Down the hall, into my bedroom, turn around, back down the hall, pause look at the clock on the wall in the kitchen, around the couch, and back down the hall again. I paced like a caged animal. The time crept slowly. I didn’t turn TV or music on in fear that I wouldn’t hear Sylvia come back home. I thought about propping my door open so I could watch for her. I didn’t want to scare her.
By the time my dad called, it was after three. He said my mom was worried because they hadn’t heard from me all weekend. Not thinking I told him that I had been sick. He started to ask questions and I tried to insist that I was better and I thought I was about to get away with it until I heard my mom in the background. After that, there was no getting out of seeing them. I was given two choices: go there or they were coming to my place. As much as I needed to talk to Sylvia I couldn’t risk my mom seeing the two of us right now. She would immediately know something happened between the two of us, and I wasn’t ready for her intrusion.
After I hung up I paced around some more. I texted Sloane again to see if they’d heard from her. I knew I would raise suspicions about why I was so concerned about Sylvia, but I didn’t care at this point. I would tell anyone anything just to know she was alright.
She’s probably at Jason’s. What’s going on? -S
Jason’s, right. I forgot about him. I decided that I couldn’t ask Sloane for directions to Jason’s without alerting them to something being afoot. I thought maybe if I played it casual and avoided answering the question it would throw them off.
Ok. Let me know if you see her when you get back. -Q
If she was at Jason’s she was at least somewhere safe, I hoped. At least she wasn’t at Beau’s. I prayed she wasn’t with Beau. I started to worry more about the possibility of her being with him. I clenched my fists and felt my jaw tighten. I started pacing again. My second pass through, I realized that this wasn’t doing any good. I grabbed my keys and headed to see Dad.
I checked Sylvia’s door one more time. Still no answer. I took the steps two at a time. I wanted to hurry and get this over with. I got into my car, but before I turned the key I felt someone watching me. I looked around, hoping desperately that it was Sylvia. No such luck. Beau stood on the sidewalk right in front of the car. Our glares met through the windshield. I broke my gaze away first to look around to see if Sylvia was with him. She wasn’t. I started the car and pulled out. At least I could cross that worry off my list.
I only stayed at Mom and Dad’s long enough to for Dad to look in my throat and call me in a prescription for strep throat. I may have played the sore throat up a bit, but being sick kept Mom from questioning me. She wanted me to stay with them so she could look after me. I quickly used an upcoming test I had to study for as an excuse to hurry back to my place. Her raised eyebrow led me to believe that she didn’t buy that for one minute. At least she let it go. I was out of there in less than fifteen minutes.
Dad called the scrip into a pharmacy by their house. I was able to pick it up without a problem. I figured while I was out I would drive around campus and just see if I would be lucky enough to run into Sylvia. I was slowly starting to realize that if she wanted to talk to me she would have been back by then. I reached for my phone, hoping that she would answer. It again went directly to voicemail. So she wasn’t home yet, or hadn’t turned on her phone yet.
If it was already that long since she’d left, it probably meant that she didn’t want to talk. What if she did go to Jason’s and he told her to stay away from me? From the way everyone talked about him, you’d think he was Sylvia’s personal sun after I left. I worried that she would take whatever advice he would give. No, I wouldn’t let that stop me. Even if she didn’t want to talk, I would make her listen. I screwed up before. I was not going to screw this up again. I was going to make her see that I was right for her.
It was after six and I’d still had no sign of her. I stopped to pick up sandwiches on my way back to the apartment. I got one for Sylvia, too, in the hope that she would be back and be willing to eat with me. I knew it was a long-shot but it couldn’t hurt anything, right? I remembered the kind she always liked. I hoped it was still her favorite.
There was still no sign that the others were back from Chicago. I didn’t bother stopping at either couples’ place. Instead I went straight to Sylvia’s. I should have tried calling her first, I thought as I knocked on the door. I heard a voice and then the knob turned. I was ready for Sylvia. I knew exactly what I wanted to say to her. I wasn’t ready for Beau. My eyes widened when they came into contact with his instead of Sylvia’s. He smiled widely at me.
“Quinn,” he said brightly and way too smugly for my taste, “What can I help you with?” He opened the door wider and a saw a very panicked Sylvia peeking around the kitchen door. As soon as Beau looked over at her, she dropped her gaze to the floor. He looked back at me and motioned me in. “Sylvia, I think Quinn is here to see you.” His tone was over-friendly but I didn’t look at him. I focused on Sylvia.
