Chapter 12
twelve
“Place your bets on the tragedy of the day,” Violet said as we walked up Jaxon’s walkway the next day.
Jaxon had called her yet again to ask for brownies, and we were there to deliver them.
Yesterday, he claimed that he was upset that our time at high school had ended, even though he’d never shown the slightest emotion around it previously.
I thought quickly while she rang the doorbell.
“I think it’s going to be another moving scare,” I said. “Or like, he thinks that he and Sabrina won’t live in the same residence at university, and that will just be devastating to him.”
Violet laughed and shook her head. “Can you imagine? He was originally planning to move to another country for university, but no, if he has to walk to a different building to see his cousin, he won’t be able to survive.”
“Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if that’s what it is,” I said. “Laugh now, but get ready to pay up.”
“Pay up with what?”
“We’ll decide the price later.”
“Once you’ve seen which one of us has won?”
“Exactly,” I said. “Except you haven’t given an answer yet, so you better do it quickly or risk losing by forfeit.”
I could see someone approaching through the warped glass on his front door, so she didn’t have long to decide on her answer.
“You probably have about ten seconds to come up with something,” I added unhelpfully.
“Okay, okay,” Violet said. “Um… I think he’s going to cry about how he’s having an awful hair day.”
“That’s a good one,” I said with a nod. “Very good one.”
The door was thrown open, but it was Eli on the other side instead of Jaxon.
So he had really pulled out all the stops for this fake tragedy then—not just him and Sabrina, but Eli too.
Well, that or Eli was here anyway, since that was very possible as well.
The three of them practically lived at each other’s houses honestly.
“Thank you for coming,” Eli said soberly. He stepped aside to allow us into the entryway and to take off our shoes. “We appreciate our friends’ support in this time of need.”
This was the first time I’d ever been in Jaxon’s house and all I could say was that it was huge.
I’d been in the Owens’ house a few times and it was also large—big enough to comfortably house a family of eight, which was quite a feat—so I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was still somewhat taken aback.
It was fair to assume that most of the people who went to Bayshore were wealthy, but Jaxon was next level.
I wondered whether that ever made Violet uncomfortable—back in ninth grade, she’d always been embarrassed about being a scholarship kid.
I was happy that she’d let go of that notion over time, but I could only imagine that having a boyfriend with a house like this could send her spiraling again.
“I brought brownies, as promised,” Violet said, holding the Tupperware up so Eli could see it. He clasped his hands in front of him and nodded sagely.
“We appreciate it. Please, come with me.”
Violet and I looked at each other, both trying to hold back our laughter as Eli led us through the house and toward the living room.
“Is it me, or is he dressed like he’s going to a funeral?” I whispered to Violet.
“You’re right,” she said. She pressed her lips together, but I was pretty sure I heard a chuckle come out regardless. “I think we might both be wrong in our guesses.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” I said. “Jaxon seems like the kind of guy who would throw a funeral because of a bad hair day.”
“You’re not wrong.”
Eli finally led us into the living room, where Jaxon and Sabrina were sitting on the couch.
They both stood up as we walked in, which confirmed my suspicions about Eli’s clothes.
They were both dressed head-to-toe in formal black clothes, and Sabrina even had a hat on with some black lace falling in front of her face like a veil.
“I’m almost scared to ask what’s going on,” Violet said.
“It is a sad day,” Jaxon said as if that cleared anything up.
“We can see that,” I said. “I’m sorry that we aren’t dressed appropriately. If I’d known, I would have worn all black like you.”
Jaxon started to wave his hand in the air like he was brushing away my worries, but then he held the hand up to his face and pretended to choke back a sob.
I had to give it to him—he knew how to commit to a bit.
I was just glad that I knew him well enough to see the difference between him being genuinely sad and just pretending.
In this case, the main sign of it was that they were all acting like this.
They wouldn’t have put this whole skit together if he was upset.
“What’s going on, Jaxon?” Violet said. She stepped forward and put the container of brownies on the coffee table. I didn’t miss how Jaxon zeroed in on them and grinned briefly before pretending to be sad again.
“We just got some devastating news,” Jaxon said. He shook his head. “Soul-crushing, really.”
“Really?” Violet asked.
“Yes,” Jaxon said. “We…” He looked away, once again acting choked up.
“You’ll have to forgive him,” Sabrina said somberly. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and patted gently. “It’s been a hard day.”
“Of course,” Violet said.
“We just got the news that Skippy—”
“Skippy?” Violet asked.
“Our imaginary fish,” Sabrina immediately supplied.
“Oh—wait, what?” For a second there, Violet sounded like she was completely willing to accept that an imaginary fish was a normal thing for someone to have—let alone for two people to share—so I was glad that she then sounded as confused as I felt.
Why on earth would two eighteen-year-olds have that?
“He was a dear and beloved pet, Violet,” Jaxon said. “Please don’t make this harder than it already is.”
“Make what harder?” Violet asked. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m afraid Skippy passed away this morning,” Sabrina said. “At the tender age of fifteen.”
“You’ve had an imaginary fish since you were three?” I asked.
“Why do I sense judgment in your tone, Miss McKinnon?” Jaxon asked. He placed a hand to his chest. “I thought you, of all people, would understand.”
“What does that even mean?” I’d never even had a pet, not even an imaginary one.
“Let us all eat a brownie now in honor of our pet,” Sabrina said. “May he live forever in our hearts.”
