Carol was dressed in black jeans, a red blouse, and her curly hair fell over her shoulders.
John was so surprised that he couldn't even say a word, and then as they were walking in, he whispered in Thomas's ear:
"Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend?"
"Shut up or I'll hit you" Thomas threatened and they sat down on the couch together.
They were a little drunk but not so much as not to understand anything. They both looked at Carol, she noticed this and asked:
"Did something happen, you two seem strange".
"No, no, everything is fine" John answered first. He stood up and held out his hand to the girl.
"I'm Carol." She gave him a hand too and he kissed it because he wanted to show himself being a very well-mannered young man.
"It's a pleasure to meet you" Carol said blushing and pulling her hand away. John sat down on the couch again and was somewhat too pleased.
"What are you smiling about?" Thomas asked, looking angry.
"I'm hungry" John mumbled.
"Sit down at the table" said Thomas' mother, who finally came over to them "Carol and I have tried to make a nice dinner, where have you been?" she said reffering to her son. Thomas looked at Carol, who didn't show any bruises.
"We were at a funeral" John said immediately.
The mother put her hand over her mouth and looked at Thomas and John in horror.
"Oh my God"
"Calm down, mom".
"Our friend's mom died" John said, looking at mum listlessly.
"So you went to the funeral?"
"Yes".
"Why didn't you tell me, Thomas, how could you? " his mother asked indignantly and tears appeared in her eyes.
"What difference would it have made? "
Mom didn't say anything.
"Today has been a hard day" Thomas said "and we need to recover from it too".
"That's terrible" Carol suddenly exclaimed and was saddened "I lost my parents when I was young, it's very hard".
"She has a father"Thomas said quickly "and she's not alone".
"How is she now? "
"Terrible" John said and pulled out the cigarettes, but he caught Thomas's mother's eye and shoved them back into his pocket.
"So you had more than one pack" Thomas said looking at him.
"I was saving these for a rainy day"
"Don't tell me you're smoking, Thomas" his mother suddenly said.
"Mom, I'm not a kid anymore, I don't smoke for no reason, don't worry, and since it's a terrible day, I guess I can".
"But it's not healthy... "
"Calm down Mrs. Tachful" John said calmly "Thomas don't smoke, but I do.... "
"It doesn't matter" Thomas said hastily.
"I'm going out for a smoke" John whispered in Thomas's ear.
"Where are you going?" suddenly asked mother as he stood up.
"I'll come, don't worry, I'm going to spend the night at Thomas's place tonight because I'm too lazy to go home and my parents are afraid to see me in this state".
The woman caught the smell of alcohol on John's breath and looked at Thomas suspiciously.
"Why are you looking at me like that? " he snapped.
"Sit down at the table"
Thomas got up and sat down in a chair.
Carol sat down next to him. He looked at her again. "There were no bruises on her face" he thought "probably a disguise".
Soon John returned.
"It's so cold out there" he said, and sat down across from Thomas.
Mom served them potatoes and salad.
"Oh my God, that's divine" John said as he munched on his potatoes.
"It was Carol who helped me".
John looked up at Carol.
"Really? " he smiled "When did you get here? "
"I just moved here recently" Carol said quietly, looking away from John and catching Thomas's eye.
"Good for you, Thomas, you have a girl friend now" John said, not understanding what he was saying.
Carol looked away and then looked at Thomas.
"But she's not my girlfriend" he said
"I didn't say that" John looked at him with his full mouth.
"Wait" John suddenly said "You told me about her, this is the same Carol you told me when we were with Willie that you met her and wanted to help her and that she worked at some club".
"Yeah"
"But that's in the past" Carol said hastily "I don't want to talk about it".
"Alright" John said and finished his dinner.
"Where are you going to sleep, Thomas?" mom suddenly asked
"I can sleep on the couch, actually I don't care".
"Me neither, so I'll be on the couch and Thomas can sleep in his room" John said.
"I'll be on the other couch"Carol assumed
"No, you'll sleep in my room and I'll be on the couch here in the living room" Thomas said and looked at her.
Carol lowered her head and said nothing.
Thomas washed his plate and went to bed.Mom turned off the light and went to her room. John also lay down on the other couch.The two couches were about one or two meters apart.
"She's really beautiful" John said as he rolled over and put his hands behind his head.
"What are you talking about?" Thomas said sleepily.
"This Carol, you never told me about her except that she worked at the club".
"Did you like her?" Thomas said lazily and covered himself with a blanket.
John remained silent, but Thomas suddenly grinned.
"Of course not" he grumbled "she's your girlfriend".
Now John was laughing and Thomas was silent.
"Shut up and sleep" Thomas growled, not realizing his aggression.
"But you don't even mind".
"I just wanted to help her, you know, that's all I can do for her". After that John was quiet and it seemed that he fell asleep, at first Thomas could hear him rolling from side to side, but then he fell asleep.Thomas lay thinking about his life, he really brought a stranger into his house and his mother didn't mind, he promised to be like an older brother to her, but not her boyfriend.Thomas pushed the thought away and fell asleep as well.
When he woke up in the morning his head hurt.
"How much did I drink last night" Thomas muttered sleepily as he sat up.
"It doesn't seem like much".
"Why does my head hurt then? "
"What day is today?"
"I don't know but I think that we have to be at school today" John said, and he felt terrible after saying that.
"Damn it"
Mom suddenly appeared in front of them and said.
"Did you boys sleep well?"
"Fascinatingly" John smiled charmingly and stood up "I cannot go in these clothes" he pointed at himself.
Thomas went to his room, but completely forgot that Carol was sleeping there, so he opened the closet, pulled out one of his suits and started to put it on.
"Oh God" Carol suddenly cried out, covering her face with the blanket, "I'm sorry, Thomas, I didn't mean to".
Thomas blushed.
"It's okay, I just forgot you were here... "
He got dressed and Carol pulled off the blanket. Her hair was disheveled, but she still looked quite beautiful. Thomas felt happiness in her.
Carol made the bed while Thomas looked at himself in the mirror and brushed his hair.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I am, I just wanted to thank you for everything, I don't want you to get in trouble for me".
"You're doing it again" Thomas sighed heavily. He took Carol by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "I told you before, you are not superfluous here, my mother and I understand what happened to you and we just want to help you, and maybe someday things will get better, but you have a job now, Carol, and you have your own money, so you're not completely dependent on us.
"Of course" she said "the job you found for me."Thomas stood in front of the mirror again.
"Let's forget about it, shall we? "
"Okay".
Carol lowered her head.
"You look very handsome by the way"
Thomas couldn't believe his ears.
"Thank you" he said awkwardly and was about to leave when Carol grabbed his arm.
"I wanted to ask you something".
"What exactly? "
"Are you dating someone?".
Thomas was dumbfounded, he stood there with his mouth agape and didn't answer.
"Sorry" Carol let go of his hand and sat down on the bed "I'm sorry, I'm just minding my own business, I shouldn't be interested.