Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
“Look at your texts.” I’d charged it on the way to the barn.
There was a short pause. “What?!”
“That’s a picture of you with Mad Rogan.”
I had called my oldest cousin and sweetly asked him for a favor. Bern’s photo manipulation skills were on another level. We’d bargained and agreed that I would bring home his favorite French dip sandwich from Firehouse Subs. He would’ve done it anyway because I’d asked, but there had to be some pretense of a bribe.
“I don’t understand.”
“Yesterday Tia broke up with you, so you got upset and talked to your friend, Ragnar Etterson.”
Ragnar was probably one of the most popular juniors in Heritage High. He was all the things: handsome, smart, and, most importantly, confident. At some point, Ragnar had cracked the high school popularity code. He was that effortlessly cool kid who didn’t seem to need anyone, and people flocked to him. It didn’t hurt that he was Prime Venenata. The fact that he could poison the entire school to death in seconds just made him cooler.
“I know who he is…”
I bet you do. “Ragnar felt sorry for you and invited you to a barbeque for his sister Runa, which was being held at the house of Linus Duncan. He is the older man who is posing with you in the fourth picture. Linus told you that you are a bright young man who has potential. Then you and Ragnar snuck into Linus’ study, smoked cigars, and tried his whiskey, and then both of you decided that you shouldn’t go home like that, so you spent the night with the Ettersons, where I found you today. If your family asks Ragnar about it, he will back you up.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because I asked him to.”
I hadn’t gone through all this trouble for Phillip’s sake. I did it for Tia. Defending yourself was fine, but the moment she stuffed him into that cistern, she opened a whole can of potential criminal charges. The best thing for everyone involved was to sweep this whole disaster under the rug and forget it ever happened.
“When you tell this story to your family, watch your father’s face when he hears Linus’ name. You will not be in trouble. You will be told not to make your parents worry again, and everything will be fine. If you stick around quietly, you will hear your father call his friends and casually drop that Linus Duncan thinks his son has potential. Ragnar will also say hi to you in school in front of everyone.”
“I…”
“This never happened. You never iced Tia. You were never in the cistern. Do you understand?”
“Yes. But if Mad Rogan…”
“Mad Rogan is my brother-in-law.”
There was a thud.
I waited. Hopefully he hadn’t fainted.
We sat side in silence, me on the bench, with a Gordian knot of fence posts, and he in the cistern.
“Is Tia very angry?” he asked finally.
“Yes.”
Silence.
“That relationship is over,” I told him. “You ruined it.”
“I know.”
“You have a choice now: peak Phillip, who is going to tell his family about the evil Maderos, or real Phillip, who will apologize to his ex-girlfriend and try to do better next time he decides to date. I’m tired of sitting here, so you need to decide. What will it be?”
Tia rubbed her hands. The T-bone steak in front of her was the size of her whole plate. My ribeye was almost as large. It smelled like smoke, and I was trying not to drool. I hadn’t had breakfast or lunch.
“May I bring you anything else?” the waiter asked.
“No,” Tia told him.
“We’re good,” I agreed.
The waiter nodded and went away.
We were sitting on the patio of Stag and Ale, one of the best steakhouses in Houston. After that spar, Tia had questions, so I invited her to dinner. Dropping off Phillip had taken a while. It was past seven now, and I was starving.
We cut into our steaks at the same time. Mmmm, meat.
“So why Donovan?” Tia asked, chewing. “Why not Heritage?”
“When I started high school, my family wasn’t a House. Heritage wouldn’t take me. Also we couldn’t afford the tuition. I made a whole tragedy out of it back then.”
The steak was delicious.
“How is Donovan?” Tia asked.
“Chill. I liked it.”
“Do you think I could transfer?” she asked.
“I don’t see why not.”
She skewed up her face. “Anything would be better than Heritage at this point.”
I texted her Julieta Cabrera’s email. “This is their guidance counselor. She is also their registrar. She is super nice. Like, she is the only reason I didn’t drop out in my freshman year.”
“What happened?”
“I didn’t know how to people. I was also angry and got upset over stupid, small shit and then let it spiral me out. Sometimes I would go and just sit in her office. It’s so nice. She has scented candles, and it’s quiet. It helped me with my temper.”