Chapter Ten
The weeks between Thanksgiving and winter break went by fast, at least for Adriana. She'd wake up every morning and wouldn't even hit the snooze button. She'd jump right out of bed and go downstairs to get some breakfast, not even noticing that the sun wasn't up. She wasn't as slow as she used to be, either; she'd have her uniform on, makeup done, and bag packed fifteen minutes earlier than she used to. Kyle would send her a text when he was at the corner, and he'd drive her to school.
Despite the situations brewing at school, Adriana didn't really mind it. She and Kyle took turns walking each other to class, each of them raking in about fifty late slips each by the last day before winter break. The only class that they had together was Spanish, so Adriana would spend the other seven classes texting him. At first, she'd get caught all the time, but now she was getting better; pretending to search in her bag and holding up her textbook to block her phone were just two of the many skills she had acquired.
Her relationship with Kyle wasn't its own individual part of her life. It affected other things she had going on as well. She barely talked to any of her friends anymore. The soccer team ignored her in the halls. Kristina and Michael pretended she was invisible. And she didn't make an effort with the few other friends that she had. But it didn't really bother her. She liked spending all her time with Kyle, so what was the point of making plans that would eventually be cancelled?
Spending time with Kyle was pretty much all she did. She had stopped showing up for work ever since the day that he had saved her on the pier. So, about two weeks after being absent and not making an excuse, she just assumed she'd been fired, but didn't really care. She had enough money saved, and, if she was really desperate, Claudia was a limitless fountain of cash.
She hadn't been to a session with Lainey in weeks, either. It was up to her to make the appointments, but she hadn't bothered. She didn't think she needed Lainey anymore.
So, with soccer, friends, work, and therapy down the drain, all Adriana had to worry about was Kyle and school, but the latter slowly became less and less important. She hadn't realized how much she had been slacking until after school on the last day before break, when she and Kyle were sitting on the pier, comparing Spanish tests.
"It's not that bad," he was saying. "You still have a couple more weeks after break to make it up."
"I failed," Adriana said, downtrodden. She hadn't seen a big, red F on a test since the eighth grade, when she had gone to a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert instead of studying for algebra.
"Please, it's not your fault," said Kyle. "Señora just takes off the most random points. And, she taught us this whole thing in the space of a week. No one did well."
"Says the guy who got a B," Adriana fumed, tucking the test back into her binder.
"One F isn't gonna take you out of the running for Harvard," said Kyle, laughing. "You need to calm down."
"Oxford," Adriana corrected him.
He frowned. "What?"
"Oxford," Adriana repeated. "In England. That's where I want to go to college."
"Why so far away?" Kyle questioned.
"It's where my parents went," answered Adriana. "They met there, actually. I've always wanted to go there. In fact, I've wanted to go to Oxford before I even knew how to say it."
Kyle shook his head. "Oxford, Harvard, whatever," he said. "One F is not gonna mean anything."
"But it's not just one F," said Adriana. "Listen to this." Kyle turned toward her, trying to look as interested as possible. "I got an English paper back today. Since I turned it in two days late, it was already a C, and because I did a crappy job on it, I ended up with a D minus."
"That's not an F," Kyle pointed out.
"Then," Adriana continued, ignoring his comment, "we did a lab today in physics, and I didn't take any notes, and because Kristina is being such a bitch, she won't let me copy hers. So, that lab report is about to go down the drain along with the rest of my physics grade."
"What is Kristina's deal?" asked Kyle. "I thought you guys were, like, best friends."
Adriana folded her arms. "We were, but now she's a bitch, and I don't want to be friends with her." She didn't want to elaborate and say that he was part of the reason that their friendship had exploded.
"If you guys hate each other so much, why don't you ask Mrs. Myers to switch you guys as lab partners?"
Adriana gave him an "are you kidding me?" look. "Mrs. Myers wouldn't switch us even if we were threatening to kill each other. It would ruin her order of things."
"Good point," said Kyle. He looked at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry. I hope you get your grades up before midterms."
"Yeah, join the club." As she started putting her binder in her backpack, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw the name of the last person she wanted calling her right now. She flipped open the phone. "What, Claudia?"
"Are you planning on coming home for dinner tonight?" asked her mother's voice, crisp and curt.
"I don't know," said Adriana, casting a wary glance at Kyle. Claudia knew she was with Kyle, like she had been every other night for the past week and a half. "Let me think about it."
"How about, 'Sure, I'll be there, because I haven't been home before curfew for the past week and I miss you oh so much,'" said Claudia mockingly.
Adriana sighed, her breath coming out in a frustrated huff. "Fine. But can I go out after?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I'm your mother. Do I need a reason?"
If they had been together, Adriana would have given her the finger. "Be home soon." She hung up.
