Well, talking is pretty much all we’ve done for the past two days, because, what else are you doing to do when you can’t leave the house?
“I’m excited for the weekend,” Estaine says. “For us northerners, it’s our last chance to go to the beach before it gets too cold.”
“I’m excited too. It’s going to be fun,” I say. “I’ve never been to The Hamptons before.”
“You’ll love it.”
“She’s not going,” Uncle Matty says, as he walks into the living room.
“Why not?” I ask. “That’s not fair.”
“It’s not a matter of being fair. It’s a matter of safety,” he says. “Right now, there is too much at risk and your life is not something I’m willing to risk.”
I want to be mad.
I want to yell at him.
But I understand. So, I can’t.
It’s still frustrating though.
“I’ll stay on campus,” I say, letting out a sigh. “I guess I’ll be here by myself, because everybody else is going off campus.”
“I will stay with you,” Estaine says.
“No,” I say. “Don’t. That would just make me feel bad for ruining your plans.”
“Seriously, I don’t mind,” he says. “I’d honestly rather spend the weekend with you, anyway.”
Staying on campus could spare me some potentially awkward moments with Brooks.
Brooks... what am I going to tell him? I can’t explain to him that I’m not really dating Estaine. I can’t explain to him everything that’s going on. I can’t even think of a lie that could convince him.
He is going to hate me and I can’t even blame him for it.
“Are you sure?” I ask Estaine, hating that I’m taking away the time he usually spends at the beach.
“Absolutely,” he says.
“It’ll be boring on campus.”
“I’m never bored with you.”
Uncle Matty stands up. “I think that is my cue to leave the two of you alone.”
I ignore him and turn towards Estaine.
“What about your party?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I wasn’t really in the mood to do it this year anyway. It was always my sister’s thing.”
My heart aches for him at the mention of his sister.
“What do you usually do for Labor Day?” he asks.
“Well, my school didn’t start until after Labor Day. Last year, Charlie and I were at Rick’s house in Hawaii,” I answer. “But we don’t always do that. I think the year before, the whole family went to Tahiti. Or maybe that was two years ago. I think we went to Greece one year.”
“And Rick is your stepdad, right?”
I nod. “Charlie’s dad.”
“You get along with him?”
“Yeah. I love Rick. I love my stepmom, Nora, too,” I say.
“Was it weird to get used to having a parent who isn’t your biological parent?” he asks.
“Nora was easy to get used to. I was fourteen when my dad married her. But I lived with my mom, so it wasn’t like I had to get used to living with her,” I say. “I had a harder time with Rick. I was ten. And I was used to it just being Mom and me. We moved into their house after the wedding, and getting used to living with two boys was hard. I hated it for about three months, but then one day I woke up and realized that somehow, Charlie and Rick had become family.”
“My parents are getting divorced,” Estaine says. “I haven’t told anybody because I don’t want to believe it, yet.”
I scoot closer to him, putting my arm around him. “Divorce sucks. I was four when my parents split up, but I remember it.”
“They used to be really happy. Before... River... I always looked up to their marriage. I wanted a love like that,” he says. “I just really wish she was alive. I don’t think they’d be getting divorced if she was, but even if they were, I could get through this with her here.”
My chest tightens.
I feel so bad for Estaine.
And I have no idea what to say to him. What do you say to somebody who is still mourning the loss of his sister, and is now about to lose the only stability in his life?
“I’m sorry. This probably all seems too trivial compared to what you’re going through,” he says.
“No. Seriously, nobody I love has died,” I say.
He’s quiet for a moment before he finally relaxes.
“You’re a good person, Phoenix,” Estaine says.
His words make me feel good, because I haven’t felt like a good person lately.
“I don’t feel good,” I admit. “I’m lying to everybody.”
“Not everybody,” he says. “You’re not lying to me. Not anymore.”
I nod, feeling a little better. “What about everybody else? Not only that, but now you have to lie for me. I’ve brought you into my crazy, dangerous life.”
“I basically forced my way in,” he says.
“True,” I say. “It’s mainly you’re fault that you have to pretend to be my boyfriend now.”
He grins. “Trust me, it’s not that much of a hardship.”
Estaine doesn’t say anything else, which leaves me wondering... what did he mean by that?
Wednesday, August 30
Scared?
By Wednesday, Estaine and I are bored out of our minds, being locked in this stupid house. I never thought I’d actually be excited about going back to school, but I am. I miss all my friends.
Seriously, what would I have done if Estaine hadn’t been here with me? It would have been one hundred times worse... being in the house with just Uncle Matty and Jake.
Uncle Matty wakes me up early for our MMA lesson. While we are training, Estaine wakes up and comes to watch.
I’m still not that good. I’ve been doing this less than two weeks, but I have made a lot of improvements in that short time. I guess the thought of getting kidnapped again has motivated me. I want to be able to defend myself and get away.
“Put your feet farther apart,” Jake says, as I keep eye contact with Uncle Matty. “You’ll get better balance.”
Eye contact was the first thing they taught me. You can always tell your attacker’s next move by their eye movements.
