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“Mom, I love Rose. I know that things were rough at first, but you have no idea what she means to me. She’s amazing, she’s everything, and I wanted to bring her here for you to see that.” How he could stand up to his mom like this blew my mind. She terrified me and was now staring at Brett like she had never seen anything she hated more in her life.
“For me to see what? That you’re hanging out with this…this gutter rat?” She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow at me as she looked me up and down. “She even dresses like a slut, just like her mom.”
I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand. Even though I knew that I was just drawing more attention to myself, I couldn’t believe that she would say that to me. She and my mom had been…well, not exactlyfriends, but certainly on better terms than this.
“You should know better than to bring this trash to my house, Brett. After all I’ve done for you. You came to me at the beginning of last year freaking out, and what did I do? I went to the council for you!” Her voice was getting louder and louder, and I looked around, noticing that the gardeners had made themselves scarce.
I didn’t blame them. She was still gripping her clippers like they were the only things keeping her sane, but the more I looked at her, the more I realized that she was walking a very fine line between sanity and going crazy, and Brett and I may have just pushed her over the edge without even meaning to.
“You can’t be serious, Mom. Think about what you’re saying.” I glanced up at Brett, surprised to see that he was looking a little pale. “This needs to end. Rose doesn’t deserve what’s been going on at school, and you’re the only person I know who can possibly stop it. I need you to put an end to it, Mom, please.”
She laughed, a strangled sound that made the hair on my arms stand on end. “End this?”
There was a silence between us as she chuckled to herself, but then she turned to me, gesturing at me with the clippers. I wanted to take a step back, but that would mean leaving Brett alone to face his crazy mother, and I wasn’t willing to do that.
“Mrs. Cox,” I began, wanting to try to connect with her in some way. I thought that if I could only remind her of what it was like when we were younger and living next to each other then this would all work out. She’d snap back to her sense and we wouldn’t have to worry about the crazy look in her eyes.
“I don’t want my name in your whorish mouth.” Her voice was cold, but at least she wasn’t pointing at me with the clippers any longer. “You need to leave, Rose. I can’t help you. As soon as Brett came to me and I went to the council with the case then I lost all control over what was going to happen.”
“I know that you can stop it.” Brett sounded so sure of himself that, for just a second, I felt a surge of hope. If his mother really could stop it then I wouldn’t care if she hated me. I just needed her to make everything at Taylor Prep calm down so that I could enjoy my senior year and my time with the rogues.
Slowly she shook her head. When she spoke, it was obvious that she was talking to her son, even though she was looking right at me. “I can’t stop things. Once the council has decided on something then there is no going back. I told you that, Brett, and you assured me that you were willing to do this. You knew that there were risks.”
“I didn’t know that there wasn’t any way out!” Brett’s voice sounded strained. His jaw was tight and I could see the muscle twitching in it as he tried to keep his calm, but he was failing. “You didn’t tell me that once we started things that it would be impossible to stop them. I thought…I thought that you could just…stop it.” He dropped his head down and rubbed his eyes with his free hand.
“Brett, it’s okay. I’ve made it this far, and I’m not going to back out now, no matter what they want to do to me.” Squeezing his hand, I hoped that he would look at him, but he just wiped away his tears and stared at his mother again.
“Hear that, mom? She’s not going to give up. So, what does the council do in that case, huh? When the person refuses to leave because it’s the right thing to do? What will you guys do now? Look at her, don’t you think that she’s been through enough?”
Mrs. Cox dropped her clippers and reached for her son, but Brett stepped back out of her reach, shaking his head at her. “Brett, the council doesn’t stop. Taylor Prep values its reputation and if Rose tries to stay then they will only work harder to get her to leave or someone is going to have to pay the price of her staying.” She glanced at me, and for the first time, I thought that I saw a hint of compassion in her eyes. “They rely on order, you know.”
A flash of inspiration hit. “From order comes freedom.” The Latin motto at the school suddenly hit me. Even though I wasn’t entirely sure of what she was saying, I was beginning to get an idea.
She nodded. “I’m sorry, Rose.” Her voice was so quiet that I had to lean forward to hear her. It was almost like she was afraid of someone listening in and wanted to keep her voice from traveling, but we were alone, so I wasn’t sure who she was afraid of hearing her. “Once the council is involved there’s really nothing that can be done.”
The change in her behavior was so striking that my jaw dropped open. Glancing back and forth between her and Brett, I tried to figure out what was happening. Did she hate me? Or did she just really love her son?
She glanced around us and then straightened back up. “You two may sleep here tonight because it’s getting late, but then you have to leave in the morning, do you understand?” She spoke loudly enough for her voice to carry, which I thought was strange. It wasn’t like there was anyone around listening, right?
But then why had she gotten so quiet when she leaned closer to talk to me?
Brett scowled at her, but I nodded. “Thank you.” I wasn’t sure what was going on, but the more time we spent with her in the garden, the more I began to think that something was wrong.
“But you can’t sleep in the house. No whores allowed.” She looked at Brett and then at me before continuing. “There’s a bed in the guest cottage where you two may stay. I’ll make sure to send out dinner in an hour or so to keep you from starving, but that’s all you can expect, do you understand? Now, go, before I change my mind.”
Brett’s hand was sweaty in mine, but I squeezed it hard and pulled him away from his mom. He looked shocked, like he couldn’t understand what was happening.
Chapter 14
“Wait. This is the guest cottage? Seriously? The thing’s bigger than my house!” Brett had opened the door and I was standing in the middle of the kitchen, my jaw practically on the floor. “Did you know that in some countries there are entire extended families that live in a place this size? I’m talking cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents…” I started to laugh and Brett walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“We don’t have to stay here if you’re uncomfortable with how big it is.”
Laughing, I snuggled back into his arms. “No! It’s great! I’m just…I’m a little surprised that your mom upgraded this much. Do you remember how small your house was when you lived next to us? Your mom told me once that she could plug in the vacuum and clean the entire thing without having to switch outlets. But this? This is…huge.”
It was, and it was decorated just as gorgeously as the main house. There was incredible art on the wall, some of it behind glass so that nobody could touch it. The sofa and love seat in the living room were leather, and when Brett noticed me looking for a TV, he sighed and pushed a button on the wall. The TV descended from a slot in the ceiling that I hadn’t noticed.
Even though I hadn’t enjoyed the warm welcome that I had kinda wished I would receive, this place was so amazing that it was hard for me to be really mad. If nothing else, it would give us a nice place to stay away from Taylor Prep for the night and would also allow us some privacy to talk about his mom and how weird she was acting in the garden.
