Unsung Requiem by C.L. Stone

Affrettando

(Hurrying, pressing onwards)

Sang

We parked the V28 at the diner, although by the time I managed to wedge myself out and walk off, it had garnered a lot of attention. Customers coming in and out paused to look at the sports car, and a few took pictures, with some standing in front of it and smiling.

“We can’t keep this car,” Victor moaned on our way to the path in the woods behind the diner and get to Kota’s house. “Anywhere we go, it’ll be like this.”

“I think your car is more famous than you are,” Nathan said with a chuckle.

I grinned at Nathan’s joke.

Once we got to the gate behind Nathan’s house, we paused, looking at it.

Nathan grimaced. “Well, guess we can’t just cut through like we used to.”

“These walking trails aren’t going to be as kept up if we’re in a different house,” I said.

“It’s really weird,” Victor said.

We all stood there silently a little longer, as the realization of what had transpired and the future we would be facing sunk in.

I’d already moved once in the year, down here to South Carolina, with my family. Since then, everything had upended itself. They were now going through the same thing. Their whole lives were changing.

Like me, they wanted their lives to change, but having it change, and so suddenly, it was jarring.

“We won’t need to cut through woods once we’re in a new place,” I said, trying to be helpful.

“You know what will be great?” Victor said, turning away from the fence line. “Not having to drive all the way to different cities around here just to get to each other.”

Nathan smirked. “I thought you were going to say no surprise visits by parents.”

“And how impossible will it be for Volto to mess with us if we’re together in one house?” I asked.

“And if a car breaks down,” Nathan followed us, as we took a different way around, a little longer, to get to Kota’s, “it’s not so bad. Someone else is there. All the cars are there.”

We tried going over more good things, and maybe we needed to do that more often. It did help me feel better.

At Kota’s house, we were greeted by Gabriel and Luke. No one else was around. Max padded along near us as we entered the house, vying for attention from anyone who would pet him by nuzzling his nose into knees and legs.

“Where is everyone?” Victor asked as we collectively climbed the back stairs of Kota’s house to get to Kota’s bedroom. The dog followed along.

“We’re off duty… but also on duty tonight,” Gabriel said. He wore only jeans, as if he’d been getting ready but came down to greet us.

“Yeah,” Luke said. His long blond hair was wet and combed down and hanging around his face. He had on pajama pants and a white T-shirt. “We’re under orders to take you two out.” He waggled a finger toward Victor and me. “You two got the luck of the draw.”

“What about me?” Nathan asked. “I don’t get to go?”

“We only have four tickets,” Gabriel said.

Nathan harrumphed and rolled his eyes. He reached to put Max on the head. “Looks like it’s just you and me, buddy. They’re leaving us behind.”

“North will be here soon,” Gabriel said and retreated to the bathroom. “Give me a second. I’m getting ready.” He winked at me. “You’re next.” He closed the door.

Gabriel and Luke had a mischievous plan, and it involved me getting dressed in the most punk outfit that Gabriel had ever put together for me.

I stood in the middle of Kota’s bedroom, on the blue carpet, eyeballing the wallpaper. Victor monitored while Gabriel put the finishing touches on me.

“I don’t know,” Victor said, sitting on Kota’s bed, leaning back on his elbows but looking over at us. “It’s not really… her.”

“Of course it’s her,” Gabriel said. He put a leather bracelet on each of my wrists. “What are you talking about?”

There wasn’t a mirror that I could see from where I was, but as it stood, I was wearing all black. Black skirt, black T-shirt, black long socks and black boots. He let me use the hairclip, just because it was black.

I even wore a black collar.

Gabriel picked up a second collar, also black, and put it around his neck. He wore jeans and a T-shirt, all black as well.

Victor had dug up a dark gray cotton button-down shirt from the closet, and only barely gave in to wearing his usual black pants when he couldn’t find anything else black he could fit into comfortably and Gabriel insisted.

Victor raked his fingers through his hair, combing the locks back. “Maybe I’ve seen North wear all black for too long. It feels like… she’s pretending to be North or something. I don’t know how to describe it.”

