Untouchable - Chapter 22
Tuesday
I stared out the taxi window without moving.
When I’d seen the Caldwell’s house on Saturday night, I thought it looked like a haunted mansion.
I was picturing the same thing for this house.
But the Hunter’s mansion didn’t have the same feel.
The gray stone exterior reminded me of a restored estate that had been turned into a museum back home.
It wasn’t scary. But it looked equally as cold.
“Kiddo?”
“Yeah?” I turned away from the window.
My uncle was smiling at me. “8 o’clock, okay?”
“You don’t have to pick me up. How much trouble can I get in on the subway?” We’d taken the subway halfway here and a taxi the rest. It was completely insane of him to go so out of his way. Back and forth and back and forth again. But he insisted that grounded kids didn’t ride the subway alone.
“I’ll be waiting right here,” he said.
I knew he didn’t want to have to come up to the door.
He didn’t want the people who lived in such an ostentatious expanse of a house to judge us.
But I was pretty sure they all had more secrets than me.
And they were judging me regardless. “Sounds good,” I said.
“See you then.” I opened the car door and stepped out.
The cool autumn air made me pull my jacket tighter around myself as I made my way up the gray stone steps. Well, not my jacket. I’d tried to give Felix his coat back today, but he’d insisted that I keep it. And I was grateful. Because it was a hell of a lot warmer than mine.
Before I lifted the knocker, I watched my taxi disappear out the main gate.
Part of me wanted to run after my uncle.
Beg him to not make me go into this house.
He was abandoning me for four hours. Four.
I wasn’t sure I could handle Matt playing with my emotions for that long.
Or Rob who was probably going to cash in on his bet soon.
Or James who was blackmailing me with one of my many secrets.
But if I learned one thing from my mom, it was that we didn’t back down just because something was hard. We fought. We fought until the very end. Even if the end was sooner than either of us hoped. I could make it through four hours. I was about to lift the knocker when the door creaked open.
Oh God, this place is haunted too.
But instead of a scary gust of wind or smoke monster, there was a man standing there in what could only be described as a butler uniform.
“Hello, ma’am,” he said, keeping the door ajar with a white-gloved hand. “Can I help you with something?”
“Um…” I was expecting Rob or Matt to open the door. James if I was unlucky. Not a strange man who didn't know why I was there. “I’m Brooklyn.”
“I’m sorry, Brooklyn. I think you might have the wrong house.”
“This is Rob’s house, right?”
He frowned.
“Robert Hunter?”
“Yes.”
I wasn’t sure why this man wasn’t letting me inside.
“He invited me to work on a school project. I might be a few minutes late.” I swallowed hard when the butler just stared at me.
The longer he stared, the more certain I was about what was happening.
A prank. This was all some stupid joke. Invite the new girl to your house and pretend you didn’t?
Were they planning on throwing me out? Filming the whole thing?
Wasn’t making me sit in the closet in the dark bad enough?
“No, I don’t think so,” the butler said. “I’m expecting a young man for a school project. Sanders is his name.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s my last name.”
“Oh.” He laughed. “Well it would have been nice of young Robert to tell me he was expecting a girl. He made it very clear when we spoke that Sanders was a boy.”
I heard familiar laughter behind the butler.
“Just a bit of fun, Eric,” Rob said. “Because she’s one of the guys.” He threw his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into the foyer. “Right, Sanders?”
“No. Not really.”
He laughed. “See? Always jesting. Right this way,” he said, keeping his arm around my shoulders. “Bring up the snacks in a bit, will you Eric?”
“Of course, sir.”
My sneakers looked out of place on the marble floor. And on the ornate twisted staircase Rob was leading me up.
“Aren’t we going to work downstairs?” I asked. “In the kitchen or something?” The last thing I wanted was to hang out in Rob’s room. I’d had this fear all day that I’d wind up in a closet again. It would be best if the only hiding option was a pantry. At least then there would be food.
“Nah, James’ computer is in his room.”
I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to be in James’ room either. Or his house. Or anywhere near any of these people.
“What? Are you afraid I’ll lock you in again?” he asked. “Don’t be. I already won the bet. Now it’s just a matter of what I’ll make you do.”
“You could do the gentlemanly thing and forget about the bet altogether.”
“James is the gentleman. Me?” He let his arm fall away from my shoulders.
