A Sound Like Hope (Fallen Tuesday #3) (9 page)

“
Are
we going to paint pictures of suns and clouds?
”

Emily smiled.
“
You know I care about you,
right? You know I love you, Nicholas.
”

“
Wonderful
news,
”
Nicholas said. He
was so dry and numb to the world.

“
This
is keeping you from being taken away,
”
Emily said.

“
You
’
ve said that before.
”

“
I
’
m just making sure you
understand what
’
s really
happening here. You need to do this. You need to find a way to stop acting out,
Nicholas. Do you realize how dangerous it was to set that fire? What if trees
caught on fire? What if Mr. Hacher
’
s
house caught on fire? With him inside? Do you not
…”

“
No,
”
Nicholas said.
“
Whatever you
’
re going to say, just pretend I
’
m saying no.
”

Nicholas opened the car door and
got out. He slammed the door shut and opened the back door. He got his
skateboard and started to walk away. Emily felt the lump in her throat rise up.
She looked back and saw the damn helmet on the seat.

“
No
way,
”
she whispered.

She grabbed the helmet and turned
off the car. She waited for a minute though and watched Nicholas go into the
community center building without a care in the world. Whether he was hiding
his fears or not, it was pretty impressive to see him carry himself the way he
did. If that were Emily, she
’
d
be afraid. But not Nicholas. He just didn
’
t
worry about a thing. Ever.

Emily got out of the car and
carried the helmet by one of its straps. From the corner of her eye, she noticed
a black muscle car pulling into the parking lot. Emily froze when she heard the
music blaring from the car. She knew who it was, but refused to actually
believe it.

The car
’
s engine died and the door opened. When someone
stepped out, Emily swallowed hard. He was tall, muscular, and was wearing black
sunglasses. Everything about him screamed
rockstar
, right down to the
way he put his hands on the roof of the car and shook his head. He reached into
the backseat and pulled out a guitar case. He studied it for a few seconds and
then tossed it back into the car. He slammed the door and stepped up onto the
sidewalk.

Emily knew she should have said
something to him. He was a person, not just a rockstar. But, damn, he walked
like a rockstar. He looked like a rockstar. Emily wrapped her arms around
herself as though she could hide the fact she was in tight workout clothing.
She suddenly began to wonder if she was skinny enough. If her breasts looked
good. Oh, her hair. What about her hair? And makeup. Emily didn
’
t wear much makeup usually, but
the thought still crossed her mind.

The man walked to the same door
Nicholas had went to. He tore the door open and it slammed hard on its hinge
before slowly closing behind him.

Emily realized she hadn't exhaled a
breath in a while. She did and looked down at the helmet in her hand. Of all
the things that had happened in her life recently, this had to be one of the
craziest, if not the most.

She needed to give Nicholas his
helmet, just in case.

And Emily felt
very
compelled
the meet the rockstar who would be mentoring her nephew.

(8)

Standing at the welcome desk, Trent
wasn
’
t sure if he was at a
doctor
’
s office or a gym.
The smell, the atmosphere, the chairs and table covered in magazines made it
feel like a waiting room. The smiling woman on the phone behind the long desk
did the same. However, the size of the building and the echoing sounds of
basketballs dribbling and shoe squeaking gave Trent a different impression.

The woman hung up the phone, stood,
and greeted Trent. He suddenly remembered in that moment that there was a good
chance everyone would know who he was. After all the formality stuff, which
included a lot of talking, even more paperwork, and a ton of signatures, Trent
was led to a room that looked like a classroom. There were desks, chairs,
tables, and an array of activities. It wasn't what Trent had expected, but
nothing had been going as he expected so he just went with it. He stood in the
doorway and saw a young kid with his arms folded, leaning back on a chair. He
had blonde hair that came past his eyes. It was obvious that someone had forced
him to comb his hair to the side so that his eyes weren't covered. It was like
looking in a mirror back into the past.

Standing next to him was a woman
that quickly stole all of Trent
’
s
attention. She was almost as tall as him with pitch black hair, pulled back in
a messy ponytail, and she wore some really tight workout clothes. She had a
helmet in her hand and when their eyes met, her face began to flush.