“North didn’t invent black,” Gabriel said and then grinned. “Besides, this is a trend right now.”

Victor raised his eyebrow. “Where exactly is wearing all black a trend?”

“South Korea. And it’s more complicated than that.” Gabriel stepped back from me and twirled his finger. “Do a quick spin for me. Just want to make sure…”

I did, and while the skirt poofed out a bit when I turned, it didn’t fly up too far to reveal anything. Underneath, I was wearing very short shorts, just in case.

He presented a thumbs up to me. “Perfect. Fucking perfect.” He squinted at me. “Except for that.”

He pointed right at my neck.

Was there still a bruise? I quickly touched the spot, embarrassed.

Gabriel smirked. “Kota… I mean Victor… sorry. Someone broke the rules. Ground them.”

Victor eased over, and I took a step back, shaking my head. “Don’t,” I said, covering my neck.

“Yeah, don’t,” Luke said.

“There’s no rule about hickies,” Victor said gently. He reached for my hand, removing it. “Don’t worry.”

Gabriel’s mouth opened, jaw going slack. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Although we should be more mindful,” Victor said. “You know, for Mr. Buble perhaps.”

I sighed.

Gabriel groaned. “I bet it was fucking Silas.”

My cheeks reddened.

Gabriel bobbed his head. “I knew it. Knows it’ll get under my skin…”

“Where are we going, anyway?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“The concert that starts at eight.” Gabriel started putting another set of clothes out. “It’ll be over by ten. We should be on the lookout while inside. After that, we’ve got guard duty for North while he makes the trade for the missing trunk.” He looked over his shoulder at Victor. “And it’s a punk band. So we need black.”

“How very practical, then,” Victor said, with a small smirk. “So the concert is really just a pre-requisite for the handoff?”

“I mean, it was your birthday gift, so you automatically get to go. They just happened to pick it, right?” He slapped Victor on the back once as he passed him to fetch another item. “So happy birthday. Maybe we can get the band to sing you a birthday song.”

Near the bed, Kota’s computer chair had been pulled away from the desk. Gabriel laid clothing out on it he pulled from a suitcase he’d rolled in earlier. He knelt down and looked in at his collection, shifting through it. “This would be a lot easier if we had that house. All this carrying stuff I don’t need because I don’t know…”

“It takes time to find a house,” Victor said. “We haven’t looked at any yet.”

“There’s a house down the road,” he said. “For sale. Let’s just get that one.”

“You’re not thinking practical, there,” Victor said. “We’ve got to plan it.” He motioned to me and waved a hand at Gabriel. “Tell him, Sang. It’s got to be the right one.”

They talked about it like they were talking about buying an outfit. I shrugged. “I’ve never shopped for a house. I don’t know where to start. But we need room for all of us.”

“We should start with figuring out if we want to stay in the tri-city area, or outside of it, or somewhere else,” Victor said.

“Well, we’d have to make it near Charleston for now,” Gabriel said.

“But where? One of the islands? Downtown? In a place like Lily has? That’s more secluded, outside of town.”

There was a thud starting at the bottom of the steps and then footsteps coming up. I spun a bit to catch Kota coming in. Jeans, green T-shirt, although the shirt was grease-stained. He stopped at the top of the steps and then looked me over. “What’s all that?” he asked.

“Concert,” I said, although I blushed and shyly looked away for a minute, not because of what I was wearing, but because… of a lot of things lately. His broken car. His mom. What did he know? Was he mad? Despite myself, I forced my gaze in his direction. I couldn’t shy away from him forever.

Kota lifted an eyebrow and looked over at Victor.

Victor waved his hands. “Not mine.”

Luke came out of the bathroom, sans everything but a pair of boxers. “Is it my turn?”

“It’s the rock concert,” Gabriel said to Kota. “Is everyone on the same page? We’re doing the meet with North and Mr. Buble. The concert is before we’re supposed to show up but since we have tickets, we’ll enjoy but also scope out if the thieves could be there, maybe people we recognize.” He stood up and holding a pair of jeans. The jeans were cut at various places, some very close to the butt. He presented them to Luke. “Try this on.”

