Oh, no.
Despite not being able to see anything in the dark, the walls started closing in on me. My throat tightened and breathing suddenly felt like the air was too thick to inhale.
I knocked on the door, hoping that Logan might still be within hearing distance. There was nothing. Bastian and Brooks were down at the big gym, Aiden was in his den of computers that he hadn’t yet moved into the apartment, and I had no idea where Theo was after I left him in the kitchen.
My knocking turned into pounding. So hard that my hand hurt. Nothing came out when I tried to speak or scream. Just the barely-there wordpleasethat couldn’t be heard above my hands pounding on the wood.
Maybe he knew I was in here. Maybe this is what they wanted all along?
I shook my head. No. That wasn’t true. This was an accident. It was an accident.
Cecil isn’t here and no one else wants to hear your voice. So shutthe fuckup and I’ll let you out when everyone’s gone.
The taste of plastic filled my mouth. Adhesive. Gummy and sickly. I gagged, unable to stop it. “Please.”
Another day, another party in the living room I wasn’t allowed to go to. Not arealparty. Val wasn’t fun enough for that. A party where she sold all her bullshit products.
With the number of parties she held, she was either really good at it, or very very bad. Kinda hoped for the second one.
My father’s pack wasweird. I’d never met anyone like them. Paige was sweet, but she barely spoke to anyone. Matt was okay, usually, but he sided with Val on everything, so he didn’t like me. Val was the bitch. She hated me, and there was no reason for it.
I did everything I could to stay under the radar while Dad wasn’t home. But I was also like… a human? I couldn’t just sink into the floor and disappear. Even if she wished I would.
My feet were silent on the stairs. I memorized all the creaks and could probably walk these stairs quietly while blindfolded. The most dangerous part of my mission was next. I had to walk past the doorway to the living room.
Ineverwent in there during a party. Learned that lesson. Now I simply made myself as invisible as possible. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn’t. Slowly, I walked past, not even breathing.
Okay. I was past the door. That was good. Everyone was looking at sex toys and lube. Val thought I didn’t know some of what she sold, but I did. The parties with the sex stuff always sold the best and put her in a good mood. I directed my thoughts at the guests.Buy everything, please!
I grabbed a can of soup and used the microwave to heat it up. Quick and easy. Eat it here and then sneak back to my bedroom. My homework wasn’t quite finished. The soup popped in the microwave. It happened sometimes, but not too bad, sound-wise. Not much I could do about it.
Humming softly to myself, I grabbed a spoon and began to eat.
Laughter rose in the other room, followed by Val’s voice. “I’ll be right back. Take your time looking.”
She and Matt came into the kitchen, her eyes full of wrath. I made a mental note to usewrathmore often. It was a good word.
“I thought we talked about this, Trinity.”
I stared at her. “About what?”
“About you being here during my parties.”
“I’m not. I’m in the kitchen.”
“And I don’t want you anywhere. I don’t want youseen. How do you think it makes me look if I just have a child running around?” Her voice turned into a whisper-scream.
I shrugged. “Like I live here?”
“No more coming downstairs during parties. Ever. We can hear you in there while you bang around in here. It’s distracting and unprofessional. You’re a teenager now. You should know better.”
Anger and hurt seared through me. “I know that you don’t like me, but you can’t just act like I don’t exist. I’m a person, and I live here. I deserve to be able to use the house and make myself some food. Especially since I’m not bothering you and I didn’t doanybanging.”
“Wecanhear you, Rin,” Matt said. “Val isn’t wrong. A big pop from the microwave, the sound of the chair dragging across the floor.”
“Of course she’s not ‘wrong’ to you. Because I don’t think I’ve ever seen you disagree with herever.”
Val pinched the bridge of her nose. “Go. Upstairs.”
