Loser by Sara Luna

Author:Sara Luna [Luna, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-05-20T00:00:00+00:00

5

“Gabriel! Hey, man, wait up!”

Another few minutes, and he would have missed Gabriel entirely. That’s what he got for lying in bed until noon, tossing and turning until his mom had come to take his temperature. He rarely passed up on the pancake breakfasts she made when she had a later morning shift.

Christian got only a sidelong glance from Gabriel before he hurried on toward the bus stop. “Sorry, I gotta get home. Catch ya later.”

The bus approached before Christian could reach him. Gabriel hopped on without another look.

That only left one option—jump on as well. Christian paid the fare and trailed after Gabriel to take a seat beside him at the back of the bus.

“Um, what’re you doing?” Gabriel asked, looking down at his knees. They were dirty and bruised, probably from a recent game.

“Riding the bus.”

“What about your brother?”

“With the sitter. I needed a break.”

Not from Oscar, though. He cracked his knuckles and forced back the creeping memories of that stupid nightmare. No sense letting it freak him out now, especially with Gabriel right beside him, real and still smelling faintly of tropical fruit.

“So, where are you going?”

Anywhere but a place with a height and a ledge. “Dunno. What about you?”

Gabriel raised a brow. “Home, like I said. Are you following me or something?”

Shit, this was getting into stalker territory. “I just, uh, didn’t have anything else to do today. My friends…” Christian’s stomach did a sudden free dive. Apparently his body wasn’t aware he was nowhere near a height. “I just needed a break from them too, I guess.”

Gabriel nodded absentmindedly.

“Could I chill with you?”

Maybe Gabriel wasn’t hanging off any cliffs, but it’d be best to make sure. Just watch him for a little while longer.

This protective urge was new, though. Of course, he looked out for his mom and his brother, but they were family. Gabriel was a stranger. Sort of. That little note was like a window into knowing him more deeply than he actually deserved.

“I guess,” Gabriel said, still studying his knees.

Something was definitely up with him. He wasn’t angry or afraid, so it probably wasn’t the whole I guessed your secret identity thing. But was he slipping into some kind of depression?

The bus ground to a stop and Gabriel motioned for them to stand. “We’re here.”

He followed Gabriel in silence to a beige apartment building much bigger than his. The rooms were probably bigger, too, but Gabriel didn’t offer to show him around inside. Instead, he launched up five flights of stairs like he was in training for a marathon.

Christian had already done his marathon running for the month the night before, and it took every ounce of strength in him not to fall too far behind. He collapsed against the railing as they reached the top at flight five or six, where Gabriel was calmly jiggling a door handle left and then right, up and then down.

“There we go,” he announced as there was a soft click and the door opened… to the roof.

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