Chapter 26: Chapter 26

I'm so late for work because I spent way too much time at the library. In twenty minutes, I have to be at work.

I hurry down the stairs and open the door to my apartment as soon as I reach the top of the stairs. Since it was late and dark inside, I didn't think anyone would be home. It was Wednesday, Mark was at football practice, Kyle had a night class, and Kent usually wasn't home around this time.

I was finding out more and more that Kent was a gym rat. He liked to work out twice a day if he could, jog, and eat the same well-balanced meals on the same days of the week. It was definitely the work of a psychopath whose mind was so full of routines and order that it made me feel sick.

Before I can close my apartment door, I hear the worst sound I can think of when I open it. A headboard hitting the wall and even a mattress squeaking and moaning. They're coming from down the hall, and I'm just standing still in the doorway. I'd like to go.

I go back and look on the ledge for the keys. The fact that Kents isn't here is surprising to me. I feel like the fact that I knew right away who it was says something bad about me. I let out a sigh of relief, but then I jump when I hear gasping and a girl almost yell. I look at the only set and see that Mark's student ID is hanging from them.

Ew.

I have to leave now, so I take my shoes off and hurry down the hall as quietly as I can. I need to get my things for work, so I'll have to pretend I can't hear them while I get them. I can hear it getting louder and louder as I run by his door and move to close mine.

Even there, it doesn't stop, and it gets louder every second I'm here. I set my work bag down and move the few things I need from my school bag to it. I can get changed at the pool, but I have to leave my apartment first.

I run back to the front door and put my shoes back on. Then I run out the door and back up the steps.

"Julianna?" Kent is getting out of his car with the keys in his hand, which I can hear and see. "What went wrong? You look like you're going to puke."

"I-I'm fine." I stutter unconvincingly. "Look, don't go inside. Mark is having a girl over." He laughs and raises an eyebrow when I tell him.

""Yes. They're going off, right?"

"I nod, but my chest is still heaving and my mind is still racing. "Where do you want to go?""

"I'm running very late for work. I just went there to get my bag. I had no idea what I was getting myself into." I sigh and shake my head.

"I'll bring you." When he shrugs, I gasp.

"No, no problem. I'm not sure, but I think the walk might help me." He smiles when I say something and wave my hands.

"I don't want to go in there either, Julianna, and I need to pass the time." He tells me, and I just shrug because he's right. "Quickly." He points to his car, and I look at my phone and think, "Sh*t, if he doesn't take me, I might not get there on time."

"Okay." I sigh, walk around quickly, and get into the car quickly.

"What's happening?" He asks, looking amused.

She said, "Oh, come on." I tell him that I'm crossing my arms, and he starts the car.

"It's just sex, Julianna. Quite a few do it." He tells me as he pulls out of the driveway.

"I know that a lot of people have sex, and I also know that it will happen between us since there are four of us living in the same house." I shrug. I put my hand up and say, "I don't need to know, and trust me, I'd rather not know." He chuckles. "I guess I just want to keep it private."

"The peace." He says it again, and I nod.

She said, "Yeah, I guess sex is kind of personal." As my cheeks start to burn, I just shrug and look out the window. I had only known this person for a month or so. We had a hard friendship, if you can call it that, and I knew that we had very different ideas about relationships and sex.

"How private?" He looks like he wants to know what I say. I close my eyes and lift my eyebrows.

"What the heck does that mean?" I don't understand, so I ask. "Do you want everyone to know you're having sex or something?"

He laughs and says "No."

"If you do something so personal with someone else, I think it should be between you and that person." I can feel my mouth getting dry as I talk. "For example, I think I'd have to kill myself if someone heard me having sex." He laughs and shakes his head when I tell him.

"Fair enough, if it were me, I'd have to kill myself too." He says this to me in a very serious way, and I blink and press my lips together. I might have judged Kent too harshly. "You seem to be very upset about it, so it must have been weird."

"Well, that's something I've never heard before." I shrug and play with my fingers.

I didn't know much about sex in general, didn't know much about it, and didn't understand what all the fuss was about.

"So I don't need to worry with you about this?" When he laughs, my cheeks start to hurt, and I cough hard to clear my throat.

"No." I shrug my shoulders and look out the window. "Should I worry about it if you're there?"

"I'm not sure." As he talks, I run my hand through my hair. This whole conversation was very odd. "I guess it works out well for Mark."

"I guess." I let out a sigh and am glad that we're almost to the pool.

"Julianna, try to calm down. This is not the end of everything." When he tells me, I wince.

"Kent, you didn't hear it, but it sounded like he was killing her and she liked it."

"That's how good sex sounds." He tells me, and I tell him to go on. My face is burning, and my stomach is tightening. "What?" I sigh when he asks. "Julianna, I'm starting to think you don't know much about sex," she said.

"From what I can tell, you don't either." I give a shrug as an answer. "So what? You could hear it the moment you walked in?"

She said, "No, I didn't say that." He gets up and speaks up for himself. "That's why I brought you to work, after all."

"And the ride has been so much fun!" I let out a sigh as he pulls up to the front door.

"When are you going to go to bed?"

"Ten." I answer quietly because I still feel like we talk too much about me.

"When I get back, I'll get you." He says that when I open the door, I stop for a moment and stand still, looking back at him behind the wheel, who is looking straight ahead and not at me.

"That's not necessary at all."

"Okay, I'll do it." When he tells me, I gasp. "I don't want to leave you alone." I think a lot about this. I'm not sure if I should continue to go on Kent's weird rides and dates. Even more so when he acts so strangely afterward. But I know he'll always be here. The only thing I have to decide is if I want him to walk with me all the way home.

"Okay, but let's stop talking about this." This is what I tell him, and I shake my hands in disgust. He chuckles.

"I hear you, Julianna, loud and clear." He tells me, and I quickly shut the door and run into the pool to start my shift.