“You want to be a doctor?”
“No,” he answers. “I want to be an architect. I haven’t told my dad that, yet. He’s basically got my life planned. College, pre-law major, of course. Then law school. Eventually, he wants me to be president.”
That’s really sad.
I’m suddenly thankful my parents don’t care what I do, as long as it makes me happy.
To be honest, I have no idea what will make me happy.
“What about you? What do you want to be when you grow up?” Estaine asks.
“Ask me again later, because I have no idea right now,” I answer. “I just know that I want to be happy.”
And alive.
Saturday, September 2
This is not good.
I got a text from Estaine earlier that simply said, “Dress casual. I’m coming to get you at ten” I hope that means we are going somewhere that is not on campus.
I am dressed and ready by nine, so I’m just sitting around, bored, while I wait for him.
There is a knock on my door, so I jump up, excited that he’s here early. I am so excited for whatever he has planned. But when I open the door, it’s not Estaine on the other side.
“Brooks,” I say.
“Hey,” he says.
I stand there, just looking at him, not knowing what to say. My heart is beating fast and I’m having problems forming a coherent thought.
Brooks is here.
At my dorm.
Isn’t he supposed to be in The Hamptons?
Why is he here?
I thought he hated me.
He probably does hate me.
I hate me for what I did to him.
Brooks.
Is.
Here.
“Can I come in?” he asks, breaking the silence.
I push the door open and take a step back. I still can’t say a word, so I just nod my head.
Brooks walks inside, shutting the door behind him.
“You know, your dorm room actually isn’t what I expected,” he says.
He’s seriously going to talk to me about my dorm room?
“What did you expect?” I ask.
“For it to look like your roommate’s side,” he answers.
Teagan’s side of the room is very girly. It is various shades of green and some white. It screams school spirit. My side, however, is black and white. At least we match. I have a huge fuzzy black rug in between our beds that is super soft. And we have a white futon in the middle. So far, nobody has slept on it, but I figure through the year that we will have people stay in our room.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in The Hamptons?” I ask him.
I seriously hope he didn’t come here to talk about the decor in my dorm.
“I was. I mean, I left yesterday. I made it all the way to New York and then I turned around,” he says.
“Why did you turn around?” I ask.
“Estaine called me.”
Estaine called him?
Oh, my gosh.
“What did he say?”
“Not a lot,” Brooks says. “He was actually pretty cryptic about the whole thing. He just said that whatever I thought about you two was wrong—that you’re not really dating, even though you’re telling everybody you are, which makes no sense. I almost hung up on him when he said that. But he said that the reason you’re here is because your life is in danger...”
I cut him off. “He said that?”
What the heck was he thinking?
I put a hand on my forehead as I pace back and forth.
Now I am going to have to leave.
“He also said something about getting permission from... Uncle Matty or something... to tell me a limited amount of information,” Brooks says.
I let out a breath. “Oh, thank goodness. I was about to freak out.”
“So you know what that means?” he asks. “Because that confused me.”
“I know what it means,” I say.
“Why is your life in danger?”
“What did Estaine tell you?”
“Just that it had something to do with your biological father. Apparently your parents aren’t dead and that your real last name isn’t Underwood. He said that I can’t know who you really are,” he says. “How does he know? I mean, why does he get to know and not me?”
“Estaine caught me in a pretty big lie,” I answer. “Do you remember when I told you I was avoiding him?”
He nods.
“Well, I was avoiding him because of the lie I was caught in. I eventually told Estaine everything,” I say. “I was trying to hide it from the secret service, but when...”
“Secret service?” Brooks asks, cutting me off.
“Oh... Uncle Matty and my cousin Jake are really secret service,” I say, waving a hand like it’s no big deal. “Anyway, I got a text and ran out. Estaine followed me. The lie was that my cousin died, but really we stayed on campus the whole time. Uncle Matty and Jake have a house hidden in the woods where they are staying.”
“Why were you on campus? Why not go back to class?”
“Well...” my voice trails off. “I can’t really tell you all the details. But my mom’s house in Malibu got burned down. They had to go into hiding and they were worried the... um... that... well... they were just worried. They kept me there in case we needed to run. I asked Estaine to stay the day because I was upset, then Uncle Matty called the school, and the story was that my cousin died and Estaine went to the funeral with me. It didn’t make sense for him to go to the funeral unless we were dating, so...”
Brooks nods. “I get it. I don’t understand, but I get it.”
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“It’s not your fault. This just sucks,” he says.
“Do you remember what happened at that school in Texas last week?” I ask. “With those two people dying?”
Thankfully, the third person is going to live. She’s still in the hospital, but expected to make a full recovery.
“Yeah,” he says. “I remember hearing about that.”
“Well, the CIA left a false trail to that school,” I say. “The... umm... shooters followed the trail there, thinking that I was a student.”
“Back up,” he says, looking at me, confusion clearly painted on his face. “You’ve got the CIA and Secret Service helping you out?”
I nod.
“Are you in the Witness Protection Program or something?” he asks.
