When Angels Fall (Fallen Angels) (15 page)

“Tabitha is sleeping over my house and I’m not dealing with the puke when she comes to,” Tiffany added and started grabbing her things.

“Just take her home like last time and dump her on the couch. They’re gone for the weekend, so she won’t get into trouble,” Tabitha suggested.

“You have done this to her before? What kind of friends are you? You drug her and get her drunk, so you can figure out how to handle her? Nick, help me get her up. We’ll take her home, so you don’t have to deal with her,” Kevin stated and went over to pick Chloe up.

“Dave, if I tell my mom I slept over here, will you cover for me?” Nick asked, hoping Kevin would catch on. He couldn’t believe what was happening with them.
With friends like them, who needed enemies?

After Dave agreed, Nick called home and told his mom the plan. Kevin took them to Chloe’s house where Nick carried her up the steps and into her bedroom. He didn’t bother turning on the light. He just pulled the covers up and let her sleep it off. He took a deep breath and sat next to her on the floor, watching her sleep.

The illusion, as she put it so many times, was gone now. He had to make her see she could trust him. He thought about when Robyn was telling the story and what Gabbie had told him. Reaching for her hand, he traced the scar from where she’d hurt herself. He could only imagine the pain she must have been in to do that.

 
He sat on the side of her bed and held her hand a little longer. He had no clue why she seemed to have a hold over him. He thought about leaning over and kissing her lips softly, hoping it would wake her from her sleep, but pushed the idea out of his mind. What good would it do if he was the only one who remembered it? “Night, Chloe. Call me if you need me,” he said softly and went down the steps.

*
   
*
   
*
   
*

The sun streaming in through her window, woke Chloe the next morning. She didn’t remember how she got home or why she was even in her bed. Her head was killing her, though, and she needed to get something to drink.

It was Halloween, and although she would be ready for the little kids tonight, she knew no one would come. She looked at her phone. No text. That could only mean one thing: Nick was just like the rest and ran when he heard the story. It’d been nice while it lasted. She almost had her first kiss. She shook the image of him from her mind and changed out of the clothes she‘d worn the night before. Her plan was to get changed and go down to eat something, then sit and stare at the TV and wish the happy people on the screen were talking to her.

As she started down the steps, she heard someone in the kitchen. It had to be Gabbie. That was how she’d gotten home. But when she saw Nick pulling out the juice, she stopped dead in her tracks. “What are you doing here?”

She seemed to have startled him and he almost dropped the pitcher on the floor. “Morning, Sunshine. How ya feeling?” He smiled.

“My head is killing me, but, other than that okay. Nick, why are you here?” she asked him again, not sure what to think about him being in her house.

“You’re so-called friends wanted to leave you here by yourself after what happened. I was worried about you, so I decided to stay and make sure you were okay. Don’t worry, I slept down here. I was just going to make you something for breakfast, and then head home. It seems we got caught last night with the drinking and I was told to come home ASAP,” he explained.

“About what Robyn said last night—?”

He stopped her by coming over and putting his fingers to her lips. “You don’t trust me enough to tell me what happened and I’m not going to force you to. As far as I know, it was just a story she told last night. I told you, I’m not going to walk away just because I start to learn your secrets. Unless you want me to, but I hope you don’t.”

“No, I don’t want you to. What if some of the things were true, though? You wouldn’t think I was some head case?” she asked softly.

He put his arms around her and held her for a minute. “I don’t think you’re a head case. I think you went through something that most people don’t go through at such a young age. For now, I have to go, and if I don’t have my phone taken away, I will text or call you later, if you want to talk. Make sure you drink a lot of water or juice today.” He laughed and kissed her forehead.

She walked him to the door and shook her head.

“What?” he asked laughing.

“Just that you didn’t judge me when she told that story,” she answered. “I’m just surprised, that’s all.”

“That’s because I see the real you. Not some story that someone made up to hurt you. Call me later.” He smiled and started his long walk home.

 
A short while later, Chloe sat on her front step as the kids went by her house. It was the usual Halloween. It never used to be like this. When her mother had been alive, this was the favorite house to come to. Everyone knew her mother and always came for the homemade treats she would hand out.

The last Halloween of her Mother’s life, Chloe kept the house dark. She had sat by the window, watching the kids go by and wished she could have gone, but her mother needed her. After she died, no one came anymore. She tried to keep up with sitting on the step and passing out candy, but parents had heard different stories like the one Robyn told and avoided her now.

Entranced, she watched a little girl, about Millie’s age, as she stood at the end of the driveway. She was dressed in a princess outfit, carrying a plastic pumpkin filled with treats. She waved at Chloe and Chloe smiled back at her.

Her parents had been talking to someone, and when they saw her sitting there, they crossed the street. That was followed by a car that went by with a bunch of kids from school, calling ‘Corpse Girl’ at her house. She blew if off and started looking through a college brochure that had come that day.

“Trick or treat!”

It startled her, and when she looked up, she smiled at the little pirate who stood in front of her. “I like your costume, Max. Are you having fun tonight?”

