Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for your reviews, they were really nice to read and I'm glad that y'all liked the beginning :)
Sorry for not updating in forever! I got this chapter done a long time ago but I couldn't put it up due to internet difficulties :(
Anyway, enjoy!
When . it . Rains
(c) SuzieQuakes, 2012
"When it rains, you always find an escape. Just running away, from all the ones who love you: from everything."
two.
Surprisingly I found myself waking up early the next day. Light streamed through the blinds of my window, and I found myself getting excited. Sunlight. Rushing over to my window, I peeked out with anticipation. Sure enough, the clouds were high in the sky and the sun radiated warmly with a golden glow. It was going to be a good day—or at least I hoped. With a sudden jolt, it occurred to me that I was going to be going over to Drew's house in order to work on the project. My heart started to increase a little in tempo.
I honestly did not know how that would turn out.
Quickly, I took a steaming hot shower in order to distract my mind from thinking of all the possible things that could go wrong. It was so intimidating to be around him and I realized that he scared me, just a little bit. There was something about his eyes that seemed to size you up, something about his haughtiness and his cold words that seemed to almost draw you in and at the same time, keep you at a distance. And going to his house . . . maybe even meeting his mom? The purpose of the shower didn't seem to help as nervous jitters occupied me anyway. Way to ruin a perfectly good, sunny day.
Before long, I was dressed—carefully for the "occasion" that was to take place after school—and ready to head out for another day of classes. Grabbing my bag, I darted down the stairs to the living room where my mom was seated on the couch, a bowl of fruit salad in her hands and watching old episodes of 'Lipstick Jungle'. My brother had already left for college a year ago so I was the only child around here for now. I figured that dad had already left to work—he always was headed out of the door earlier than I was.
"I'm going now, Mom!"
She turned her auburn head towards me and returned my smile. "Do you want some breakfast, May?"
I shook my head as I readjusted the strap of the yellow bag on my shoulder. "No, thanks. I don't want to be late." I cleared my throat slightly, knowing that I had to inform my mom that I wasn't going to be home straight after school. "Um, I'll be home in the evening because I have to go to someone's house to work on an English project." I studied her expression. I really hoped that she wouldn't ask me any further questions . . .
But it seemed that my mother had already turned her head back towards the television set and flicked her hand casually. "Sure honey. Just come home before dinner. Be careful driving!"
Thank Goodness for Brooke Shields, I found myself thinking in relief as the actress canoodled with her onscreen boyfriend on TV. I really didn't want to be playing twenty questions with mom where Drew Hayden was concerned. Grabbing my car keys from the hook, I stepped towards the door in relief. "Bye, Mom!"
She murmured something back in response. I smiled as I stepped out of my house and into the sun. The warm rays fell on my hair and I felt fresh somehow, despite the ordeal that was awaiting me when school ended. I found myself wondering if Drew Hayden even remembered that promise that he made me yesterday. It was going to be a hassle if I would have to follow him to the skate park again.
Thoughts filled my mind as I walked over to my silver convertible. Max's car was still parked in the garage. He used to complain about being carless in college, but now he was dealing quite well with the fact. Max was my brother and I guess he was somewhat of a nuisance but despite that, I missed him not being here to torture me. He still sends us a letter every Friday, most of the content bragging about his grades and whatnot. I guess that was the extra boost that my parents needed to push me into working my hardest to get into a good college like Max.
I rolled my eyes a little in frustration. College. I needed good grades in order to get into a good college and therefore, I needed a good grade in English. I repeated that to myself as I started the ignition of my car and pulled off the curb. That was why I was going to Drew's house this afternoon.
Not because of anything else.
The day passed by in a blur. My classes turned out to be boring and as usual, Gary bothered me to the extent that I found myself yelling at him every now and then. Dawn giggled at everything and my other friend Marina was in peacemaker mode, trying to prevent some bloodshed. All three of them knew about the fact that I was going to be going to Drew Hayden's house to work on the English project. I didn't mean for word to spread, but I should have known that Dawn would be the one to spill the beans.