Her eyes were wide and slightly pleading. She gave her head the slightest shake. I knew she was trying to tell me something. When Beau looked back at her she looked down again. That couldn’t be good. She looked back up at me and this time her face was blank.
“Quinn?” She wrinkled her nose and questioned as if she were trying to recall who I was. I saw how intently Beau was watching her, and I gathered that we were about to play pretend for his sake. “What are you doing here?” Her eyes flashed to Beau quickly and back to me. I still wasn’t sure what was going on between them but I had a real bad feeling about it all.
“Um, yeah, Sloane texted and said Kai wanted me to check on you since she can’t get a hold of you.” Please let her phone still be off. She let out a breath of relief and then rolled her eyes.
“Oh, my phone is lost. Will you just let Sloane know everything is okay?” She stressed the last a little harder. She walked up to Beau and put her arm around his waist. Was this how she was going to play it? My insecurities kicked in. Did she plan to sleep with me and then go back to her boyfriend? Was she trying to hurt me? No, Sylvia wouldn’t do something like that. Maybe she regretted last night and was choosing him over me. Wait, I haven’t even told her how I feel. How would she know that I even wanted more if I hadn’t told her? I needed to tell her.
I was about to ask her if I could talk to her in the hall for a minute, but Beau spoke up first.
“So, Quinn, I thought you were going to Chicago, too.” He tilted his head to the left as he waited to assess my answer. “Have you enjoyed having Sylvia here alone all weekend?” Having Sylvia alone? That right there sent a big red flare up in my brain. Normally he was all about reminding me that Sylvia was no longer with me. If he was willingly informing me that he hadn’t been with Sylvia all weekend, it could only mean that he was questioning where she had been. I glanced at Sylvia to see what was going on. Her face wore a painful mask. Her eyes pleaded with me. “Don’t look at her!” Beau snapped at me, pulling my full attention back to him.
“Sylvia, are you sure everything is okay here?” I was very concerned about the way Beau was acting. I pictured Sylvia’s milky-white skin with those hideous deep purple bruises and became immediately alarmed. I pulled up to my full height and stepped back, shifting my weight to my back foot. I had never had to actually use my Tae Kwon Do training outside of class, but my body just took over. I turned slightly so that I was facing him more from the side then straight on. This would allow for a slimmer target for him and give me the advantage of stepping into my punch or block if needed. I hoped I wouldn’t need it.
“Well, it was until you showed up. What is your deal anyway?” She squeezed Beau tighter, wrapping her body more in front of him than to the side. Her head was now against his chest. From that angle he couldn’t see her face. Her beautiful green eyes were silently begging me to be quiet. I wasn’t sure if it was to cover her own ass so her boyfriend wouldn’t know that she had slept with me, or if there was another reason. “Why are you here? Kai said you were going with them.” So she wanted me to play it that way.
“Strep throat,” I said it a little harsher than I’d meant to. I didn’t know if she was worried about what Beau would do if he found out. I wouldn’t be the one to tell him. Sylvia needed to make her choice. It clearly wasn’t the time to talk to her about it, but I still had to leave her a clue and hopefully throw off whatever suspicions Beau had. “I was sick in bed all weekend, but I had the sweetest little nurse taking care of me.” I made my voice go wistful, like I was thinking about something good and wanted to rub it in her face. Her eyes fell open like she couldn’t believe I would tattle on her. “Now if you’d turn your damn phone on so Kai can get a hold of you, I can get back to her. I’ve been gone long enough and I’m sure she’s starving.” I held up the bags with the sandwiches. I guess getting two was worth it.
“Fine! I’ll turn it on when I find it.” She ushered me to the door. “You better get back to your little...whatever,” she said with a flick of her wrist and annoyed huff.
I walked out and turned to her. I couldn’t see Beau and I hoped he couldn’t see me. I looked hard at her and mouthed, “We’re not done here.” She shut the door in my face.
I was no longer hungry when I got back to my place. I threw the sandwiches in the fridge and paced again. Beau was going to be a problem. I really needed to find out how Sylvia felt about me. Obviously she didn’t want Beau to know where she’d been all weekend. What I didn’t know was why. Was she scared of him? Was she letting me know she’d made her choice and I wasn’t it?
I lost track of time as my mind played out different scenarios of what could happen regarding Sylvia. I was so far in my own thoughts that I jumped at the sharp rap on my door. I wanted it to be Sylvia but worried that it was Beau. I opened the door ready for either. It was Sloane. Over his shoulder, I saw Kai standing at Sylvia’s door.
