I was eager to get away from her and agreed to it, ready to go. New plan. New hope. Maybe the job wasn’t going to be for me, but I’d pretend to babysit for someone. Could the guys figure out a way to do this? Then there was school, and all those activities. I backed up a few steps, ready to make whatever calendar she wished.
“One more thing,” she said.
I waited, quiet and listening.
She got close enough that the acidic scent of her perfume made me want to cough. Her tone dropped, almost whispering. “Your sister should probably be more included with your activities. Her grades aren’t the best, and she’s depressed. Jimmy also may need help fitting in at school. Help me with this where possible.”
Marie? Jimmy? My lips twitched, hesitating. “I’m not sure how I can help.”
“When I think of something, I’ll say so,” she said. “But you’re clearly the social butterfly here.”
I tried not to choke. Me?
She ignored the noise I made. “Just promise to help where you can. I want your father to see we can work together. Things should calm down once he sees we all get along and we’re on the same page. It’ll get the stress off his shoulders.”
I nodded without thinking, agreeing, and yet couldn’t help feeling stunned at how foreign this conversation was to me.
It wasn’t bad...and almost pleasant. She seemed to be genuinely trying to help. Marie could use some help. Jimmy needed help making friends? Not that I could help them be social...
However, with everything else, Carol seemed strict, and a bit of a clean fanatic. I might want out, but the longer I stayed, the more I doubted leaving was better for everyone around me.
In the Dark
––––––––
When I returned upstairs, Jimmy was in the bathroom taking a shower. The door to my bedroom was open. Cardboard boxes sat neatly against one of the walls. One was open, with neatly folded boy clothes stacked inside. They were similar to what Jimmy had worn earlier: sport shorts and tank shirts, with a few Tshirts and pairs of jeans mixed in. I thought of digging for more information, but I didn’t want to snoop too far.
He didn’t seem dangerous and he wasn’t really my problem. The last thing I needed was for him to catch me or notice I had gone through his things and spur some mistrust.
I listened for signs of Marie. No footsteps. No sounds at all. Was she sleeping?
It was almost eight thirty. I wondered if Carol would actually be up here to inspect the room at any moment. I went to the attic and found it partially lit by a lamp in the corner opposite the door. The view deeper into the room was still blocked by the wardrobe.
I closed the door behind me and crawled around. My things were neatly arranged, as best they could be. The air had the light scent of baking soda, I supposed to make it smell cleaner. I couldn’t picture how to tidy the space further.
North was on the cot, on his back. He wore black jeans and a black sweatshirt and was barefoot. His jet-black hair was smoothed back, with a single lock crossing in front of his forehead, making his hard face look devilish. His lips were pressed together. I was surprised he was here and not Gabriel, or at least someone like Luke, who was usually quieter about getting up here.
Then I remembered he didn’t seem to have a problem climbing a roof. He’d done it on this house before.
His eyes were glued to a tablet that was displaying video feed of the laundry room. “I couldn’t hear some of what she said,” he whispered, although his deeper voice carried.
I sat on the floor near the cot, relaying everything I could remember. He kept watching the tablet, even after I finished. He was silent for so long that I inched closer, trying to see what he was seeing: keeping an eye on Carol. “So I guess I can go to Jessica’s... Kota’s... um, but not keep the job.”
“You’ve got two weeks, at least,” he said.
“She wants Jimmy and Marie to be included in some things. She wants me to agree to help her. She’s...doing so much. She’s changing things. Is this bad? Should I back off?”
He sighed and put the tablet down on his stomach to look at me. His lips parted quickly, but then he focused on my face and paused. After a moment, he held his hand out, palm up, in offering. “Come here.”
I crawled on my knees toward him, until his arm wrapped around my waist and I realized he wanted me on the cot with him. I eased myself in beside him. He encouraged my head to nestle on his chest, picking up his knees so he could position the tablet to keep an eye on it.
He wrapped one arm around my body as best as he could in the small space. He pressed his lips to the top of my head, through my hair, breathing in. “Baby, I don’t know what’s going to happen at this point. She’s acting nicer than I’ve heard she was.”
“How?”
“Reports from her old job said she was very strict. People hated her. I wish I could say trust her, but we can’t. She told you flat out to quit a job without asking how you felt about it. She just did it in a nice voice.”
That was true. It hadn’t registered with me since I didn’t consider it a real job. I was hoping somehow, despite my having to be back, she was being nice and trying to help. “Shouldn’t I stay on her good side?”
“Yeah, just don’t go so far as to tell her anything. She may seem nice, but she’d use whatever information she can get to her advantage. See how fast she moved here? Promise of a bigger house, more money from selling her old house, didn’t hesitate to consider if your dad even really wanted this. I doubt he’d say yes willingly.”
I couldn’t imagine why he’d ever agreed. He was so quiet at dinner.
But he wasn’t arguing...because things were going how he wanted them to? Had he agreed to it because he thought having Carol around would fix things?
I sighed against his chest, breathing in musk and soap. He must have showered before coming over, because we’d gotten here straight from camp and he didn’t smell anything like the outdoors. I snuggled into him. “He’s not saying anything. I can’t tell if he is okay with this. I can’t imagine why...”
He nuzzled his nose against my scalp. His lips puckered slowly against my head in a light kiss, and then he pressed his cheek against the spot. “We’ll try to find out if there’s a risk if Carol finds out the truth about you. Maybe we can use it to our advantage to get you out of here, but goddamn, this is going to cost a lot of favors.”
“Will it really? I asked the Academy council not to let it cost you any more favors when it came to me.”
“It isn’t about you anymore. Or at least not just you. Your sister. Jimmy. Carol. Your father. Your stepmother. I can’t imagine how it will work with this new situation. We can’t ask the Academy to foot the bill for everything. There’s a lot more parts involved here. More people.”
“What is the plan?”