Page 47 of The Puck Secret

I nod. “Yeah man, we’re good.” He smiles, reaching out to open the door for me, but I pause when just over the threshold. “But touch her again and I will kill you.”

He smiles with the shake of his head. “No problem, Cap.”

* * *

The restof the afternoon passes in a blur, my mind solely focused on the one girl I can’t seem to have, who is now the one I want more than anyone else. I also think about Grim and the last message sitting on my phone that I still haven’t responded to. Again, if I am being honest with myself, I feel something for her, which is fucked up when we don’t even know each other. Except that we do know each other. I might not know her name or what she looks like, but I do know her.

I know she likes to drink her coffee on the back deck of her house looking out onto the lake every morning. I know she doesn’t get along with her family, but she still loves them and spends time with them, and I definitely know what she keeps in the drawer of her nightstand. So, does it really matter that I don’t know her name? Not to me, which just leaves me feeling guilty for what I have going on with Madeline, which if you asked her, would be nothing, but to me? I know it could be something. So where the fuck do I go from here? To the girl I don’t know, or the girl I now know all too well.

Without any idea of how to answer that, I settle for the woman who birthed me instead, making my way over to her apartment as soon as my last class finishes. I use my spare key to unlock the door, and call out to her as I enter. “Hey mom!”

“In here, Sweetheart,” she shouts back, and I follow her voice through to the kitchen. “I’m just meal prepping some stuff for the week ahead.”

Of course I find her standing over the stove, mixing something just like always, and I lean down and drop a kiss to the back of her head. “Smells good in here,” I compliment, stealing a piece of chicken from the plate on the side, and she immediately bats my hand away.

“And it will taste good when it’s ready,” she scolds, mixing whatever is in the pot a few more times, before turning down the heat, and wiping her hands.

When she finally turns around to face me, I have to swallow the chicken with a lump in my throat. She doesn’t look good, a lot paler and slimmer than the last time I saw her, which was just the other day, and it’s like a knife to my heart. She’s getting worse, getting sicker, and there is nothing I can do to stop it. I’ve been putting off speaking to my dad, but I don’t think I can do it any longer, I need his help.

My mom just smiles, acting as if everything is perfectly fine, just like she always does, and I envy her inner strength. She has always been able to work well under pressure, never breaking under the weight of it, no matter how heavy it gets, and I couldn’t be more grateful for growing up with someone so amazing. When she takes a seat across the table from me, I force a smile to my face and pretend that everything is okay, for her sake at least.

“How’s my favorite son today?” she asks with a smile of her own, and I refrain from rolling my eyes.

“I’m your only son, and I’m fine,” I grumble in response, still feeling my mood from earlier, and itching to see the one person I know could take it all away.

“Just fine, huh? You must still be having girl trouble,” she muses, bringing a huge mug of green tea to her lips, and staring at me from over the rim.

“I am not having girl trouble,” I lie far too quickly, and all she does is continue to stare at me, waiting for me to expand, but I don’t.

“Okay, if you say so,” she drags out, before adding, “What about the girl from your phone?” Her eyes are pleading at me for details, and I know her wish is for me to find a nice girl before I go pro. Someone who likes me for me and not how good I am at playing a game.

Once again flipping from thoughts of Maddie to Grim, I can’t do anything but groan. “It’s complicated,” I admit, not really sure how else to describe it. She could be asking about both of them and my answer would be the same.

To my surprise, my mom laughs. “Still won’t tell you her name, huh?” I can tell she not only finds that funny, but also endearing. I know if she knew Grim she would get along with her, and that’s part of the problem, that I know that and still don’t know her name.

Then once again we come back to Maddie, she knows her name. Hell, she knows more than her name from what I understand, and I bet despite what her dad did to her, that my mom has a soft spot for the daughter of the devil. They’re both similar in different ways, both strong, and fierce, would do anything for the ones they love, which is both a strength and a weakness sometimes. It’s what drew me to her, getting to see a side of her that I’m sure she doesn’t show to anyone, and all I want to do is pick her apart and uncover all of her secrets.

Thankfully my mom must see something on my face when I don’t respond, because she jumps out of her chair and heads back to the stove. “Nothing that a home-cooked meal won’t fix,” she says breezily, and for once I am thankful she doesn’t push me for anything more.

We spend the next hour cooking and catching up, both of us pretending that she is completely fine, and it isn’t until she tells me that she is tired that I move to leave. I don’t linger, I can’t, because the sight of her like this is killing me. Instead, I make quick and quiet work of cleaning up the kitchen, and then slip out into the night without another word.

By the time I make it back to my house I am beyond exhausted, and I ignore the guys all playing video games in the living room and head straight up to my room, pulling my phone out as I go. My fingers feel heavy as they fly across the screen, shooting off a message to my dad that we need to meet up and talk. Once it’s sent, it’s like a weight is lifted off my chest. That feeling only lasts a second though, because when I exit out of his message thread, I spy the unread message still sitting there from Grim.

Grim: I miss your giant ego!

I smile as I read them because I know she means them, that she really does miss me. We have become a part of one another's lives these past few months, and not talking to her every day is killing me. Yet carrying on with this facade of texting without names is getting a little ridiculous, and I don’t think I can do it anymore. Especially not with all the things that have happened between Maddie and I. Our most recent encounter definitely included, so I decide it’s time to be honest.

Nova: Sorry Grim, I got caught up at the library.

Not technically a lie and her response is almost instant.

Grim: You were just at the library? Like the campus library?

I type my response out slowly, and I can see her own typing bubbles coming and going, but if I don’t do this now then I never will, and I hope we can remain friends, and friends tell each other the truth.

Nova: I was with the girl I mentioned to you before and I don’t think it’s casual with us anymore, or at least it’s not for me.

Her typing stops and I see my message change to read instantly, and I wait for her typing bubbles to reappear but they don’t. I can’t help myself, my fingers fly across the screen again, typing as fast as I can to get her to understand.

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