Chapter Twenty-Four

Lia + Geography

 

Barnabas: Party at the train graveyard? Now!

My phone shows that it’s a little after seven o’clock.

Me: No thanks.

I don’t feel like going to the Piggy Palooza festival end party, especially after the last one that ended up with Barnabas finding a drunk Vi, and me trying to distract Kiev. Five minutes later there’s a knock on the door, and Mom answers it. Barnabas walks into my room and drops down beside me on the floor. “You have to go to this one,” he says.

I pause my game and set down the controller. “Can’t you ask Sophie?”

“She’ll be there.”

“So, what’s the problem? If she’s going then there’s no need for me to go.”

“You’re acting all mopey.” Barnabas lays his head on my shoulder as if to cure me.

That’s true. I was disappointed last night that I didn’t get to hang out with Kiev, which sort of pisses me off. I don’t want to turn into one of those girls that gets all weird when plans change. But, we did text a lot late last night and some throughout the morning before he had to go help set up for the freshman play. Which, by the way, I now have to go and see with him on Sunday as our official date.

Kiev has a lot going on with Pepe missing, Cole being a little sneak, and his mom appearing back in his life like magic. He has a lot of drama going on his life, and I had to think about it for a minute if I was okay with that. And my answer was: I don’t mind bringing some attention to my mostly drama-free life—it will keep me on my toes.

“I’m not acting that mopey. I just feel bad Kiev has a lot going on.” I shrug my shoulders and turn to look at Barnabas. “Are you all right about Cole and Vienna?”

His lips quirk to the side. “Yeah?”

“Just making sure, because you did like her the other week.” I delicately pat his arm. “I need to make sure my best friend isn’t destroyed.” I know he’s already moved on, but I needed to verify his feelings didn’t switch back from Sophie to Vienna.

He wraps an arm around me and shakes me back and forth. “I already told you I was over that.”

I know he’s definitely into Sophie, even if he’s not acting on it, or maybe he is. I don’t really want to get into those kinds of details with Barnabas.

“You can invite Kiev to the party if you want?” he asks.

“If I go, we aren’t staying long,” I huff and shoot Kiev a quick text.

Me: Are you still busy?

I give him a few minutes to respond and receive no reply—he may still be at the school helping with the play—so I turn to Barnabas. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”

“Where are you guys going?” Mom asks when we stroll into the living room. She’s sitting on the couch with a bowl of ice cream in hand.

“Just some Piggy Palooza end of the festival thing.” It’s not a total lie.

“Be back before curfew or you’ll be grounded again.” She levels me with a hard stare, and I throw my hand up in the okay sign.

We head downstairs and hop in Barnabas’s car, and he drives us to the party that I’m not thrilled about. I check my phone like one of those loser girls and see Kiev hasn’t texted me back yet.

Barnabas turns down a street to take a shortcut to the party when something darts in front of his car. “Stop,” I yell, and he slams hard on the brakes.

I leap out when I see the end of an armadillo tail scurrying across the lit up street. “Pepe,” I shout.

Barnabas opens his door, setting his forearm on top of it. “Are you crazy? Do you know how many armadillos there are out here?”

“No,” I say and dart across the street, hoping this one is in fact Pepe.

“Me neither.” Barnabas is right behind me.

When I reach the sidewalk, I tap the side of my thigh several times. “Come on, Pepe. Come here, boy.” I try to whistle like Kiev does, but I get nothing but air. Whistling is ridiculous, and I don’t understand why I can never do it.

Seeing me struggle, Barnabas releases a perfect whistle. If it were any other circumstance, I would narrow my eyes at him for his musical perfection.

A rustle sounds from the pile of leaves near the edge of an oak tree. Then a small head pokes out and sniffs the air. “Pepe,” I call, and the little deviant makes its way toward me in a frantic run.

“Are you sure that’s Pepe?” Barnabas asks, arms folded across his chest.

“What other armadillo do you know who comes running to people?” I say as I scoop Pepe up in my arms. Scanning him over. “And one that has on a collar with part of a green leash.” Even if he didn’t have the collar on, I would have been able to tell it was him with his leaf-loving fetish.

“Okay, what now?” Barnabas asks when we get back inside the car.

“Head for Kiev’s.” I hand Pepe to Barnabas and send Kiev a text, hoping he’s at home.

Me: Are you home yet? I’m coming by your house. I have a surprise, and we’re going to go celebrate.

I wait a minute, growing anxious while waiting. But he doesn’t text me back.

Tired of waiting, I tell Barnabas how to get to Kiev’s house. It doesn’t take long to get there. When we pull into the driveway, I see his Jetta, and I step right out of the car with the armadillo in hand.

I feel nervous for showing up like a stalker since he didn’t text me back. But I found his pet, so if he’s weirded out, then he can take a hike.

Barnabas waits in the car while I ring the doorbell. The wooden door swings open to a tall man with gray hair and tan skin. This must be Kiev’s dad, obviously, because he sort of looks like him.

“Yes?” he asks.

“Is Kiev home?” I pull Pepe closer to my chest in case he decides to dash off again.