“Black isn’t really my color,” Luke said. He looked over at me and then reached for the jeans. “Are we all matching again?”

“We’re blending in,” Gabriel said. “What part of rock concert isn’t informative? We wear black. We scream at the band. We go deaf at the extremely loud guitar solos.”

“And this is fun?” Victor asked, an eyebrow cocked.

“Hey,” Gabriel said, reaching to punch him lightly in the bicep. “I don’t snore at your performances. I take in the experience and appreciate the art that it is. This is art in a different form.” He held out a shirt for Luke.

“Mosh pits are art?” Victor asked, now obviously using a teasing tone.

“Isn’t that where you smash up against people in a circle?” I asked them. I’d heard about it some but from videos online, I couldn’t tell if it was dancing or running into other people.

“No mosh pits for you,” Kota said.

“Aw,” Luke whined. “Kota’s no fun.” He took the shirt from Gabriel and went to the bathroom to change, although I wasn’t sure why as he was mostly naked.

Victor laughed. “Who’s playing, anyway?”

Gabriel blinked rapidly and then shrugged. “Hell if I know. Seemed popular.”

The bathroom door opened and Luke reappeared, decked out in ripped black jeans and a black tank shirt and open hoodie, he looked different, with his hair tied back completely in a ponytail high on the back of his head. All the black made him appear leaner than he was, but his face was beautiful. “We ready?” he asked.

“You just need some eyeliner,” Gabriel said.

“Let’s get going,” Luke said. “If we leave now, we can take the Jeep.”

Gabriel spun around and smirked. “Hell yeah.”

Uh oh. “Did North actually say we can take it?” I asked. “Or…”

“He will,” Luke said and winked at me. “Once you ask him.”

Kota seemed to sense my hesitation. “We’re a little low on vehicles, but taking the Jeep makes the most sense. They should be there to meet with you after. I’ve got to take Nathan from here. We’re getting what’s left from his house before his dad puts the house up for sale. There’s going to be an estate sale for the furniture, so he needs his stuff out now.”

Oh. We really needed to get on finding a house.

Still, I had to be the one to ask North if it was okay to take his Jeep. I rolled my eyes and then pulled out my cell phone I had in my bra. “Well, let’s see what North says.”

Victor motioned to Kota. “Then you guys get the sports car.” He handed Kota the keys.

Kota took them. “Where is it?”

“It’s at the diner.”

“Which one?”

“Trust me. You’ll know.”

♥♥♥

North made me swear the boys would do nothing but go to the concert, that we’d wear our seatbelts, and we’d leave the concert before the final song so we’d get back into the lot in time for the tradeoff. Even then, he seemed reluctant to let Luke take it anywhere.

“I’d rather you drive it,” North had told me.

“I don’t drive.”

“Remind me to teach you. And in a better car.”

I had no desire to entertain the idea of being taught to drive, at least not right now.

Luke drove with Gabriel in the front seat. I sat next to Victor in the back.

Before we left, I excused myself and went to find the bracelet Victor gave to me once. The guys sometimes got me jewelry of different sorts and I kept not wearing them. I was a little worried I’d lose them.

But for tonight, I wanted to wear it. A small chain with a heart charm. Victor got it for me very close to the start.

For a long time, I was just gazing out the window. It already felt like a long day.

Victor was leaning against me. We did have our seatbelts on but we were close enough he could press his arm against me as he gazed out the other window. Gabriel and Luke talked about going to grab something to eat after the concert and the trade was over and what places were on the way back.

After a minute, while Gabriel and Luke were still talking to themselves, I pressed a little harder into Victor to get his attention. “Are you okay?” I asked in a quiet voice.

“Sure,” Victor said.

“Are you going to go?”

“Where?”

“When we move. Into a house.”

His smile fell a touch and he shrugged. “I think so. I don’t know what to do about my parents… and you know, the other stuff.”

“Wasn’t it hard to sneak around your parents? With the Academy?”

“I didn’t think it was, no more than anywhere else,” he said. “I think I slowly got used to it. I’d lie about where I was going so much…” He sighed. “Maybe I’m no better than they are.”

I reached out, squeezing his hand. “You’re much better.”

He smiled.