“Are you gonna let me in, or are you gonna keep staring at my girl’s ass?” He drawled at me. I shook my head and looked back at him. I hadn’t been staring at Kai’s ass. I was watching to see who opened Sylvia’s door.
“Sorry, man, my mind blanked. Too much cold meds.” I stood back and let him in.
He walked over and plopped down on my couch. “So what happened with you and Sylvia while we were gone?” What the fuck? Him too? Why would anyone even suspect us? We hadn’t given any reason for anyone to. Maybe Sylvia called Kai and told her. No, she wouldn’t do that in front of Beau, unless he’d left.
I played dumb. “What do you mean ‘what happened with Sylvia?’” I imitated him. “Why the fuck would anything happen with her?” I tried to sound offended.
“Let’s see, you contacted me to get her number and you were looking for her.”
“I had a question for her.” I didn’t join him on the couch. I ran my fingers through my hair and resumed my pacing.
“Uh huh. What exactly did you have to ask her? It’s not like the two of you have any common classes or anything.” He was looking at me with one eyebrow arched.
Several questions flashed before me, none of them sounded plausible. Then, “I needed to ask her about a former classmate,” came to mind.
Sloane gave a little snort. “Sure you did.”
“What? We graduated together. Remember?” I stopped right in front of the couch and looked at him.
“Well, Kai seems to think that something happened this weekend. She’s over at Sylvia’s right now and you know she won’t let it go until she has the truth. That, and you look guiltier ‘n a fox with hen breath and feathers between its teeth,” he drawled out.
I sat down hard on the other end of the couch and pinched the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know what happened.” I said it more to myself than Sloane, but he still heard it.
“So something did happen then. Kai always knows,” He said with a fucking smirk as he shook his head.
“Look, I don’t really want to talk about it. I doubt Kai will get any answers from Sylvia, either. Not with Beau there. Fucking prick.” I added under my breath.
“What did that asswad do now?” I was slightly surprised to hear Sloane use that tone. No one but Kerrington ever said anything about Beau in front of me. It was like an unspoken rule they had between all of them. I really didn’t know how any of them other than Kerrington felt about him. She couldn’t stand him, that much was obvious. But she limited her thoughts to snide comments when Sylvia didn’t join the group because she was otherwise occupied with Beau. From his pissed tone of voice, I gathered that Sloane must not be Beau’s biggest fan, either. Maybe I could confide some of my fears about him without coming across as the jealous ex-boyfriend.
“It’s not really anything he’s done, more of just a feeling I get around him.”
“I know what you mean.”
“I didn’t ever tell you, but that morning after the picnic I went to talk to Sylvia.” I figured he probably knew this. He nodded so I continued. “She had bruises on her.”
His eyes went wide. “Where? Why didn’t Kai tell me? She was up there after you left.” He shot me an apologetic glance. “Sorry, we all heard you two. Kai went up there to check on her when it quieted down. Surely she wouldn’t have let that go.”
“Well, Kai might not have seen them.” I said fast. I probably said too much, but I wanted to get it all out there. “They weren’t exactly in a visible location.” I rubbed my hands over my face and peeked at him through my fingers. His eyebrows were raised and he had the ‘this is going to be good’ grin. “Well, um,” I swallowed. “She was only wearing a t-shirt when she opened the door. She thought I was Kai,” I added quickly, hoping that he wouldn’t think I’d intentionally wanted to see her in just a shirt. “I couldn’t help but see them when she moved. I wasn’t looking there on purpose or anything.” I felt myself blushing.
“Just tell me where they were.”
I blew out a breath and sat back. “On her hips and upper thighs. They looked like finger prints.”
“Sylvia gets hurt easily. She always has bruises or cuts.” I knew he was just playing devil’s advocate.
I shook my head. “Not that easy. I know how accident prone she is, and I know with her fair skin evidence of that shows more than it would on most. But these were left from force. They were too dark.”
“She could like it that way?” He winced as he questioned it, like it was his sister’s sex life he was discussing and he wasn’t comfortable with that.
I wondered the same thing myself. Sylvia was always...open to new things, but I couldn’t see her liking pain. It just wasn’t like her. Of course, people can change. I shrugged my shoulders. I had no answer for that.
“I got a real bad feeling when I was over there earlier. I stopped because I needed to talk to her. I didn’t know he was there. At first he was just too friendly with me. Then he accused me of spending the weekend with Sylvia.”
“Did you?” he interrupted.
