Pruitt’s POV
As I waited for Vic, I sat on my window seat, gazing out into the November air. It was hard to believe we’d known each other almost three months, and been together most of that time. We’d been inseparable almost the entire time, except for our fight from a couple days ago, and the time he’d disappeared for a week. I was glad he never pulled that stunt again, because I loved him too much and relied on him too much now to let him go. I do wish that he would tell me what happened then, but I didn’t want to pry…but now maybe since he knew one of my big secrets, I could ask him. I gazed down at my scars, ashamed he knew about my cutting. I was scared that I wouldn’t be able stop for him like I’d promised; the last thing I wanted to do was let him down. I saw Vic outside the window, and I jumped up and headed downstairs to meet him.
As we headed back to the Gaskarth house, Vic said “I want you to meet some of my old friends tomorrow.” “Sure…” I sounded confused, and I was. He had never mentioned any old friends before, so why all of a sudden now ? I put the thought out of my mind, and enjoyed the rest of my day with the guys.
As I walked home with Vic later that night, I stopped him halfway there and said softly “Wanna sneak in tonight ?” My hand was on his chest, and my voice was low. He kind of avoided my eyes and said “I would, babe, but I want to get some rest for tomorrow. Sorry.” He actually didn’t sound sorry at all, but I still replied with “It’s okay, I understand.” We walked in silence back to my house, and he kissed me quickly and left.
I trudged upstairs, put-off by his attitude. I told myself that Vic was just stressed out and that he needed some sleep after staying up all night with me the night before. That night I fought the urge to go to the razor as I struggled to sleep.
I woke up with a text from Vic, sent a half hour before “Meet me at my house at noon (:”
It was now ten o’clock, so I went back to bed for thirty more minutes, then got up and showered. I blow dried my hair and left it wavy, then dressed in an oversized pullover and leggings. I spent extra time on my makeup, wanting to look good for Vic’s friends. I had no idea to expect since he had never mentioned anything about them before. I left ten minutes before noon, walking quickly to his house. My Vans tapped the surface of the sidewalk, the only sound on this Sunday morning. I knocked and Mrs. Fuentes let me in, saying they were in the garage. I thought that was kind of strange, but I went with it as she lead me there. She opened the door and let me in, and I walked inside, not expecting what I saw. The garage was half carpeted and house a couch and an armchair, both set up facing the back wall of the garage where a bunch of band equipment was set up. I was confused, Vic didn’t play any instruments, although he liked to sing. I didn’t think Mike did either, but maybe I was wrong ? I sat on the couch, wondering where everyone was at. A few minutes later, the door burst open and two guys I’d never seen before walked in. One had a few tattoos and big gauges, and the other had tall spiky dark hair. They both walked right up to me as if I should know who they were and shook my hand. Gauges said “Hi, I’m Tony,” in a low voice, and Spiky said “Hello, I’m Jaime !” in a much more excited manner. “I’m Pruitt,” I told them, and just then Vic entered the room. He stood between them, an arm around each of them. “These are my best friends !”
I had never seen Vic like this, his smile was huge, and he seemed so genuinely happy. He sat next to me and explained the whole story. “Two years ago, before I moved her for my junior year, Mike and I had been extremely close with Tony and Jaime for our whole lives. We had the best times in freshman and sophomore year, but then we had to move suddenly because…well, because. Well at that time, we were forming a band, but then everything got messed up and we didn’t really keep in touch with everything going on. Now we might be getting back together !” It was a lot for me to take in, I had never really known that much about Vic’s past and this just made everything more mysterious. I was confused and a little hurt he had never told me any of this, but I faked a smile, I just couldn’t break his heart, and he looked so happy. Vic got up and raced off to help the other guys finish moving in the equipment, and I just sat bewildered on the couch.
What had happened that the Fuentes family had to move so suddenly and cut all ties ? And why did Vic always disappear for days at a time without explanation ?