Gary wouldn't stop warning me about him though. He was using all sorts of reasons to prevent me from going—ranging from the fact that Drew mostly likely did not care about the project at all to the fact that his life was a complicated jumble that I couldn't deal with. I had tried to tell him a thousand times that Drew was a pretty nice guy and that the only reason I was going over was because I wanted the grade. I didn't bother telling him about the fact that he drove me home the day before. He would probably burst or something
I realized later in the day that I was subconsciously looking for Drew in the corner of my eyes. I didn't have any classes with him, except for AP English but I did manage to catch glimpses of his emerald green hair together with his group of friends. At lunch, they were nowhere to be seen—probably nearby the bleachers, I guessed. That was where most skater kids go to smoke to not get into trouble with the principal. I wasn't about to go ahead and interfere—yesterday was enough humiliation for me. But I was intrigued nonetheless.
After the final bell rang, I gathered my books and rushed out of my Home Economics class. Quickly, I waved to Dawn and Marina as they stood in front of their lockers and headed out to find Drew. It wasn't until I was halfway down the hall that I realized that I didn't know where his locker was. Thankfully, I spotted one of his friends that I saw yesterday at the skate park. It was the red-haired girl.
"Hi." I breathed out as I approached her. She was standing at her locker, grabbing her backpack with her blue skateboard under one arm. I felt self-conscious as she turned and looked at me with a strange look; as if she didn't know just what I was doing, talking to her.
"Can I help you?"
I pushed back my brown hair and fidgeted with my hands slightly. Her sea-green eyes flashed, as she looked me over with distaste. "Um, yeah." I muttered, a little bit fazed. "I was just wondering where your friend is. I mean—Drew."
She brushed her short, croppy hair to the side and shrugged her small shoulders. She was dainty, I noted. Dainty, but with a certain edge. She readjusted the straps of her bag, still looking into my eyes. "Probably at the gates. Apparently he's not skating today."
"Thanks." I found myself smiling as relief flooded through my veins. I turned away from the girl and headed towards the direction of the entrance. Drew was keeping his promise after all.
As I approached the front wire-meshed gates of Petalburg High School, my smile widened as I spotted him. Just as the girl had said—there he was. He leaned against the fence as kids poured out, their chatter noisily escalating through the warm air. His fingers were entwined through the belt-hoops of his black jeans as his face was bent down towards the ground. He had a bag slung over his chest.
My chest thudded a little as I ran up to him, my shoes padding against the gravel pavement. A lot of people were rushing out of the gates and I tried to keep my eyes on him, hoping that he wouldn't get lost with the crowd before I got to him. Thankfully, he stayed rooted to the spot.
"Hey!" I called out as I reached his side. "Hey Drew!" At the sound of his name, his head rose and he swept the hair out of his eyes with a flick of his hand. The penetrating orbs gazed at me, with a certain coldness embedded into it.
"Hi."
I managed a smile, breathless both from the run and from the intensity of his eyes. "I'm glad that you kept your word."
He rolled his eyes at me with a shrug. "Don't rub it in. I was already considering to make a dash to the skate park before you came along."
It was my turn to roll my eyes as I walked over to his side. "Oh, please. I'm sure that missing one day of skating wouldn't make you die."
He glowered at me, shooting me with another one of his looks. If looks could kill, I would be rotting in my grave by now. "Two days. We couldn't skate yesterday because of you either." Then he flicked his hair to the side once more. "Let's go before I change my mind."
I stopped myself from saying anything more to argue with him. I somehow knew that disagreeing with him would come to no good, and that he was looking forward to having an excuse to ditch me and bolt to the slopes. Boy, was this going to be fun. "I have my car, so why don't you just lead the way to your house with yours? I'll follow right behind."
Drew shrugged his shoulders, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a box of Marlboro Light. He snatched a cigarette from the box and nodded. "Sure. Just be sure to keep up. You look like the clumsy type that gets lost easily."
I pushed up my lip, taking offense at his remark. "What do you mean by that? I can follow a car perfectly, thank you very much!" I didn't bother to acknowledge the fact that he wasn't completely wrong. I had been known to be somewhat of a klutz and getting lost was one of my specialties. But he was a stranger and an extremely annoying one at that, so I wasn't about to be confiding my areas of flaw.
