AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sam counts the money carefully. I watch him in the mirror. “You know what I wish?” he asks when he’s done.
“What?”
“That someone would convert my bed into a robot that would fight other bed robots to the death for me.”
That startles a laugh out of me. “That would be pretty awesome.”
A slow, shy smile spreads across his mouth. “And we could take bets on them. And be filthy rich.”
I lean my head against the frame of the stall, looking at the tile wall and the pattern of yellowed cracks there, and grin. “I take back anything I might have implied to the contrary. Sam, you are a genius.”
* * *
I’m not good at having friends. I mean, I can make myself useful to people. I can fit in. I get invited to parties and I can sit at any table I want in the cafeteria.
But actually trusting someone when they have nothing to gain from me just doesn’t make sense.
All friendships are negotiations of power.
Like, okay, Philip has this best friend, Anton. Anton is Lila’s cousin; he came down to Carney with her in the summers. Anton and Philip spent three heat-soaked months drinking whatever liquor they could get out of the locals and working on their cars.
Anton’s mother is Zacharov’s sister Eva, making him Zacharov’s closest living male relative. Anton made sure that Philip knew that if Philip wanted to work for the family, that meant he was going to be working for Anton. Their friendship was—and is—based on Philip’s acknowledgment that Anton’s in charge and Philip’s ready to follow his lead.
Anton didn’t like me because my friendship with Lila seemed to come without acknowledgment of his status.
One time, when we were thirteen, he walked into Lila’s grandmother’s kitchen. Lila and I were wrestling over some dumb thing, banging into the cabinets and laughing. He pulled me off her and knocked me to the floor.
“Apologize, you little pervert,” he said.
It was true that all the pushing and shoving was mostly an excuse to touch Lila, but I’d rather get kicked around than admit it.
“Stop it!” she screamed at Anton, grabbing for his gloved hands.
“Your father sent me down here to keep an eye on you,” he said. “He wouldn’t want you spending all your time with this deviant. He’s not even one of us.”
“You don’t tell me what to do,” Lila told him. “Ever.”
He looked back down at me. “How about I tell you what to do, Cassel? Get down on your knees. That’s how you’re supposed to act in front of a laborer princess.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Lila said stiffly. “Stand up.”
I was starting to rise when he kicked me in my shoulder. I fell back onto my knees.
“Stop it!” she yelled.
“Good,” he said. “Now why don’t you kiss her foot? You know you want to.”
“I said leave him alone, Anton,” said Lila. “Why do you have to be such a jerk?”
“Kiss her foot,” he said, “and I’ll let you up.” He was nineteen and huge. My shoulder hurt and my cheeks were already burning. I leaned forward and pressed my mouth to the top of Lila’s sandaled foot. We’d been swimming earlier that day; her skin tasted like salt.
She jerked her leg back. Anton laughed.
“You think you’re in charge already,” she said, her voice trembling. “You think Dad’s going to make you his heir, but I’m his daughter. Me. I’m his heir. And when I am the head of the Zacharov family, I won’t forget this.”
I stood up slowly and walked back to Grandad’s house.
She wouldn’t talk to me for weeks after, probably because I’d done what Anton told me instead of what she’d said. And Philip went on like nothing had happened. Like he’d already chosen who he cared more about, already chosen power over me.
