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- Bonds of Trust
-- Part X
“Kallie! Wait up,” Matt jogs up to Kallie and Danielle.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
-
- She nods to Danielle. “I’ll
catch up with you later.”
-
- “No problem. Bye, Matt.”
-
- “See ya.” He watches
her walk away before turning back to Kallie. “How are you?”
-
- “Fine.”
-
- “Are you still grounded?”
-
- She shakes her head. “Nope.
Midterm grades came in the mail and my science grade came up,
so I’m off the hook.”
-
- Matt smiles. “That’s
a relief.”
-
- “What’s up with
you?”
-
- He shuffles his feet nervously,
not looking her in the eye. “Not much.”
-
- “Are you in trouble
with your mom again?”
-
- He shakes his head quickly.
“No! She’s trying to cut me some slack but you know
how she is.”
-
- “I know, but you have
to abide by her rules. Did you make up with Rex after the movie
fiasco?”
-
- “We’re cool,”
Matt says confidently. “It was a misunderstanding.”
-
- “As long as you talked
to him about it. I know you guys are close. I don’t want
to come between you.”
-
- “It’s not like
that.” Matt looks around again, trying to get up his courage.
-
- Kallie looks at her watch.
“I have a meeting to get to for the school paper.”
-
- “Right. How's the article
on domestic violence coming?”
-
- “It’s going to
be in next week’s paper, just before the dance. I found
some interesting information about teens and abuse. My editor
likes the idea of getting the information out there in case anyone
here at school is in that situation.”
-
- “That’s good.”
He looks at her intently. “Do you think someone here is
going through that?” Kallie nods.
-
- “Who?” he asks
seriously.
-
- “I don’t mean I
know someone personally. I mean the statistics say that in a
school and community our size, that domestic abuse is happening.”
-
- He lets out a breath. “Oh,
so you don’t suspect anyone we know?”
-
- Kallie looks at him oddly.
“No. Do you?”
-
- “No,” Matt says
quickly. “I was just asking, that’s all.”
-
- “You seem unusually
curious about this. Why?”
-
- He shrugs. “No reason.”
-
- She looks at her watch again.
“I have to get to my meeting.” She starts to walk back
toward the building. Matt falls in step with her. “What
did you want to talk to me about?”
-
- He stuffs his hands in his
pockets. “Um, I just… I wanted to tell you something.”
-
- “Okay, I’m listening.”
-
- “I… I talked to
my parents last night.”
-
- Kallie smiles. “That’s
good. I was under the impression you talk to your parents all
the time.” Matt grins at her. “What are you getting
at?”
-
- “Well, I asked my mom
about the dance…”
-
- She stops in front of the
building. “You know how she feels about dating.”
-
- “I know. But my dad
convinced her that it’s a school function.”
-
- “Really? So you can
go?”
-
- “Yeah. Except I want
to go with you and Stevie told me you’re thinking of going
with Kellen.”
-
- Kallie shakes her head. “I
didn’t say yes. He asked me but I didn’t give him an
answer. I wasn’t sure you would be able to go, that’s
all.”
-
- Matt looks at her seriously
and takes a deep breath. “Do you want to go with me?”
-
- She breaks into a huge smile
and hugs him. “Of course. I’m so happy you get to go.
We’re going to have a blast!”
-
- He takes another deep breath.
“There’s something you should know.”
-
- Kallie ignores him. “I
need to get a dress. What color suit are you going to wear? Danielle
and I can go…”
-
- Matt grabs her by the shoulders.
“Kallie, slow down for a minute and listen to me.”
-
- She finally looks at him.
“What?”
-
- “You may not want to
go with me…”
-
- “What are you talking
about? I already told you I didn’t intend to go with Kellen.”
-
- “This isn’t about
Kellen. My parents had a condition to let me go to the dance.”
-
- “A condition?”
-
- Matt nods. “They’re
chaperoning.”
-
- “Chaperoning?”
-
- “Yes. If they don’t
chaperone, I can’t go.”
-
- Kallie shrugs. “So?”
-
- “So they’ll be
watching us all night. They have to pick you up and take you
home too.”
-
- She grins. “Given that
we don’t drive, Matt, I’d say that one is reasonable.”
-
- “Yeah, but the chaperoning
is way out there. Only my parents…”
-
- “It’s fine, Matt.
Do you want to go to the dance or not?”
-
- He nods. “Sure.”
-
- “Well, your mom is letting
you go.”
-
- “But she’s following
me!” Matt is exasperated that Kallie is so calm about his
parents’ conditions. “Don’t you think that’s
a little out of line?”
-
- “I think your mom is
giving you the opportunity to go to the dance and we should take
it.” She looks at her watch. “I’m late for my
meeting. We can talk about this tomorrow. Thanks for asking me
and tell your mom thanks for letting you go.” She kisses
him quickly and heads into the school.