“Yeah, I’m cleaning up over here. How come you have so much candy left? There are a ton of kids around here,” he asked, sitting next to her.

“I guess they just don’t like my candy. So, who are you supposed to be?” she asked Nick when he walked up.

“Grounded, and this is part of my punishment. How ya doing?” he asked, taking a lollypop out of her bowl.

“I’m okay. Drank lots of water and just sat around all day, and pretty much all night now,” she explained, putting the book onto her lap and watching yet another group of kids cross the street.

Nick had seen this, too, and knew it had to do with the story Robyn had told. “You want to come around with us? I could use some company as I walk around, and if I get lost, you can help me find my way back,” he suggested.

“Yeah, Chloe, come with us,” Max begged her.

“Okay, it isn’t like anything is happening here anyway. Here,” she said and took Max’s bag and dumped the bowl into it.

They walked and talked a little until Chloe saw Robyn’s house.

There she was, in all her glory, surrounded by friends.

Chloe halted to let Nick and Max walk up a little.

“What’s up?” Nick asked, Then, he saw the look on her face as she watched them goofing around Robyn’s yard.

“You guys go ahead,” Chloe replied. “I’m gonna wait here. It’s Robyn’s house and I really don’t want to go up there.” She watched Nick come back towards her.

“Max, let’s skip this house. They give rotten candy,” Nick said to him and took her hand. She started to pull it back, but he didn’t let it go. “Why are you pulling away from me? Last night you didn’t.”

“I’m trying to trust you. I’m really trying to let you close. I mean, you heard that story last night and you’re still here. I just don’t get that,” she tried to explain.

Nick took a deep breath. “What do I need to do to prove to you I’m not going anywhere? You want to hear something about me?” He would tell her his whole life story if that’s what she needed to hear.

Chloe laughed at that. “I really don’t know much about you. Maybe that would help. But if this turns into one of those boy-next-door story stories, I know you made it up.”

“It’s not going to be one of those stories. You asked me once why I didn’t want to date anyone. I told you a little about Kelly,” he started.

“Kelly? That was your old girlfriend, right?” She tried to remember if that was her name.

“Yeah, that was her. She gave me a note the day before we left to meet her at the Life Guard Station,” he answered.

“So, did you go?” Chloe wondered what she‘d been like and what had happened the day before he left. She also wondered how he really felt about her.

“Yeah, I went. She wanted our last day together to be special.” He remembered aloud.

“Was it? I mean, you don’t have to answer me. I was just wondering. You seem like you really liked her.” Chloe could see that there was something there and wasn’t quite sure what it was.

“I did, I guess, until that day. See, this is where being the kid of a prominent church official and religious family come into play. I’ve been taught too many morals, and when she said that, she pretty much wanted us to go all the way. I said no. I mean, I was raised that this purity promise was special, that it showed the girl we would be with we respected them. Kelly never understood that. And while guys like Josh would have gladly done what she wanted, I couldn’t. There was a lot to Kelly and me. Stuff that I’m not proud of.” He wanted her to see that he had secrets, too.

“What did you do, tell her she was going to hell and leave her there?” She pushed his arm playfully.

“Something like that.” It felt strange even thinking about the stuff he was going to tell her. He had an intense relationship with Kelly, something that bothered him more than good memories. But if this was going to show her she could trust him, he had to keep talking.

“Nick, if you don’t want to tell me anymore, you don’t have to,” she said shyly.

He stopped as Max started talking to some friends from school. “Kelly was my Josh, with the exception of the whole beating-me-up thing. Kelly was popular and had her eye on me the first day I started school. She said she could do things for me to get me into the right crowd, things like that. I had just turned sixteen; she was hot and I fell for her right away. I never had a serious girlfriend, I had some, and we went to movies and kissed, but Kelly didn’t want that,” he explained and looked at Chloe, who was hanging on his every word.

“How long were you together?” she asked him.

“Almost a year, up until we left. After about the third month, she was getting bored with me and how inexperienced I was.” He stopped there. “That was where our relationship got strained. Things started to change after that. She started calling me her science project.”

“That’s odd. I’m surprised you would take that,” she pointed out.

“I wanted to make her happy. I really cannot believe I’m telling you this. So she started my education, so to speak. She showed me what she liked, sexually. Taught me how to do things to her and please her. And in return, when I did them right, she would do things for me. The day in the Life Guard Station, yeah, it was my graduation day, as she put it. ‘Time to throw away that stupid ring and make me a man.’ Do you want to know the truth?” he asked her.

“If you want to tell me.” Her voice was soft now, the playfulness had left.

“Every time I was with her, it never felt right. I won’t lie. I did get off, but it just felt dirty and wrong. Like I was committing this huge sin and I was going to be dammed to hell. The funny thing was I talked to my brothers about it. And it was actually one of the few times we all sat and talked about how hard this promise was. Mark actually told me he was proud of me for walking away. Kevin joked that we all needed someone like Kelly to show us the ropes, but that he, too, would have walked away.” He laughed to himself and the whole time he was spinning his ring on his finger.