Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

" Y ou wanna get off your phone and actually watch the game?" Alessandro nudges me in the shoulder.

"I don't need to watch it to know who wins," I tell him.

"Then why the fuck are you here?"

"The food," I deadpan. We're in a box. The food is decent but we both know it's not worth being here. Truth is I'm here for the distraction, so I don't make an even bigger fool of myself with Aleeka.

"Sure you are," Alessandro calls out over a shoulder as he walks away. His girlfriend Cassidy just showed up, and when they're around each other, he's never far from wherever she is.

I've been texting with Aleeka. It's almost like we've slipped back into where we left off. She's easy to talk to. Always was. She's also avoiding my questions. She still won't tell me why she ghosted me or why she was crying on her own in the library. Something has changed with her. I just can't put my finger on it. She also won't agree with the reset idea. No matter how much I push it. That just makes me want to push it more. Which is why I'm still texting her.

Me:

I'll pick you up in the morning.

Aleeka:

No, you won't. I have to leave early. I need my car. And I don't want to ride to school with you.

Me:

Ouch. I'll try not to take that personally. Let me pick you up. It'll be just like old times.

Aleeka:

I'm going to bed. Don't waste your time showing up. I won't be here.

Me:

Where are you going so early?

Aleeka:

I need to help my dad with something at his office before school.

I call bullshit. But I don't bother arguing with her about it any further.

Me:

Dream of me.

She reads the message, and then the little bubbles indicating she's replying pop up and disappear. Pocketing my phone, I go and sit next to Dante.

"Caught your little ghost yet?" he asks me.

"You can't catch a ghost," I tell him.

"You know who you need to call, don't you?"

"Who?"

"Ghostbusters," Dante deadpans.

"Funny," I grunt, and the asshole laughs.

"I try." He shrugs. "What are your plans with her anyway? What are you going to do once you do catch her?"

"Reset," I tell him.

"What does that mean?"

"I'm going to go back to that night and hit the reset button. I'm going to be the one to walk out and let her wake up alone. I'm going to change the narrative," I explain.

"You're a fucking idiot." Dante shakes his head. "You can't change the past."

"Yeah, that's what Aleeka keeps saying. But watch me. It'll work."

"What's the end goal?" he asks.

"To get her out of my fucking head. If I do the leaving, I won't be left wondering why." Even to my own ears, it sounds stupid, but I gotta give it a go.

"Let me know how that pans out for you." Dante laughs.

After the game, I head straight home. As soon as I step foot inside, I wish I would have gone to Dante's house instead. Because my mom and dad are both waiting for me.

"Hey." I try for casual. Judging by their faces, either someone died or I'm in some deep shit.

"Sit down," Dad says, in that don't even try to argue or talk your way out of this tone.

I do as I'm told and wait. I know they'll talk first. This isn't my first rodeo. I've been in the hot seat one or two times before. Usually, it's me and Dante in it together. I'm racking my brain trying to figure out what the fuck I could have done recently to land me here. And I can't think of shit.

"You're cutting school. Why?" Dad starts the interrogation.

That's what this is about? "I've missed a couple of classes. It's not like I'm cutting every day."

"You need to graduate, Orlando. We might be able to buy your way into college, but we're not doing that. You need to earn it," Mom says.

"What if I don't want to go to college? You didn't," I remind her.

"I didn't have the luxury of going to college. You do," Mom says.

"Okay." I know my grades aren't the best. I'm not Dante. I don't have his natural smarts. But I'm far from flunking out.

"This girl, Aleeka. Is she the reason you're cutting?" Dad asks me.

"No. She has nothing to do with it," I tell him.

"How serious is it with you two?" Mom gets that giddy look on her face again. She's a hopeless romantic. But I'm not about to be feeding her obsession with me finding my one true love and living happily ever after. Fuck that. Aleeka is not my one true love.

"It's not. She's a friend. We're not dating," I tell them.

"Okay," Dad says.

"That's it?" I ask.

"We're in the midst of brokering a deal with her father. I wanted to make sure whatever you two are doing isn't going to impact that deal," he says.

My brows furrow. "I thought her father's business was all legit."

"It is. We're buying one of his companies," Dad says, not elaborating on what company they're buying. Not that it matters.

"Nothing between Aleeka and me is going to impact your deal with Mr. Bateman," I tell him.

"Good. Make sure it stays that way," Dad says.

"But if she's the one, then to hell with deals. You go for it," Mom adds. Dad groans and shakes his head. "Luca, don't sit here and act like you wouldn't throw a deal away to keep me."

"I'd throw everything away to keep you, babe. Well, maybe not Orlando, but anything else." Dad laughs.

"Good answer." Mom leans into his shoulder, her lips landing on his, and that's my cue to leave.

"Good chat," I say as I exit the room, not that either of my parents respond.