"If you say so." A smirk came onto Drew's face as his eyes glittered a little in amusement, before the sparkle died down. Bitterness replaced it. "Just be warned though. It's nothing like the place you live."
I brushed a strand of my hair away from my face as I studied his expression, left confused by his words. A bit of my anger died away. "Huh?" was all I could manage.
"All I'm saying is to not get your hopes up." Drew answered, before lighting up the cigarette and inhaling it. With that final word, he walked off to the direction of the parking lot. I decided that he was probably off to his car, so I went to mine too with confusion settling into my mind.
What was his problem? I thought to myself. He was always making such snide remarks about where I lived and my life conditions. I shook my head to rid the thoughts and slipping into the door of my Honda, I kept my eyes steady on Drew's white rundown and weather-washed car as it whirred out of the small parking space. As the car pulled out of the gates, I made sure I was close behind on his trail.
I especially made sure not to lose him through the afternoon traffic. It wouldn't be very good if I confirmed his earlier statement that I was the type to get lost. He drove at a faster speed than necessary but I managed to keep up. Before I knew it, he had stopped his car and I realized that we were deep into downtown Petalburg. It was one of those areas that I didn't come very often because it was filled with crime and druggies. I felt a sense of sympathy for Drew before I could help myself.
The alley where he parked his car was dark and damp. The moss-covered walls were full of graffiti and a bunch of tattered cats were digging into the garbage cans that were lined up against the wall, partly hidden in the darkness. A six-story building stood at the side, the emergency fire escape ladders clattering as a rat scurried down.
Silently, I turned off the engine of my car and stepped outside. Drew stood in front of the metal fire escape stairs of the building. "Might wanna lock the doors to that." He advised, motioning his hand to my car. "Don't want your pretty little car to get stolen."
I was too shocked to say anything back in particular. Nodding dumbly, I clicked a button on my car keys. A small 'beep' rang out and the locks snapped assuredly. I turned back towards Drew and saw that he was already climbing up the squeaky metallic stairs. I darted right behind him, carefully holding onto the rusty rail as I pulled myself up. It seemed to clatter and groan under my every step, as if in pain.
I guess Drew was right, I noted to myself. The place really was different to my neighborhood where the worse possible crime would be that if you left the doors and windows to your car completely opened, somebody would come and close them for you. It wasn't an excuse to be so bitter about my home or my car though . . .
Suddenly I bumped into something hard and plunged back into reality. I stumbled a little, grabbing onto the railing with extra force that I felt the rust chip into my hand. A low moan escaped my lips as I opened my eyes to see that I had bumped into Drew. He looked over his shoulder, his emerald eyes fierce with a glare. I took a step back, almost scared that I had done the wrong thing.
"Sorry." I murmured as I fixed my gaze to my shoes. I hadn't been so close to him before and I noticed that he did smell good. He smelt a little of cologne tinged with a scent of roses and cigarette smoke. It puzzled me that someone as cold and bitter as Drew would have such a floral scent but I pushed the thoughts out of my head. I looked up to see why he had stopped and saw that he was digging out keys from the pocket of his jeans.
A door faced us and I began to feel nervous as I realized that this must have been his house. It was in the third floor of the building. Drew suddenly inserted the key into the hole and with a click, the wooden door opened.
"We're here."
I nodded and followed him inside the dark room. Obviously as we had climbed up from the fire exit, it wasn't the front door of his house but I figured that it led to his room. The smell gave it away—it smelt exactly like him: musk, roses and cigarette. Drew shuffled past me, as I was still gazing, wide-eyed. He clicked open a light and a dim brightness surged through the small, tight room. I observed my surroundings, not being able to say a word. The faint whitewashed paint on the walls was peeling and there was a small, unmade bed in the corner of the room. Clothes were everywhere, shirts and pants scattered across the room. A tall, slightly cracked mirror stood in the center of the room and posters of rock bands filled the walls.
Drew's room. It was almost weird for me to be in his room, his 'sanctuary' before I even knew him well. I wondered if he had even allowed a stranger like me inside his house like that in a long time. For some reason, it made me feel special. The fact that I was just over for a project left my mind.