“I just can’t wait until we’re settled,” I said.

“But you know, it’s going to take some time to find a house. Do you know where you’re sleeping tonight?”

I glanced at Luke and Gabriel, still talking to each other, and then back to him, shrugging. “No idea. Back at Mr. Buble’s?”

“You could go to Kota’s if you wanted.”

“I don’t know if I should yet,” I said.

“You don’t have to avoid her.”

I knew I didn’t have to. But still, it felt awkward now. We’d snuck into her house, checked on her…

If she was Volto, there was a high probability that she was associated with the drop-off tonight. We’d be one step closer to figuring out if it’s her. We might know tonight once and for all.

It made the thought of going to a concert a little strange to me. I felt it was meant for us to relax a bit after the last couple of days, but my skin tickled with pins and needle feelings.

The colosseum in Charleston was surrounded by mostly parking lots and one hotel next door. The sun was going down as we arrived. When Luke parked, we climbed out. There were two actual buildings but apparently the concert was in the smaller, round building.

Gabriel and Luke led the way. I walked behind them with Victor. After only a few moments, I reached out for his hand, walking closer to him.

Victor picked up his head and looked over at me. He squeezed my hand shortly.

“I haven’t been to a concert before,” I said.

“You’ve been to mine.”

“I mean not like this.”

“Are you nervous?”

“A little…” I gazed over at other people heading in the same direction.

He squeezed my hand again and then released it to wrap an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t be. I’ll be watching out for you. And them.”

“Like Nathan usually does?” I asked with a grin.

“That’s usually why someone else goes along, yeah? I’m the muscle.”

I smirked and shook my head. “It’s weird. I guess. Even after all this time, I still can’t shake thinking my mom is going to get after me sneaking out.”

“It takes a while to get used to being out, I bet,” he said. “I still anticipate my mom calling to remind me I have to be home for those people, or that dinner, or to rehearse for that event.”

“I hope this feeling goes away,” I said.

He nodded. “Yeah. At some point maybe.”

He paused there and checked his phone, read a text message quickly, nodded, and then put it back into his pocket without answering it.

“Who’s that?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Just Kota. Keeping me updated.”

“We’re still set for tonight? For the tradeoff?”

“Yup,” he winked at me and drew me in closer, kissing the side of my head, near my ear. “Let’s just have fun. We don’t have to worry about it. Too many people for Volto to try anything too crazy, and Mr. Buble will be in a bit later to monitor with North. If we happen to see familiar people, we just remember who we saw.”

I wasn’t so sure. Volto willingly messed with other people, an entire stadium, once before.

Still, I tried to relax. It had been so tense with Kota’s mother and trying to come up with how to handle it, Nathan’s house getting robbed, still dealing with Volto after all this time, too. I was just grateful that Victor didn’t seem all that worried. If he wasn’t, then what the others had said was true. Maybe we just needed to wait it out and find out what was really going on.

I leaned into him, nuzzling his body a bit with my cheek. “I’m glad you’re with us,” I said.

As he walked beside me, the fire that was in his eyes before, was there, though diminished a bit.

I was too nervous to ask why.

♥♥♥

Moments later, we were standing in front of our seats. The stage ahead of us was dark.

To my left was Victor, to my right, Gabriel, and then Luke. With all the black, in the dark, it was like we were floating heads in the shadows.

Surprisingly, for a school night, a lot of the audience were younger than us, with numerous kids that appeared to be about twelve or so. There were several groups that were teenagers, and very few parents, or if they were there, they were much higher and away from the stage. Around us were rows of people, some sitting and some standing in anticipation.

The concert started, most of the area went darker as more lights went off except for the stage. Everyone stood. People screamed at the musicians. Some people carried glow sticks and waved them around.

The boys next to me hooted. For some reason, I found the whole thing funny and just laughed.

The music got pretty heavy, and soon Luke and Gabriel were banging their heads forward and back, had their arms up in the air, making hand signals, similar to what others were doing nearby.

Gabriel bumped into me, and then grinned, leaning in. “Rock on. Come on, you can do it.”

I didn’t want to bang my head, so I lifted my hand up and just waved it back and forth a little.