“No,” I answer. “I didn’t witness a crime or anything like that. It has something to do with my dad, kind of. He’s important, or whatever. So, here I am. Just don’t try to figure out who I am. I promise you that my online existence before I came here is no more. If anybody from my old life posts a picture of me, it’s gone within seconds. You won’t find anything.”
“Wow,” he says.
“Yep.”
“I get why you and Estaine are fake dating, so why not fake break up?”
“I told him to dump me,” I answer. “I told him I’d even let him do it in a very public way and I would shed a few tears. But we’re friends, and nothing would really change if we fake broke up. People would think it was weird if we just kept hanging out like we always do. It’s best to just let people think we’re dating.”
“You guys don’t... kiss... right?”
I shake my head. “No way.”
“What if somebody else wanted to date you?” Brooks asks.
“I don’t know,” I answer. “Nobody ever gave me a guide to fake dating somebody. Things are really complicated right now.”
“You like him. I know you do.”
“He’s my friend. Of course I like him.”
“I mean as more than a friend.”
“Maybe,” I answer, trying to be as honest as I can.
“Do you like me?”
I nod.
“As more than a friend?” he asks.
“What I feel for you is definitely more than what I feel for a friend,�
�� I answer. “But it doesn’t matter, Brooks. Everything is crazy right now. I’m literally hiding and trying not to get caught by crazy people who have a vendetta against my dad. I don’t even want to think about having a boyfriend or dating right now.”
“I understand,” Brooks says. “So, Estaine invited me to hang out with you guys today.”
My mouth falls open. “He invited... you?”
“Yep.”
Wow.
“I thought he hated you,” I say.
“Oh, he does,” Brooks says. “Today is definitely going to be... interesting.”
Interesting?
I’m hanging out with Brooks and Estaine today.
AT THE SAME TIME!
This is not good.
10am.
I’m good at sarcasm.
I am riding in a car with Uncle Matty, Jake, Estaine, and Brooks. And it is so awkward.
Jake keeps turning around and giving me these looks. And Uncle Matty keeps saying really awkward things. And I am in the back seat, sitting between Brooks and Estaine, trying to keep calm.
Uncle Matty opens his mouth to say something else, so I cut him off.
“Can we listen to some music?” I ask.
“Sure,” Jake says, pulling out his phone.
I quickly hold my phone out for him. “No. Play my music. Please.”
Jake listens to music that was popular in the 90’s. And not to hate on the music from that generation, but I seriously can’t handle the music. It’s so... whiney, and reminds me of something you’d hear at a college coffee shop. Though, I can’t say that for sure because I’ve never been to a college coffee shop. But in my head, they play 90’s music, do slam poetry, and wear lots of flannel.
I wonder if I’d be any good at performing slam poetry.
“What the heck kind of music is this?” Jake asks, as he looks through the music on my phone.
“Just hit the shuffle button,” I answer.
“Fine,” he says, hitting it. “But most of the titles aren’t even English titles.”
“Still better than the stuff you listen to,” I say.
“Hey, don’t hate on...”
Uncle Matty cuts him off. “I agree with Phoenix. I can’t handle 90’s music.”
“Like 80’s music is any better,” I say. “Nobody wants to listen to a two minute long guitar solo in the middle of a song.”
“And you call this music? I can’t even understand what they’re saying,” Uncle Matty says.
“That’s because it’s Russian. Do you speak Russian?” I ask.
“Why are we listening to Russian music?” he asks, like it’s the most absurd thing he’s ever heard.
“I kind of like it,” Estaine says.
“Thank you,” I say, smiling at him. “See, Estaine likes it.”
“He only likes it because you like it,” Uncle Matty says. “When I was a teenager, I would listen to Paula Abdul for hours if it meant hanging out with a girl I liked. Do you know how much I hate Paula Abdul?”
Jake laughs. “This one girl I dated loved Backstreet Boys. I still remember all the words to that one stupid song.”
“Wow, you guys are entertaining,” Brooks says.
I almost forgot that he was in the car.
Uh...
This is so weird.
“They make it their personal mission in life to drive me insane,” I say.
“Hey, it’s a hard job, but somebody has to do it,” Jake says.
I roll my eyes, but need a subject change. “Where are we going?”
“Baseball game,” Uncle Matty answers. “By the way, you get to be blonde for the day. Congratulations.”
“Blonde?” I ask.
Jake pulls something from a bag and hands it to me.
It’s a wig.
“Are you seriously?” I ask, holding it slightly away from me.
“Yep. Put it on.”
“And where does my hair go?” I ask, then look at the wig. “And why are there bangs? I’m going to look twelve. No, worse. I’m going to look like Hannah Montana. I am not putting this stupid thing on.”
“Put it on or we go back to campus,” Uncle Matty says.
“Why blonde?” I ask. “Why couldn’t it have been red?”
“What’s wrong with blonde hair?” Jake asks.
