Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Hearing Addison call herself broken fucking sucks. I want to go back and beat the shit out of that fucking prick again.
“You ready to go to class?” I ask her, instead of trying to convince her that she’s not broken, because I know she’s not going to hear what I have to say.
“Um, sure.” Addison stands. “But seriously, Lex, do you really think you should be here?”
“Where else would I be?”
“Somewhere the cops won’t ever find you would be a good place,” she says.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Thank you,” she whispers. “I didn’t want you to act on my behalf, Lex, but thank you for doing it anyway.”
“He’s never going to be able to hurt another person, Addison. People like that don’t deserve to keep breathing.”
When we exit her building, the last thing I expect to see is my father. He’s standing by the stairs, waiting.
“Papa?”
“Lex. Car. Now,” he grunts at me. “Addison, how are you?” His tone shifts, softens to the one he uses with my sister.
“Ah, I’m good, Mr. Petrov. Thank you.”
“It’s Mikhail. I’m going to need you to come too,” he says.
“Why?” I ask him.
“I got a call from the dean this morning, Lex. Want to tell me how that frat house went up in flames? Not to mention some kid’s throat was slashed?”
I keep my mouth shut. I’m not stupid enough to antagonize my father.
“It was my fault,” Addison says.
“No, it wasn’t,” I tell her.
“He’s right. Nothing that happened is your fault, Addison. Come on, my wife is looking forward to seeing you.” My father holds out a hand.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to Addison as we walk past him. I sit in the back of the car with Addison, my father in the passenger seat next to his driver.
“Is Lex in trouble, Mister… Mikhail? Because I can just say he was with me all night,” Addison offers.
My dad turns around to face us. “You don’t need to lie for him, Addison.”
“I know, but I can.” She shrugs.
Dad shakes his head and turns back.
I look at Addison. I know we haven’t seen each other for a really long time, and there is a lot about her that’s changed. But being with her now… it feels like no time has passed. I reach out to hold her hand, and she stiffens before pulling away.
“Sorry,” she tells me under her breath.
“You don’t need to be sorry, Addi.”
When we get to my house, my father instructs me to take Addison into his office and wait for him.
“You realize you aren’t actually in trouble here,” I assure her when she looks like she’s gonna be sick all over the hardwood floors.
“No, but you are. Why does he want me here?” she asks.
“Probably because he knew I wasn’t leaving that college without you.”
“Honestly, I wonder if your mother dropped you on your head sometimes, Lex. You can’t be serious,” she says.
“It’s the Russian part of his DNA. That side of the family is all heathens, Addison,” my mom says as she enters the office.
“Oh god, I’m sorry, Mrs. Petrov. I didn’t mean…”
“Relax. It’s fine. I’ve often wondered where I went wrong with this one too.” Mom smiles.
“I’m your favorite child, Mama.”
“Not today you’re not.” She sits down. “You just got kicked out of NYU. You better have a damn good reason for throwing some kid out of a window, Lex.”
“And burning a frat house down,” my father adds.
I peer over at Addison. I’m not telling them anything she doesn’t want to share. “He looked at me the wrong way.” I shrug.
“He looked at you the wrong way?” my father repeats with the slightest uptick of his lips.
“Lex, you can’t go around killing everyone who looks at you the wrong way,” my mother huffs.
“It wasn’t that,” Addison says. “It was me.”
“Addison, you don’t have to say shit,” I remind her.
“I told him. What happened to me, and he figured out who it was.” Addison turns to me. “Wait… How did you know?”
“The day you left school, that asshole had a huge scratch down his face,” I explain.
“Oh.”
“That’s the kid you threw out the window?” Mom asks, and I nod. “Good. I would have done worse if I got my hands on him.”
“Well, you can’t go back to school.” My dad sighs. “Which is why you’re both here.”
“This has nothing to do with Addison,” I tell him.
“I told the dean you wouldn’t step foot on that campus again. We came to an understanding to keep your name out of any witnesses’ mouths,” he says. “If Addison is there, I know you won’t stay away.”
He’s right. I won’t.
“I can go home,” Addison says.
“You can stay here,” Mom tells her. “I’ve got the room ready for you. And we’re going to arrange for online courses. For both of you.”
“The other option is Russia. They have good schools there,” Dad grunts.
“My baby is not going to fucking Russia, Mikhail,” Mom growls at him.
“It’s an option,” Dad says.
“So is being a widow.” Mom stands.
“I’m really sorry I caused so much trouble.” Addison looks at my parents.
My father comes and sits down across from us. “Addison, you have not caused any trouble. Whether you like it or not, you are a part of this family. And, well, we look after each other. No matter what it takes. If you really want to go to college, I will make it happen somewhere.”
“I…” Addison glances at me. “I actually don’t want to go back.” Her eyes well up but she doesn’t cry. “I don’t think I can do it.”
“Okay, we will arrange for those online courses. Anything you need, let me know. Lex can show you to the guestroom in the left wing.”
“The left wing? Why? She can have the room next to mine.”
“Because that room is a little apartment, and Addison needs her own space so she can escape this family when she needs to,” Mom insists. “You lot are a bunch of heathens. Now I need to go pay your brother a visit.”
“Thank you.” Addison stands and walks over to my mom. She doesn’t pull away when my mom hugs her.
I fucking wish I could do that too. But Addi flinches when I touch her…