Racing for Freedom - By Bec Botefuhr Page 0,18
that for? I quickly turn my eyes to the door to see Lucas carrying a take away bag and staring at us in shock. God, that couldn’t have looked good at all. When he sees Slade, his face falls. I know Lucas and I aren’t together, but I also know it would hurt him to think I was with Slade.
“What the hell is he doing here, Dasha?”
Dasha. Uh oh.
“He’s…um…”
“Her new housemate,” Slade finishes for me.
“What?”
“It’s a long story, he needed somewhere to live and I needed a housemate.” I say quickly.
“Can we talk, Dasha?”
“I’m cooking,” I mumble quietly, not wanting to get into this now. It’s not really up to Lucas who I have in my house.
“Can we just talk about this, in private, please?”
I close my eyes. “Not now, Lucas, please. It’s been a long day.”
He nods his head, hurt. “Fine, I’ll leave you to it then.”
He turns and storms out the door. I sigh, not wanting to fight with him. I put the knife down, shoot a look at Slade and then follow Lucas out the door.
“Lucas, wait, please!”
He spins around and I can see he’s hurt. I never meant to hurt him. God I’m such an ass. I grip his arms and force him to look at me. I don’t have to explain myself to Lucas, but I’m going to because he’s done so much for me and I don’t want to lose him.
“I’m sorry ok? It’s only for a while, he had nowhere else to go.”
“He’s not your problem Dash,” Lucas whispers. “He hurt you and he’ll do it again. You are setting yourself up for pain.”
“Look, we were friends a long time ago and I know him. He’s not going to be here half the time anyway, neither will I.”
“I can’t change your mind on this, that’s quite clear, but I wish you would listen to me Dash. This isn’t a good idea.”
“It’s only for a while.”
He sighs and closes his eyes. “I have to go.”
“But you came over to eat…”
He opens his eyes and forces a smile. “I know, but…I just need to go.”
“Please don’t be mad at me Lucas, I’m sorry.”
He shakes his head, but I’m not buying it. “I’m not. I’ll call you later ok?”
He turns and gets into his car without another word. I sigh and turn, walking back inside. Slade is stirring the chicken I put on the pan and I smile weakly at him.
“How long have you been with him?”
“I’m not with him.”
He raises his brows. “You do realize he’s in love with you, don’t you?”
I nod weakly. “Yeah I know.”
He stares at me for a long moment, then turns back to the stirring. I walk over and take the spoon from his hand, and our fingers brush together. I shudder and quickly pull away, daring to peek up at him. He’s looking down at me, his eyes intense and searching my face. Then, he pulls himself together and walks out of the kitchen.
“I’m going out for a while.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” I say in a small voice.
He stops and looks over at me. “No, I suppose I don’t.”
Then he takes his keys and leaves. What the hell just happened?
Chapter Twelve
“Hey Dashy,” Slade says, falling in step beside me, as we walk down the stone paths towards class.
“Hey Slade, what’s up?”
“Pizza and movies tonight, my parents are away.”
I beam at him. It’s not often Slade and I get to hang out freely. Most of the time we have to hide our friendship. Occasionally his parents go away and we manage to get a night of laughing and fun together.
“I love when your parents go away,” I grin.
He laughs and pushes me lightly. “Me too.”
“Hi Slade.”
We both turn to see Mary sauntering over in her tiny excuse of a uniform. She swishes her long blonde hair from side to side as she smiles up at Slade.
“Hey Mary.”
“I was wondering if you wanted to go to the movies tonight?”
Is she seriously pretending like I’m not here?
“Nah, I’m hanging out with Dash.”
Mary turns her eyes to me and runs them over my body as though I’m nothing more than a pathetic child she’s forced to acknowledge.
“Right, well, another night then?”
“Maybe.” Slade says.
She nods her head and turns her nose up before walking off. I look at Slade and then burst into a fit of giggles. He shoves me lightly.
“Hey now, go easy on me Dashy.”
“Movies Slade?” I mock in a high pitched voice.
“Aw, go easy.”
I grip his shirt and crush