10. Riot #2
“What were you thinking?”she asked, sounding distinctly like my high school football coach after we’d all been busted at a field party.
“We’re working toward something here, Riot.
Nicolette left Godot and never looked back.
She’s not one of us and I’m not sure being associated with her is the right move for your image .
” Her eyes bore into me and her pout tugged at my conscience.
My palms rested reassuringly on her shoulders.
“She’s just staying until she gets her finances together, then I’m sure she’ll want to move on somewhere else.”
It was a lie. All of it. And I couldn’t help but wish that her bank never unfroze her card if it meant she’d walk around in that tiny little pajama set every night.
Katie softened at my reassurance.“I wish you’d told me.
Have you heard about the things she’s done?
She’s a man-eater, Riot. A home-wrecker and a snake.
”Anger and irritation bubbled in my chest when I recalled the gossipy way Katie and Amber had twittered about her.
“You need to be careful what you say to her—”
“Katie, it’s temporary!”I cut her off. “And while I appreciate your concern, I would think that you of all people might be a little more willing to give someone with a reputation a chance.” I fixed her with a hard stare, and she frowned.
“I’m just trying to protect you,”she said and the softness in her words cut through me.
“I understand that, but I also need to be able to make my own decisions, okay?”
“It’s just that… I know what the people in this town are like, okay? I’ve watched them all grow up. I know how their minds work.”
“I grew up here too, Katie,”I said with a tone.
She huffed a laugh.“Yeah, and you grew up being celebrated on the shoulders of everyone in town. You were a leader, people looked up to you. You can’t see who people truly are when you’re at the front of the pack.
”Her eyes started to glisten.“Not me, okay? I was fixed firmly in the background no matter how hard I tried. I had a much different view of Godot. It’s incredible what you can learn when people forget you’re there. ”
A loaded silence passed between us.
“You’re right,”I said with defeat, though I wasn’t sure she was right at all.“Can we just have a nice Sunday dinner? Please? I haven’t eaten all day.”I flashed an elusive smile hoping to put the issue to bed.
She suppressed her smile and nodded.“Fine.”
I spun around and pulled the door open for her. She glowered but acquiesced.
When we went back inside, I found Brennan and Nicolette on the floor, on their stomachs with their heads together and giggling like teenage girls.
“What’s going on in here?”I asked.
Brennan turned around and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him look so elated.
“I found it! I found the camera and would you believe there are still pictures on here!”He leaped up and I tried to avert my eyes from Nicolette’s neckline as she bent over, rising to her feet.
Brennan bounced over and shoved the digital camera in my face.
“Hey, remember what we said about space, Brennan?”His eyes turned down, and he took a calculated step back.
He lifted the camera a normal distance from my face, and I recognized the party we’d thrown after high school graduation at the lake a few miles away.
A smile crept across my face at our young, dumb expressions.
I almost didn’t recognize myself. I was nearly thirteen years younger, sure, but there was a levity to my smile, a youthful glow that I hadn’t felt since that night. I scrolled through the photos, landing on the one Brennan had been in.
His arm was around me and he had that mechanical grin on his face but he looked happy. I looked happy. I wondered if we’d ever get back there.
Katie’s hand landed on my shoulder. She reached for the camera.
“Dinner’s getting cold, guys. Why don’t we sit down while the ziti is still warm.”She shot Nicolette a look.“Sorry, I guess I only packed enough for three.”But she didn’t sound sorry.
This was not going to be an easy few weeks. I shot Katie a glare but if she noticed, she paid no attention, busying herself setting three place settings at the dining table.
Nicolette stood in front of the fridge, lingering in Katie’s way, taking her time pouring milk into her cereal. I rolled my eyes. Women…
“Ready when you boys are!”she called out in a sing-song voice.
She was playing it up. She’d never once invited Brennan to eat with us for Sunday dinner.
I tried to get them to interact more. If she was going to be part of my life, I needed her to at least be comfortable at my house.
But Brennan steered clear of her, once telling me she looked at him like a quadratic equation with two unknowns. Whatever that meant.
He awkwardly shuffled to the table and sat down, his back ramrod straight with his palms resting on his thighs. He reached for his fork, but Katie rested a hand on his arm.
