I look up. The four of them sit stooped over the little living room coffee table, playing cards and drinking.
“No. What?”
“Why don’t you come play with us?”
“I don’t know how to play,” I say, because the last place on earth I want to be is with them. I take my phone and go into the kitchen, because it’s the only place in the cottage where no one is. I hunch over the ugly green countertops with my back to them, rocking in place, being a sadomasochist, not deleting the picture Mae and Cass posted, but reading the comments as they come in, believing them.
You should do everyone a favor and KYS.
Loser.
Lame.
No one likes you.
My mind is all over the place, though the last thing I’m thinking about is Uncle Elliott.
The problem is that he’s still thinking about me.
He comes up from behind. “Listen,” he says, the word a sharp, hissing sound like from a snake. I turn to find him standing in the kitchen with me, in the open doorway, so that there’s only one way out and it’s past him.
“What do you want?” I snap, wanting more than anything to be alone.
He throws a look back over his shoulder. When he brings his eyes back to mine, he’s on edge, talking under his breath, his words coming out fast. “Can we just call a truce?”
“Hey, Elliott. Can you grab me another beer while you’re in there?” Nolan shouts out from the living room.
Uncle Elliott calls back, “Sure. Corona or Spotted Cow?” his voice all of a sudden relaxed, like he’s unagitated, except for the fact that his eyes never let go of mine.
“What do you say, Reese?” Uncle Elliott goes on, coming closer to me, lowering his voice again. “Can we pretend like it never happened?”
And I would just say yes. Because it’s not like it matters. What happened between Daniel and me is done. I don’t ever want to see him again, for as long as I live. I don’t actually care what Uncle Elliott tells Emily and Nolan. So what if I get grounded. Nothing matters anymore.
“Sure.”
“Say it,” he says.
“Say what?” I ask.
There’s a tightness on his face and around his eyes. He blinks a lot, dragging his hand through his hair before looking back over his shoulder and then again at me as he says, leaning in, “Say you won’t tell those lies about me. Promise me, Reese. On your life.”
“On your life,” I mock, not laughing. I shrug him off. “I said yeah. Besides, it’s not that big of a deal.”
“It is that big of a deal. Do you have any idea what they do to sex offenders?”
I ask, “If you didn’t do anything, then what do you have to be so worried about?”
“Just promise me, Reese. Say you won’t say anything.”
“I—” I start to say, but then Nolan appears all of a sudden and slaps Uncle Elliott hard on the back. Elliott spins around.
“Never mind,” Nolan says, “I’ll get it myself.” Elliott’s face is blank. “The beer. Don’t tell me you forgot already.” Nolan rolls his eyes, goes to the fridge for his own beer, turns back. “What’s this very clandestine conversation about?” he asks, teasing, his eyes going between Uncle Elliott’s and mine.
“Why don’t you tell him,” I say.
I take the opportunity to make my escape. I cross the room, go to sit in the blue velvet recliner alone, pulling my legs into me, finally deleting the picture Mae and Cass posted from my Instagram. It’s gone, but it’s not so easy to forget.
You should do everyone a favor and KYS. Loser.