-
- Nora is driving toward Matt’s
school, late as usual. She snaps open her phone and hits the
speed dial. Bo picks up on the first ring. “Hi, honey.”
-
- “Did you find Rex?”
-
- “Not yet.”
-
- “Where are you?”
-
- Bo looks out the windshield.
“I’m out looking for him.”
-
- “Where could he be,
Bo?”
-
- “Don’t panic, Red.
You know Balsom disappears sometimes.”
-
- Nora shakes her head. “Not
lately. And not when he’s supposed to be moving in with
Lauren.”
-
- “Maybe he got cold feet
and decided to try his luck in Atlantic City?”
-
- “Don’t joke. I’m
really worried about him.”
-
- “Just relax. Where are
you?”
-
- “I’m on my way
to pick up Matt at school. I’m late.”
-
- “Okay, just get him
and head home. I’ll be in touch. Don’t say anything
to Matt about Rex. I’m sure he’ll turn up.”
-
- “Just find him, Bo.”
She hangs up and pulls into the parking lot of Matt’s school,
honking when she sees him waiting at the side of the building.
He jogs over to the car and hops in. Nora gives him a shaky smile.
“Hi. How was your day?”
-
- He shrugs. “It was fine.
You’re late.”
-
- “I’m sorry. I just
lost track of time.”
-
- He looks over at Nora. She
looks flustered. “What’s wrong, Mom?”
-
- “Nothing, sweetie. Do
I need to drop you at practice?”
-
- “Nope. No practice tonight,
remember?”
-
- “Right. Sorry.”
-
- “I thought you wanted
me to help at the Center?”
-
- “Oh… Um, my appointment
canceled, so we don’t have to go. What would you like to
pick up for dinner?”
-
- “I don’t care.”
He can tell something is up with Nora so he tries again. “How
was your day?”
-
- Nora glances at him. “I
had a visit from Stevie’s mom today.”
-
- “Oh? What did she want?”
-
- “She wanted to know
why you haven’t been over to their house recently.”
-
- Matt shrugs. “I’ve
been busy with school and baseball.”
-
- “That’s what I
told her.” Nora stops at a light and turns to face her son.
“Is that all there is to it?”
-
- Matt can’t look Nora
in the eyes. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I want to go to Stevie’s
house?”
-
- Nora continues watching him,
knowing he’s picked up the art of answering a question with
a question from his parents. “I don’t know, Matt. That’s
why I’m asking you.”
-
- “Stevie has been over
at our house practicing. I can’t exactly go to his house
if he’s over at mine.”
-
- The car behind Nora honks
and she turns her attention back to the road. She’s not
satisfied with Matt’s answer but he changes the subject.
“Can we stop by the PI office?”
-
- “Why?”
-
- “I want to pick up a
video game. Rex promised he would bring it to the office.”
-
- “It’s not there,”
Nora says quickly.
-
- Matt looks at her oddly.
“How do you know?”
-
- “I just…”
she stops, taking a deep breath. “Well, I talked to your
dad earlier and he hadn’t seen Rex today.”
-
- “Where is he?”
-
- Nora shrugs, trying to be
nonchalant. “Oh, he’s probably out on a case.”
-
- “Probably? Doesn’t
Dad know where he is?”
-
- “You know how Rex is.
He doesn’t like your dad checking up on him.”
-
- “I can tell you’re
worried about something. Is Rex missing?”
-
- “No, he’s not missing.”
-
- Matt digs in his backpack,
pulling out his cell phone. “I’m going to call and
talk to him myself.”
-
- Nora shakes her head. “He’s
not answering his phone.”
-
- “Mom, please tell me
what’s going on. Where is Rex?”
-
- She takes a deep breath.
“We don’t know, sweetie. He didn’t show up at
the office this morning and he was supposed to meet Lauren there.”
-
- “We should go look for
him.”
-
- “I just talked to your
dad and he’s out looking.”
-
- “I want to help too.”
-
- “I know you do. I think
the best way we can help right now is to go home and wait to
hear from your dad or Rex.”
-
- “What about Lauren?
Where is she? Maybe we should go wait with her?”
-
- Nora sighs. “That’s
not a bad idea, actually.”
-
- “I’ll call her,”
Matthew volunteers.
-
- Nora pulls into the parking
lot of Rodi’s. “Tell her we’ll bring dinner. Find
out what she’d like.”
-
- Matt nods as he dials her
number.
-
- Bo is driving around the
shadier parts of Llanview, trying to spot Rex’s car. His
cell buzzes and he snatches it off the seat beside him, flipping
it open and answering before checking the ID. “Buchanan.”
-
- “Hey, partner. I got
your message. What’s up?”
-
- “Balsom?”
-
- “You got any other partners?”
-
- “Where the hell are
you?”
-
- Rex shrugs innocently. “I’m
in the office. Why?”
-
- “Stay there! I’m
on my way.” Bo snaps the phone shut and turns his car around.
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