“We say grace, first, Brennan.”His eyes went wide, and his face paled.
A slight shiver went down my back, but Nicolette broke our attention with a quick snort before exiting the room.
I breathed a sigh of relief, hoping she’d stay in her room until Katie left.
“Do either of you want to say grace?”She looked between the two of us but my eyes were locked on Brennan’s quickly paling expression.
“Okay, I’ll do it. Bless us, oh, Lord, for these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from the bounty of Christ, our Lord, Amen. ”
I peeked up from my bowed head at Brennan, who had lost more color and began to twitch. His eyes were big and unfixed on seeing something that wasn’t there above my head. I tried to catch his attention while Katie raised her head and did the cross over her body, but he didn’t look at me.
Katie started up small talk about the church services that day, taking up most of the space in the dining room.
“How did it go at the Center this morning? I’m so glad they could reassign you so quickly to finish up those community hours.”
“You didn’t have to do that, Katie. I was fine doing grounds maintenance. ”
“Oh, it wasn’t a problem.”She waved but didn’t understand my tone. “Plus, the Center is so much more visible .” She placed her hand on my arm and patted it with a sheepish grin.
I waited to feel the same electricity that I had when Nicolette’s hand brushed mine. I tried to manufacture it in my head, picture what it would be like. But it was hard to suppress the irritation I still harbored for having her meddle with my community service in the first place.
“Brennan, aren’t you hungry?”She enunciated each word, and her voice turned an octave higher like it always did when she spoke to him.
His eyes swiveled to her.“Not hungry. I’m not hungry. Not hungry!”I held my breath and tried to give him a reassuring look, but he pushed the plate of food away.
She frowned and examined him like her sensibilities had been offended by his outburst.
At the same moment, Nicolette walked back into the kitchen, and I wanted to yell. She took her time rinsing the bowl. Katie glared daggers into her head and suddenly my lonely double-wide felt very small.
“Grace! Not hungry, Grace!”My heart clenched at the sound of our mother’s name. He pushed the food further away. A meatball fell off the side, and I raked my hands down my face. Katie moved to clean it up. I put a hand on her arm and shook my head. It wasn’t going to help.
“Hey, Brennan, weren’t you gonna show me those pictures from your graduation party?
”Nicolette called from the kitchen. She was leaning over, cleavage spilling from her shirt as she bit into a Twizzler.
The thickening tension in my neck prevented me from checking her out.
I didn’t want Katie to see Brennan’s forthcoming freak out.
But to my surprise, it didn’t come. At Nicolette’s words, Brennan stood up, took his plate, and brought it to the trash, dumping the entire dinner, plate included, into the garbage. The ceramic shattered and Katie startled, a hand fluttering to his chest.
Brennan disappeared with Nicolette around the corner and the desk drawers began to shuffle. Katie looked at me like I owed her an explanation. I shoved another spoonful of ziti into my mouth to prevent from having to answer .
“Is he always like that?”she whispered. I shrugged, eager for this night to be over.
After a few more minutes of eating in silence, we cleaned up the table.
I walked into the kitchen to find Nicolette spread out on the couch, her ankles crossed on Brennan’s lap.
She cackled at the photos she shuffled in her hands.
She looked relaxed and, more importantly, he looked relaxed, and I tried to suppress the bubbling jealousy at how her smile touched her eyes when she was around him.
Katie cleared her throat, entering the living room with a tray of cookies.
“Are you feeling better, Brennan?”she said again with her voice in that singsong tone.
Nicolette’s eyes narrowed, and she scowled at Katie.“Why are you talking like that?”I sucked in a breath, stifling a laugh while trying to stifle my nervous energy. The tension rose with the pressure.
Katie looked at her, taken back.“Excuse me? Like what?”
“Your voice.”Nicolette snorted, pushing Brennan’s shoulder with her bare foot.“He’s socially awkward, Katie. He’s not a slow adult hard of hearing.”
Katie gasped, a tiny hand flew to her mouth. She glared at me with accusation before dropping the plate of cookies on the table, grabbing her bag, and storming out the door. Nicolette had an amused look on her face, and I wanted to smack it off her.
I followed Katie, the screen door almost hitting me in the face.
“Katie, wait!”
She spun around, biting back tears.