Gabriel glanced at my hand and then giggled. “Good job.”

Luke leaned over him and laughed. “Hey, it’s this way.”

I compared my hand to his. I’d put out a thumb, first finger, and pinkie finger. He’d just did first and pinkie.

“No thumb?” I asked.

“No, let her use the thumb,” Gabriel said. “It’s adorable.”

“It doesn’t mean the same,” Luke said.

“Sure it does,” Gabriel said and switched his hand up. “It means we love the band.”

“You don’t even know who's playing,” Luke said.

“Do we care?” Gabriel said and laughed.

While Gabriel was swinging around, Luke was looking at me, still laughing.

“What?” I asked. But I felt my voice was probably lost and I did sign language instead. “What does it really mean?”

He signed back but spelled the letters out, “I love you.”

Oh. I giggled and realized what I was doing.

Gabriel and Luke started doing the same. I did as well. I had no idea if anyone else was even paying attention or cared what we were up to. I didn’t recognize anyone near us.

Victor beside me kept his arms crossed over his chest. He watched the concert, sometimes rocking his head, but he wasn’t dancing around like Luke and Gabriel.

I leaned into him, pressing my cheek to his shoulder a bit.

He turned to me. He glanced at the others and then down at me again. “Okay?” he mouthed.

I nodded.

The band played several songs. I had no idea what was being sung as the lead singer mostly screamed. Sometimes there were flames from the stage and I could feel the heat on my cheeks.

After about an hour, as far as I could tell at least, Gabriel poked me in the shoulder. “I’m heading to the bathroom,” he shouted at us. “Who wants to go?”

“I do,” Victor said.

I assumed I couldn’t go and leave Luke alone so I remained behind.

The boys left our row and headed for the steps that would take them out into the corridor that surrounded the stadium.

After they left, Luke turned to me. “You know,” he said, “one day we should go on our own date.”

“This like a date?” I asked.

He smirked at me. “One day I’ll get you by myself.”

“Tomorrow?” I asked. I had no idea what was happening tomorrow, but I realized, too, that a lot of my time lately was spent among them, but not with them. Often, when I did speak with Lily, she encouraged me to listen to what they were saying, and if they needed me, to be available. Not everyone would need me the same amount of time, but they’d say when they want something.

Luke’s eyes flashed brilliantly in the light from the stage. “You’re serious?”

I nodded, although I was nervous. “I’m not sure what jobs will be needed tomorrow but…”

He scooped up my hand quickly, bringing my knuckles to his lips and he kissed my hand. He turned it over gently and kissed my palm.

It tickled, and I retracted my hand away. “Don’t, it’s ticklish.”

He laughed and stopped.

He held up the hand signal, like before, except instead of directed at the band, he aimed it at me.

My mouth parted and my cheeks radiated. I almost froze again, in near shock.

I didn’t want to delay, like last time, but I was genuinely a mess of feelings.

Slowly, I held up the same hand signal.

I nearly floated where I stood. I didn’t notice anything else in the moment. What concert? And it felt so natural.

I did care about him a lot. My heart lifted around them all.

He brought his hand over, still signed, until we crossed fore and pinkie fingers and met our two knuckles together.

With his other hand, he reached over and held the tip of my chin.

He kissed me.

I was a little nervous the others would return and see it, so I only kissed him for a couple of minutes before I backed up a bit.

He seemed to understand me. “And that’s why we need our own date.” Instead of kissing me, he kept his arm around me, a hand at my waist.

I tucked into him. No more bouncing around. Just enjoying being near him.

I wanted this. So much. I wanted to be around them, at concerts and other places. I liked being with them together, and alone, and I hated that we were so distracted that we never felt we could get a break except in rare moments.

Luke nuzzled my head, kissing near my scalp.

His hand slid down to my hip and held me close to him.

We remained close, watching the band, me nearly floating out of my spot because I kept thinking of his hand signal to me. My hands twitched to do it again.

Two more songs played by the band, and the others still hadn’t gotten back.

Concerned, Luke held my hand and indicated to get out of the row. We followed signs around the building to find the closest bathrooms.

