Thomas and Niko in the City of Trees

Chapter 9 - Part 1

It's past three in the morning and the party is starting to quiet down. Maybe Madison finally convinced Thomas to come down out of that tree, or maybe he made up his mind to come down on his own. Either way we all sort of reconvene in the living room. Thomas turns down the stereo and people start to leave.

Garrett and Driggs are both passed out on the floor by the kitchen. I see one or two more people just stumbling around on the grass in the backyard.

I'm amazed the four of us aren't a little more fucked up, all things considered. Especially Thomas. He might actually be the least fucked up among us. I don't know what's gotten into him. He goes into Alfred's room to check on him and reports back that he's just sleeping peacefully in bed. The kid's friends must have left at some point. A lot of people were booking cars to come pick them up, so maybe they got into one of those. Lexie's makeup is smeared a little and she's going around like a zombie dumping bottles and cans into a black trash bag. I step around collecting a few more and she holds the bag open for me. In that moment, I'm feeling very grown up. Don't ask me why, because I don't know.

"We'll clean up the rest in the morning," says Thomas.

Madison has fallen asleep on the couch. Thomas picks her up and carries her to his bed. I watch the whole thing unfold, from the way he gently hooks one forearm under her legs and the other under her back, to the way her long blond hair just spills over his shoulder. He lifts her like she weighs nothing. As he's passing by me, his eyes just sort of fixate on mine. They're saying, "What the fuck am I supposed to do?"

Lexie and I sleep on Thomas's dad's bed. We're really careful not to disturb anything. We even bring in sleeping bags and lay them on top.

"I kept thinking the cops would come," she says.

I'm lying there next to her. Our sleeping bags open up toward each other. "I'm pretty amazed they never did," I say.

"Were you planning to run if they did?"

"Yeah."

"Would you have taken me with you?"

"Of course," I say.

She smiles. "Well, it never came to that. I guess you get a free pass sometimes."

I guess you do. She reaches for me in a suggestive way a couple times and I tell her I'm just too exhausted. I tell her I'm not feeling well. In a way, I guess it's true.

I wake up at ten in the morning. I feel like I haven't slept enough, but I can't seem to get back to sleep. I get out of bed slowly so I don't wake up Lexie. I walk past the open doorway to Thomas's room and am surprised to see his bed empty.

I got out into the kitchen and survey the place. Somebody already did some cleaning up. Anyone who stuck around to sleep on the floor or the lawn or wherever else is long gone. I'm kind of wondering where the hell Thomas and Madison went. I go over to the garage door at the edge of the kitchen and open it.

There he is, lying flat on his bench. He's in the middle of a set. I let him finish and then I say, "You shouldn't do that without a spotter."

He sits up and stretches out his fingers. "Get the fuck over here, then."

"Where did Madison go?"

"She had to go home and sweet-talk her mom. Turns out she never got permission to stay over."

"Wow," I say. "Who is this person?"

"I know." Thomas is looking pretty energized from the workout. "She really mellowed out once school ended."

"I'm starting to think we all did," I say.

Thomas doesn't answer me. He's just staring off into space for a while. "Your turn," he finally says.