“I’m the youngest son. And as you can probably tell…
the youngest sons of prestigious families aren’t held to the same standards as their older siblings.
I’m anything but a gentleman, Sanders. Nice jacket by the way.
Are you trying to make this evening unbearable on purpose? ”
“What?” I was too focused on the fact that Rob thought his brother was a gentleman. We were talking about the same James, right? The blackmailing druggie with the sad smile?
Rob slid his index finger and thumb down the zipper of Felix’s coat. “He’s not going to like this.”
“Who? James?”
Rob laughed. “Na?ve as ever, Sanders. You’re driving him mad you know. Playing hard to get. It’s his weakness.”
I wasn’t as na?ve as he thought. Because I knew now that he was referring to Matt.
“I’m not playing hard to get. I have a boyfriend.
” I didn’t. Felix had made that pretty clear.
He’d been kissing someone else. I think.
Regardless, it was easier to pretend that Felix and I were exclusive.
I didn’t want Matt to try to kiss me again.
Or get anywhere near me at all. I was going to set some ground rules fast on this stupid after-school project hangout.
“Huh. If you say so.”
The way he said it made it seem like he knew I was lying about Felix being my boyfriend. What did Rob know? I realized it was possible that he knew who else Felix was kissing. Before I could ask him, he opened the bedroom door.
“Sanders has arrived,” Rob said and strolled into the room.
I waited a moment, trying to clear my head.
I wished I was about to walk into some random sunroom or second kitchen, but there was a nameplate on the door.
This was definitely James' bedroom. I took a deep breath. All I had to do was not engage with Matt. Or James. Rob would be the only person I talked to. And I’d keep it to a minimum.
James’ room wasn’t anything like Matt’s.
There was no fear of coffins or vampires as I walked in.
But still…that same coldness had me crossing my arms in front of my chest. Everything in the room was baby blue.
Like his parents had found out they were having a boy and vomited the color everywhere.
There were also a few posters on the wall of Giants’ players.
It could have been any boy’s room in New York.
The only thing unique about it was that one wall had floor to ceiling shelves filled with books.
It was practically a library. Which didn’t exactly make the room feel any homier.
“Sanders, this is James,” Rob said.
I looked over at James.
He was sitting at his desk staring at me staring at his room. It looked like he wanted me to disappear as badly as Charlotte always did.
“We’ve actually met,” I said.
“Right, right,” Rob lightly slapped my shoulder. “I forgot that you two were talking at the party last weekend. You can just sit on his bed. I already filled him in on everything yesterday and he’s almost done.”
I just stood there. I didn’t want to sit on James’ bed.
And not just because it was James’ bed. I had purposely not looked at Matt since walking into the room, but he was on the bed.
I felt locked in place. James’ eyes on me.
Matt’s eyes on me. “Then why the heck am I even here if it’s almost done? You said you needed my help.”
Rob laughed. “We just thought it would be fun to hang out for the night. Right, Matt?”
I finally mustered the courage to look over at him.
Matt was sitting on the bed, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. His hair was wet. He’d probably just showered after football practice. Or maybe he just showered because he was dirty from all the sex he was having with Isabella. Too bad you couldn’t scrub away an STD.
And even though I knew he was sleeping with Isabella, my heart still started racing when I saw him. I didn’t know what the term was for being a brother lover off the top of my head. All I could think of was pedophile. Was I worse than a pedophile?
“What are you wearing?” Matt asked.
Suddenly the jacket felt warm. The room was no longer cold. I was pretty sure they’d turned the heat up to 80 to make me sweat. “Can I borrow your phone?” I asked Rob. “I need to call my uncle to come get me.”
“Don’t be that way, Sanders,” Rob said. “Come on, we just want to get to know you better. Here, a drink will help.” He gestured over my shoulder.
Eric had just walked in holding a tray of glasses filled with amber liquid.
I thought he was supposed to be getting snacks. Not alcohol. Where were Rob’s parents?
Rob lifted up two of the glasses and held one out for me.
“No thank you.”
“Have you ever even tried bourbon? You might like it.”
Alcohol was not my friend. None of it. “I’m already grounded.”
“We’re not going to tell on you, Sanders.” He kept his hand outstretched. “We’re pretty great at keeping secrets.”
I was sure they weren’t. “Where are your parents?”