The guy from the center, a man
named Rich, adjusted his tie and began to introduce everyone.

“
Trent,
this is Nicholas,
”
Rich
said.
“
He
’
s joining you today for a little
while.
”

Nicholas looked at Rich and with
just that look alone, Rich
’
s
cheeks turned a deep red. Trent smirked. This kid thought he had some real
power, didn
’
t he?

“
Nicholas,
this is Trent,
”
Rich said.
“
I
’
m
not sure if you recognize him or not but he
’
s
a famous musician.
”

Musician.

Trent nodded. Rich may have said
the word musician, but Trent knew in his heart that he was a rockstar. And,
yes, there was a difference.

“
How
’
s it going?
”
Trent asked.

“
Are
you going to shake my hand?
”
Nicholas asked.

“
Do
you want me to?
”

“
No.
”

“
Then
I won
’
t,
”
Trent said.

“
And
this is Emily,
”
Rich said.
“
This is Nicholas
’
s aunt.
”

“
Aunt
Emily,
”
Trent said and
smiled.

Emily -
what a beautiful name
- looked nervous as hell. Trent offered his hand and she took it.

“
Nice
to meet you,
”
Emily said.

“
Likewise,
”
Trent said.
“
I hope you haven
’
t heard anything bad about me.
”

“
I
…
well
…”

“
Most
of it is made up,
”
Trent
said.

“
Most
of it?
”
Emily asked.

Trent smiled.
Shit.
He
needed regain composure here. He couldn
’
t
just flirt with this kid
’
s
aunt. Not in front of him. Not on the first day of
…
whatever this was.

“
I
’
m not here to stir up trouble,
”
Trent said.
“
Put it that way.
”

“
Of
course not,
”
Rich said.
“
We
’
re
all here to learn and grow.
”

Emily stared at Trent for a few
more seconds before blinking and looking down to her nephew.
“
Nicholas, please make sure you
wear your helmet if you ride your skateboard.
”

“
Yeah,
right,
”
Nicholas said.

“
Hey,
”
Trent said,
“
listen to her.
”

Nicholas stared at Trent and curled
his lip. He slowly lifted his pointer fingers and put them into his ears. It
was childish, but it was a statement. Nicholas didn
’
t take shit from anyone, including Trent.

Trent nodded.
“
This looks fun.
”

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
Emily said.
“
I
’
ll
…”

“
Let
’
s give Trent and Nicholas some
time to get to know each other,
”
Rich said.

“
Okay,
”
Emily said.
“
I
’
ll
be back later I guess. If anything happens
…”
Emily looked at Trent
“…
call
me, please.
”

Trent hooked his thumbs into his
pockets and watched as Rich escorted Emily from the room. It took quite a bit
of self control to not look back and check out Emily
’
s backside. The door shut and Trent grabbed a
chair. He spun it around and sat down, facing Nicholas.

“
You
skateboard?
”
Trent asked.

“
That
’
s why I have one.
”

“
Any
good at it?
”

Nicholas shrugged his shoulders.
“
Are you any good at being a
musician?
”

“
I
do okay,
”
Trent said with a
smile.
“
Ever heard of
Fallen Tuesday?
”

“
That
’
s all I
’
ve heard lately,
”
Nicholas said.

“
Big
fan?
”

“
Not
me. My
…
well, Emily is.
”

Trent raised an eyebrow.
“
Is that so?
”

“
Yeah.
”
Nicholas moved his head to toss
the hair from his face.

“
I
used to have long hair like that,
”
Trent said.
“
When I was
your age.
”

“
Good
to know.
”

“
You
know, Nicholas, this could be pretty fun for the both of us. I play guitar. I
brought one with me.
”

“
Do
me a favor. Call me Nick.
”

“
Nick?
”

“
Yeah.
I hate the name Nicholas.
”

“
Okay,
”
Trent said.
“
That
’
s fine by me. Nick.
”

Nick
stood from the chair
and grabbed his skateboard.
“
I
know you
’
re forced into
this. I know these kinds of programs. I
’
ve
been through them before.
”

“
Okay.
So what does that mean?
”

“
That
means you
’
re not my father,
”
Nick said.
“
You
’
re not going to be my father. My father is on his
way here and when he comes, I
’
m
gone.
”

“
Is
that so? Where is your father now?
”

Nick
’
s
face dropped.
“
He had to
take off for a little while. That
’
s
what he told me.
”

And there it was; the first punch
to Trent's heart.
That only took about two minutes.
Trent slowly stood,
towering over the ten year old kid in front of him. Trent was painfully aware
that anything he did or said right now could affect Nick for the rest of his
life.

