When I turn to grab a pair of jeans from a hanger, I see all three guys have situated themselves outside the closet door. Huffing, I walk the few steps between me and the door and slide it closed. I was planning on taking my stuff back to the bathroom, but this will work just as well.
Sadly, I don’t get to see Ares before we load into the car. I’m glad it’s Friday, because I’ll have a few hours with him tomorrow morning before I need to go into work. As soon as the day registers, I realize today is the day we find out who won the scholarship. I know Dante is hoping he will, even if he won’t outright admit it. His artwork is so amazing, but he’s almost shy about it. I lean forward, my arms perched on the back of the seat, and murmur, “Good luck today, Dante.”
He turns to face me, his eyes soft and a small grin playing on his lips. “Thanks,” he whispers back, looking down at his lap. Ollie slides into the back with me, and his brow furrows when he sees me leaning toward Dante. I fall back into my seat, twisting my lips with a shrug. He can be curious; I like to tease him.
“I have the year-end banquet tomorrow,” Milo announces. “I only have two tickets.” It’s the first I’ve heard of any banquet. I glance over at him and he meets my eyes. “My mom and my dads are coming too.” I haven’t met his or Ollie’s parents. Sometimes I forget they still see them. My relationship with my mom has always been so consuming, and now that she’s not around, I forgot their parents are actually still in their lives.
“That’s awesome. What’s it like?” I ask, curious about the event.
Milo shrugs, looking out the window. “It’s just a dinner thing. So, I won’t be around tomorrow. My parents are getting a couple rooms in the city.”
“Oh.” Trying to cover how sad I sound, I ask, “Where is it?”
“Columbia. It’s about forty minutes away.” Milo sounds completely dejected. “That’s why we’re getting rooms, the guys were going to…” His words trail off.
“What, the guys were going to what?” I prompt when he doesn’t seem like he’ll finish.
Ollie puts his hand on my leg. “We were going to go up with him, make a weekend out of it, but—”
I interrupt, “But me, right? That’s what you were going to say.” Scooting forward so I can reach Milo’s shoulder, I place my hand on him. “You still should. I don’t need a babysitter. They should go with you. I don’t really know what a football banquet is. But it seems pretty important.”
Milo drops his head. “It’s just some stupid dinner. I don’t even want to go.”
“And awards,” Dante adds.
“You’re getting an award?” Now I feel terrible, how did I not know this? I fall back into my seat feeling like shit. Have I been so wrapped up in my stuff that I don’t know what’s going on around me, or do they not talk to me? Both options are equally shitty.
“Milo, you’re going to that banquet. And taking the others with you.” I cross my arms over my chest, my words ring with an order.
“Ares isn’t going, we didn’t even know he was going to be back when we planned it.” Milo puts his elbow over the seat staring at me. “So, he’ll have you all weekend.” I scrunch up my face, he sounds aggravated. “My parents won’t understand if the guys don’t come. They’ll think we're fighting or something, and they already worry about us because they don’t know we found you. And Ares won’t let us tell them.” Flipping back around, he slams into his seat, frustrated with the entire situation.
“Milo, why don’t we just go for the day, make an excuse that we need to be back here. They know Ares is back. Tell them he’s throwing you a party—he didn’t know we were going to stay in Columbia for the weekend. Your parents won’t care, especially if they think it will keep Ares around,” Ollie, the voice of reason, appeals to Milo.
Milo lets out a long sigh.
“It’s okay if you want to stay, Milo. Don’t feel like you can’t because of me. I don’t want to hold you back.” I hope he can hear the sincerity in my voice. I want him to celebrate his accomplishments; I just wish I could be there with him.
“It’s not like that, Laura, but I don’t like hiding you from my parents. If Ares would just let me tell them, we could all go, including him.”
Dante pulls into the lot at school, he cuts the car off but makes no move to get out. “We can talk to him again tonight. He doesn’t like keeping it from our parents either, Milo; he just thinks it’s safer this way.”
“Come on, guys, we’ll talk to him tonight. It’s Friday: last day to be at the hellhole this week. Perk up. We’ll figure it out,” Ollie presses, trying to lighten the conversation.
I’m still feeling a little out of sorts about this weekend when lunch rolls around. Ollie did his best to distract me in the class we share, but I feel like I’m the reason Milo won’t have a great weekend with his friends and family.
What else don’t I know about? I mean, this is our senior year, are they planning on going to college? Ares is obviously past that point, but what about the others? In the back of my mind I always knew college wasn’t an option for me, unless I went to a community college while working, but even that was just a pipe dream. Will they go off to school? Will they even be able to go without me? I know I feel like utter crap when I’m not around them for a few hours, I can’t imagine what it would be like if we went weeks, or months, without seeing each other. Maybe it’ll get easier, maybe after we’ve been together for a while the bond will grow, allowing us to be separated for longer periods of time without suffering the effects of being apart.
I need to ask them more questions. Like, what is the purpose of our gifts? It seems that if we’re blessed with these great ability’s, then there should be a reason for them. Do they ever help people? There has to be more to this than parlor tricks.
“Laura,” Milo waves to me from the down the hall. He’s not as tall as the other guys, but it’s still easy to spot him in the crowed hallways. I pick up my pace and head in his direction. I know I can’t talk to them about all the things I’ve been thinking about right now, but I’m determined that I will, starting tonight, when I get off work.
“Hey,” I greet him when I’m close enough for him to hear me. “We eating in the lunchroom again?” The tone of my voice clearly tells him I’d rather not.
“Yeah, Ollie is already waiting for us. You okay?” I shrug. What can I say? I’m not okay. I have a lot on my mind. I thought things would get simpler after I accepted that I was truly a part of them, that I had a place among them. But it opened up so many more questions about what the future holds for us.
Milo intertwines our fingers together. I probably should just give him a quick squeeze and let go, but I find myself clinging to his fingers. We pass through the double doors into the large cafeteria. I expect everyone to be staring in our direction, but we go in mostly unnoticed. He leads us over to the same table we sat at yesterday, and Ollie is, in fact, waiting for us.
A hush falls over the table as we walk up hand in hand. Ollie offers me a wide, toothy grin with a wink. Finally, releasing Milo’s hand, I climb onto the beach seat next to Ollie. Milo joins me right after, so I’m sandwiched between them. My eyes scan the table. “Where’s Dante?”