The clearing of a throat interrupted my stream of thoughts and I realized that I was being extremely rude, staring at my surroundings like I had never seen anything like this before in my entire life. Stop gawking; I chided myself. Get a hold of yourself.
"Um . . ." I started, trying to clear the awkward air. I felt a little shy, now that were alone in a room. His room. "I borrowed some Lurlene McDaniel books from the library. I also brought my laptop so we could do some research."
The topic of the English project seemed far away for some reason but I forced myself to bring it up. We were here for a reason, and that reason was to work. Drew shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant way. I couldn't have expected anything more. "Just set out whatever you need on the bed. I'm going to get something to drink. Want anything?"
I shook my head politely. "No thanks. Go ahead though."
Drew shuffled to the other door, the one that probably led inside his house and dragged it open. As he disappeared, I took a deep breath to steady myself and walked over to his bed. The springs groaned as I sat down and I ignored it as I pulled out the paperback books and my black laptop out of my school bag. I was looking up sites about the author when the door opened again and Drew leaned against the frame, a bottle of beer in his hands.
Taking a swing from the bottle, he sauntered over to the bed and set himself down. I tried not to think about how close we were—on a bed as he cocked his head to the side to see the screen of my laptop. "What are we doing exactly?"
I clicked a few buttons on my computer to force the thoughts away from my mind. "Um, we're going to be presenting about the author." I explained, never letting my eyes stray from the screen. "Mrs. Hartford said that author's lives and ideologies affect their writing so we would need to research important aspects of her life and compare it to her writing style."
Drew stared at me like I had just grown horns, before scoffing. "Okay, and what am I supposed to do?"
I bit my bottom lip, grabbing the books from the bed. "You can check these books. There's probably an author section somewhere in them. Maybe you can read the books too . . .? To get a general idea about the themes and motifs and whatnot."
It took a moment, before Drew snickered. A smirk was evident on his face as he stared at the books in my hand. "Read? You must be kidding me. Forget this—I don't even know why I even let you come here."
I started to bite harder on my lip until I felt the tangy taste of blood. I stared deep into those nonchalant and spiteful eyes before diverting my gaze to the hem of my skirt. "Look Drew." Finally, I found my voice. "I know . . . I know that you don't like me. And I guess I'm not mad at that. I can understand that, but let's just make this project work out, okay?" I looked up to his face, trying to read his expression. "We can go back to our lives and I promise I'll leave you alone after we get this finished."
Drew was silent and my heart jittered nervously. His eyes were unreadable and when our eyes caught, he looked away to push a finger back and forth against the seams of his black jeans. It was a while before he spoke, his voice sounding more sincere and less haughty. "I like you enough for you to be here."
I felt myself smiling, as the happiness seemed to surge into me. It was shocking, his words. But what was even more shocking was my reaction to it. Did that simple statement really meant that much to make me so happy? Apparently so. "T-Thanks." I managed to stutter, not really knowing what to say. "Um, if you don't want to read—you can do the research." I reached out for the books that were laid out between us but Drew pushed my hand away with a smirk.
"Don't have to spoil me so much. I can do what I have to do."
I flashed him a little smile in response and returned back to my laptop. He flopped down on his stomach right beside me and opened the first book he saw. His facial expression changed as he studied the content, squinting his eyes. "What is this? Are these romance books?"
I bit my lower lip once more, turning towards him. "Some of them . . . Well, I guess most of them." I told him unwittingly. "Why?"
I saw Drew roll his eyes as he flipped through the pages. "I should be down at the skate park, skating my ass off." He grunted before scoffing. "Not reading some cheesy love stories."
I waited for him to drop the book or say something more, my heart already waiting for the disappointment. But after that complaint, he didn't say anything more as he kept the book in his hand, his emerald green eyes darting across the words. Relief filled me once more as I hid a small smile and swept a strand of hair from my face. Turning back to my laptop, I searched for something that would be interesting. A certain webpage caught my eye and I looked over the facts. What I found was going to a really nice add to our presentation; I thought to myself. I had to write it down.