I just shot him a quick look, letting him know I wasn’t going to answer that. “She was all over him but her eyes were telling me something was wrong and to be careful with what I said. You know Sylvia can’t lie. Something was wrong. I just don’t know what it was. She didn’t appear to be hurt or anything, so I guess...” I just let myself trail off. I couldn’t prove anything. I probably sound like the crazy stalker ex-boyfriend trying to sabotage the new relationship.
Sloane was all serious-looking. “Quinn, where was Sylvia all weekend? Was she here? I need to know so I can help figure out if she’s in trouble and what we need to do about it.” He waited for me to answer.
I manned up and confessed to it. “She was here. But it wasn’t what you’re thinking. I was sick and she came over to...” Babysit me? Take care of me? Help me out? It all sounded bad. I might as well just say sleep with me... “To make sure I was okay.” He gave me a very knowing look. I wasn’t going to divulge any more info than that.
“So Beau knew that?”
“I don’t think so. I don’t recall her ever using her phone all weekend. She said she lost it. I don’t know if he ever showed up and she wasn’t there until today.”
“How long was she here to ‘make sure you were okay’?” He mocked my words.
“Saturday morning until this morning.” I didn’t look at him as I answered.
Sloane let out a low whistle. “Wow, I guess Kai’s spidey senses were spot on again.”
I threw a scowl his way. “I didn’t say anything happened. I just said she was here,” I snarled at him.
He raised his hands in innocence. “I’m not judging, man. Whatever did or did not happen isn’t my business. I’m just trying to figure out where she was.” He still shot another fucking presumptuous smile my way.
“So anyway, I don’t know if he came earlier. I saw him this afternoon for the first time. Sylvia wasn’t back yet.” He looked confused at that. “She took off sometime early this morning and I have no idea where she went. She didn’t exactly leave her agenda for the day, let alone say goodbye.” I muttered the last.
“That’s why you were looking for her,” he said as if suddenly it made sense. I nodded. “She was probably at Jason’s.”
I just let out a big breath. “So I don’t know what’s going on with Beau, if he’s pissed ’cause she wasn’t home or if he really knows she was here or what. I just don’t like it.”
A light tap at my door alerted us to Kai’s presence and I called out to her to come in. Sloane and I didn’t say anymore about Sylvia.
“Well, Sylvia is fine.” She rolled her eyes. “She lost her phone. I don’t know, she was all cuddly with Beau. I bet she was just all cozied up with him all weekend and turned her phone off.” Sloane and I exchanged knowing looks over her head. I hoped he wouldn’t share the secret. I wanted to wait and see what Sylvia would do. I shook my head and hoped he understood what I wanted. Kai was still talking and I caught the end of, “what did you do?”
“What?” I asked a little alarmed.
“I asked what you did for the weekend.” She looked up at me expectantly.
“Oh, nothing. I had strep throat and just stayed in.”
“Sorry. Chicago was great. It’s too bad you couldn’t come.”
She looked like she was going to say more but Sloane suggested they go home so I could rest.
We said our goodbyes and I sat on the couch, wondering just what to do.
I tried every day for the next two weeks to get Sylvia alone to talk to her. I was blocked at every turn. If she wasn’t with Beau she was with Kai, Kerrington, and even Jason, but mostly with Beau. He seemed to be over all the time.
I tried to call, but I only got her voicemail. She never returned my calls. I tried to text her. She just replied back that she wasn’t interested in anything I had to say. I tried again a few days later.
I need to talk to you -Q
I can’t - not right now -S
I’m here when you can. Anytime about anything -Q
A reply never came.
She didn’t even leave at the same time anymore. I thought she was leaving earlier, but I couldn’t seem to pin down the time and catch her. I didn’t want to make it look like I had been stalking her for the past few weeks. I lived for any information I could glean from the others. Sloane didn’t know what was going on either. He said that Kai was pissed because Sylvia was always with Beau. She still hadn’t said anything to Kai about that weekend. I debated on leaving her a note but I was afraid Beau might see it. I didn’t know what that asshole would do if he knew. I was fairly certain that he didn’t have a clue about Sylvia and me. I was also sure that was why Sylvia was avoiding me.
I didn’t want to have Kai or Sloane slip her a note like we were in junior high, either. I wanted to talk to her face to face. I wanted to see her face when I told her how I felt. I wanted to read for myself just what was going through her mind. I wanted her honest reaction.
My time would come. I was sure of it. I would wait patiently. One of these days I would get my chance to tell her. Until then, I would wait and watch, and if she needed me I would be there in a heartbeat.