“I’m so white,” I say. “With the blonde hair, my pale skin and my blue eyes, I’m going to look albino. I don’t understand why I can’t just put a hat on, or something.”
“Fine,” Jake says, grabbing the wig back. “Put your hair in a bun or something, and put the hat on.”
He obviously knows nothing about hair.
You can’t wear a bun and a hat.
He hands me a blue cap that says Boston in red letters.
“I can’t put my hair up in this,” I say.
“Just don’t leave your hair hanging down,” he says. “Put it up whatever way you can.”
I roll my eyes, but do as he says.
“You guys look really familiar,” Brooks says beside me.
I can’t help it. I laugh hard when he says this.
“We followed you around last Saturday,” Jake says.
“Oh,” Brooks says, then looks at me. “You knew they were following us.”
I nod. “It was the only way they’d let me go with you.”
“I am kind of glad I didn’t know then,” he says. “That would’ve been awkward.”
“Tell me about it,” I say, remember how much I hated them listening to our conversation. “I’ve never been to a baseball game before. What are you supposed to do while they play?”
“You... watch them,” Uncle Matty says, eying me in the rearview mirror. “Phoenix Black, you are one strange girl.”
“Phoenix Black?” Brooks asks.
“You’ve been doing nothing but train me how to keep my identity secret, and then you tell him my last name,” I say. “You’d better not make me leave East Raven because you screwed up.”
“We’ve already wired Brooks,” Jake says.
“What does that mean?” Brooks asks.
“Basically, that every text, every phone call, every conversation is being monitored by the CIA,” I say.
“I’m wired too,” Estaine says to Brooks. “So don’t feel bad.”
“Phoenix has been monitored since last spring,” Uncle Matty says. “Just as a precaution.”
“They’ve made it incredibly difficult to get in touch with my crack dealer,” I say.
Estaine laughs.
Brooks doesn’t.
“She’s kidding,” Jake says. “She doesn’t actually do drugs.”
“Remember when I convinced your wife that I was on the run from the Mexican drug cartel?” I ask.
He laughs. “I still tease her about that. Your fake Spanish accent was terrible.”
“I don’t think she believed anything I told her after that,” I say.
“How did she not see through it to begin with?” Estaine asks. “You’re a terrible liar.”
“But, I am good at sarcasm,” I say.
“You’re usually only this sarcastic when you’re nervous,” Jake says, turning to look at me. “Oh. Right.”
I clear my throat awkwardly.
I kind of have a lot of reason to be nervous.
Who’s idea was it to invite Brooks and Estaine?
Oh, right.
It was Estaine’s idea.
I know he only did it because I’d cried. Why did I have to cry? I’m kind of regretting that now.
Brooks is safer without me. So is Estaine. But Estaine was already in this. I didn’t want to drag somebody else into it.
“Are we one hundred percent sure that today is safe?” I ask.
“Eh,” Jake says.
“You’re never one hundred percent safe,” Uncle Matty says. “But I’m not worried about today.”
“And what about Brooks and Estaine?” I ask.
“They know the risks,” Jake says.<
br />
“Do you?” I ask, looking at Estaine, then Brooks.
“You know I do,” Estaine says. “But I’m not worried. I trust your secret service guys.”
I trust them, too.
Like, completely. They rescued me once. Certainly they can again, if it comes down to it. I hope it doesn’t, though. I don’t think I could handle starting over again. It was hard enough the first time, but now that I’ve made friends, it would be even harder to leave East Raven.
I look at Brooks, waiting for his response.
“I’m only here ’cause you’re supposed to be some kind of ninja MMA girl,” Brooks says, grinning at me. “You’re supposed to be protecting me.”
I just laugh and shake my head.
I hope he’s joking.
“She did take me down. Quite a few times, actually,” Estaine says. “I’m pretty sure if the guys on the team knew, they’d never let me live it down.”
“So, you’re saying I shouldn’t tackle you during football practice?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t say I’d mind that. Pretty sure that would make all the guys jealous,” he says.
I roll my eyes when he says this. I find it hard to believe that any guy at East Raven Academy finds me attractive. I guess they do, because I saw the texts all the guys sent Estaine after we started dating, but I don’t get it.
It must be because I’m new. There is, literally, no other explanation. In a few more weeks, they will forget about me—Estaine and Brooks included.
No, not Estaine. We’re friends. I think we’ll stay friends. I’ll let him break up with me in a public way and we can continue being friends. But Brooks... he will be gone. He’ll realize I’m not worth the effort. Plus, by being with me today, he could literally be putting his life in danger. That’s a really scary thought.
“Hey, are you okay?” Estaine asks.
I really need to work on my poker face.
“I’m fine,” I say.
But really, I’m not, and I won’t be... not until my family and I are safe.
1pm.
What just happened?
Since Estaine’s father is the senator of Massachusetts, we got really good seats to the game. Box seats. We’re away from the crowd, we have catered food, and we can escape quickly if we need to. I have a feeling that is the only reason Jake and Uncle Matty let me come.
Ever After (East Raven Academy Book 1) Page 18
