a look on your face like you
drank spoiled milk.”

“Just have a bad taste in my mouth is
all,” Raven muttered.
 
And then she
looked at her friend and smiled, and the smile was genuine.
 
“I’m gonna miss you while I’m away.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Sky said.
 
She took another sip of her coffee.
 
“On the bright side, this is the longest
vacation I’ve had in years.”

They both laughed at that, and the timing
was good, because a moment later Jake came strolling into the lobby with a bag
over his shoulder, looking handsome and put together, wearing dark pants, a
beige vest and a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his
elbows.
 

“There’s your hunk of burning love,”
Skylar said, nudging Raven under the table with her foot.

“Yeah, I saw him,” Raven said.

“Don’t act so laid back.
 
You’re about to walk out of here with
your arm around the hottest guy on the planet.”
 
Skylar pursed her lips.
 
“You can’t really be this calm about
it.”

“I’m actually freaking out, I just put on
a good act.”

“Maybe you don’t need to put on an act
for him to like you.”
 

“Stop saying such intelligent things, I
hate it when you give me good advice,” Raven said, knowing that there was too
much
truth in her friend’s comment
—too much
truth to really think about it without getting scared out of her mind.
 
Raven stood up, and then wrapped her
arms around Skylar and gave her a long hug.
 
She kissed Skylar’s cheek.
 
“I love you, girl.”

“Love you too.
 
Now go show everyone back home how
kick-ass you turned out.”

Raven laughed, grabbing her suitcase and
walking out of the restaurant.

Jake was standing there and texting as
she approached.
 
He looked up and
saw her, and then he saw Skylar and waved to Sky.
 

“How’s she doing?” he asked Raven as she
approached.

“She’s good.
 
Really good, all things
considered.”
 
Raven looked at
him.
 
“What you did for her parents
was above and beyond, Jake.”

“It was nothing,” he said offhandedly,
putting his phone away.
 
“Anyway,
the car’s waiting.”

Only, when they got outside, Raven saw it
wasn’t a car at all—it was a stretch limousine.
 
She turned to him.
 
“Jake, we’re not taking that thing to
Southbridge.”

“Uh, yeah, we are.
 
It’s all set and paid for.”

She rolled her eyes, which probably got
captured perfectly on film, since about twenty or thirty paparazzi were
snapping pictures of her at the moment she made the face.

“You really need to start consulting with
me before doing this stuff,” she said.
 
“This limousine totally sends the wrong message.”

“So you’re telling me it won’t be awesome
when we pull up to your parents’ house in a stretch limo?” Jake said, as one of
his security guards opened the door of the car for them.

“Maybe it will be a little bit awesome,”
she admitted.
 
They got into the
limo together, while one security guard put their bags in the trunk, and then
they were magically sealed off, and Raven suddenly had the realization that she
was becoming accustomed to the media frenzy that was a near constant presence
now.

It was a little strange to know that
she’d adjusted to it all so quickly.

The limousine pulled away from the hotel,
and after quickly consulting with Jake, the driver put the privacy glass up and
now it was just Jake and Raven alone in the back of the car.

Jake was completely at ease, his arms
spread out across the back seat, legs kicked forward at full stretch.
 
He grinned at Raven.
 
“You look like a deer in the
headlights,” he said.
 

“I don’t feel like that,” Raven
replied.
 
She was sitting across
from him, her legs crossed, trying to understand why Jake still made her more
nervous than all the paparazzi and press in the world putting her under the
microscope.

“Maybe it’s because you know you’re going
home,” he offered.

“I guess,” she said, shrugging.

“You know, one of these days you’re going
to have to tell me what the hell happened to you that made you run away.”

She felt an icy claw grab her heart as
his comment.
 
“What do you
mean?”
 

“Well, it’s important for me to know your
story, Raven.
 
Your story is a big
part of how you’re going to help me turn this mess around.”

“My story is simple,” she said.
 
“When I was seventeen, some kids started
rumors about me—horrible rumors about me being a slut and a whore and
they were vicious about it.
 
They
were relentless.”

He watched her closely.
 
“Who was it—a group of girls?”

She felt acid in her stomach just
thinking about it and she ran a hand through her hair, shaking it out as if
that might help shake off her nerves.
 
“It began with a couple of boys who started the rumors and then some
girls picked up on it.
 
Before I
knew it, all of the things they said had spread like wildfire and the lies were
being repeated everywhere.”

 
Jake nodded as if he understood.
 
“And then you got depressed?”

She sighed.
 
“Yes, Jake, then I got depressed.”

“I know it’s unpleasant to talk about,
but you’re going to have to do it soon.”

“I understand that,” she told him, “but
I’ll do it when I’m ready.”

“Kurt already booked you a speaking gig
at a benefit for a foundation to fight bullying late next week,” Jake said, “so
you better get ready.”

Raven was stunned into silence.
 
She blinked, swallowed, tried to get her
bearings.
 
“You booked me a speaking
gig?” she said, aghast.

“That’s how Kurt and I thought it best to
bring up the conversation around you being a victim of bullying.
 
We won’t even announce it to the press,
we’ll let it filter out naturally so it doesn’t come off as a ploy.”