“Yeah.”
“We’d better go before we miss our flight.”
“Okay.” He gently moved off the bed and took her into his arms, while Howie grabbed Kay’s stuff. With a soft kiss on her forehead, he said, “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
“You want to talk about it?” Howie asked after they got on the plane and set down the still sleeping woman. AJ still hadn’t said more than 10 words since he opened the door to the hotel room.
“I don’t know, man. I thought I lost her when I saw that blood stain on her. She was lying so still and peaceful like.”
“It’s okay. She’s okay.”
“But she has a time limit. She never lives past 17.”
“That’s an odd assumption.”
“God, you must think I’m such a bastard. Me and her are like Romeo and Juliet. We’re destined to be together, but there’s something keeping us apart. Then she always dies because someone kills her.”
“What?”
“Okay, let me explain.”
Kay opened her eyes slowly when she felt something soft under her. “Alex?” she said softly.
“Yeah baby?”
“Where am I?”
“Home.”
“But I got kicked out.”
“My home.”
She instantly sat up. “What?”
AJ sat on the bed and said, “Howie and I went to San Francisco to get you. I didn’t want you to stay in a hotel for the rest of your senior year.”
“I wasn’t going to. See I would have taken a GED and pass the thing. Then I would have come to see you.”
“Oh well we’re going backwards. But you’re going to high school. No girlfriend of mine is going to miss out on her senior prom.”
“Why?”
“Well, I never really had a chance to go to one like Kevin and Howie. So I was kind of hoping I’ll get to go with you.”
“Oh really? What makes you think I’m going to ask you?”