The last bell of the day was still echoing through the hall when I caught up to Gabriel at his locker.
\u201cGot plans after school?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. \u201cNothing major. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCome over to my place tonight,\u201d I said casually. \u201cWe\u2019ll hang out, maybe shoot some pool, watch a movie. You can crash there and I\u2019ll get you to school in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His brow arched higher. \u201cYour parents cool with that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t have to be,\u201d I said with a shrug. \u201cBesides, they\u2019ll be home. You\u2019ll finally get to meet them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat sounds\u2026 like it\u2019s not a selling point,\u201d he said, suspicion in his tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not. But it\u2019ll give you context.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That earned me a crooked grin. \u201cAlright, Conriocht. Lead the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We walked down to the docks, the late afternoon air cool against the skin. The passenger ferry wasn\u2019t busy\u2014just a handful of commuters and a couple of tourists with cameras around their necks. Gabriel leaned on the railing as the boat pulled away from Hyannis, watching the mainland shrink into haze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always wondered,\u201d he said, \u201cwhat\u2019s it like living on an island like this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I thought about it. \u201cPeaceful when you want it to be. Claustrophobic when you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd your parents live there full-time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnfortunately,\u201d I said dryly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He laughed under his breath. \u201cThis is going to be good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the time we pulled up to the mansion in the black town car that picked us up from the pier, Gabriel had gone quiet. The place loomed at the end of a long, manicured drive\u2014stone fa\u00e7ade, tall windows catching the last of the sun, the kind of house you\u2019d see in a glossy magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inside, it was colder than the sea breeze\u2014temperature, sure, but mostly in the way my parents\u2019 eyes cut to me the second we walked in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThane,\u201d my father said, his voice like someone trying to make \u201chello\u201d sound like \u201cwhat do you want.\u201d His suit was perfect, his tie knotted with military precision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My mother\u2019s smile was the kind that didn\u2019t touch her eyes. \u201cAnd who is this?\u201d she asked, gaze sweeping over Gabriel like she was inspecting an unwanted delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGabriel,\u201d I said. \u201cA friend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFriend,\u201d my father repeated, like the word tasted bad. \u201cDoes he have parents who know where he is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d Gabriel said evenly. \u201cThey do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The silence stretched, and I could feel my jaw tightening. \u201cHe\u2019s staying here tonight,\u201d I said, my tone firm enough to carry a warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My mother\u2019s lips parted\u2014probably to object\u2014but I stepped closer, just enough that my shadow cut across her shoes. \u201cDon\u2019t,\u201d I said quietly, but with enough edge to put a knife to the air. \u201cNot one word. To him or me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Something in her expression flickered, and she glanced away. My father cleared his throat and muttered something about \u201cwork to do,\u201d and just like that, they were gone\u2014retreating deeper into the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel exhaled slowly. \u201cWow. You weren\u2019t kidding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCome on,\u201d I said, turning toward the hall. \u201cLet me show you the good parts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tour started with the theater room\u2014thick leather recliners, a wall-to-wall screen, and a sound system that could rattle your bones. Gabriel whistled low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then the indoor pool, steam curling in the warm, chlorinated air. \u201cYou could swim laps in January,\u201d he said, eyes wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The game room came next, with polished wood floors and a pool table lit by a stained-glass fixture. Gabriel\u2019s eyes lit up. \u201cWe\u2019re playing later. No arguments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, I led him to the garage\u2014a cavernous space lined with gleaming vehicles: a pair of classic sports cars, a motorcycle, and in the corner, like it had just rolled off the battlefield, my real military Humvee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel stopped dead. \u201cHoly\u2026 You own that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy the hell don\u2019t you drive it to school?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I smirked. \u201cBecause keeping a low profile is easier when you\u2019re not driving something that looks like it could roll through a war zone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He tore his gaze from the Humvee to look at me. \u201cLow profile? You?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I paused, staring at the matte green beast, its angular body catching the fluorescent light. Then I grinned. \u201cYou know what? Screw it. Tomorrow, we\u2019re taking this. No ferry, no bus. We\u2019ll drive straight in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel\u2019s grin matched mine. \u201cOh, this is gonna be fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The last bell of the day was still echoing through the hall when I caught up to Gabriel at his locker.\u201cGot plans after school?\u201d I asked. He glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. \u201cNothing major. Why?\u201d \u201cCome over to my place tonight,\u201d I said casually. \u201cWe\u2019ll hang out, maybe shoot some pool, watch a movie. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-school-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions\/74"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}