Kiev’s dad’s stare swings down to the armadillo in my arms, and his gray eyebrows raise slightly. “Is that Pepe?” he asks in an accented voice.

“Yes, I found him.”

“Kiev has been searching for him.” His dad glances behind him toward the stairs. “He is in his room.”

“Can I bring Pepe up to him?” I ask, anxiously.

“Who are you?” His dad gives me the eye like I’m about to steal something inside his house.

“Lia.”

He gives me a knowing smile and speaks in broken English, “His room is on the second floor. Knock on the door first to make sure he is decent.”

“Thanks, Mr. Jimenez,” I say and head up the stairs where I hear Kiev’s voice talking to someone. When I reach his room, I listen—he’s not talking to anyone, but practicing his Puck lines. I press my knuckles against the door and softly knock.

“Yeah?” he says in irritation.

“It’s Lia.”

“Oh, hey. Uh, give me a minute.”

There’s a shuffling around his room before he swings open the door, wearing jeans and a t- shirt that reads something about Hamlet with a quote. “Sorry had to throw on a shirt and—” He stops his sentence when he sees me holding the armadillo. “Pepe?”

He steps aside, tossing a book he’s holding on his bed, and I enter his room. “We found him crossing a street, and he almost met his doom. Thankfully, Barnabas is quick with a brake pedal.”

Relieved, he scoops Pepe out of my arms and sets him on the carpet. “I owe you one.” The armadillo runs straight for his open cage and the bowl of food inside.

“I’ll think of something.” I smile and consider giving him a wink, but that would be too ridiculous.

He smiles back.

“I texted you earlier,” I say.

“Did you?” He walks to his bedside and lifts his phone. “I must have forgotten to turn it back on. Cole wouldn’t stop texting me saying he couldn’t help his betrayal, even though I already told him to let it go.”

“Are you okay with him now?” He seemed annoyed earlier through text about it, but not angry.

“As long as Vi is happy, and he doesn’t screw her over, or become obsessed, then I’ll be okay. He did help us find my mom.”

“Yeah, maybe he isn’t so bad, then.”

“Really?” he asks, amused.

“No, I’m just saying that. But he’s your friend, so I’ll keep my opinions to myself.” I laugh. Then my phone beeps.

Barnabas: Do I need to come in there and pull you two out?

Geez, how could I forget Barnabas is waiting in the car? “I’m going with Barnabas to that stupid party. Do you want to come? If you’re feeling up to it, anyway.”

“I got home a little while ago and wanted to practice Puck’s lines for the upcoming play.” He glances at the book he tossed on his bed. “I was going to text you after to see if you wanted to hang out anyway, because I had to see you tonight.” He smiles, and my heart grows six sizes—double the Grinch’s.

We head down the wooden stairs, each one making a soft creak. Kiev tells me to wait, so he can let his dad know he’s leaving. His dad starts talking with him back and forth in Spanish, which kind of makes me wish I knew the language.

Kiev walks out smiling.

“Tell me something in Spanish—I like the way you sounded,” I say when he walks up next to me.

He explores my face for a minute. “Estás preciosa y ni te das cuenta.”

“I’m not sure what you said, but it sounded lovely enough.” If his Dad wasn’t downstairs I would kiss him right here.

Kiev opens the door, and Barnabas rolls down the window as we walk to the car. “About time.”

“It wasn’t that long.” I open the door to the backseat and take a seat. Then Kiev slides in next to me from the other side. “I left the front for you.”

Kiev buckles himself in the middle seat. “I like it better back here.”

Barnabas messes around with the radio stations and stops on a Michael Jackson song playing on an eighties station. “I can never get tired of MJ.” He turns his head back to us. “I guess I’m chauffeur for the night. Sorry I don’t have a magical pumpkin carriage.”

“A Prius is just as magical, Barnabas,” I say. I mean, it does save on gas.

Kiev entwines our fingers together as the car moves. It feels nice. I mainly stare out the window at the scenery. The buildings fade away into trees as we enter woodsy territory, which will one day most likely be cut down and turned into more buildings.

Barnabas turns into the graveled area to park, and Kiev and I step out of the car, unlinking our hands. I’m just glad the party is at the train graveyard, so at least the surroundings are decent. The grass is still overgrown as we walk through it and pass by several large trees and bushes, until we enter the graveyard.

It looks about the same as last time the party was here, with the bonfire going and music coming from inside the abandoned terminal building.

“Are we just going to stand at the edge and watch people again?” I ask Barnabas.

“Yeah.” He grins when we stop in the same place we started in the last time.

After about five minutes, a loud voice that can only be Cole’s, radiates from behind us. “Mr. Kiev Jimenez, quite the pleasure.”

Turning around, I see Cole’s sandy blond head, his hand clasping Vienna’s, and he’s staring at her like she’s a combination of the sun and moon.

“Hey, Lia,” Vienna says, waving. I guess she no longer seems to hate me, so that’s good.

I wave back. “Hey, Vienna.”

“Mr. Barnabas Lao, how are you on this incredible evening? I have you to thank for saving the queen of my heart’s life the last time she partook in these festivities.” Cole gives him half a bow.

