Chapter 36 - Dont Say Sorry #2
"You watch Stranger Things?"
"Yes."
I blinked.
"You do?"
"Why is everyone surprised when I watch television?"
"Because you don't look like you watch television."
"What does someone who watches television look like?"
"I don't know. Less... you."
"That means nothing."
"It means exactly what I meant."
Luke leaned forward.
"Who's your favorite, Dad?"
"Vecna."
I stared at Adrian.
Of course.
"Why am I not surprised even a little bit?"
Adrian glanced at me.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
"That wasn't nothing."
"I'm just saying, out of everyone in Stranger Things, you picked Vecna."
"He's a good villain."
"I didn't say he wasn't."
"Then what's the problem?"
"There is no problem."
He gave me a look.
I smiled.
"It just makes sense."
"How?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's the warm, approachable personality."
Luke laughed from the back seat.
Adrian looked at me.
"You're very funny."
"Thank you."
Luke looked at me.
"Mine is Eleven."
"Good choice."
Elena immediately announced,
"I like Max."
I looked at her.
"You've watched Stranger Things?"
"No."
I paused.
"Then how do you know Max?"
"Luke."
Luke shrugged.
"She likes her because she has red hair."
Elena nodded.
"I want red hair."
I touched one of the wine-red sections of my own hair.
"Understandable."
She pointed at me.
"You have red."
"I do."
"I want yours."
"You cannot have my hair."
"Why?"
"Because I'm using it."
Luke laughed.
Adrian's mouth twitched.
I looked at him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"That was a face."
"I didn't make a face."
"You absolutely made a face."
And just like that, we were apparently arguing about his face while his children debated whether a Demodog counted as a dog.
Normal.
Completely normal.
A few minutes later, Luke leaned forward between the seats again.
"Angelica?"
"Yeah?"
"You didn't leave!"
I turned around.
"No."
His entire face brightened.
"Why?"
Oh.
I hadn't expected an employment interview from the back seat.
Before I could answer, Elena spoke.
"Did Daddy make you stay?"
I stopped.
My eyes moved toward Adrian.
His remained firmly on the road.
Interesting.
"No," I said. "He asked."
Luke frowned.
"Like nicely?"
I pressed my lips together.
Beside me, Adrian's jaw tightened.
Oh, this was going to be fun.
"Yes."
"How nicely?" Luke asked.
"Luke," Adrian said.
"What?"
"Leave her alone."
"I'm just asking."
Elena leaned forward too.
"Did he say please?"
I looked at Adrian.
Adrian looked straight ahead.
I smiled.
"He did."
Elena gasped.
Luke stared at the back of his father's head.
"You said please?"
"Yes."
"How many times?"
Adrian's head turned toward me immediately.
Don't.
That look very clearly said don't.
Unfortunately for him, his children had asked me a direct question.
I believed in honesty.
"Three."
"Angelica."
I burst out laughing.
Luke's mouth fell open.
"Three times?"
"Yes."
"Daddy said please three times?"
"He did."
Elena looked deeply impressed.
"Wow."
I laughed harder.
Adrian tightened his hands on the steering wheel.
"Are we finished?"
"No," Luke said.
I turned around again.
Excellent child.
"Why did you have to ask three times?"
"I didn't have to ask three times," Adrian said.
I looked at him.
"You kind of did."
"No, I didn't."
"You said please three times."
"That doesn't mean I asked three separate times."
Luke looked between us.
"So she said no?"
I smiled.
"For fourteen days."
Adrian closed his eyes for approximately half a second.
"Angelica."
"What? That's true."
"You said no to Daddy for fourteen days?" Elena asked.
"Pretty much."
"Why?"
There it was.
The question I wasn't going to answer.
I glanced at Adrian.
This time when our eyes met, there was no warning in his expression.
Just something quieter.
I looked back at Elena.
"Because sometimes grown-ups have disagreements."
Luke immediately said, "Daddy disagrees with everybody."
I turned very slowly toward Adrian.
He stared through the windshield.
I bit the inside of my cheek.
"Does he?"
"Yes."
"Interesting."
"Don't encourage him," Adrian said.
"I'm gathering information."
"You have enough information."
"I don't think that's possible."
Luke leaned forward again.
"So why did you stay?"
That one caught me.
For a second, nobody said anything.
I looked at Adrian.
He was still driving.
But something about his face had gone very still.
I could've made a joke.
Probably should've.
Instead, I said,
"Because he finally asked me the right way."
Adrian's eyes flicked toward me.
Just once.
Then back to the road.
Luke seemed satisfied with that.
Elena wasn't.
"What was the right way?"
Oh, God.
"Okay," Adrian said. "Interview over."
"But-"
"Interview over."
I turned toward the window so the kids wouldn't see me smiling.