"Your mom?" asked Kyle, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah," said Adriana miserably, zipping up her backpack. "Drive me home?"
"Sure, but hold on a second." Adriana stopped in the process of picking up her bag and watched as Kyle pulled a small box out of his pocket. It was wrapped neatly in red and tied with a green ribbon. Adriana knew what it was, and kicked herself internally.
"Damn it, yours is at home!" she said. "I thought I'd be able to see you on Christmas, but the way things are looking with Claudia, I'll be lucky if I get to see the light of day." She had gotten him a pair of expensive headphones that he had eyed the couple times that they had gone to the mall together.
"Don't worry about it," he said, holding out the box. "Just open it."
Adriana took it from him, slowly untying the ribbon, letting the anticipation build. Once the ribbon was off, she started on the paper, removing the tape from each neatly creased edge. Underneath it all was a black velvet box with a gold clasp, which she opened with shaking fingers. Inside was a beautiful, sterling silver heart-shaped locket, with a lovely engraved "A" on the front.
"Oh, Kyle," she said, removing it and holding it up, where it sparkled, catching the fading December sun. "It's beautiful."
"I thought it would look good on your necklace, next to that ring you always wear," he said, smiling. "You want me to put it on?"
"Sure," she said. She handed him the locket and turned around, holding up her long, brown hair. A tingle went down her spine as she felt his fingers undo the clasp of her necklace and slip the locket on. It rested gently right next to her ring as he closed the clasp, placed his hands around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Adriana fingered the two charms she now had around her neck, and was surprised when a tear rolled down her face and a shudder came over her body.
Kyle felt her shake. "Something wrong?"
Adriana wrapped her fingers tightly around the ring. "I just realized something. This is my first Christmas without my parents."
Kyle knew how she felt. The first Christmas was always the hardest. The second wasn't much easier. "I'm sorry." He kissed the top of her head, hoping to comfort her.
"It's strange, the things you miss," said Adriana through her tears. "I miss the tradition of it all, you know?" Kyle nodded. "Every year we'd do the same thing. Even when my dad started traveling, we'd still come home for Christmas. On Christmas Eve Day, my dad would take off work and the three of us would go and cut down our own Christmas tree, and we'd take it home and decorate it together." She smiled to herself, basking in the memories. "When I was younger, me and my mum would bake cookies for Santa. But as I got older, we'd just eat all the cookies ourselves." She leaned into Kyle more, resting her head on his chest as he held her close. "On Christmas morning, we'd all wake up and open presents. They always got me really good presents." She let a few more tears fall, not wanting to hold back anymore. She needed to let it all out.
Kyle stroked her hair, digesting what she was saying. It was so hard not to let his feelings control him and to really feel sorry for her. But if he did that, then he'd be screwing himself up. He had to remain impassive to her, even at times like this, when she really needed a shoulder to cry on. Guilt welled up in his stomach. She thought that he really cared for her, when it was all fake. All he wanted was to help his father and get rid of the Zaccharas for good.
Or did he? Did he really want to do this? It had been about a month since that last shipment had exploded, and he hadn't done anything to really move the operation along. Could he, without realizing it, have stopped with his father's plan because he cared too much about Adriana? He didn't think he had, but he let the evidence present itself. He had not been making any sort of effort in getting more information on the Zacchara organization. He was failing, and he hadn't even noticed. He needed to change his attitude, and now. The sooner this whole thing was over, the better. Because the longer he stayed with Adriana, the more likely he was to become a traitor to his own family and let the Zaccharas win over the Catollis.
Adriana and Kyle's thoughtful silence was interrupted by Adriana's phone vibrating again. Adriana groaned, wiped her nose, and answered it. "Chill out, Claudia. I'm on my way home."
"Have you been crying?" Claudia asked, concerned.
"None of your damn business," snapped Adriana, trying to disguise her shaky voice. She flipped the phone shut and sat up straight. "Let's go before she sends out a search party. Or, worse, comes and looks for me herself."
"Yeah, okay," said Kyle, standing up and hiking his backpack up on his right shoulder. He looked at Adriana as she also picked up her bag. Her face was bright red and her eyes were puffy. "You gonna be okay?"
She sniffled. "Yeah. Thanks for letting me cry a little. I needed that."
He bent down and planted a soft kiss on her thin lips. "Anytime."
"And thanks for the locket," said Adriana, twirling her fingers around the gift. "It's beautiful."
"I'm glad you like it," he said. "Now, I'll always be with you, even when Claudia won't let you out of the house."
Adriana laughed, but it came out choked. "I think that's gonna start being almost all the time."
"What can she really do to stop us?" he asked, because it was the complete and honest truth. Once he got his head back in the game, Claudia wouldn't be able to do anything.