“
My
father had to take off for a little while too,
”
Trent said.
“
It hurt, you
know?
”

“
Yeah,
whatever.
”

“
You
don
’
t have to be afraid
with me, Nick,
”
Trent said.
“
I
’
ve been through a lot of stuff. You didn
’
t even ask how I ended up here.
I
’
m a rockstar, kid. I
should be in a studio or on stage. Not in some small town, talking to you.
”

“
Whatever
then,
”
Nick said.
“
Don
’
t talk to me. Asshole.
”

Nick walked out of the room. When
the door clicked shut, Trent put his hands to hips and sighed.

Damn.

This was going to be a real treat.

Trent looked down and saw the black
helmet on the table.

“
Shit,
”
he whispered.

The one thing Emily wanted Nick to
do was wear his helmet. Of course the kid didn
’
t
want to wear a helmet. It wasn
’
t
cool to do that.

Trent went looking for Nick and
finally found him in the back parking lot, riding his skateboard. He had focus
and balance, for sure. He could jump from the parking lot to the curb without
missing a beat.

He came speeding down the sidewalk
in Trent's direction. Trent held his arm out with the helmet in his hand. Nick
swung a fist and punched the helmet from Trent
’
s
hand.

“
Fair
enough,
”
Trent said.

He picked up the helmet and watched
as Nick rode to the end of the sidewalk and quickly turned around. The board
lifted and spun, and then Nick kicked and came back down the sidewalk. This
time, Trent didn
’
t put his
arm out. He simply stood and waited for his chance to get back at Nick.

When Nick rode by, Trent shot a
hand out and grabbed Nick by the back of his belt on his jeans. He lifted Nick
and the skateboard went sailing down the sidewalk, until it rolled into the
grass and stopped.

“
What
the hell?
”
Nick yelled.

Trent put Nick on his feet and put
the helmet in his hands.
“
Wear
it.
”

“
Screw
you, dude.
”

“
Nick,
wear the helmet,
”
Trent
said.
“
It
’
s the one thing your aunt asked
you to do.
”

“
I
don
’
t care what the hell
she wants,
”
Nick snapped.

“
Nice
mouth, kid.
”

Nick wiggled and fought away. He
backed up and Trent realized Nick was holding the helmet.

“
No
helmet, no skateboard,
”
Trent said.

“
I
thought you were here to make me smile. Make me feel good about my life.
”

“
I
never said that,
”
Trent
said.
“
I
’
m here to help you. Heard you
set something on fire and almost ended up in jail.
”

Nick smiled.
“
Something like that.
”

“
You
know, tough guys might look cool, but they
’
re
always the loneliest. Just like you are, I bet.
”

Nick
’
s
lip curled again. He threw the helmet at Trent and Trent caught it. Trent
walked to the skateboard and picked it up. He turned and saw Nick with his
hands folded. Trent dropped the skateboard and helmet to the grass.

“
What
are we doing today?
”
Trent
asked.
“
Just going to stand
around here for the next couple of hours? Or do you want to do something? Talk
about anything?
”

“
Why
are you here?
”
Nick asked.
“
You wanted me to ask you, so I
am.
”

Trent smiled.
“
You hungry, kid?
”

“
Sure.
There
’
s no food here. Just
vending machines.
”

“
What
’
s wrong with that?
”

Nick had a flicker of a smile.
Trent grabbed the skateboard and helmet. He walked them over to Nick and shoved
them into his arms.

“
I
’
m not your butler,
”
Trent said.
“
Carry your stuff to my car.
”

“
Why?
”

“
Because
we
’
re going to leave it
there until later. Let
’
s
grab something to eat and talk. You play basketball or anything?
”