I spread my feet farther.
“Good,” Jake says.
Uncle Matty’s eyes shift to the left and I immediately go to block the punch. He doesn’t put a lot of force behind it. He’s been holding back a bit since he accidentally punched me the other day. I think he feels bad about it.
“Very good,” Uncle Matty tells me. “Let’s try something different.”
“Okay,” I say, standing up straight. I grab my bottle of water off the ground and take a drink.
“Estaine, you’re up,” Uncle Matty says.
“Um... okay,” he says, warily walking over to us. “What do you need me to do? I have no idea how to do all this.”
“But you’re strong,” Uncle Matty says. “You play football, right?”
Estaine nods.
“I need you to attack her from behind.”
“Excuse me?” Estaine asks, then shakes his head. “No. I don’t want to hurt her.”
“Ah, come on, Estaine,” I say, taunting him a little bit. “I’m not quite that fragile.”
“I’ve tackled guys a lot bigger than you,” he says.
“So why not try?” I ask. “Scared you’ll lose to a girl?”
I know the moment he’s made up his mind. He starts coming towards me, and I do exactly as Uncle Matty and Jake have taught me. I use his own strength against him. The second he gets to me, I use the force of his attack to throw him onto the ground.
“What. The. Heck?” Estaine asks, looking up at me.
I just grin.
“This is a proud moment,” Jake says.
I hold out a hand to help Estaine up and he accepts it.
“I’m not sure how it’s possible, but you just became way cooler,” Estaine tells me, as he stands up. “Seriousl
y. You just threw me onto the ground without even trying. That was awesome!”
“It was good,” Uncle Matty says. “But what do you do if the person has grabbed you? What if they have their arms locked around you and you can’t get away? Do it again, but this time, Estaine, you put her in a choke hold. Hold it as tightly as you can without actually choking her.”
Estaine looks at me, as if to get my approval.
“It’s better I learn how to do it now against you than be put in this situation in real life and have no clue what to do,” I say.
He nods and walks behind me. He puts one arm around my neck, holding tight.
“Phoenix, you remember how I told you to get out of this?” Uncle Matty asks.
I don’t answer. I just do what I remember.
I take both of my hands on his arm and pull as hard as I can. I can’t completely loosen his arm, but I do it enough that I can spin around and face him. No longer in a choke hold, I can fight back against my attacker. I don’t actually hit him, but I do the motions, showing Jake and Uncle Matty.
“Very good,” Jake says.
“You’re learning fast,” Uncle Matty says, grinning like a proud parent, which makes me feel good.
“Maybe I should be taking lessons too,” Estaine says. “My fake girlfriend can fight better than I can. This isn’t right.”
I stick my tongue out at him and he laughs.
“Okay, let’s do it again,” Uncle Matty says.
Thursday, August 31
He’s mine.
When Estaine and I walk into the dining hall on Thursday morning, I swear the entire place falls quiet as they watch us.
“Everybody is staring,” I whisper to Estaine.
“Yeah,” he whispers back.
“What do we do?” I ask.
“Just let them stare,” he says, and walks in front of me.
I follow him to the table where our friends are sitting and we take a seat in our usual spot. Thankfully, everybody in the cafeteria starts talking again. I cringe, thinking that they’re probably talking about us.
“Hey, guys,” I say, when I realize that nobody is going to say anything.
“Just because you have a boyfriend now doesn’t mean you’re not still my bae,” Jason says, making me laugh.
“Actually,” Estaine says, putting his arm around me, “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what it means.”
“This is just...” Teagan says, her voice trailing off. “Unexpected.”
“Are you kidding? Those two have been flirting since the first day of school. I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner,” Ian says.
“Exactly,” Emma says, agreeing with him.
“I didn’t expect it either,” Bryce says.
“Like you’d ever stop thinking about yourself for two seconds to notice anybody else,” Emma says, her voice suddenly cold.
Good. They’re still broken up.
But why is he sitting at our table?
“By the way, how are you?” Teagan asks. “I know you were close to your cousin.”
“Oh, no. It wasn’t Jake. It was a... uh... different cousin,” I say. “One I don’t get to see that often.”
“Still,” she says.
“I’m okay,” I say.
“I’m glad that Estaine went to the funeral with you,” she says, making me feel even more awkward.
“Me, too,” I say.
Seriously, I have no idea what I would’ve done without Estaine there the last few days. I would’ve been completely bored out of my mind.
“You two are gonna be cool, right?” Jason asks.
“What do you mean?” Estaine asks.
“I don’t want to listen to the two of you fighting for the next two years,” Jason says.
“Dude, no fighting,” Estaine answers. “She’s into MMA and can totally kick my butt.”
I grin at his confession. “Don’t worry, Jason. We won’t be fighting.”
“MMA? Seriously?” Jason asks, his mouth slightly open. “Is there anything you can’t do?”
“Lots of things,” I answer.
“Like what?”
“I can’t let you know my weaknesses. You might use them against me,” I say.
