I blink, surprised. “What?” I ask dumbly.
I know she doesn’t like it, but I also know I don’t have much of a choice. It’s always been a no-brainer, too; Blaze has been my best friend for so long, and I’m capable of keeping him safe.
At least, I thought I was.
She sighs. “Asch, we both know they’re not exactly what they seem to be. This might be a blessing in disguise.”
I don’t want to state the obvious problem. We both know that she can’t stay afloat without the money I send her each month, and there’s no guarantee I can quickly or easily replace the Bouchard money.
“I’ve been researching work at home jobs,” she says, and the note of vulnerability in her voice has me wishing I could reach through the phone and hug her tight. “You shouldn’t have to be taking care of me as it is. I’ve been taking advantage of you.”
“No, you haven’t,” I reply fiercely. “You took care of me for so long. It’s the least I can do.”
“That’s not how this is supposed to work,” she replies. “There are no expectations, nothing that needs to be reciprocated. This is a good thing. It’s the motivation I’ve been needing to finally work on myself.”
I hate that my instant reaction is to say that shecan’t, to remind her that it’s always been a struggle. It’s not fair to her. She’s always tried to be more than her mental health problems, and she managed to keep us going for so long.
“I’m still going to find a new job,” I tell her. I have nothing in savings, nothing to fall back on.
I don’t have any experience doing anything but fucking around with Blaze, either, which is going to make finding a real job that much more difficult.
“How has everything else been going?” she asks, the abrupt change in subject both welcome and not all at once. “Anyone special in your life?”
My mood drops even more. “No,” I say. God, what would she think if she knew what I’d done to the only woman who could’ve been something special?
That’s stupid too. Pandora could never have been something special.
“How are classes?” she prompts when that line of questioning goes nowhere.
I sigh, lying back on my bed as I answer her.
By the end of the call, I feel drained and empty, but I no longer feel like I’m going to cry.
Progress, I guess.
Too bad I have no idea what I’m going to do from here. With this new development, with the threat of Pandora’s impending revenge hanging over my head, with my future no longer defined, everything feels heavy.
I don’t know what to do.
I close my eyes, not even bothering to change out of the nice clothes I’d worn to the memorial service, and force myself to take a nap.
Maybe a little bit of rest will jog something, and when I wake up, I’ll have ideas about what to do.
Maybe not.
But it’s worth a try.
5
PANDORA
I place the tablet on the stand on the desk before hitting the “accept call” button.
I’m confronted with Ares and Kratos, my two brothers, sitting on the other end.
“Hey, guys,” I say, waving to them. “What’s up?”
Ares and Kratos share a look. I don’t believe twins are psychic, but Kratos and Ares like to pretend they are.