"Do you have a pen?" I asked Drew. He had been beside me, reading silently for the past half an hour and of course, I hated to bother him considering the fact that it was always somewhat hard to get him to do anything. I also tried not to think about the fact that he was laying down right beside me, his nice scent drifting up my nose now and then.
He looked up and flicked his hair away from his face. "Over by the table."
I got up, heading towards the direction of the wooden table that was set up beside the full-length mirror. It was a study table, I guessed. The only book on it was a worn out textbook that read World History II and a stash of ordinary blue ink pens. I grabbed one of them and made my way back over to the bed. Of course, being the clumsy May Maple, I failed to see a woolen sock in my way and slipped. A squeal escaped my lips before I knew it and my eyes closed shut as I braced myself for the impact.
A consequent 'oof!' surprised me as I landed on something hard, limbs and bones colliding against each other. The familiar scent drifted up my nose and I slowly opened my eyes to see Drew's face, only a few centimeters away from mine. Breathing out, I could feel the wild hammering of my heart against its cage. The electric green eyes of his stared up at me and I felt like I was paralyzed. I felt too stunned to even move, but apparently Drew found his senses earlier than I did as his arms grabbed my waist and lifted me up away from him, setting me down on the bed. I felt my entire face go beet red.
"I-I," I stuttered as I looked down at my lap, not trusting my own voice. I didn't know what to say at all, but I felt like I had to say something. "I'm sorry—"
"You should look where you're going." Drew cut me off as he slowly edged himself away from me. I felt stung by the bitterness of his tone. His eyes turned icy cold as he stared straight into my face. His chest heaved as he inhaled, his pale fist clenched. "And you say you're not clumsy."
I frowned, a little bit of anger flowing into my veins. "I said I was sorry, gosh." I felt dejected somehow by his sudden hostility. I shouldn't have been feeling this way—I really shouldn't. He was nothing to me and I was certain that I meant absolutely nothing to him as well. I let a sigh escape my lips, feeling the need to make things a little bit right again. "Um . . . so are you almost done with the reading?"
Drew shrugged his shoulders, still looking angry. He frowned and nodded at the same time. "Yeah."
"Which one are you reading?" I didn't know why I kept on talking when it was so clear that he didn't want to be talking to me. I guessed that I felt like if silence were to come between us—my mind would be on nothing but what had just happened earlier. I could have sworn that a flicker of emotion stirred deep inside his emerald eyes when I was so close to him . . . Something that I hadn't seen before.
"Uh . . ." He turned the book over to read the title. "'How Do I Love Thee.'"
I felt myself blush again. Drew must have realized something because he grunted, putting the book down. Rolling his emerald eyes, he scoffed. "What a stupid name."
I didn't say anything to answer him as I turned back to my laptop. I suddenly remembered the entire reason that I had gotten up to get the pen as I looked at the webpage. It seemed like such a long time ago. I lifted the blanket a little, trying to catch sight of the blue pen. Frowning, I lifted my laptop before bending down and searching the floor. Nothing. I turned to Drew who was now reading something called 'Prey'.
"Hey, have you seen the pen?"
He looked up from the book, his green eyes gleaming. "Don't tell me you lost that too. I should call you klutz from now on."
I rolled my eyes at him before turning my back with a huff. "Fine. I'll look for it myself." Sometimes I just didn't understand what his problem was.
I heard him sigh as he put the book down and straightened his back. "Where did you drop it?"
I looked up at him, trying to size him up and figure out whether he was playing with me or he really was going to help me out. Drew arched one of his brows at my lack of response. "Well?"
"Oh, uh, I don't know." I answered, taken back a little. "I think I dropped it when I, um, fell."
Drew rolled his eyes, brushing his hair out of his face as he got up from the bed and searched for the pen. Finally, he lifted a pillow and there it was. "Finally." I murmured as I reached over, Drew apparently having the same thought as we both grabbed the pen at the same time. Lightning struck through me. His hand was on top of mine, the touch warm. For some reason, it might seem weird to say—but it looked just right. The proportion of his hand to mine. We seemed to fit together like a puzzle piece.
