He didn’t want too much time to go by and make things weird when he finally talked to Eric. Not only that, the conversation he had with Sofia had left him uneasy. He needed to get a few things straight with Eric. He planned on calling him later that day but Eric beat him to it. His phone rang just as he walked into the restaurant.
“Hey, Eric, what’s up?”
There was silence for a brief moment and Angel smiled. He knew his cheery hello would throw Eric.
“Hey… how’s everything?”
“You mean with Alex?” Angel chuckled. “That’s gonna be the same for a while. But Sofia told me what happened. And it’s cool. I’m sorry Alex went off on you like that, man.”
Eric cleared his throat. “Nah, it’s all good. I know it could’ve been a lot worse.”
Angel laughed. “Yeah, you got out of there in one piece.”
“No shit. I had to change my pants when I got home, though.”
“Ha! Romero said you would.”
“Yeah , I’m sure that ass had a lot to say.”
It was actually a surprise Romero didn’t say too much that night. The party was pretty much a wash after that whole mess. Alex was too wound up to relax and so they just started cleaning up and everyone took off.
Angel lowered his voice when he walked by Alex who was sitting in one of the booths looking over the restaurant mail from the week before. He was in charge of it while his parents were gone and of course he was just now getting to it.
“Listen, I guess it’s not unheard of for a little sister to have a crush on her older brothers’ friend right?”
He paused but Eric didn’t say a word. Angel wasn’t sure how to get the rest out without sounding awkward. He never imagined having to have this discussion but here he was. Awkward or not he was getting it out.
“You can’t… let anything like that happen again… alright?” That was a little lame but he’d gotten to the point and he felt satisfied.
“Angel, she’s almost seventeen.”
Angel stopped in his tracks and actually looked at his phone. “Are you shitting me?”
“I hear what you’re saying,” Eric added quickly. “And yeah, you got it, man. But C’mon, how long do you think you can keep her from dating anyone?”
Angel was walking again but could feel the agitation set in. He got that his sister was almost seventeen, but you couldn’t measure maturity with a number. Sofi was different. “Don’t worry about that. Just promise me you won’t give into any of her...silliness will you?”
He heard Eric exhale loudly. “Yeah, yeah, you have my word.”
“Thank you.” Was that too much to ask for? But Angel couldn’t help thinking this was another conversation that hadn’t exactly gone his way. This year already sucked and it had just gotten started.
*
When Sarah had gotten back from Arizona she made Valerie promise not to mention to Alex that she was back. So, when he called her New Year’s day to invite her over for his party Sarah felt bad that Valerie turned him down.
She’d offered to stay home, she wasn’t feeling up to partying anyway but Valerie was actually kind of pissed about Alex asking her at the last minute. She said he insisted he planned it at the last minute but she told him she wasn’t canceling the plans she’d already made.
“No one plans a New Year’s party last minute,” She fumed. “He must think I’m pretty stupid.”
Sarah knew her stay in California was only for a short while. Her mother had called her on her birthday and told her she’d spoken to her lawyer and things were looking even better.
Things between her and Angel were completely hopeless. Sydney had called her on the day after her birthday and confessed he’d driven out to see Angel just before Christmas. He hadn’t told her sooner because he didn’t want to make the holidays any harder for her than they already were. But he told her of Angel’s refusal to even try to hear her side of it.
At first she was hurt, but since then, anger had set in. She was sure Dana had something, if not everything, to do with Angel’s unwavering frame of mind.
She’d see Sofia soon enough when she showed up for track after school, but in the mean time she only needed to take three classes. She made sure they were all scheduled at the end of the day. Her plan was simple. Move quickly from class to class, and keep her head low. The last thing she wanted was to run into Angel and Dana.
It was only a matter of time before she’d see him. She knew this, but she wanted to prolong it as much as possible.
The second she walked into her physics class she realized her planning was all for nothing. Angel was sitting in the back of the class and their eyes locked. For a moment she was frozen. She gathered her thoughts enough to know if she sat in the front she wouldn’t have to look at him. Not surprisingly most of the front seats were empty and she sat down in the closest one to her.
She’d barely sat down when, Kim, a girl she knew from the track team leaned over.
“Oh my God, I thought you moved back to Arizona.”
Sarah turned to see a face full of braces smiling big at her. She realized then she hadn’t noticed who else was in the class. The only one she’d seen was Angel. Everyone else was a complete blur. Her breathing was going back to normal and she forced a smile.
“Change of plans. I’ll be here a little longer.”
The class started and she tried to concentrate on what the teacher was lecturing. She hardly heard a word. All she kept thinking of was Angel’s expression when he saw her. She was trying to put a finger on it. He wasn’t angry but he certainly wasn’t pleased.