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I glanced at Dante, then at William, before landing on Gideon. They felt it. I know they did. The silence in the dining room was deafening.
“So, Sian, I hear you’re quite the student,” Lucas, Gideon’s dad said.
“Er, I do my best. I’m not the greatest student, but I’m good friends with the girl who is. Heather.” Sian looked nervous.
Alexander snorted and Sian glanced over at her father.
“She shouldn’t be in that school.”
This made me frown.
“She’s a great student, Dad. So bright.”
“Yes, the school loves it when the underdog succeeds, Alex. Don’t forget that,” my dad, Justin, said.
“I haven’t met Heather,” Joan said.
“You have, Mom. When you come and pick me up.”
Joan frowned. “No, I’m sure I would have known. I’m sorry dear. This big case, you know how it is.”
I stared at Joan Roberts, and something seemed a little off about her. It was like she was off in her own little world. Drink or drugs, I was guessing. The life of a lawyer must be too stressful for her, but then I couldn’t help but wonder why she would willingly want that life for her daughter. It made no sense.
“Heather’s great,” I said. “She helped me out with math and now I’m totally acing that class.”
“At least you didn’t have to bang the teacher to get ahead,” William said, to which his father, George, slapped him around the back of his head. “Dad!”
“Language at the table.”
“He’s not wrong,” Sian said. “We’re all having to do this relationship thing through homeroom. We think it has to do with that party that went bad, but also the student and teacher who were caught in an intimate relationship.”
“You’re cute when you blush,” Gideon said.
“I thought the rumor was false.” Sian sat back.
Our food had yet to come out. I looked at Gideon’s father and I saw he was staring at Joan, who still seemed completely oblivious to everything going on around her.
“You’d be surprised what lengths people would go to in order to make their way up the social ladder of life,” my dad said.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Alexander leaned forward as he spoke.
I detected a lack of love between our dads and Sian’s.
This was an interesting development. Our dads had loved Joan. Watching them now, I saw it. They were still in love with her. It explained why there were no wives. Did they do that not to hurt Joan?
“People make their way into places they shouldn’t,” Lucas said.
“And we sometimes don’t even see the truth,” Harrison said.
“Well, this is nice,” Joan said. “I’ve been looking forward to taking you out to dinner, Sian. Drew told me she’d make sure you were ready.”
Sian frowned, as did I.
“Mom, Drew died, remember?”
Joan sighed. “What? She’s not dead. She’s just asleep. Right?” She turned to Alexander, who cupped her face and pressed a kiss to her head.
“It’s fine, darling.”
No one liked that.
Our dads looked ready to commit murder.
This wasn’t good, but what the fuck was up with Joan Roberts? She wasn’t the kind of woman I imagined. She looked meek, vulnerable, and to be frank, fucking stupid. How did she command a courtroom?
Silence fell around the table as the servers came out with our food. We never served our own food, even at home.
“I hope everything is to your liking,” Lucas said. “Gideon made me aware of your life choices.”
“To go vegan?” Sian asked.
I watched Alexander, seeing the death grip he had on his knife and fork. What the fuck was up with that?
There was something not quite right about him. I didn’t like the anger he seemed to give off. The tension in his body was clear to read. He wasn’t a stupid man, always alert, always listening.
Was that why he forced Sian to go through with the selection? We knew The Society had already made it so, but Alexander took it a step further.
“Did you guys go to school together?” Sian asked.
All gazes turned toward her. I stilled with a piece of beef in my mouth.
“Why do you ask?” Harrison, Dante’s dad, asked.
“I was just curious. You’re all the same age, and with us going to All Saints, I knew my mom and dad went there. Just trying to make conversation.”
So far, Sian hadn’t given anything away about what we’d told her, but I saw the curious stares of our fathers.
They wouldn’t do anything right now, would they?
“We did,” Lucas said.
“Your mother helped us out of a lot of scrapes when we were boys.” This was said by George.
“Let’s not go down memory lane,” Alexander said. “We all know why we’re here, so let’s keep on track. There is no point in diverting from what is going to happen.”
“Always in a rush to get things over with,” Harrison said.
“Must be so disappointing not to have the patience to enjoy life.” Justin spoke up once again.