“I’m doing good, Mr. Cole Novotny.” I’m not sure if Barnabas is being sarcastic or serious.

“Good, good.” Cole’s blue eyes direct their attention on me. “And, Miss. Oph…” He stops himself for a moment, as if he’s struggling with himself. “Miss Lia Abbie, how is the partaking working for you?”

Since he didn’t call me Ophelia, I keep my comment to a minimum. “Just lovely, standing here watching people get drunk.”

Nodding his head, his attention falls back to Vienna. It’s very strange, and I don’t see what Vienna finds attractive in his personality, but maybe there’s something there somewhere.

We all talk for a while, when Sophie pops up. “Hey, guys.” She gives a side eye to Barnabas. “Barnabas.”

“Sophie,” he says while trying to conceal his expression, but then he gives her a hint of a secretive smile.

“You want to go get something to drink?” she asks him.

Shrugging his shoulders, he says, “All right.” Then he looks at us. “We’ll be right back.” It all sounds robotic, but I’m happy about whatever weird thing they have going on.

“Mmm hmm,” I say and watch them wander off. They don’t even go anywhere near the place to get drinks. The drink table has people surrounding it, and I spot Monica with her arms wrapped around some guy with dark hair. She wasn’t glaring at me yesterday in class—I guess it’s because she already found someone new.

“You want to go for a walk?” Kiev leans over and asks.

“Sure.”

“We’ll see you in a little bit,” Kiev says to Cole.

Cole nods his head at Kiev. “I’ll guard your sister with my shining armor and sword, Mr. Kiev Jimenez.”

Kiev stares at him for a moment. “You better.”

The train is more crowded at the head of it, so we walk a couple of cars down and hop up on the ledge of an empty one. The very one where we had our first kiss a few days ago, except we stood outside of it. Am I already getting nostalgic? I’m turning into such a girl.

I lean against Kiev’s warm shoulder. “So, how are you? You know I’m not going to keep asking you this, right?”

A soft sigh escapes his lips. “Better than yesterday. We got Pepe in the clear now, my sister is back on an okay path, and you’re here with me. I’d say not full in capacity, but pretty damn close.”

“You remember when I punched you?” I ask, wishing a thousand times I could take back hitting this nice guy, but thanking every second of it at the same time.

He squints his eye up at the sky. “I thought that was all just a dream.”

“A nightmare you mean,” I point out.

“No, you were there, so how could it be a nightmare?” He brushes his shoe against mine.

“Again, you’re such a nerd.” A hot nerd.

“But you like it.”

I bite the edge of my lip. “Maybe.”

Standing up, he tugs at my shirt and starts walking to the back of the car. I stand up from the metal floor of the train car and follow him. He snatches off my hat when I sit down beside him. “The cap always gets in the way.” He smiles.

“Anyway, back to when I was asking you about the punch. So, when it happened, you said, ‘Are you sure your parents didn’t name you after the character?’”

He smirks and shifts closer to me. “I vaguely remember.”

I give him a playful nudge. “Well, my mom in fact did name me after that play.” I still can’t believe I had no idea about that.

“And you’re just telling me this now? You’ll also get to see a scene from Hamlet up close and personal tomorrow night.” Kiev lets out a full-on laugh.

“It slipped my mind, especially with all the volunteering stuff.” I won’t admit it, but I’m anxious to see the Shakespearian mashup with him.

“Do you remember what Kiev is the capital of?” he asks.

I stare at him for a moment before answering, not sure why he’s asking me this. “Ukraine.”

Kiev’s hand wraps around my waist and hauls me closer to him, his lips meeting my neck, where he places a soft kiss against it. My heart’s palpitations increase dramatically. “What about the capital of Estonia?” he whispers against my ear.

“Tallinn.” The answer he gave in eleventh grade when the teacher asked me the question.

He leans back to lie on the floor, dragging me with him until I’m on top of him, and then kisses right below my jaw. He’s driving me absolutely crazy.

“What’s the capital of Kazakhstan?”

“How the hell should I know?” My voice sounds breathier than usual when I answer.

“It’s Astana. We’ll have to spend more time together with me teaching you geography. But I’ll still give you a kiss for trying,” he murmurs.

“That sounds fair.” I’d agree to almost anything at this moment.

“You know, I really like you,” he whispers against my ear.

“You know, I think you do, too,” I whisper back in his ear and smile.

He lets out a low chuckle. Then his mouth captures mine, his hands wrapping in my hair. He rolls us over so he’s now on top of me, and I pull him as close as humanly possible, not wanting to let go. He tastes of mint, and thank God, not the bacon mints.

I really like where this is going with Kiev. When I get home, I’m going to thank Mom for not telling me I was named after the character from the Hamlet play.

I let my hand drift up the back of Kiev’s shirt, feeling his soft skin, when a loud song comes on and a line from “Love is in the Air” plays.

Both of us freeze and then look over to see a phone fully lit at the edge of the train car playing the song.

Kiev drops his head against my shoulder and laughs. “I’m going to kill Cole.”