My senses came to me and I instantly pulled my hand away. I couldn't look at his face as my cheeks turned bright red. "Sorry!" I bit my lip afterwards. "I-I think I better go." It was better to go on home before I end up getting more on his nerves.
"Yeah?"
I peeked an eye up at him to see that he wasn't looking at me. He stared down at his lap. "Yeah, it's almost dark and my parents get worried. My mom also reminded me to come home before dinner, so yeah . . ." I blabbered as I bent down to close my laptop. I was just gathering up my stuff when I heard the sound of a door slamming shut and the voice of a woman shouting.
"Drew! Where are you?"
I stole a glance at Drew. His face was unreadable, but his eyes seemed to look very uncomfortable as it glazed past mine. "I'm in my room!" He responded back with a shout and a second later, the wooden door was pounded upon. I sat on the bed, almost rooted to the spot. I didn't know what was going on.
I heard Drew sigh as he walked up to the door that led to the rest of his house and opened it. A woman stood in view, partly covered by the shadow of the doorframe and Drew's form. But from what I could see—she was stunning. Her vivid green hair fell to her back in shiny, wavy tresses. She had wood brown eyes and a slender body. Lines of age seemed to mark her face, but that didn't stop her from being beautiful. Was she Drew's mom? I found myself thinking. Dawn had told me she was on drugs . . .
"What do you want Mom?" I heard Drew say, confirming my earlier thoughts. I was right, she was his mom. Aside from the wrinkles surrounding her eyes and the frailness of her body, she looked like she could have been a model or an actress. The lady peered through Drew's shoulder, catching a glimpse of me. Her brown eyes flashed and I quickly looked away to stare at my shoes.
"Who is she?" I heard her demand.
"Nobody." I felt a little bit rejected to be referred to as 'nobody'. I tried to remind myself that Drew probably did not want to bother with all the general introductions. "Just tell me what you want."
A little pause followed and I felt her eyes on me before she spoke again, her voice in a low hiss. "I need money."
"Mom, please—"
"No, Drew." She interrupted him and I glanced back up again to see if she was still looking at me. Her eyes were fixed on the green-haired boy instead. "People are looking for me. I'm in debt." Her voice was in a sharp whisper as she edged closer to him. "If I don't pay up by today, they're going to come and take everything away."
"Like there is anything left to take away." Drew answered with a scoff and his mother reached out to place her hands on both his shoulders.
"Don't do this . . ."
"I'm not doing anything!" I winced a little as Drew shouted out his frustrations. His voice was harsh, the bitterness almost clinging to every word. "You are the one who led us to this position. You're the one who's in debt with everyone on your back! You made this happen, Mom! I didn't do anything—it's all you!"
"Andrew!" She hissed once more, her eyes darting out to me before they diverted back to her son. "Do you want to see me on the street, begging for my living? Do you want all my dignity down the drain? Huh? Would you like to see that?"
I waited to see what Drew would answer. I felt odd and out of place, eavesdropping onto their conversation like that but I couldn't just get up and leave. "That's what you chose to be, mother." Drew responded with a snarl. "You had a choice and this is what you chose. It's none of my business."
"I need the money!" The woman seemed to have given up on reasoning with Drew as she screamed into his face, her face wild and her eyes livid. "I need it right now!"
"Well that's too bad!" Drew yelled back. "I don't have anything! I don't have a fucking dime! How much do you owe anyway?"
"Two hundred . . ." She whispered. "I need two hundred bucks."
"Two hundred!" Drew echoed. "Are you kidding me? How the hell am I supposed to have that kind of money?" He took a deep breath, as if trying to regain his composure. "Go ask someone else. I don't have it."
"Drew!"
"I told you, I don't have the money!"
"I do."
I felt both pair of eyes turn towards me. I blinked nervously and swallowed hard. I didn't really know what I was doing. I knew that I had barely two hundred dollars in my wallet from my mom. She had given it to me a few days ago so that I could buy that dress she wanted me to wear on Saturday to her fundraising ball. The dress could wait—I found myself thinking. Right now, there was a crisis happening and I couldn't just sit back and watch when I knew that I could help somehow.
"Stay out of this." Drew commanded me but his mother pushed him aside, running into the room and dropped to her knees. Her eyes filled with tears.
