“Whether we like it or not, he is on our team. Sometimes, people have to suck up their displeasure and get things over with. Do you think I like being around Dad after all he’s put us through?” She scoffs. “No one likes Dad anymore, Leonidas, but we deal with him because we have to!” Her chest rises up and down rapidly after her confession.
Swallowing hard, I nod at her. “Fine,” I mutter, twirling a pen between my fingers. I see how me skipping team meetings can be frustrating, so I’ll try to do better.
Key word:try.
Amelia smiles. “Thank you. We all appreciate it.” I watch as she cuddles into my bed beside Elijah. “Hey, I meant to ask, why did you come home so grumpy yesterday? You nearly took down the door when you slammed it shut.”
Shit, I should have known she would notice. Amelia’s practically in everyone’s head. My body tenses, which I hope she doesn’t notice. It’s hard to act completely normal when my brain goes straight to dirty thoughts.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was completely fine.”
She gives me a weird look but then glances out of my window when a bark catches both of our attention. Pulling the curtains back, we both gaze at Trinity below. She’s holding a leash tightly in her fist. I almost smile when I see her cooing down at her squirrel of a dog. How can you call that thing a dog? It’s so small and dinky. Now, call a pit bull a dog, and I’ll believe you.
“It blows my mind every day that she doesn’t know who we are,” Amelia whispers, her eyes following Trinity’s form from where she now sits on the bed.
I found it hard to believe at first. I thought she was playing with us, like many have before. Several people have pretended they didn’t know who we were. They tried to hang out with us, make us take them out and spoil them. It never works, but they try so hard that it makes me want to laugh. I’m not stupid.
“Don’t you think we should tell her before she finds out for herself? I feel deep down in my gut, Leonidas, that this isn’t a good idea. She’s going to get hurt badly.”
I shake my head, still in denial. “She doesn’t listen to music or even leave her house. She’s the one person who hasn’t used us for money. I love feeling normal for once, Amelia, don’t you agree? For once, we can be ourselves without putting a mask on.”
Amelia drops the curtains back in place and sits on my desk, facing me. “She’ll hate us. Trinity has such a big heart, and we’re taking advantage of that.”
“We’re not here forever. Once we leave, we’ll probably never see her again. Why ruin this?”
“I hate lying. And speak for yourself. I hope we keep in contact with her after going back to LA.”
I point out, “We aren’t lying if we never told her anything in the first place.”
It’s true. How are we lying if she’s never even suspected it? To lie, you need to actually tell someone something. It’d be different if she asked and we said no. So, why ruin something good when we don’t have to?
“She’s my friend. I really don’t want to lie to her,” my sister pleads. She shakes my shoulder and pouts at me.
“No, we won’t tell her,” I demand. “I don’t want her to know.”
Huffing, she rolls her eyes at me. “You like her.”
I twist my head toward her and scoff. I don’t like Trinity. I just want to fuck her. There’s a difference.
“I see the way you look at her. Whenever she’s around, your eyes don’t leave her.”
She’s lying. I don’t like that girl, not at all.
“I like her ass,” I grunt out, resulting in her punching my stomach, making me hunch over in pain at the sudden stabbing feeling.
All those years of teaching her how to punch have really paid off. But I won’t admit that to her face.
Getting up from my desk, she gives me one last pointed look. “I’ve expressed my concern for keeping our identity a secret from her many times. This is a bad idea. Leonidas, if she gets heartbroken by the end of this, it’ll be your fault.”
She leaves my room with the last word, and I slouch in my seat in defeat.
My head is a mess of thoughts that all scream at me at once.How can I hurt a girl who acts like she has no soul to hurt in the first place?
* * *
My dad’s ugly face pops onto the screen. I frown, and Elijah kicks me under the table. I kick him just as hard, and he flinches and looks at me with shock.
What? You kicked me first.
