Standing for Weirdo

Chapter 41

Trevor's window had seen me doing plenty of unseemly stuff. It seemed only fair that it’d witness my first breaking-and-entering ever. It didn’t quite count since the one helping me up was the rightful owner of the room I was climbing into, but the adrenaline of sneaking in left me shaking anyway.

Trevor's home had only one story, so when he had left earlier, he’d not needed to worry about creaky doors or being caught in the corridor. He’d only locked his room and slipped out the window. The both of us took the same way in, Trevor carefully hauling guitar and backpack before himself and then giving me a hand.

The first rays of the sun were starting to crawl over the horizon and it cast his room in an eerie gray light that made it look much more personal than it had been the last time I’d seen it. He gathered me to his chest when I cleared the windowsill and I let him cradle me against his slight frame.

“You weren’t born a burglar,” he whispered in my ear after a moment of contented silence.

I might have whacked his arm for breaking the moment or might have said something incredibly cheesy in turn. Instead, a loud meow interrupted me, and I managed to only jerk a little at the sudden noise.

Sparrow sat there, against our calves, and stared up with iridescent green eyes. I could have sworn that he was smiling.

“Hey, buddy,” I said, and the cat started to purr in satisfaction.

Trevor shook his head. “My girl’s in my room, and she’s not scared of my cat. This must be what Heaven feels like.”

I did whack his arm then, but he only laughed at my indignant face.

“You’re going to wake your father!” I shushed.

“He’s going to be up in a few anyway,” he sighed. “I’d better get started on breakfast, make this look natural.” He gestured vaguely between us and unlocked the door, heading to the kitchen and calling back, “Instant cappuccino okay with you?”

“It’s not mocha, but it’ll have to do.” I grinned back. Before following him, though, I knelt down and scratched Sparrow’s ears on impulse.

“Thanks,” I told the cat. Then, with a wink, I headed down the corridor just as the alarm clock went off in Mr. Bennett's room.

When he found us, presumably following the smell of coffee and pancakes, he blinked bemused eyes at me, as if I might have been a figment of his imagination.

“Hey, Dad.” Trevor smiled from the stove. “Alice came for breakfast.”

“Hi, Mr. Bennett.” I waved and hoped he’d believe it.

“Hi, Alice. You’re quite an early riser, aren’t you?” he replied with a genuine smile.

I allowed myself to relax and went on. “Trevor and I had a history project that’s been giving us some trouble, so I came over to talk about it before class.”

It was the truth, or at least, as much of it as we could afford to tell. I was done with lying.

“Trevor, you hadn’t told me you were doing anything together.”

He shrugged, looking sheepish as he brought the plate over. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t that important when compared to the play.”

And with that, the questioning was over and we settled over breakfast. It was unnerving how easily I fell in with their routine.

Later on, it was even more unnerving to see how natural it was for me to enter the school building openly holding Trevor's hand, sharing our private smiles beneath the eyes of the crowd. Even though they all had heard about us, we still took them by surprise. Their gawking gazes followed us all the way to our lockers, and our steps were preceded by silence and followed by buzzing whispers.

Through it all, I found I couldn’t care less. I was happy.

While we were in front of my locker, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I felt my skin crawl. My heart did a somersault and I jerked my head around only to find Ashley standing on the opposite side of the hall.

She looked venomous and her lips were moving, undoubtedly sharing her views on us with her entourage.

I breathed out and turned back to my books without a second glance.

After Beatrice, Bitch Queens like Ashley became kindergarten stuff. Worries, like reputation, faded to noise in the background. I had everything I needed, and no time to worry about the likes of her.

“Walk you to class?” Trevor asked when I was done, uncomfortable with all the attention, but holding his head high in spite of any snide comments coming our way.

I shook my head. “Walk me to the auditorium?”

He frowned for a second, but then he nodded in understanding. The big doors opened without a noise and then we were on the shadowed stage, the old Victorian furniture lumbering in the darkness.

It looked exactly the same as it had on Saturday.

“How do you feel?” I asked, after making a couple of rounds weaving between sofas and tables and lamps.

He stopped my wandering, hugging my waist from behind.

“It’s okay, Alice. She’s gone. I’m here.”

So I’m that transparent. Either that, or he knows me that well.

I twisted around to hug him back. “How can you be so sure? What if she’s just hiding?”

Trevor just caressed my back in a comforting gesture. I frowned, but when I looked up, his gaze was lost beyond me, a serene smile playing on his lips. Following his line of vision, I found the side table with the portrait we’d filched during the weekend.

It wasn’t there. In front of its empty space, the dozen red roses lay scattered among shards from the broken vase.

“We’re safe,” Trevor whispered before kissing me just like that first time.

And I believed him.

The End