“So… Mackenzie, George is telling me you started at Stonehurst this year. It must be hard to catch up at a new school after so much time away.”
George shoots her mom a look, and a wordless exchange indicates that I’ve been a topic of conversation in this house before. It’s on the tip of my tongue to say that kids sure can be monsters, but George is safe now that the biggest monster of them all is on her side.
“I’m managing. I’m working with a tutor, and my friend Noah is helping me.”
“Mom, are there any snacks?” George opens the fridge. I peer over her shoulder, noticing a lot of kale and microgreens.
“Sure. There are buckwheat muffins and activated cashew nut bites in the cupboard.” Anne-Maree slings her purse over her shoulder. “I’m off. I’ll be staying over at Paul’s tonight. There’s money on the counter for pizza – remember, Raphael’s does that great cauliflower crust you love. Call me if you have any problems.” She shoots me a look, as though she expects me to be a problem.
“We will. Love ya, Mom.” George leans up to kiss her mom’s cheek. A knife twists in my gut at their easy companionship. For the first time in a long time, I ached for my parents – for my mother’s kisses and my father’s firm smile when I did something that pleased him. I always thought being alone in the world makes me strong – just the way Daddy taught me. But I’m starting to wonder if loving people gives you something to fight for.
As soon as the door swings shut, George drags me into the living room and lifts the couch cushions to reveal a stack of non-organic, teeth-rotting snackage she stashed there. “My mom’s a health-food nut. But don’t worry – I got supplies. And I have a chocolate mud cake stashed under my bed. I promise it contains absolutely zero buckwheat.”
“You’re hilarious. And also my hero.” I unclip my purse and angle it toward her, showing her the bottle of port I spent way too much time choosing from the cellar. “I raided Daddy’s liquor cupboard. I figured he wouldn’t mind.”
“I’ll get the glasses.” George tosses me the remote. “You choose our movie.”
As George fills rainbow-colored tumblers with Howard Malloy’s forty-year-old port, I scroll through the selection on George’s hard-drive. Her tastes are predictably George – lots of horror films, music documentaries, and weird arthouse films mixed in with the Disney and Japanese anime. I dive into the horror section and choose something with lots of blood and gore. George comes back with drinks and a huge-ass chocolate cake wobbling on a stand, a knife sticking out the top. She sets down her goodies and flops down next to me.
“Excellent choice,” she beams as she sees my selection. “I don’t understand how people have movie nights and watchTitanicor whatever. It’s horror or nothing.”
“I know, right? Horror movies don’t get nearly enough credit. They contain lots of important lessons. Like never run through a creepy forest wearing only your nightgown.”
“And they teach kids the importance of researching arcane shit in libraries,” George adds. “My dad worked on this film, did you know that?”
“No way.”
“It was actually his big break in the industry. After this he hooked up with Damien Scott – you know, the director ofBloody Valentine Massacre– and his career started going places. I grew up watching horror films with Dad – a new one every Friday night. He once said the most unrealistic thing about horror films for millennials is that they always start with someone buying a house.”
I snort. “I started watching them because my real life was such a horror film, they were the only thing that felt real. You should see my room. My parents brought me a porcelain doll every year for my birthday and Christmas. It’s like a real horror film set. I can’t even sleep in that room anymore.”
“Hell yes.” George leans forward. “I want to see your creepy doll room. Did you remember, you and Cleo bloodied up one of your dolls and stuck it in my locker?”
I shake my head. “I don’t remember anything before my parents disappeared.”
“Right, the amnesia.”
“You know about that?”
“Eli said something about it.” She nods vigorously. “At the game.”
“You guys have been hanging out a lot lately.”
“Yeah, he’s great. I’m helping him with a school project.” Her eyes dart away for a moment – an involuntary movement exposing her lie. But I’m way ahead of her – she didn’t go to the Colosseum because of a school project.
I’m dying to ask her more about Eli, but I can’t figure out how. I can’t afford to blow it tonight. I need to build up to confronting her, so I change tack. “George, about me and Cleo…”
“I don’t really want to talk about it.” She trains her eyes on the screen.
“I understand. I’ve had the pleasure of making an enemy of Cleo this year. I can only imagine what the two of us were like when we hunted in a pack. It’s just that… my doctors say hearing about my past might help unlock memories, and I thought if I knew about memories with you in them…” I shrug.I’m a genius.“It’s dumb.”
“It’s not dumb.” But George hugs her knees to her chest, gripping a candy bar so tight the wrapper bursts with aPOP. “I guess… I met the two of you in seventh grade. I’d already changed schools twice because of bullying. Being the weird kid is great in movies but in real life it kinda sucks. On the first day of junior prep, Cleo heard my dad was a film producer, and I think she thought I could help her get her big break in showbiz. She invited me to sit with you at lunch, and then I came to her house after school. The three of us hung out all the time and I thought I’d finally made some real friends. But there was always this tension. You and Cleo were rich and you had all these fancy clothes and you just seemed so much older and wiser andcooler. I guess I didn’t know why you chose me, and so I always felt like the odd one out. Looking back, I think everything you guys said to me was kind of mocking me. But I didn’t notice at the time.
“Anyway, my dad had a movie premiere for one of his projects and I knew Cleo was interested in being a movie star so I thought she’d like to go. My parents were so happy I was making friends, they said I could bring you both along. So I got VIP tickets so we could sit behind the velvet rope with the movie stars and go to the afterparty and everything.
“The two of you spent hours getting ready. When you walked out of Cleo’s bedroom, you both looked at least eighteen, and I felt like a dumb little kid. You said when we got to the premiere you might not be able to sit with me because I was an embarrassment.”
I wince. “I was a real bitch, huh?”
