Diary of a Teenage Jewel Thief(30)

And all I want now is to find my mother and hug her forever. Or at least until I have to leave for school.

“Thanks, Uncle Samuel. I think I need to go find my mom.” I climb off the bed and wait for him.

He nods and stands. “I love you, Mari. Everything I do is to protect you. Remember that, okay?”

“Okay…” His words are ominous, and I catch myself trying to dissect them for a minute before I remember that this is Drunkle Samuel I’m talking to. He’s probably halfway to fit-shaced right now.

I silently herd him out of my room and close my door behind us. As he ambles down the hall toward the living room, I veer off to my mom’s room. I owe her a hug. Or a thousand.

…

I float through the rest of the day, not paying attention to much other than my budding feelings for Will. In the morning, he’s waiting for me at the door outside my building. He sits with me at lunch, and in the afternoon, he walks me all the way home, leaving me in the lobby with a lingering hug. He even texts me good night before he goes to bed.

Friday goes much the same way, and I’m almost a little sad heading to photography club after school instead of meeting Will at my locker like I do every other day. But no matter how much I like him, I’m not going to ditch my friends or my hobbies, even if they are as new to my life as he is. If he likes me, he can wait for me.

And he does.

When Trin, Lacey, and I step out of the building after club lets out, Will is in his spot on the low retaining wall, playing on his phone. As soon as he realizes we’re there, he jumps to his feet and tucks his phone away, giving us his undivided attention.

“Hi,” he says to all of us, but I feel like the greeting is for me alone.

Trin half waves at the same time Lacey giggles.

“Were you waiting here for me?” I ask.

He blushes guiltily. “Not really—not for long, anyway. I had to stay after to talk to my lit teacher, and I figured since I was still here anyway…”

“How sweet,” Trin coos. “Isn’t that sweet, Lacey?”

Lacey nods her agreement, and both girls watch us intently, like we’re there for their entertainment.

“I could go for some coffee. Who wants to get some with me?” I’m grasping at straws to try and break the tension. Hopefully it works.

“Sure, I could go for a chai latte,” Lacey answers, and Trin agrees.

“You guys ever been to that little café around the corner? It’s pretty good.” Will motions in the direction we would be heading to get home anyway, and I wonder briefly if that’s where he gets the coffees he sometimes greets me with in the morning. Does he walk almost the entire way to school for coffee, then walk two blocks back just to make the same trip with me a few minutes later?

We trek around the corner to the café. It’s quaint and tucked between two office buildings. And all but deserted. I guess not many people drink coffee at three thirty in the afternoon. The shop has a bar with a handful of unoccupied stools tucked under, and the only other patrons are a young couple looking lovingly at each other from opposite sides of one of two bistro tables flanking a creamer station on the side wall. Four wingbacks circle a square coffee table under the front window.

Trin drops her bag on one of the chairs and fishes out a small wallet before heading to the counter. Lacey follows her with all of her stuff, but Will hangs back. “What’re you feeling?”

He’s planning to get my drink for me? “Blonde roast. Two creams, two sugars,” I tell him, and watch as he digests this new information. I have a sneaking suspicion he’s committing it to memory and that the next time he meets me on the way to school with coffee, it’s going to be exactly how I like it.

When Will heads for the counter, I take the chair in the corner for maximum awareness of my surroundings. I select my chair more out of habit than anything else. Being able to see everything going on around me isn’t vital to my success and survival anymore. But old habits die hard, and the good ones die hardest. My friends and Will arrive and claim chairs after just a few minutes.

Will hands me my cup before claiming the chair next to mine. “So you guys are all in photography club together?”

“Yep, are you into photography?” Lacey asks. “You should stop by and check it out sometime.”

Will smiles politely and shakes his head. “Nah, I’m not really good with the visual arts stuff. I’m more the music type.”

Trin perks up. “Do you play any instruments?”

“A few,” he answers and ducks his head modestly.

His admission comes as a surprise to me. All this time we’ve been spending together and he’s never mentioned he’s into music or that he plays instruments. I can’t play an instrument to save my life, and I’m about as tone deaf as they come. So the fact that he can play multiple instruments is fascinating to me. “Which ones? Do you write any songs or anything?”

“Guitar, piano, and saxophone. I do sometimes write songs, but I don’t, like, play them for anyone or anything.”

Suddenly I’m itching to be the person he does play for. “Maybe I could hear them sometime?”

“Yeah, maybe.” He blushes in the most adorable way and drops his gaze to his lap. I’ve embarrassed him. “If you’ll show me some of your photography.”