We found the right place, with a small line for the women’s and the men’s side didn’t seem to have a visible one.

“Where’s your phone?” Luke asked.

I brought it out.

“Put someone else on the line while I go in and see if they’re there.” He snapped his fingers and pointed at my feet. “Don’t you move.”

“What if there’s a fire?”

“Don’t start a fire,” he said, giving me a gentle chop on my head before heading into the boy’s bathroom.

I picked Silas.

He answered instantly. “I was thinking about you,” he said in lieu of saying hello.

I blushed. I was aware we weren’t supposed to be alone ever and someone was probably next to him. “Are you busy?”

“Nope.”

“Gabriel and Victor ventured off and Luke is checking the bathrooms.”

“You’re in the concert?”

“Yeah. Where are you?”

“Outside the concert,” he said. “With North.”

“You’re here?”

“We don’t have tickets. We’re scoping out the trade spot. It’s on the far side of the parking lot.” There was a deep voice, North’s, that came across on the phone but I couldn’t actually hear what he was saying. “He wants to know if the concert is over.”

“I have no idea.” I listened and the band was still playing. “I guess not yet.”

More North talking. Silas relayed, “When it is, get them to drive by here but don’t stop. It’s around the back of the building you’re in. There’s a small hill with a single lane nearby that leads to a gate. Have them back up to the gate, like they belong there, park, and wait. Looks like some maintenance shed but there shouldn’t be any traffic there at this time of night.”

The girls’ line was getting shorter but still no sign of Luke and the others. “Okay…”

“Just wait inside there. Make sure we don’t get our butts kicked.”

“Is it just you two?”

“We’re not going in. It’s Mr. Buble and he’s got another… person. I haven’t seen who it is yet.”

Academy person. Did we owe a favor for this? “So we’re all monitoring?”

“North and I will go in if there’s more than two people,” he said. “We don’t want to be outnumbered here. We assume it’ll go smoothly, trading cash for the trunk, and we get to identify who is there, ask a few questions. This is just if things get out of hand.”

I had no idea what to anticipate. With so many of us here, and likely witnesses as there were bound to be people from the concert in the parking lot as well, how would this work?

I was going to say something else when Luke reappeared, half carrying Victor, whose eyes were rolling into the back of his head and he was grinning.

Gabriel attempted to help, but he was laughing too much to do so.

“I can’t believe you do this now,” Luke said. He waved to me. “Give me a hand.”

“Gotta go,” I said to Silas.

“Don’t let them get into any trouble,” he said and hung up.

Might have been a bit too late for that.

I walked over to Luke and Victor, only the smell of something rancid, like a skunk smell, was so strong near them. I waved my hand in front of my nose. “What happened?”

Luke contorted his face. “They were smoking who knows what…”

“It was just fucking pot!” Gabriel corrected.

“With a bunch of idiots…”

“It was Jay!” Gabriel said. “And Rocky!”

“They’re here?” I asked.

“They were in the bathroom,” Victor said and stood up on his own, tugging his arm away from Luke. “Stop dragging me.”

“Was Karen with them?” I asked.

Gabriel shrugged, but grinned as he did so. “Girl in the guy bathroom? No waaaay.”

Luke closed his eyes and pinched at the bridge of his nose, “I can’t believe I’m the one dragging you two out… you… ugh.”

“Hey,” Victor said, and giggled. “Don’t… you shouldn’t be rude.”

“Let’s get them out of here, Sang,” Luke said. “Get Gabriel, make sure he doesn’t wander off.” He took Victor by the hand.

Victor tried to take his hand back. “We don’t need to do this.”

“Oh yes I do,” Luke said, reclaiming Victor’s hand. “I don’t care if people think we’re a couple. We are for ten minutes until we get to the car. I don’t want you wandering off.”

I did the same for Gabriel, only Gabriel didn’t complain. They did want to let go a lot, getting distracted by people they thought they wanted to talk to, the food section, wanting to go back to the concert.

It was better out in the parking lot. Most people were inside and we only had to direct them down the row of cars. They kept trying to get into different ones.

“Well, I can’t remember which car we brought,” Gabriel said. “There’s too many of them. Fuck. Do we own a Corolla?”