"Darling!" She sobbed, obviously forgetting about how rudely she had looked at me just a few minutes ago. "I'll never forget this. If I don't give the money, they will kill me."
I nodded, touching her arm softly before reaching towards my school bag and pulling out my wallet. "It's okay. You can pay me back later, right?"
"You're a true angel!" She cried and I smiled softly as I pulled out the two hundred dollar bills from the wallet. I examined the remains, a couple of coins and a bunch of ones. It was enough, I guess. I handed it over to the woman and she couldn't accept faster. "Thank you so much!" She turned towards Drew, tears still falling down her pale cheek. "She reminds me so much of . . ." She couldn't speak anymore because she was sobbing again.
Drew glared at me before turning his gaze towards his mother. "All right. You got your money, you can go pay them back now."
The lady turned to me, wiping her tears away from her grubby face and smiled. "Thank you."
I managed to smile back softly as she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her with a click. I couldn't take in the feeling I got from helping for too long as Drew's sharp voice interrupted into my thoughts.
"Why the hell did you do that?"
I looked up, obviously confused. "Do what?"
"Don't play dumb with me." He responded and his cold green eyes were hard. "Why did you give her the money?"
"I-I . . ." I stuttered. "I just wanted to help."
"You don't know anything, May!" Drew shouted and I flinched back in recoil. His tone was harsh. "Do you know why she needs that money? Do you? She's using drugs, for hell's sake! The last thing that I need is for her to keep on using. If she pays that two hundred, she'll get more and drag me into more of her mess!"
"I-I'm sorry." I found myself saying. I felt tears prick at my eyes. Nobody had ever yelled at me with that kind of voice before. "You were fighting with her . . ."
"And this is how you avoid fights?" Drew demanded cruelly, not noticing the way my voice broke or the moisture that threatened to trickle down my eyes. "By shoving money into people's throats? I was right about you all along!"
"Drew!" I cried, not able to take it any longer. "That two hundred was for a dress that my mom wanted me to buy, okay? I could've just sat down and listened to your fight but I didn't because I cared! I don't know why I did though, seeing as you are just so insincere and awful!"
He sighed back in response as he sat down on the bed, running a hand through his hair. He ignored my words. "I'll pay you back, okay?"
I felt some of my anger die away just a little. "I-It's okay."
"No, I'll pay you back."
I exhaled and nodded my head. "Okay. I better get going then." I figured that it was enough meddling into Drew's life for a day. Maybe Gary was right. Maybe I wasn't strong enough to handle it. I grabbed my laptop and my school bag as I stood up swiftly. "You can keep the books, and if it's not a problem for you—you can read it. But you don't have to."
Drew shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever."
I forced a polite smile on my face as I walked towards the back door where the fire-exit stairs were. "See you tomorrow then. Maybe we can continue this tomorrow at my house?"
"I'm going to lose another day of skating?" Drew asked incredulously and scoffed. "I've lost enough of skating with this crap."
"If we get it finished sooner then you'll get more time to skate." I reminded him and ran fingers through my hair. "Trust me, Drew. I don't enjoy this any more than you do. So let's just get this out of the way so we can go back to our real lives."
He lowered his gaze to the ground, looking like he was thinking things over. Finally, he nodded. "All right. Fine."
I smiled back in response as I gathered my things and pushed the wooden door. It didn't budge. I repeated the action, applying a little bit more force but it didn't seem like it moved at all. I heard Drew sigh out as he got up and walked to the door. "Klutz." He murmured as he grasped the wooden door and pulled it. It dragged open with a screech.
I rolled my eyes in response, walking out of the door and into the autumn air. The sky was slightly dark and it was definitely passed five but not late enough to be six thirty yet. I hadn't missed dinner.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" I called out, just in case as I reached the landing and prepared to walk down the stairs.
"Yeah."
"Okay." I was assured as I turned around. "Bye."
I heard Drew grunt back in response as the wooden door shut close. Shivering a little as the breeze picked up and played with my hair, I walked down the clammy stairs to my car that was waiting downstairs.
Today was certainly one interesting day.
-Suzie x
