Chapter 2 #2
I let out a low groan. Amelia was one of the reasons my parents put so much pressure on me academically. They’d given up on making Amelia anything but sociable. That was where she really excelled, anyway. But me… well, I’d rather be reading or creating a new ritual, not talking to people.
“Are you still going to join the fencing team this year?” she added, pulling me out of my thoughts. “I heard tryouts are next week.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. I really didn’t have the time for fencing, but I needed something else to do besides studying all the time.
Last year I’d spent so much time in the library that I nearly developed a callus on my ass.
“Father wouldn’t have let me drop that potions class if I didn’t fill the time with something else useful. ”
“And fencing is useful?” Amelia raised an eyebrow, giving me that look that said she thought I was being ridiculous.
“It’s strategic thinking under pressure,” I replied, using the exact words I’d rehearsed for my parents. “Plus, it builds discipline and—”
“Plus, you actually enjoy it,” she interrupted with a knowing smirk. “You can admit that, you know. To me, at least.”
I felt my shoulders relax slightly. She was right, of course.
Fencing was the one thing I did purely because I wanted to, not because it looked good on applications or pleased our parents.
The precise movements, the split-second decisions, the way everything else faded away when I had a sword in my hand.
It was the closest thing to freedom I had in this place.
“Maybe,” I conceded. “But don’t tell our parents that.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.” She bumped my shoulder playfully. “Though honestly, I think they’d be more worried if they knew what you were really thinking about half the time.”
I shot her a sharp look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, nothing.” Her tone was far too innocent. “Just that you’ve been looking particularly... thoughtful lately. Like when you think no one’s watching, you get this expression that would probably give Father heart palpitations.”
My stomach dropped. If Amelia could see it, how obvious was I being to everyone else? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you don’t.” She grinned, but then her expression grew more serious. “Look, Archer, I know things have been tense since the whole Voss situation. And I know Mother and Father have been breathing down our necks more than usual. But you don’t have to be perfect all the time.”
“Yes, I do,” I said automatically. It was what I’d been told my entire life, after all.
“No, you don’t.” She stopped walking, forcing me to turn and face her. “At least not when it’s just us. You’re allowed to have your own thoughts, your own opinions. Even if they’re not exactly what the Quinn family would approve of.”
I glanced around the hallway, making sure no one was close enough to overhear. “It’s not that simple, Amelia. You know what’s expected of us.”
“I know what’s expected of the Quinn heir,” she corrected. “Which, let’s be honest, is completely ridiculous. You’re twenty-one, not ninety. You should be allowed to figure out who you are without every decision being scrutinized by the entire family.”
The frustration in her voice surprised me. Amelia usually took our family’s expectations in stride, deflecting them with humor and charm. But there was something different in her tone now, something almost bitter.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She was quiet for a moment, then shrugged. “I’m fine. Just tired of watching you tie yourself in knots trying to be the perfect son. Especially when...” She trailed off, shaking her head.
“When what?”
“Nothing. Forget I said anything.” She started walking again, but slower this time. “Just promise me you’ll try to enjoy your life a little this year, okay? Do something for yourself for once.”
I nodded, though I wasn’t sure I remembered how to do anything purely for myself anymore. Everything was filtered through the lens of family expectations, social implications, and potential consequences. Even my thoughts felt monitored sometimes.
As we reached the alchemy building, Amelia squeezed my arm. “Actually, why don’t you come to a party this weekend?”
I couldn’t help but grimace. “A party? Really?”
“It’s off campus,” she grinned. “And it’s a bar crawl. It’ll just be a bunch of people pretending to be human for the night and having a good time. You won’t have to be a Quinn, or a witch, or the chosen one, or anything. You can just relax and have a good time for once.”
“I don’t know…” I said, shaking my head. “That’s not really my style.”
“Anything outside of the library isn’t your style,” she retorted. “Why not try something new?”
The idea of being around a bunch of drunk supernatural beings pretending to be human sounded like my personal version of hell. But the way Amelia was looking at me, with that mixture of concern and determination I knew all too well, told me she wasn’t going to let this drop easily.
“I’ll think about it,” I said finally, which was code for ‘absolutely not, but I don’t want to argue about it right now.’
“You’ll think about it,” she repeated, clearly not buying it for a second. “Right. Well, when you’re done ‘thinking about it’ and decide you want to actually live a little, let me know.”
She started to walk away, then turned back with that mischievous grin that usually meant trouble. “Oh, and Archer?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re going to the party,” she said, giving me a little wave. “If you don’t, I’ll tell Mother and Father about your little chat with Professor Blackwood.”
“How did you—”
“I have my ways.” She wiggled her fingers dramatically. “Besides, what’s a tiny bit of blackmail between siblings? If you won’t do something nice for yourself, I’ll give you no choice.”
Before I could respond, she was already heading toward the athletic complex, leaving me standing there wondering how and when my sister had become such a problem.
It was strange. Up until this past year, she’d been just as obedient as me.
But after Theodore Voss, our parent’s long-intended partner for her, ran off with a male siren, she’d changed.
She wasn’t an obedient child anymore. She was an adult with plans for her own life.
Maybe it was about time I took a page out of her book, even if it was only for a weekend.