AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I thanked her and said goodbye, and still felt that unsettled, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as she regurgitated my lies back at me. I’d told her what the Organization had demanded we say. The same thing they’d told Penny’s parents.
She and I were chosen, last minute, to the President’s scholastic camp for gifted students. It was called Academic Excellence and demanded each student focus solely on their studies while in attendance. That’s why we didn’t get back to them while we were gone.
I’d gotten a manila envelope delivered to Archer’s house a few days ago containing all the pertinent information from the Organization. They’d forgiven me, apparently, and apologized for harming my friend. Of course whoever had written it used the kind of language lawyers and phone apps use for terms of service, i.e. nothing I could understand.
But I went along with it, because I didn’t know how else to get inside their heads and fight back. I had to play their game and do their little dance before I made any moves.
I hated it, of course, I bristled at their continued control, but I fell back in line.
After another afternoon of practice with Amara and playing around with the Kings and Ryker, I had to give in and finally go home.
Kingston gave me a ride home in his pickup truck, and it felt normal again. Just for the drive at least. We talked like nothing had happened, like we weren’t under the control of the Organization.
It was lovely. I wanted more of it, I was greedy for it.
“What do you think Reg is going to do?” he asked as he pulled into his driveway. I noticed Rick’s truck wasn’t parked there and wondered where he was.
“I have no idea,” I said. “I don’t know if he understands what happened or if he knows my father showed up again. I might like to keep that bit of information close to my chest.”
“Good plan,” he said. “It’s better to have something for the element of surprise. I hope I’m around when you get to tell him.”
“Me too,” I replied and took his hand. I looked over at him behind the steering wheel and for another moment he was just my childhood crush turned love of my life.
He looked over at me and his deep, blue eyes matched mine with their intensity and emotion. He loved me as much as I loved him, that was one truth I could hang onto and create my reality around. It could become the center of my world, the axis where everything else joined to.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked, his expression prodding me as much as his question. He wanted reassurance, and even though I didn’t know how it would be going home again, I had to tell him what he needed to hear.
“I promise I’ll be good,” I told him and offered a warm smile. I reached up and brushed a tendril of jet black hair off his forehead and took in the beauty of his chiseled jawline and angled cheekbones.
He walked me to my front door, kissed me on the steps, and watched me as I stepped through and back into my regular life.
And it was at that moment I realized I was extremely different. As soon as I was returned to my regular environment, I was now irregular. I no longer fit into the confines of my previous life, but I would force myself into it in order to hide in plain sight.
As I was taking my jacket off, I heard a noise from behind me, a small exclamation of surprise. I turned around and found my mom standing there, her mouth hanging open and tears staining her cheeks.
“What’s wrong, Mom?” I asked, walking towards her.
“It’s Reg. I think he’s cheating on me. He hasn’t been home for almost a week.”
As soon as she said it, her face crumpled and she began to cry again.
I was faced with the singular horror of pretending to care about Reg not coming home when in reality I was praying that he was dead.
CHAPTER15
“Slow down, tell me everything,”I said to Mom as her words starting tumbling out of her mouth all at once. She took a deep, gulping breath and forced herself to slow down, breathe in, and release it until she was calm and focused.
“He left for work on Monday and never came home,” she said. “I haven’t heard from him at all, and Rick is also gone. But I heard from a friend who works in an office down from mine that he was spotted in Reno with some cheap slut.”
“Who? Rick or Reg?” I asked.
“Reg!” Mom exclaimed, and her face crumpled again. She launched into a long list of why she was never going to survive without him, but I managed to calm her down by refuting every single point. I hoped by the end of our conversation that she felt better about possibly being alone.
“Where’s Nat?” I asked and led her to the kitchen for some herbal tea and to calm down even more.
“She’s at a friend’s place, but she should be home soon,” Mom said.
We sat at the table while the kettle was boiling, and I couldn’t resist asking her, “Why haven’t you ever told me anything about my dad?”
