Don’t Let Go

10. Aurora

10

Aurora

Mamma made her famous ravioli for dinner. It was a recipe passed down from her mamma. Everyone gobbled up Mamma’s cooking, knowing it was rare, especially from scratch. I think she wanted Tyler to feel better about being uprooted, but all he did was poke at his food like a picky toddler. His dad died, I understood that, but when an Italian woman served you food, you ate it.

“Where did you go to school?” Lorenzo piped up. My brother looked at Tyler like he was a lost dog, unsure if he was worth the upkeep and wondering if he had fleas.

“Lincoln High.”

“South Ridge is a fine school, too,” Mamma said, patting her lips with a napkin. “You’ll come to love it.”

All eyes fell on Tyler. He cut a square of pasta in half with his fork. “I guess so…” There was so much sorrow in his voice. I felt a lump in my throat like when I watched those sad animal abuse commercials on TV.

“Aurora will show you around. I’m sure you’ll get along well with her boyfriend, Paolo.” Mom smiled at me, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She stood and took her plate to the kitchen.

I swallowed my bite too soon, and it lodged in my throat. I coughed and hit my chest. Carmen nudged my water glass closer.

“Take a sip. Geez.”

I took a couple of gulps and then a breath. I knew about showing him around school, but Mamma made it sound like I needed to be a tour guide. Plus, I wanted to keep Tyler on the down-low for as long as I could when it came to Paolo.

Mamma had to know Paolo wasn’t going to like Tyler being here, but again, there was nothing we could do.

Everyone finished dinner around the same time. Carmen took her plate and wandered over to Tyler.

“I’ll take your plate to the kitchen for you,” she purred.

I couldn’t stand it.

Tyler didn’t look at her, just stood and pushed his chair in. “Thanks,” he mumbled before heading for the stairs.

Carmen’s face turned red. I could tell she was biting back a nasty comeback. She might’ve been upset he didn’t notice her flirting skills, but I couldn’t be happier.

Just to piss her off more, I got to my feet and placed my plate on top of her pile of dishes. “Thanks for taking mine too. You’re the best.”

She bared her teeth, ready to bite my head off, but Mamma was still within earshot.

I winked at her, and she mouthed, “You’re a bitch.”

I peeked my head into the kitchen. Mamma dried her hands on a dishtowel. “I’m doing my homework now.” I blew her a kiss. “Thanks for dinner.”

Her cheeks went up when she smiled, creating wrinkles around her kind green eyes. “You’re welcome, fiore mio.”

As I stepped back, she cleared her throat. “Be nice.”

With one hand behind my back, I crossed my fingers and gave her a sweet grin. “Of course.” No promises, I was still getting to know this guy.

I slipped out and retreated to my bedroom. Carmen was stuck with dishwashing duty tonight, and my brothers camped out in the living room playing some violent video game. Lizzy stayed behind to be with Mamma. She liked it when Mamma told her stories about growing up in Italy. When Lizzy’s older, Mamma said we’d take a family trip there.

Halfway through my math homework, this horrible noise of mangled voices screaming overtook the classical music I used to help me focus. It was heavy metal or rap, not sure what the genre was, but it sounded like men yelling about killing and dying, and I had no idea what else.

Anger lifted me from my chair to the wall I now shared with Tyler. I pounded on it with a closed fist. “Turn that down!” I screamed.

No reply.

The music continued playing.

I sat on my bed, crossing my arms over my chest.

There were two things I could do. One, ignore the noise and try to act like it wasn’t drilling into my skull, killing my brain cells. Or two, force my way into his room—I had the spare key—and turn it down myself.

A picture of my best friends and me at the state fair last year vibrated off the nail it was hanging on and crashed to the floor.

I had my answer.

After running a hand over my hair to fix the crazed wisps, I marched out of my room. His door was only two yards away from mine. I tried the doorknob, but it was locked.

I pounded on the door, and still nothing.

I put the key in the lock and twisted it.

It didn’t occur to me until I pushed the door open that Tyler might be naked, and I’d be walking into something that would scar me for life.

The door smacked against the wall, and the hall light poured into his darkened room. Tyler lay in his bed in complete darkness, motionless.

How could he be asleep with this noise blasting?

The floor trembled as I stomped over the carpet to turn it down. The power button glowed red on the stereo. I hit it, and silence rushed in. Almost deafening in itself.

Tyler sat up on his elbows and glared at me. “What the hell?”

I walked back to the door. “Please keep the music down. I know you’re new, but some of us are trying to concentrate on homework.”

I didn’t dare look over my shoulder. His dark eyes pierced into my back like darts into a board, drawing closer to the bullseye.

When I returned to my room, I turned my music back on, only to have it scream Beethoven, scaring the crap out of me. It took me a moment to gather myself and find the volume decrease button on my computer.

Knocking came from the shared wall. “Your music sucks! You turned mine off only to play yours?” I’m pretty sure he muttered other things too that didn’t quite make it through the wall.

Best not to reply. We’d argue all night, and he wasn’t worth it.