Chapter 11 #2
I didn’t understand how family dynamics worked, and besides—if I wasn’t careful, I would end up at the end of a hallway while a group of cheerleaders laughed at me …
again. Then there would be meetings. Guidance counselors.
Principals. My family . I shook my head, disinterested in a replay of the previous experiences.
I wouldn’t let it happen again, not even if it seemed inevitable.
“Alatheia,” Jeremy caught up to me, grabbing my arm. “Don’t go. This is just Phoenix. He’s … different. Don’t leave.”
“It was a joke,” he yelled after us, shoving both hands into his pockets and puckering out his lip in rebellion. “What is the big deal?”
The big deal? I almost gave him my thoughts on random robberies, but I managed to snap my mouth closed. Smarter to go home and work on Poor Relation than take part in their familial dramas, I reminded myself, palms up as I turned to leave again.
“Hey,” Jeremy repeated. “Talk to me. Phoenix did a shit thing, but no harm done, right?”
No harm done? I breathed slowly through my nose as a spike of fury hit me. Way, way smarter to go home, if my terror meant nothing to them.
I wouldn’t be rude to their grandmother, but I was done with the Lent brothers. If my chest felt tight in the way that it did when I was terrified, well, I would just ignore that and keep putting one foot in front of the other. No one ever cared if I was scared.
Someday … someone would care.
I sketched all day, made puppets, and then started the storyline for my next episode.
The view count of the last episode made me happy—just the right amount for a new upload.
Every time I released, my big hope was more people would watch it compared to the last episode.
I should monetize my work eventually, but I didn’t currently have a bank account, nor a way to open one, so I couldn’t get paid even if I tried to monetize.
Still, I loved when people watched, and even more when they messaged me begging for more episodes.
In some small way, it connected us, making a community, meaning someone out there understood what I felt when I made the work.
Or maybe I was overthinking it.
I lay down on my bed with a flop and stared up at the ceiling while twirling a lock of my hair in my fingers.
Jeremy had walked me home, where Julian and Barrett caught up with us.
Not that it mattered, since I didn’t say a word to any of them, closing the door in their faces once I made it inside. Is that rude?
Probably. I wasn’t sure if I cared.
Grabbing the book Julian picked for me from the library, I read for a while, hoping for the story to take me away, but my thoughts kept distracting me.
The front door opened and closed, a sign my aunt had arrived home.
I heard her voice on the phone, a familiar enough evening sound that I breathed in slowly before I glanced at the clock.
Sunday tomorrow, so I would be mostly alone in the house, which worked well for me.
Currently, it was past dinner time, not that I thought my aunt would come find me for food.
It seemed as though the last few days were a dream when I thought about them.
A lovely dream, one where a normal girl living in New York could be wined and dined and attended by three different beautiful men.
I had to admit, even Phoenix carried the family’s lovely genes, despite the dark circles under his haunted eyes …
Though I just met him, I wondered how his kiss would differ from that of his brothers.
I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, my lips still a bit upturned with the idea of his mouth on mine.
I awoke with a jolt when the door hit the wall what felt like seconds later.
The noise still resounded, but the darkness of the room suggested more time passed than I’d realized.
I grabbed my blankets and pulled them up to my neck automatically, as if the fabric might offer some small protection from whatever barged into my room.
Sleep isn’t ever safe . I gritted my teeth, annoyed because I’d forgotten for a moment, become complacent.
My aunt crossed her arms over her chest in the doorway of my room, backlit like some horror movie killer.
“Someone is at the door for you. Why are you in bed? I thought you had plans today? I was so relieved when you stopped hanging around the house regularly. It’s nine in the evening. You should be out.”
I nodded, scooting automatically off the edge of the bed, not wanting to speak with her. It was easier if I stayed silent. She didn’t get upset if I said nothing, if I just obeyed her. She might hate my existence, but she could at least forget about me if I went quiet.
The hardwood floor against my bare feet seemed shockingly cold.
My boxer shorts and a gray t-shirt weren’t exactly high fashion, but they covered enough to send away whichever Lent brother stopped by at nine in the evening.