“It’s the Jeep,” I said.

Gabriel laughed. “Oh yeah.”

Progress with them was so slow. It took ten minutes simply because they kept changing their minds about what to do or just stopping and not wanting to go.

It was like Victor was drunk all over again, only now there were two. “This was pot?” I asked. I had seen TV shows and movies and a few kids at school high on pot, and they didn’t act like this.

“They’re lightweights,” Luke said, still hanging on to Victor’s hand and guiding him down the rows of cars.

“No, we aren’t!” Victor insisted.

“Yeah,” Gabriel said. “We’re not!”

Luke rolled his eyes.

At the Jeep, Victor and Gabriel collected in the back seat. I sat in the passenger seat.

“I… can’t believe…” Luke got in the driver’s seat and inserted a key to get the Jeep started.

“We have to stay here,” I said. I told him what Silas said.

“We can’t do that,” Luke said. He motioned with a hand at the back. “Look at these two!”

With that, Gabriel and Victor burst out laughing, with Gabriel doubling over until he nearly slid onto the floor.

Luke whipped around, pointed a long finger at them. “I can’t believe that you two… of all people…”

I was getting a bit flustered, too. “Yeah!” I said. They knew better! And at such a critical time. “I can’t believe this.”

“You’re going to make us parent you two,” Luke said to them. “When we finally get time off…”

“Smoking pot on a job,” I mumbled, shaking my head. I was completely stunned this happened. It wasn’t like them.

Gabriel took one look at me and instantly his expression changed until he was crying. “Fuck me. Sang, don’t look like that.”

“I’m mad,” I said. “We went all this way. They got us concert tickets. You dressed us up. And you two—We didn’t even get to stay for the whole concert.”

“You’re hanging out with Jay and Rocky in the bathroom smoking pot until you’re like this,” Luke said. “I didn’t even see them in there. They left before I got to you.”

“Why didn’t you say no?” I asked them.

They didn’t answer me. Instead, Gabriel kept crying, and Victor started to cry, too.

“Sang’s mad at us,” Gabriel said.

Victor couldn’t answer. He just coughed and cried. He tapped at his throat and looked at me.

“What?” I asked.

“He probably needs water,” Luke said. “Cotton mouth.”

I assumed it meant dry throat. I checked around me, finding a single water bottle stored away underneath my seat. I handed it to them. They had trouble opening it so I opened and returned it.

Meanwhile, Luke was fuming and drove slowly around the coliseum until we found the likely spot Silas was talking about. I didn’t recognize any other cars along the way but the hill with the gate was very clear. Luke backed into it, threw the parking brake, and turned the car off. Trees surrounded us on either side of the lane, with long branches and plenty of leaves to obscure our view of the parking lot a bit.

Luke folded his arms across his chest and sat back quickly, staring out the windshield. “I don’t know what’s worse, that they did it without telling us what was going on, or that now I feel like North, and I hate it.”

Gabriel widened his eyes and pointed at Luke, laughing. “North! He’s the new North!”

Victor rolled in his seat, giggling.

There had to be a good reason for this. “You said Jay was there?”

Gabriel chuckled. “We were fitting in.”

“We had to,” Victor said in unison with Gabriel talking.

They talked over each other more, and I couldn’t understand them. Luke shook his head, pursing his lips. He seemed as perplexed as me.

“If they had to or not, they’re useless right now,” Luke said.

Outside the Jeep, the spot we were in was dark. In the distance, the view was a portion of the back end of the parking lot framed by trees. With the lights of the Jeep off, it was questionable if we could be noticed.

I sent a quick text to Silas that we were in position.

I just got a thumbs-up emoji in return.

“So what are we doing here?” I asked Luke.

“Victor’s trunk,” he said. “Mr. Buble is making the purchase to re-secure it. We’re just backup. We don’t go in unless they say.”

“Yeah!” Victor said. He pumped his fist. “Going to get that…” The rest was a smattering of mumbles.

“Calm down,” Luke said, using the rearview mirror to glance back at them. “You don’t have to be sober, just be quiet.”

