Selene leaned out of the car and turned back to Carlos. "I hate to do this to you; but would you mind waiting for me? Please?"
He nodded and put the car into park. "I'll be here."
She smiled. "Thanks, Carlos."
"Selene," he said.
She stopped.
He passed her a mint.
Selene winced. In the middle of all the insanity, she hadn't brushed her teeth or showered. She probably smelled like cheap beer, heartbreak and sex.
She popped the mint in her mouth before she stepped out of his Bentley and headed up the path to Zoë's front door.
She rung the doorbell this time. Barely anytime passed before Zoë opened the door,
"What's up?" Zoë asked.
"Why'd you do it?"
Zoë's brows netted in confusion. "Do what?" she asked hesitantly.
"Why make me do this whole fucking plan if you were just fucking Declan on the side?"
Zoë's face fell.
Selene could almost see the irony in the similarities in her and Declan's reactions.
There was a tense pause before Zoë spoke. "I did it for you."
"What?" she exclaimed. She had heard and discovered a lot of bullshit within the past few hours but this topped the mother fucking cake.
"I knew you were going to fall for him. I was protecting you from heartbreak." Zoë reached out a hand to place on Selene's arm.
Selene shrugged it off. "So why not tell me then?"
Zoë's mouth opened and shut.
Just like she did for Declan, Selene waited. She prayed to every god imaginable that there would be an explanation for this all.
Zoë finally spoke, "Well, Declan was technically mine first so you can't even be mad at me."
Selene's gaped at her. WHAT?
"That's your fucking response?" she asked. "You shamed me for thinking he's a good guy meanwhile you're sucking his dick? Really?"
"Sometimes, Selene," Zoë started in a condescending tone, "fucking is just fucking. I wouldn't expect you to know when you've only slept with one guy."
"It's two now," Selene said.
Zoë's mouth gaped. "You slept with--"
Selene's voice broke, "You're a fucking bitch." She turned and headed back to Carlos's car.
"You okay?" Carlos asked.
She nodded.
He put the car in drive. "Uh, do you want to get breakfast?"
She was about to say no--insist he take her home so she could cry more--when her stomach growled.
He cracked a smile. "Is that a yes?"
She nodded.
»
Carlos did not get iHOP. He got Tim Hortons drive-thru breakfast sandwiches and a coffee with four sugars.
The Tim's was barely out of the route to her house.
They talked. It seemed like both of them were trying to avoid the elephant in the room--or in this case car.
He talked to her about how he had first started skiing when his father had been diagnosed with cancer and though his father was thankfully healed and well, he still had an itch to ski whenever he got stressed in the slightest. He told her how proud he was of his Nicaraguan heritage and how much he loved going back in summers to see his Abuela. About how origami paper cranes hung from his bedroom ceiling because he had picked up the hobby after not being able to fall asleep. About how he was pretty sure he was just made up of coffee and Arizona green tea. About how for some reason unbeknownst to him he loved colourful socks and they made him feel prepared for anything. About how ironically his birthday was the day before hers.
By the time they reached her house, Selene felt like a bitch. She hadn't even known one of those facts about Carlos before she got into his car that day. She had always seen him as Declan's quiet friend. In fact, she thought he hated her because he almost never talked to her. Though she realized now that Declan had hurt him by dating her and that was probably why he went silent. Because in the car, once he got going it was almost impossible to stop Carlos from talking.
"I'm getting you colourful socks for Christmas," she said.
He smiled. "That'd be nice."
She opened the car door and he did the same with his own. He got her suitcase and walked around the car to hand it off to her.
"Sel," he said softly.
She looked up at him. He was the same height as Declan. "Yeah?" she asked.
He took a step closer and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
She closed her eyes and breathed him in. He smelled like pine and Lysol wipes. Selene hugged him back.
"Take care in Toronto okay?"
She nodded.
He slowly let go. "See you at grad?"
"See you at grad." She tugged her suitcase up the drive and the porch steps. Only when she closed her front door did she hear Carlos drive away.
"Selene?" her father asked. He was sitting at the island with his laptop. "What are you doing home?"
Carter popped out of the kitchen wearing a 'Kiss the Cook' apron. "You're home?"
"Selene's home?" Lucille asked coming down the stairs.
They all stared at her.
"What happened?" Lucille asked,
"Did Declan do something?" Carter asked.
"Did you guys fight?" Micah asked.
With all the attention on her and the rain of questions hailing down on her, Selene burst into tears.
They all looked visibly taken aback.
Selene ran up the stairs and into her room.
She cried until she soaked the pillow through.
"Selene?" Carter said softly as he knocked.
"Selene?" Micah asked.
"Leave me alone," she said. "I want to be left alone."
She could hear their footsteps retreating.
It wasn't long until Lucille came up. Unlike Carter and Micah, she didn't bother to knock before she barged in.
She sat next to Selene on the bed and ran a hand from the crown of her head to her middle back. "You'll love many men in your life; this one isn't relevant in the grand scheme of things."
Selene cried harder.
"No, no. I didn't mean irrelevant. I meant that it doesn't matter."
Again Selene cried harder.
"At least you didn't get pregnant?" she guessed.
"Mom. Get out!"
Lucille scrambled to her feet and left in a haste.
"So how'd it go?" she heard Micah ask in the hallway.
A few moments passed before they knocked again. "Selene," Carter said. "Your parents and I are coming in."
The door opened. Selene kept her head buried in the pillow as they walked around the room. Carter knelt in front of her, Lucille reclaimed her spot on the bed and Micah sat on the edge of the bed by Selene's feet.
"Can you explain what happened?" Carter asked softly.
Selene lifted her head so that she could see him.
Carter's face was soft and inviting. He silently pleaded with his eyes but she knew if she refused, he'd leave.
So she told them everything. She started with Zoë and Declan's breakup, how the plan had been her idea, onto the fight in the cafeteria with Zoë, dealing with Nyx, how she had started off hating Declan but grew more fond of him as time went on, her relapse, her real fight with Zoë, and what she had discovered this morning.
"Oh, hun," Lucille cooed, stroking her back.
"I'm gonna kill the kid," Micah said.
"You're not killing anyone," Carter argued.
Selene was transported back. They had had this same argument after the incident of grade nine.
"Guys," she said hoarsely. Her voice was raw from crying and then spending the past twenty minutes explaining everything. "I just want to graduate and leave as soon as possible."
"We'll buy your ticket for the last week of August," Carter said, standing.
She shook her head. "I'm leaving after graduation."
"Yeah," Carter said. "Graduation is on Friday, August is in like two months."
"Carter," she said, "as soon as the ceremony is done I want to be in a plane on my way to Toronto."
"You didn't even get room assignments," Micah said. "Where are you going to sleep?"
"I can Airbnb until school starts. I have some money saved up. I can get a part-time job to pay for groceries and stuff."
The parents all looked at each other.
"Okay," Micah said. "I'll call a friend in Toronto to see if he'll be willing to give you a summer internship getting coffee or something."
"I'll search up cheap but nice looking Airbnb's willing to rent for the whole summer," Carter said.
"I'll pack your bags," Lucille said.
They all sprung into action as if keeping themselves occupied would distract from the fact that this was all real; that this was their last week together as a whole family.