Every step we took toward what Lily had meant I’d never be normal. I couldn’t picture something normal when it came to the Academy or the guys.
I’d used to want to be normal, so it was strange to feel it around me, to sense it within my grasp, and to be repulsed by the idea.
I heard the slightest of movements from my room, and for a second, I was worried somehow Marie had snuck past me.
I listened, feeling vibrations and a change of air pressure.
And then nothing.
No. Marie wouldn’t move so silently.
I smiled to myself. I wondered which one of the guys had snuck up here, most likely through the window.
Normal wasn’t meant for me.
I started back to my room, trying to step lightly, and then remembered I didn’t need to sneak around like I used to, at least not now. I walked a little heavier to make my footsteps noticeable if any of them were paying attention.
I caught the smell of fruit and sweet soap, and the scent threw me off as I realized it was exactly how I smelled at the moment.
Like the bath I’d taken at Victor’s house.
I went to the attic space and peered into the darkness. “Gabriel?” I whispered.
A hand reached out and pulled me in. The door shut behind me.
He hovered over me in the dark, moving me quietly around all the stuff stored just inside the door. I ended up on my butt, sitting up a little, propped up on my elbows.
His nose touched mine.
“Hi,” Gabriel whispered. “How’d you know it was me?”
“I could smell you,” I said.
He made a sniggering noise. “What? Are you saying I stink?”
“You smell like me. We took the same bath, remember?”
“Oh yeah.” He leaned into me and then a glow appeared from his phone, lighting up his face. He was clean, although unshaven, the coarse hairs around his chin and jawline creating shadows, making his face look more lean and defined.
He shined the light in my eyes for a second and then looked at the supplies. “First things on the list: we need light, heat, and I need to mask the sound.” He reached up to the padding along the roof interior. “Good thing we soundproofed this place before, but the door looks warped a bit, probably from the weather change. We need to be careful to make sure it’s securely closed.”
I rubbed my chin, unsure about this. He spoke like he was going to be staying up here. That seemed like we were asking for problems. “Should we put in a lock?”
“If she allows it,” Gabriel said. “Actually, let’s put one in and pretend it was always there. I get the feeling she’ll check the room at some point, so...”
There were heavy thuds on the stairs.
“Jimmy,” I whispered. Exactly what I was worried about. Someone was bound to notice if the guys were around. Jimmy and Carol weren’t going to be easy to manipulate like my heavily medicated stepmother.
I didn’t want to indicate I had a cell phone, so I didn’t want to use the light. Gabriel handed me his keys, which had a mini flashlight, and then sunk far back into the room, to the platform that had a beanbag chair, part of the wall jutting out to hide the extra space back there. He slipped behind the wall.
There was a thud of something like a hand slapping the wall. “Fuck me. Spider,” Gabriel grumbled softly.
I had no time to respond before there was a soft knock at the door. “Sang?”
I lit up the flashlight and held it upright like a candle to light up the space a bit more. I opened the door and peered into the well-lit bedroom. “Yeah?”
Jimmy squatted, sitting on his heels, and leaned into the attic space. He scratched at the tight curls on his head. “Mom thinks you’re weird for wanting to sleep in here. Are you sure you want to?”
She’d already said it was okay. Why was she sending him to talk to me? Or was he doing this on his own? “Don’t you want your own room?” I asked.
He raised an eyebrow. “There’s no light in there.”
“I know,” I said and fidgeted with the flashlight. It shut off on me and I fumbled to get it back on again. I probably sounded like a complete goof wanting to sleep in the attic, and now I felt like a klutz. “I can put a lamp in here.”
“And no air conditioning.”
“It’s cold right now,” I said, quieter. Why did it matter to him? He’d get his own room if I stayed in here. Or did he not want me to stay in a space where I might pop in on him at odd times? “I won’t need it for months.”
“It’ll be freezing at night.”
“I’ve got a heater and a sleeping bag that warms up.”
“We can share the room,” he said. He placed a palm over his heart. “I swear, I wouldn’t ever do anything. I won’t bother you. You don’t have to sleep in there.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “This gives us separate spaces.”
He grunted and repositioned himself to sit cross-legged in front of the door. “Seriously, is it me?”
“No,” I said, but a blush heated my cheeks. I reached for one of the bags, unzipping it a little and then stopping because I had no idea what the guys had put inside. I didn’t want Jimmy to see something he shouldn’t.
“I know we just showed up out of nowhere,” he said. He stared at his knees, rubbed one with a palm. “I just feel like I’m shoving you in there.”
Oh. He sort of was, but was it his fault? He was trying to be nice and it probably seemed like I was recoiling from him. Not a great way to start. “It is a little weird we don’t know each other,” I said. “But I like this attic space. I don’t mind staying in it.” Especially if Gabriel and the others would be lurking around.
He pressed his lips together, thinking. “Well, maybe for a night or two? Maybe you’ll come out later?”
“Maybe,” I said softly, although I was more hoping he’d just get used to it. And also that I might not be here that long.
“I might have a lamp in the boxes in the garage,” he said, scooting away from the door. “I’ll see if I can find it.”
I wanted to say I didn’t need it, but he was already on his way out, and I wanted him to go. He left the bedroom, and I wasn’t sure about shutting the door again. How soon would he come back?
“Motherfucker needs to back off,” I heard Gabriel mutter behind me.
I closed the door for the moment, scurrying to the back of the attic space. My knees burned a bit from crawling across the carpet. I used the flashlight like a candle, leaving it upright as it illuminated my face and the space inside the attic. “He’ll see you if he comes in here.”
Gabriel crouched on the beanbag and leaned out, hovering close over me. The beam of light the flashlight created gave him a long nose and heavy shadows around his eyes, so he looked a little spooky. “I’m not leaving you here alone with him. Or her, for that matter. We don’t know shit about either of them.”
“They don’t seem bad,” I said. “They just don’t know what they’re doing.”
“That’s bad enough,” he said. “We need a safe way to get you out of here without attracting the police, or Volto, or FuckFace McCoyFuck.”
That did make it much more complicated. “Mr. Hendricks doesn’t have anyone watching the road right now, does he?”