Sorry for taking forever, but I'm working on this stupid, extended essay / literature project for danish (Stupid IB thing)...
And YAAAY!! 4 reviews for 1 chapter?! I feel LOVED :P
Well, here it is... ENJOY!!
Chapter 16 - Suspicious
"So this is where you live?" Abby had stopped walking and was now staring astonished at the house in front of her. It wasn't because it was huge. It was big, bit nothing special. It just looked so nice. Cozy. Family like. It even had this cute, little front lawn with flower beds and everything.
"Mhm." He grabbed her hand and started pulling her after him up the few steps that led to the front door. "Why, did you expect something else?" She gave him a broad smile while shrugging her shoulders, as he was opening up the door.
"This is awesome." He looked confused at her, but she didn't notice him. She was too busy checking out the hallway.
"Now you're scaring me, Abby. Never been inside a 'home' before?" She let out a little laugh.
"Of course I have. It's just, I've always wanted to live in a house, not some boring apartment downtown." Or in the slum, but she left that out. She followed Luka into the kitchen and stopped smiling when she noticed his mom standing at the sink.
"Oh, mom. I thought you were at work today." She took the last plate out of the dishwasher and put it back where it was supposed to be.
"I was, but it was only an 8 hour shift." She gave Luka a hug. "Did you have a nice day?" Luka nodded, and his mom turned to look at Abby. "You must be Abby." She couldn't help but notice how much Luka's mom was smiling, or how happy she seemed when she hugged Luka. Kind of taken aback by how 'white-picket-fence' like everything was, she didn't know what to say, so she just nodded. "Nice to meet you."
"You too." The feeling of Luka grabbing her upper arm pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Let's go." Abby gave his mom one last smile before Luka, with two pops in his hand, dragged her out of the kitchen and upstairs to his room.
Abby sat down on his bed and looked around the big, light blue room. It wasn't much different from any other normal, teenage boy room, except maybe a bit bigger.
Luka handed her a Diet Pepsi can which she quickly opened.
"Thanks." She smiled at him before taking a sip of her pop and putting it on his nightstand.
"Luka!" Abby broke their intense kiss and looked away embarrassed. She liked kissing him, but it always made her feel so awkward. Kissing was so not her, it was like it was a totally different person.
"Your mom." He sighed, annoyed that they had been interrupted. He got up from the desk and opened his door.
"Yeah?"
"Dinner's ready in 5!" He turned back around to the desk where Abby was fiddling with a stand of hair from one of her pigtails.
"We should really get done with this." Luka shrugged his shoulders and grabbed to two empty pop cans.
"We only miss the conclusion in the report. Let's go down and eat first. We can get it done pretty quickly afterwards." Biting her lip she got up, carefully putting her chair under the table.
"I guess." She started following him out of the room, but he grabbed her hand which caused her to tense up. It wasn't till they reached the kitchen that she was able to get out of his grip, and she was relieved that no one had noticed it.
"So did you get done with your homework?" Abby looked down, folding her hands, still kind of shy.
"Almost. What are we having?" He barely had a chance of sitting down before his mom put down a pot with potatoes on the table.
"Just some ground beef with potatoes and gravy. And I made some green beans as well." She looked at Abby, who was still looking down, biting her lip. "Abby, honey?" Surprised, she looked up at the tall, tanned, beautiful woman, who pointed towards the wall behind her. "Can you get the salt and pepper? It's up there on the top shelf." She gave her a slight nod and reached up for the spices. They were kind of high up though, so she had to stand up on her toes to reach them.
"Where did you get that bruise?" She quickly got the things down from the shelf and pulled her sleeve back down over her wrist.
"It's nothing." She tried avoiding Luka's gaze as she handed his mom the two clay bowls.
"Are you sure? Because it did look kind of big, blue and painful." She bit her lip, trying to come up with an excuse really fast. She couldn't really tell the truth, that it was a combination of a really tight rope and being stepped on.
"Yeah, I..." She could feel his mom staring at her as well, along with Luka's dad who walked into the kitchen at the same time. "I tried turning off my alarm clock and hit the corner of the nightstand instead." She could see that Luka didn't really believe her, but he looked away like he didn't want to press the issue.
"Okay." She sat down at the chair at the end of the table, the only one not yet used, subconsciously continuing to pull down her sleeves.
Abby was putting on her sweater when Luka's dad entered the room.
"Do you need a ride home?" She gently shook her head, while smiling at him.
"No thanks. I'm fine." He held up his car keys.
"Are you sure? Cause it's no problem. And besides, a young, pretty girl like you shouldn't be walking through Chicago alone at night." For a few seconds she was speechless, never having had anyone she barely knew care about her that much. Maybe not even the people she called family. She quickly nodded her head though, trying to get those thoughts out of her head.
"I'm positive. I've been living here for as long as I can remember, I'll be fine. Thanks anyway, though. I really appreciate it." He gave her a look, kind of asking if she was sure, so she just nodded.
"Okay. But if you change your mind, just come and tell me." She gave him a smile and nodded, and he left the room.
"I like your parents. They're nice." Luka shrugged his shoulders as he handed her her bag.
"I guess. I mean, they just seem parents-like." She gave him a weak smile as she threw her bag over her shoulder.
"You're probably right." They started walking downstairs in silence, but it wasn't an awkward one.
"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Kovac. Thanks for dinner." They both looked up from the TV show they were watching.
"No problem, sweetie. You're welcome back here any time." She gave them smile and walked to the door with Luka.
"Well, I guess I'll see you Monday?" The only reply she got was Luka's lips against her own. Even though she enjoyed it, she quickly pulled back. "Not while your parents are here. Or anyone else for that matter." She was whispering, not wanting anyone besides from Luka to hear. Even though she tried to be serious, she couldn't help but smile.
"I'll see you Monday." He quickly kissed her cheek, knowing she wouldn't protest. "Get home safely." She nodded and opened the door behind her, giving him a small smile as she walked out of his house.
Luka looked up as someone knocked on his door.
"Come in." It took less than a second for his mom to enter the room.
"Hey. What are you doing?" He shrugged his shoulders and went back to his open workbook on his desk. He hated doing homework but it had to be done.
"Just some Spanish homework." She nodded and Luka could feel her sitting down on the bed next to him. He continued conjugating verbs for a little while, but the silence was getting awkward. Putting is pencil down he turned his head to look at her.
"Mom, I know you, I know there's something you want to discuss, so shoot." She took a deep breath, fiddling with her wedding ring, trying to stall time.
"Is Abby always that quiet?" He gave her a disapproving look and grabbed his pencil.
"She's just very shy. But yeah, she is pretty quiet." She looked at him for a little while, like she wasn't sure how to respond to his comment. "Why? She's not good enough for me?" She sighed and gave her son a weak smile.
"No, she's great, she's pretty. She seems really nice." Luka tapped the pencil on the table.
"But?" She took a deep breath.
"Luka, do you know if everything is alright with her? Like at home?" He crossed his arms while closing his eyes.
"Mom! Stop going all psychiatrist on her, on me!" It came out more harsh than he expected, but he didn't care.
"I'm sorry, it's just, I'm worried."
"Stop it, mom!" She leaned her head to the side, looking apologizing at Luka. "You heard what she said earlier during dinner. And just because someone's quiet or has a bruise doesn't mean something's wrong." He got up and walked to the door. "I'm gonna go take a shower." His mom nodded, so he just turned around and walked towards the bathroom. He had to admit that he could kind of see what she had meant, and some of her concerns, but he just wouldn't believe it. It didn't seem like Abby. It couldn't be Abby.
