“What, the guys were going to what?” I prompt when he doesn’t seem like he’ll finish.
Ollie puts his hand on my leg. “We were going to go up with him, make a weekend out of it, but—”
I interrupt, “But me, right? That’s what you were going to say.” Scooting forward so I can reach Milo’s shoulder, I place my hand on him. “You still should. I don’t need a babysitter. They should go with you. I don’t really know what a football banquet is. But it seems pretty important.”
Milo drops his head. “It’s just some stupid dinner. I don’t even want to go.”
“And awards,” Dante adds.
“You’re getting an award?” Now I feel terrible, how did I not know this? I fall back into my seat feeling like shit. Have I been so wrapped up in my stuff that I don’t know what’s going on around me, or do they not talk to me? Both options are equally shitty.
“Milo, you’re going to that banquet. And taking the others with you.” I cross my arms over my chest, my words ring with an order.
“Ares isn’t going, we didn’t even know he was going to be back when we planned it.” Milo puts his elbow over the seat staring at me. “So, he’ll have you all weekend.” I scrunch up my face, he sounds aggravated. “My parents won’t understand if the guys don’t come. They’ll think we're fighting or something, and they already worry about us because they don’t know we found you. And Ares won’t let us tell them.” Flipping back around, he slams into his seat, frustrated with the entire situation.
“Milo, why don’t we just go for the day, make an excuse that we need to be back here. They know Ares is back. Tell them he’s throwing you a party—he didn’t know we were going to stay in Columbia for the weekend. Your parents won’t care, especially if they think it will keep Ares around,” Ollie, the voice of reason, appeals to Milo.
Milo lets out a long sigh.
“It’s okay if you want to stay, Milo. Don’t feel like you can’t because of me. I don’t want to hold you back.” I hope he can hear the sincerity in my voice. I want him to celebrate his accomplishments; I just wish I could be there with him.
“It’s not like that, Laura, but I don’t like hiding you from my parents. If Ares would just let me tell them, we could all go, including him.”
Dante pulls into the lot at school, he cuts the car off but makes no move to get out. “We can talk to him again tonight. He doesn’t like keeping it from our parents either, Milo; he just thinks it’s safer this way.”
“Come on, guys, we’ll talk to him tonight. It’s Friday: last day to be at the hellhole this week. Perk up. We’ll figure it out,” Ollie presses, trying to lighten the conversation.
I’m still feeling a little out of sorts about this weekend when lunch rolls around. Ollie did his best to distract me in the class we share, but I feel like I’m the reason Milo won’t have a great weekend with his friends and family.
What else don’t I know about? I mean, this is our senior year, are they planning on going to college? Ares is obviously past that point, but what about the others? In the back of my mind I always knew college wasn’t an option for me, unless I went to a community college while working, but even that was just a pipe dream. Will they go off to school? Will they even be able to go without me? I know I feel like utter crap when I’m not around them for a few hours, I can’t imagine what it would be like if we went weeks, or months, without seeing each other. Maybe it’ll get easier, maybe after we’ve been together for a while the bond will grow, allowing us to be separated for longer periods of time without suffering the effects of being apart.
I need to ask them more questions. Like, what is the purpose of our gifts? It seems that if we’re blessed with these great ability’s, then there should be a reason for them. Do they ever help people? There has to be more to this than parlor tricks.
“Laura,” Milo waves to me from the down the hall. He’s not as tall as the other guys, but it’s still easy