A second later, I heard Luke whisper,
"I think he begged."
"I did not beg."
My head snapped back toward Adrian.
"You heard that?"
"So did you."
Elena giggled.
Luke sank back into his seat.
I was still laughing when Adrian gave me a sideways look.
"This is your fault."
"I literally answered their questions."
"You enjoyed it."
"Very much."
"I know."
I smiled and looked out the window.
The sun was already disappearing, leaving the sky darkening around the edges.
Perfect haunted-house weather.
Behind us, Luke and Elena had moved on to arguing about which one of them was going to get scared first.
Luke insisted it would be Elena.
Elena insisted she didn't get scared.
Adrian told both of them that if either one wanted to leave at any point, we would leave.
Neither protested.
I looked at him.
There it was again.
That version of Adrian.
The one who didn't tease his children about being afraid. Didn't tell them to be brave. Didn't make fear something embarrassing.
Just-
If you want to leave, we leave.
Simple.
I looked away before he noticed me watching him.
A few minutes later, Elena announced,
"Angelica can hold my hand."
I turned around.
"Can I?"
"Yes."
"Thank you. I was worried I'd have to be scared all by myself."
"You can hold Daddy's other hand."
Silence.
Oh.
Luke started laughing.
Adrian looked at me.
I looked at Adrian.
Elena seemed completely unaware that she'd just created a logistical problem neither of us had asked for.
I cleared my throat.
"I think your daddy can survive without holding my hand."
Elena considered that.
Then nodded.
"Okay."
Adrian's mouth twitched.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were about to."
"No."
"You made a face."
"I didn't make a face."
From the back seat, Luke said,
"You made a face."
"Thank you, Luke."
"Stop helping her," Adrian said.
I laughed and settled back into my seat.
We still hadn't even reached the haunted house.
And somehow I was already having fun.
The haunted house looked significantly less friendly in person.
Not scary.
Just-
Committed.
The entire building had been transformed into what looked like an abandoned hospital that had experienced several serious violations of health and safety regulations.
Red lights flickered behind broken windows.
Fog rolled across the entrance.
Somewhere inside, someone screamed.
Elena bounced beside me.
"Let's go!"
I looked down at her.
"You're disturbingly excited about this."
She grabbed my hand.
"You said you like scary things."
"I do."
"Then come."
Apparently I had been recruited.
Luke was already several steps ahead of us before Adrian caught the back of his shirt.
"Stay where I can see you."
"You can see me."
"Barely. Come back."
Luke sighed and came back.
I looked at Adrian.
"Very serious."
He looked at me.
"Don't start."
I glanced meaningfully at his shirt.
He ignored me.
We joined the line.
Elena kept my hand the entire time.
At first, I assumed it was because she'd already decided I was her designated haunted-house partner.
Then the doors opened.
A woman with completely white eyes appeared from behind them.
Elena's fingers tightened around mine.
Ah.
There it was.
I squeezed back.
She looked up at me.
I didn't say anything.
Neither did Adrian.
We just walked inside.
The first hallway was almost completely dark.
Luke immediately said,
"This isn't scary."
Something slammed against the wall beside him.
Luke jumped approximately six inches.
I burst out laughing.
"That wasn't funny."
"That was extremely funny."
"I wasn't scared."
"You levitated."
"I did not."
"You left the ground."
"Angelica."
"What?"
"Stop."
That came from Adrian.
Which made me laugh harder.
Luke pointed at him.
"Dad jumped too."
"I didn't."
"You did."
I looked at Adrian.
"Did you?"
"No."
Luke nodded vigorously.
"He did."
Interesting.
"I didn't see it."
"Because you were laughing at me!"
"Unfortunately."
Adrian gave his son a look.
Luke grinned.
We kept walking.
The next room was worse.
Or better.
Depending on perspective.
There were hospital beds.
Curtains.
A flickering fluorescent light.
And absolutely no visible actors.
Which meant there were definitely actors.
I knew this.
Adrian knew this.
Luke probably knew this.
Elena-
"Where are they?"
I looked down at her.
"Who?"
"The scary people."
"No idea."
A curtain moved.
Elena immediately moved closer to me.
I felt Adrian beside us before I looked.
He'd shifted closer too.
Not dramatically.
Just enough that Elena was between us.
The curtain moved again.
Nothing happened.
Luke whispered,
"It's going to come from the other side."
I whispered back,
"Obviously."
Adrian said,
"Stop narrating."
"We're preparing."
"You're making it worse."
"For who?"
"Elena."
Elena looked up.
"I'm not scared."
A hand shot out from underneath one of the beds.
Elena screamed.
So did I.
Luke screamed because we screamed.
And Adrian-
Adrian laughed.
Actually laughed.
I spun toward him.
"You laughed!"
He was still smiling.
"You screamed."