What can they want? I rubbed at my eyes, as if I could scrub away the brain fuzz I had going on.
“Sorry.” I walked past my aunt blearily, still trying to shake off the fog of sleep. She nodded, heading down her hallway without another word. I didn’t smell alcohol, but it was early.
She’d left my guest waiting in the outside hallway, since they weren’t inside the apartment when I got to the front room. Adrenaline pumped into my system, making my hand practically jerk the door open to see who might be there.
I gawked at the figure, utterly shocked. Phoenix Lent. My gaze scanned over his tousled dark hair, blue eyes and those ever-present dark circles. He seemed the least likely Lent to arrive at my door, instantly triggering my alarms. What does he want?
He stared at me for a few seconds, as if weighing my appearance against some invisible scale in his mind before he spoke.
“Here.” He held out a cell phone toward me.
“You need a phone. I don’t know why they didn’t get you one, but I did.
It is a small problem, but one I can fix pretty easily tonight. ”
I stared at his offering. He wants to give me a phone? “I’m not very comfortable with expensive gifts.” I knew from personal experience that things offered as gifts could come with steep price tags if I wasn’t careful.
He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face as if the exhaustion might be too much for him.
“They said you would say that.” He still held out the phone in his other hand, shaking it slightly in irritation.
“Take it. It’s a burner. Throw it out if you don’t like it.
I don’t care what you do with it, but I’m going to tell them I gave it to you, so they’ll get off my ass. ”
I took the phone mostly because of his tone of voice.
It was so honest and tired, and matched his worn eyes so well.
The phone wasn’t a gift or an apology—he just wanted his brothers to stop being upset with him.
I liked the honesty behind his intentions, the lack of strings, despite him being absolutely self-serving.
Oddly, it made me relieved in a way nothing else he could’ve done would have calmed me.
He took the guesswork out of his intentions, just telling me what he meant.
“Thanks.” I kept my tone polite, but then again, I usually did. I didn’t intend to reveal he found my one true weakness.
He continued, still seeming too tired to even look at me properly, “Jeremy might stick his foot in his mouth, but he’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Julian is big-hearted. Barrett is a deep thinker. They’re all in knots over you. Why is that?”
His gaze finally settled on me, so I considered his handsome face while I thought about my options. It would be easy to just shut the door in his asshole face. In fact, I should do it.
His blue eyes went hazy, and once again, I wondered if he was on something. It’s none of my business.
He rocked back on his feet, as if catching his balance. “Shit. Okay. I’m sorry.”
I blinked, utterly surprised. Did he think I was waiting for an apology from him? I wasn’t, so I sighed. “I think I preferred it when you weren’t faking remorse.”
His brow arched, very similar to Barrett’s expression. “What?”
I shut the door on his face then. The weight of the phone in my hand seemed heavy as I made my way toward the kitchen.
I’d already annoyed my aunt by being home, so I might as well eat something to make it worse.
The maid must have gone shopping, because the fridge was filled.
I took out some peanut butter and spread it on some bread.
Compared to the food with the Lent brothers, it seemed a particularly boring meal.
I sighed. Who knew I could become a food snob so fast?
I turned on the phone, waiting while the screen powered up. In Chicago, my aunt gave me a phone for a while. She wanted to ensure I would be home when he was over, so she could have family dinners. I sighed. It was better not to think about her.
I clicked on the home page, scrolling around and getting used to the device.
They pre-saved contacts in the device for me—Julian.
Barrett. Jeremy. Even Phoenix. I stared at his number, rubbing my thumb across the screen thoughtfully.
Did Phoenix think I would ever call him? Why would he even want me to?
Should I text them? What would I say? I leaned against the counter, chewing my boring dinner thoughtfully.
I reminded myself of my earlier intention to never speak to them again .
Or maybe not . Maybe I tried to convince myself I wouldn’t speak to them, but I liked having experiences with them.
Then again, I also didn’t want them trashing me to their grandmother. I liked her so much.
Sighing, I clicked on their names, including Phoenix, into one group chat, because I might as well speak to all the Lents at the same time.
Hi. Thanks for the phone. I’m sorry things ended the way they did.