“I already know one weakness,” he says, looking at Estaine. “I’m really happy for you two. You make a good couple.”
“Thanks, man,” Estaine says.
My face warms at the compliment.
If only they all knew that is was fake.
A little later, Estaine, my friends, and I all part ways so I can head to my first class of the day... English with Mr. Anderson. Poetry, actually, and I dislike poetry. I mean, some of it’s beautiful, but I can’t seem to ever figure out the hidden meaning behind poems. I’m always wrong, and Mr. Anderson always calls on me. I swear he hates me.
As I’m about to walk into class, somebody’s shoulder bumps into mine, hard; causing me to drop all of my books. I wasn’t expecting it, or I would’ve defended myself.
“Stay away from Estaine. He’s mine.”
I look up to see Paige towering over me, but I’m not at all intimidated by her. If I can take Estaine down in a fight, I would have no problems with this girl.
If she’s interested in Estaine, I should tell her the truth—we’re not really dating. Or I should tell her that Estaine broke up with me. What if he is interested in her? Am I holding him back from it? But I just can’t seem to bring myself to.
“Actually, he’s mine,” I say, smiling at her.
“Not for long. What could he see in you, anyway?” she asks; her nose wrinkled and her lips cast into a frown.
Even snarling at me, she’s quite beautiful.
But she’s right.
What would a guy like Estaine ever see in me? I’m not pretty like her. He belongs with a girl like her.
But I won’t let her know that. I can’t let her see my weakness.
“Apparently, he’s seen more in me these past two weeks than he has in you for the past two years,” I say, standing my ground. “If you come near me again, I will make you regret it.”
“Girls, girls, get to class,” I hear Mr. Anderson say, then he looks at me sharply. “Phoenix, in my class. Now.”
Paige is smirking as she walks off. I pick up my books and walk into my English class.
That is probably not the last time I will be hearing from her.
12pm.
Being in a fake relationship is hard.
Thankfully, I haven’t had any more run-ins with Paige this morning. That girl sure knows how to get under my skin. Maybe I should have another run-in with her. If she tried to fight me I could scare her badly enough that maybe she would leave me alone.
But Uncle Matty and Jake would be mad if I got into a fight.
Yeah, maybe I should just let it go.
But first, I need to talk to Estaine. If he does like Paige, he has a right to know. I won’t force him to continue being in a fake relationship with me.
I catch him just as he’s about to walk into the dining hall.
“Hey. Can I talk to you real quick?” I ask him.
“Sure,” he says.
He follows me about ten feet away from the door. I don’t want anybody else to overhear our conversation.
“Is everything okay?” Estaine asks.
“Yeah,” I answer, looking at my feet to avoid his gaze. “I just... have to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Do you like Paige Lawson?” I ask.
He doesn’t say anything right away, so I look up at him to gauge what his reaction is.
“To be honest, Paige Lawson gets on my nervous,” Estaine says. “She has this self-righteous attitude, and always acts like she’s so much better than everybody else. I kind of can’t stand the girl. Why do you ask?”
I let out a breath. “Well, she came up to me today and basically told me I should back off from you. And basically, she was asking what you saw in me.”
“What d
id you say to her? When she told you to back off?”
My face heats up. “I’d rather not say.”
“Come on, Phoenix. Tell me,” he says.
“Fine. I told her, actually, he’s mine. And then I told her, apparently you saw something in me in the past two weeks that you hadn’t seen in her in two years,” I say. “And now, I feel really bad, because we’re not even dating. It’s all fake. But I can’t stand mean girls. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it. She just made me so angry.”
“It’s okay. I promise,” he says. “Besides, you’re kind of right about the whole seeing more in you in two weeks than I have in her in two years. She’s shallow and vapid. And you... well, you’re perfect.”
Perfect?
“Are you sure you’re still okay with this whole fake dating thing?” I ask.
“I promise I am okay with it,” Estaine says. “Trust me, there is no girl at this school that I like more than you.”
I laugh.
He really is such a good friend.
“Will you let me know if you change your mind?” I ask. “Because, I really don’t mind if you dump me in a very public way.”
“Okay, Phoenix,” he says.
We walk back into the cafeteria together, and as we walk through the door, he grabs my hand. I am so stunned that I trip over my own feet, but somehow manage to keep up with Estaine. Only a handful of people turn to watch us this time.
After getting our food, we join our friends at the table.
“What is this I hear about you and Paige getting into a fight?” Teagan asks, as we sit down.
“She tried to tell me I was taking her man or some crap like that,” I say.
“I hope you set her straight.”
“She did,” Estaine says, grinning at me. “If she tries anything again, let me know and I will take care of her myself.”
“Wow. Look at you being the protective boyfriend,” Teagan says. “I like it. It’s kind of sexy.”
“Totally sexy...” I say, letting my voice trail off as my face warms. I clear my throat.
Why am I so awkward?
Ugh.
Estaine reaches for my hand under the table and squeezes it. I look up at him and see that he’s smiling.
Ever After (East Raven Academy Book 1) Page 16
