Ace pulled three jobs daily over the next four days. Each one as routine as the one before. Ace began spending more of his free time with Wallace and Phillips. This was purely by circumstance as they didn't fell the desire to be friendly with one another. Much of the time they smoked cigarettes and waited to get their orders from any number of men working under Logan. Ace hadn't seen him since the morning he had hired him but he sent him his pay frequently and on time so Ace hadn't even noticed he was never around.
On Tuesday he had a free afternoon and so he decided to try and catch Laura before she got home from school. He managed to get there just as Connie was starting her engine. He ran over and knocked on her window.
"You scared me," Connie said with hostility as she rolled down her window.
"Whatever," he said dismissively, "Laura, hop out of the car I'm driving you."
"Excuse me," Connie said, "I believe I'm already doing that."
"Come on," he said ignoring her.
Laura looked stressed, she didn't want to be rude to Connie who had been so kind in driving her too and from school.
"Move or I'll run your foot over," Connie said warningly, her temper flaring at his rudeness.
"Get out of the fucking car," he said, not sure why she wasn't moving.
Connie glared and revved her engine. If Ace hadn't moved his foot that second he was sure he would have lost it under the car.
"You would have gone with him wouldn't you?" Connie demanded from Laura.
"I don't know," Laura said still flustered.
"How can you let him talk to you like that?"
"Like what?" Laura asked confused.
"Are you serious?" she said incredulously, "you don't see anything wrong with that? He just swore at you Laura."
Laura didn't know what to say. She got out of the car when they had reached her house and Connie sped away without saying goodbye.
Ace drove away in a foul mood. He couldn't understand what just happened. He turned his car around suddenly and drove towards Laura's house. He found her still standing outside looking a bit dazed.
"What the hell was that?" he asked coming up behind her.
Laura jumped a million miles in the air like she had just been shocked.
"Oh," she said, her voice trailing away. She could not grasp why suddenly people were yelling at her.
"I come all the way over to your school and you just drive away without a word?"
"I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't know..."
"How hard is it to open a door?" he snapped at her.
She just stood there speechless. By this point she just wanted him to go away.
"I don't know why I even fucking bothered," he said getting back into his car.
Laura entered her house. Her stiff greeting from Mrs Morris was almost comforting in comparison to the outbursts from two of the people she was closest to.
She was surprised to notice her hands were shaking as she removed her gloves. She lay down on her bed and tried to sleep until dinner time.
The next day she began to feel a sense of dread settle in her stomach as she seen Connie's car approaching. She seen her park and get out of the car then surprisingly run to the house and give Laura a big hug.
"I'm so sorry for yelling at you yesterday, I don't know what got into me. I wasn't even mad at you,"she assured her, opening the car door for her to get in. They started driving.
"I know it wasn't your fault Ace was being such a mental case. I just don't like him talking to you like that and demanding things from you. Doesn't it bother you?" she continued.
"Not really," Laura said, "he's never been so mean before when he asked."
She explained what had happened after Connie had driven away.
"Oh how awful, now I feel even worse for yelling at you."
"It's not like him at all. He's becoming strange lately, he looks sick and he's doing something that he won't tell me about, I just know it."
"He's really never snapped at you?" Connie said before. Ace wasn't exactly a nice guy, he snapped at people just for being near him.
"No, never, well at least I don't think so."
"You're right about him looking sick, he looks smaller somehow, thinner I suppose and paler."
"I don't know about any of it, I tried to say something but he just denied it."
"If he is up to something and he doesn't want anyone to know, it doesn't sound very good."
"Do you think it could be something dangerous?" Laura asked worriedly.
"Honestly, yes. He's capable of many things Laura. I don't know if it's a good idea to be near him if he has changed so negatively. I don't want you to be in any danger."
"I don't know," Laura said feeling completely defeated. "I just want him to be alright."
Ace spent the night rolling over in his bed unable to sleep. He had no idea why he had blown up at Laura like that. He rolled the conversation over in his head a million times. It didn't make sense. He got up and dressed, giving up on any notions of sleep and went to the high school.
Wanting to avoid Connie he waited for the girls to divide for homeroom before he pulled Laura away into the nearest thing, which happened to be a broom closet. He flicked the switch and pulled Laura in to a rib shattering hug.
"I didn't mean it," he said.
"I know," she said, stroking his back softly, "you were just in a bad mood, I understand."
He started swaying her as he held her. It was more than a bad mood. He'd never stay in a bad mood after he had seen her. This had been something different. He put it to the back of his mind and kissed her.
"I'm just a nasty guy," he said undoing the buttons of her coat, "who does nasty things."
Laura stiffened, hoping he was not thinking of doing what he appeared to be starting to do. "My classmates are just across the hall," she reminded him, knowing that pointing this out wouldn't help in the slightest.
"Yeah," he said, "that's why I locked the door. Do you think you can be quiet?" he teased her.
"You always pick the worst places," she complained as he undid the buttons on her cardigan.
"You're the one who decided to come to school babe," he said, "this one's on you."
She smiled and conceded the point. After all she did want him.