Chapter 402
Over the next few days, I slowly started moving my stuff up to the fifth floor. I stowed it in the closet in the bedroom so that no one would open the front door and see a pile of miscellaneous items sitting there and assume that someone was squatting—although that was what was about to happen, if I could figure out how to get permission from my parents to not be home when they wouldn’t let me go basically anywhere else. I knew at some point I’d have to involve my sister, but I hadn’t gotten that far yet. When I did, I’d need to be vague. I also needed help from someone else, and since I wasn’t allowed to go to Brandon’s apartment anymore, catching that person would be hard.
So I blew off training one morning, even though that’s where my mom thought I was, and went to meet Elliott at the donut shop. All I had to do was mention food, and he was there. I just prayed Aurora would have no reason to talk to my mom for the next few days until she couldn’t remember what day I was at training and which day I wasn’t. I’d have to skip the next morning as well and stay home just to confuse the trainer....
“What is it you wanna talk to me about?” Elliott asked before the better part of a Long John disappeared into his mouth. I was picking at a glazed donut, not really hungry. The donut shop is in the basement of the apartment building where the new recruits live, and it probably would’ve been pretty empty if it wasn’t also the primary housing for the Roatan Guardians while they were helping us out, so there were a few people milling around. I hoped no one I knew would recognize me. Surely, my mom wouldn’t be talking to any of these people....
“I need you to talk to my mom,” I said, keeping my voice low but my request very real. “I need your help. As a friend.”
“Cass... you know I don’t want to get involved in that,” he began, not quite before he swallowed all of his food. “I’ve told you I don’t feel right sticking my nose into your folks’ business.”
“No, I know that. And I’m not asking you to completely alter her parenting style or anything. I just need you to convince her that it’s a good idea for me to move in with Cadence for a little while, to help us get some perspective. That’s all.” I hoped my request sounded innocent enough.
He plucked another donut out of the box—yes, we’d gotten a whole box for just the two of us—a chocolate sprinkled, and devoured nearly all of it as he thought. Washing it down with a swig of chocolate milk, he asked, “Why can’t Cadence do that herself?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat before I admitted, “Because she doesn’t know about it.”
Elliott cocked his head to the side and studied me for a moment. “What do you mean?”
“I mean... I haven’t talked to her about it. Not yet. I’m going to. Soon. But I need you to talk to my mom first. You don’t even need to speak to my dad because he’ll go along with whatever my mom says.” I didn’t mention that was half of my problem. “Please, Elliott?” I made my most pathetic puppy dog face. It worked with his son. Maybe it would work with him, too.
“And then what? If your mom says you can go live with your sister for a while, you’ll just move into Cadence’s apartment and hope she doesn’t notice?”
“Something like that.” He didn’t need to know all of the details.
“Won’t your mom think it’s weird that I’m coming by just to talk to her about letting you move out?”
“My mom won’t think it’s odd if you tell her it’s not.” I tilted my head at him for effect. I knew he could convince her of anything, and honestly, I was a little disappointed in myself for not having thought of this plan before.
“I don’t know....”
I was losing him. I didn’t want to be desperate or needy, but I was afraid I’d have to go there. Clearing my throat, I leaned in and said, “Look, I know I’ve made some potentially dangerous decisions in the last year. I get that. But the last one turned out to be beneficial to the team, right? I mean, I was able to save your rear end. And I can catch bullets now. That’s handy, right? How would you have felt if I couldn’t have done that? Sam would’ve shot me right in front of you.”
Elliott tossed down his napkin and scooted back in his chair. “Had to go there, didn’t you?”
“Uh huh. Sure, Jamie was on his way. He probably would’ve saved me. Or maybe not. You didn’t have to have that conversation with Liz Findley. So....”
“Fine!” He slapped his hands down on the table. “But just this once! You cannot use the ‘Elliott almost got me killed’ card again. Ever! Got it?”
I tried not to smile too widely. “Thank you.” I took another bite of my donut and wasn’t surprised at all when he finished what he had in front of him. He didn’t say anything else, and I felt sort of bad that this might have been a strain on our friendship, but I was pretty sure he’d come around in a day or two. Now... I needed to talk to my sister.
Once the donuts were gone, I thanked Elliott again. He grumbled but gave me a hug, and I set out across campus, hoping I could find my sister without running into anyone else who might want to chat.
She was in her apartment working. I could find that information out from grazing the edge of her thoughts. No need to jump all the way in, just skimming the surface. I was glad she wasn’t in the office she shared with Aaron in another building because I definitely didn’t want him to hear anything I was about to say. But the fact that I’d have to go into my own apartment building, where my mother was, and risk being seen, was a challenge.
Rather than moseying in like I usually do, I decided to full out sprint, hoping no one would see or recognize me. I glanced into the lobby from the glass door and didn’t see anyone in particular who might want to talk to me, but I wasn’t going to linger. With every ounce of speed I could muster, I shot through the glass doors, across the lobby floor to the stairs, and ran all the way up.
