Angelfire
Page 49

We fol owed the tow truck to the Audi dealership in my mom's Mercedes. The pathetic remains of my car were left by the service building and I said my farewel s. I was quite sure Marshmal ow was dead.
Mom assured me the insurance company would either take care of the damage or pay for a replacement car. It was an act of nature, she said. Oh, yeah. That had been one hell of an act of nature.
Mom was very interested in Wil , and until we got into her car, she could barely keep her eyes off his tattoos. She interrogated him al the way to the dealership and back to my house.
"Is there a place I can drop you off, Wil ?" she asked in a concerned voice, failing to quel the motherly instinct that had been set on high alert since my initial phone cal of doom.
"No, that's al right," he said. "I only live a five-minute walk past your neighborhood."
"Are you sure? It won't be any trouble."
"I'l be fine. You've had enough excitement for one night."
"I'l be fine. You've had enough excitement for one night."
My mom laughed. "Wel , I can take a little bit more. Where's your house?"
"I see you're very intent on this."
"I am."
He directed my mom a couple minutes past our street. The house was one of the more modest homes in the area, and I knew it didn't belong to him. The lawn was pristine and ornately designed.
"Lovely gardens," my mom said as she pul ed into the driveway. It was after midnight and the house was dark. I didn't need to worry about the real owners of the house wondering why some weird guy was getting dropped off there.
"Thank you," Wil said as he climbed out the backseat.
"It was very nice meeting you," Mom said. "You'l have to come around more often."
"I wil ," he said, smiling beautiful y. "Thank you for the ride, Mrs. Monroe. Sorry about your car, again, El ie. I hope it gets fixed."
"Thanks," I said, and stuck my tongue out at him. He winked. My mom hadn't noticed.
We backed out of the driveway, and almost immediately I lost sight of Wil in the mirror. I needed to cal Kate and let her know we weren't coming. In al honesty, I didn't feel like partying anymore. The fight with Ragnuk had taken its tol on me. I was proud of myself for staying brave--at least until Ivar showed up. She was a whole other bal game.
"Is he real y a economics major?" Mom asked, breaking my thoughts.
"Uh, yeah," I said. It was important to keep Wil 's identity straight.
I spotted the slightest rise of her eyebrows. "I admire you for working with your teacher and getting a tutor for this class," she said. "It sounds like you're in good hands. He seems real y smart."
"He is. He knows a lot."
"Is he your boyfriend?"
I almost choked on my tongue. "What? No. He's just a real y good friend."
"I'm surprised that you've never mentioned him," she noted. "He's kind of old for you, anyway."
She didn't fool me. "It's the tattoos and you know it," I said.
She laughed. "Your father definitely wouldn't like that about him, but it's more of an age issue. Wait until you're actual y in col ege before you start dating col ege boys. Maybe if you were eighteen and had already graduated . . . but for right now, I think he's a little too old."
Just a little. I tapped my knuckles on the window as I watched the world blur by in shadows. I shouldn't even have been thinking about Wil romantical y, especial y given the way our nonromantic relationship worked. "So Mom," I said.
"Just being hypothetical, of course, but what would you say if I did like him?"
"How old is he again?"
"Like twenty . . . ?" My voice trailed off uncertainly. She made a noise under her breath. "There's nothing wrong with liking him."
"But not dating him."
"Like I said," she explained. "It would be easier for me to accept if you weren't stil in high school. You have to remember that you're only seventeen and he's technical y an adult, though it's obvious you like him."
I chewed my lip, contemplating how honest I could be with her--and myself. "I do. It's stupid, I know. He's not perfect, but he does a lot of things right."
"It's not stupid. To start, he's a very good-looking boy and he seems driven."
I laughed. That much was very true. "So when you said he should come around more often . . ."
"Wel , now . . ." She trailed off but gave a soft laugh.
"I'm not sure if I could real y go out with him anyway," I said. "He's my tutor. We've hung out a few times with friends, but that's it. He's an al -business kind of guy."
"That's good that he takes his duties seriously."
How funny she should use that word. "Yeah. He does. Very much so."
"But you're not satisfied with that."
And my mom was a mind reader. "Not exactly. Is it even possible to be with someone you basical y work with?"
"It's possible," she said thoughtful y. "But it makes working together difficult, because then you're focused on him and not your job. And if things go bad between you two, then it's hard to keep working together. It makes being around them almost unbearable."
I watched her careful y as her gaze stuck straight forward.