Hiding From Us

19. jared

‘’Um,’’ said Lindsey, ‘‘what’s the rest of your family doing right now?’’

     I looked up from my phone. ‘‘Luke’s at a sleepover. Rosie’s at a thing with Mom. Dad’s picking up Adrian, I think.’’

     ‘’Is it weird? Having an exchange student?’’ 

     I frowned. ‘‘Yeah. Kind of. He’s better with Rosie than I am. It’s like I’m the exchange student and he’s belonged here the whole time.’’

     Lindsey leaned forward. She was wearing a hoody, but underneath that was a shirt that ignored the rules of chasteness and innocence. A seductive impulse shot through me: I wanted that hoody off. 

     We were alone in the house, inside my room. Adrian’s temporary room, but it was still mine. I said, ‘’I don’t think I’ve gotten the chance to make out with you recently.’’

     Lindsey eyed me. ‘‘Yeah, I was thinking that, too.’’

     Both of us sat in awkward silence for a few seconds before Lindsey moved forward and dragged herself onto my lap, wrapping her hands around my neck and pulling even closer to me. 

     ‘‘Jared,’’ she whispered before she kissed me. 

     The sun disappeared as we made out. I pulled her hoody off roughly and then slipped my hands beneath her shirt, touching her skin. Her fingers slid through my hair, mussing it up even more. I wondered if we would end up in a bed, mostly naked, getting drunk on love. We’d done it before in July. I wondered if she would still agree to do it if I told her that I had no protection. 

     Lindsey pulled my shirt off. Even though I was the one without the clothing, she sighed like something inside of her had melted. 

     I squeezed her waist. I was about to ask her how far she wanted to go when the door opened and suddenly Adrian was there and Lindsey sprung from my lap and I sat there with no shirt on. 

     He only looked at us for a second before raising his eyebrows. He sorted through the dresser until he found pajamas. There was something in his eyes that I didn’t recognize. 

     Down the hall, Dad called, ‘‘Jared, almost bedtime.’’ 

     I swore quietly. ‘‘God, it’s only nine-thirty.’’ 

     ‘‘God can’t change your bedtime,’’ said Adrian. Lindsey, sitting on the ground by my legs, laughed dryly.

     ‘‘Screw off,’’ I told him. ‘‘What’s up with you, anyway?’’ 

     Adrian frowned. ‘‘What do you mean?’’ For some reason, his accent was more pronounced tonight. Usually he tried to hide it. 

     ‘‘Dude, it’s like that day we came home from school. You were totally stoned.’’

     ‘’Um. No, I wasn’t.’’

     ‘‘Okay. Then what’s up?’’

     ‘‘It’s nothing. It doesn’t really matter—’’

     Lindsey said, ‘’I think he’s in love.’’

     Adrian froze. 

     I paused. It made sense, actually. The reason why his grades were plummeting, why he stayed up late texting someone unknown, why I never saw him at school. The reason why he’d gone out tonight. 

     ‘‘Dude.’’ I laughed shakily. ‘’No way have you got a girlfriend. Who is she?’’

     Adrian opened his mouth to answer, then closed it, then opened it again, only to get interrupted by Rosalie. She ran in and gave him a hug. Adrian folded his arms around her frail six-year-old body tightly, whispering something in her ear. 

     I held out a hand. ‘‘Hey, Rose . . ?’’

     ‘’Hi, Lindsey,’’ she said, turning and smiling weakly. ‘’Hi, Jared. Mom says you need to put your bike away.’’ 

     I held my breath before I could swear in front of her. 

     Adrian knelt down beside her and said, ‘‘Hey. I want you to meet someone this weekend, okay? Her name’s Grace. You’ll like her.’’

     ‘‘Grace,’’ said Rosie, tasting the word. ‘‘Who’s Grace?’’

     ‘’My girlfriend.’’ 

     He didn’t even look at us when he said it. It was for her ears and her ears only, but Lindsey looked at me. I looked back at her. She raised her sleek eyebrows, and I mirrored her, and she pursed her lips, and I did the same. I wasn’t entirely sure what the point of this conversation was. So I just kissed her when she left, twirling a strand of her hair around my finger. 

     ‘‘Grace,’’ Lindsey said slowly. ‘’I think he means Grace Simons.’’

     ‘’Is that a bad thing?’’

     She kissed me again. ‘’I guess we’ll see.’’