“If he’s imaginary, couldn’t you just imagine him back to life?
” I asked. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say though.
Jaxon gasped in horror, Sabrina shook her head and murmured “Dios mio” under her breath, while Eli looked up to the sky with his arms sticking out halfway, like he was asking God what was wrong with me.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Madison,” Sabrina said. “Could you just imagine any other pet back to life?”
“Even if you could, would you want to?” Jaxon added. “I mean, have you ever read Pet Sematary?”
“Have you?” I shot back.
“Now is not a day to fight,” Eli interrupted, still speaking in that strange and calming tone that he’d been using all day.
He opened the Tupperware and held it out to each of us in turn so we could all take a brownie.
Then, we each held it into the middle of our circle, like we were doing a toast. “To Skippy. You will never be forgotten.”
“To Skippy,” we all replied in unison. Violet and I shared another glance as we both took a bite of our brownies.
I guess we both lost—“imaginary fish” was nowhere on my bingo card for what these idiots might pull out to get food.
Actually, I had to respect the attempt. They truly embodied the motto “don’t let them guess your next move. ”
“So…” Violet said slowly. “What would… Skippy...” She sounded like she was choking as she said the name.
I wasn’t sure if it was because she was trying to hold back another bout of laughter or if it was because he wasn’t certain she’d chosen the right name.
“What would he want us to do today? You know, in his honor?”
“I think he would want us to do his favorite activity,” Sabrina said.
“Swimming?” I guessed.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Madison,” she said.
Violet shrugged and mouthed at me, “I thought it was a good guess.”
“Obviously, his favorite activity was skateboarding,” Sabrina said.
“Obviously,” I repeated. What fish didn’t love skateboarding, right? Shame on me for not knowing.
“Wait,” Violet said. She pointed a finger at Jaxon, an accusatory look on her face, while he was clearly also trying not to laugh. I felt like something had flipped here, but I wasn’t totally sure what it was. “Did you plot all of this just so you could force me to skateboard?”
“That’s absurd, Violet,” Jaxon said, sticking his nose in the air. “Why would I do that?”
“Oh, so it’s just a coincidence that your fish, whose favorite activity was skateboarding, died three days after I told you there was no way I was going to try it?”
“A tragic and horrible event,” Jaxon said.
“That didn’t answer the question.”
“A true tragedy,” Eli said.
“You’re in on this too?” Violet asked, pointing a finger at him. “I thought you guys just wanted my brownies!”
“The brownies were definitely a nice bonus,” Sabrina said, dropping her act for the first time since we’d gotten there. Jaxon elbowed her in the side. “Uh, I mean, they will help dull the emotional pain of this terrible event.”
“You three are ridiculous,” Violet said, crossing her arms. Jaxon, Eli, and Sabrina all looked down. Violet sighed. “But fine.”
Jaxon’s head immediately snapped up again, and he smiled widely at her. “Fine?”
“Just this once,” she said through gritted teeth, “I will try skateboarding. But you will never bring it up again if I don’t like it. Deal?”
“Deal,” he said immediately.
Violet looked at me. “So… how would you feel about learning to skateboard?”
“Do we have enough skateboards for us to both try?” I asked.
“We have two,” Sabrina said.
“But Eli probably wants to practice too, right?” I asked.
“My neighbor, Charlie, said we could borrow his if we wanted,” Jaxon said. “So you can all try.”
“Oh right,” Violet said, looking at me from the corner of her eye. “Charlie.”
Jaxon didn’t seem to notice Violet’s words as he pretty much skipped out of the room. The rest of us followed along as he led us out in the street and grabbed his skateboards.
“Do we need to ask Charlie to use his skateboard?” Violet asked, barely masking the excitement in her voice. I elbowed her in the ribs. The last thing I needed was for everyone else to put together that I had a crush on Charlie and start teasing me about it—or worse, bring it up to him.
“No, he leaves it beside the house,” Jaxon said. He jogged over to the side of the Owens’ house and returned a second later. He handed it to me. “Here. Have a go.”
“Uh…” I glanced at Violet, hoping she might volunteer to go first, but she shook her head and took a step back.
“Go ahead,” she said. I hesitantly grabbed the board from Jaxon. I expected him to stay and help me, but he immediately spun back around and went to help Eli.
I looked at Violet. “Your boyfriend is weird.”
She just shrugged and chuckled. I put the skateboard down and awkwardly tried to step one foot on it.
“Madison,” Violet hissed a minute later. “Look.”
“I’m a little busy here, Vi,” I said. How the heck did people actually balance on these things?
“Trust me, you want to look.”
I sighed and turned around. The street was completely empty around us. “There’s nothing here.”
Violet grabbed my chin and turned it toward the Owens’ house. And sitting in the living room window seat was Charlie, staring right at me.
“What’s he doing?” I asked.
“He’s watching you,” Violet said.
“Thanks for the obvious,” I said with a grin. “But why does he care?”
The note—in my phone case, as always—felt like it was burning in my pocket, and the time we spent at the lake the other day flashed in my mind. Was the kiss on his mind as much as it was on mine?
I resisted the urge to wave at him like some obsessed kid. Instead, I turned back around and tried to get on the skateboard again, this time much more mindful of how I must have looked from the back.
We stayed out there for another hour and a half and I tried to focus all my attention on learning (because, boy, did I need to). But every time I looked back, Charlie’s deep brown eyes were still focused on me.