Gabriel breathed in deeply, and pinched his lips shut like he was going to hold his breath.

Victor followed quickly. They lasted maybe a minute before they released, sputtering and giggling. One of them snorted.

Luke leaned against the steering wheel, placing his forehead at the top and moaned. “Why now?”

Gabriel snorted again. “Victor, switch places with Sang.”

“No, you should do it.”

“I’m not moving,” I said, folding my arms and sinking down in the front seat. “I’m still mad.”

Gabriel started to cry again but I could tell it wasn’t real this time. “Don’t be mad.”

“I have to pee,” Victor said.

“You were just in the bathroom,” Luke mumbled against the steering wheel. He hadn’t moved.

“I didn’t go. We just met Jay and Rocky.”

“I have to go, too.” Gabriel said.

“I should sic North on both of you.” Luke snapped upright and struggled to get his seatbelt to release for a moment. “I’m going to take you out there and you can go on a tree.”

“We can’t do it in view of Saaang,” Gabriel said. “She’ll see.”

Luke turned to me and held my arm to collect my attention. “I’m not going far. I’m just going to go with them so they don’t…”

Without warning, both Victor and Gabriel hopped out of the car on either side, one walking one direction, the other walking in a completely different one beyond the tree line.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Luke said. He got out of the car. “Call North but stay in the car.” He bolted after Victor, who was already around the side of the building and out of sight.

I breathed in deeply and groaned. Why now? What could have happened in that bathroom that made them want to smoke pot, and so much of it that they were so impaired? It had to be something important, but with the state they were in, it was impossible to get it out of them now.

I dialed North.

“Hey, baby,” he answered.

“We have a problem,” I said. I tried to explain what happened. “Luke went after Victor. I was watching Gabriel from the car but I think I lost him. He’s just wandering back toward the coliseum.”

“Shit,” he said, along with a long slew of choice words and some I only half heard as I thought he pulled the phone away from his face for a minute. He returned quickly. “I’ll be right there. Hang on.”

It was only a couple of minutes before North appeared. He got in the driver’s seat, sitting there with the door open. He scanned the perimeter. “Where are they?”

“Luke took off that way following Victor,” I said, motioning. “And Gabriel’s in that direction last I saw.”

North grunted, shaking his head. “Silas is the only one watching Mr. Buble’s back now.” He motioned to a car, just out of view until I leaned forward and could catch the corner of some black car, although I didn’t recognize the vehicle. “Mr. Buble’s hanging out with Mrs. Ruiz for the trade.”

“What should I do?”

“Remember when I said I was going to teach you how to drive?” he asked.

With my lips pursed tight, I nodded.

“Crash coarse starts now. Slide over.” He got out on the driver’s side and patted the seat, indicating to take the spot.

I collected myself up and wedged over into the driver’s seat, the cloth material still warm where he’d been… a minor comfort in the moment.

He leaned against the door of the car and motioned to the pedals. “Put your foot on the brake.”

I did, and he immediately reached over and started the car, lights off, and put it into drive.

My heart pounded. Panic ensnared everything in me.

“Shit gets weird, I want you to drive straight into that damn truck that shows up.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means if there’s more than you think Silas, Corey, Mr. Buble and Mrs. Ruiz can take care of and they threaten them, then you ram the shit out of the truck. They should scatter after that.”

“Who is Corey?”

“You might know him. He’s in the…you know what.”

Academy. “Aren’t they going to be in the middle of it?”

“They won’t be,” he said.

He reached out, grabbing me by the chin and forced me to stare right at his face.

“You do not hesitate. You don’t back down. The moment it starts to roll, you jump the fuck out. Tuck and roll, baby. I know you know how.”

This suddenly got way more serious and intense in just a few minutes. I breathed in, holding it, trying to hold on to every frayed nerve. I only hoped I didn’t have to do this.

He kissed me once, briefly, strongly, while still holding my face.

Then he let go and headed around the door. He didn’t close it.

I instinctively thought not to. I would need to jump out.

Don’t think. Don’t think…

I sat in silence, pressing the break hard fearing it’d release without me wanting to do it.

Kota’s car and how it had felt to be driving it flashed into my mind.