Page 61 of The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly

Still laughing, my friends and I load my laundry into bags. Layla and Jett gather all the pool noodles—stuffing a bunch of the broken ones into a trash can, which is sure to baffle someone when they come in to do laundry later.

“Good luck with the interview,” Layla says, giving me a hug as we leave. “Call me the minute it’s done.”

“I’ll be watching,” says Jett. “Just imagine you’re talking to me, so you’re not nervous.”

I wave to him, Layla, Alex, and Mags. I’m not sure I deserve friends as good as these, especially since I’m still lying to them. But, damn, I’m grateful to have them.

28

CHRIS IS AWAKE WHEN I GET TO THE HOSPITAL ON SATURDAY night. Mom heads to the bathroom to shower as soon as I hand her a bundle of clean clothes.

“I have a problem,” I announce when the bathroom door clicks shut behind Mom and the water turns on.

Chris raises an eyebrow and struggles to sit up. “What is the problem?”

“Don’t move, you lout,” I say affectionately as I arrange the pillows behind his head and lift the bed. “Your bones are broken.”

“But never my spirit,” he rasps weakly. He grins and some of part of the worry nesting inside me settles.

It’s a line from the Red Knight’s script at the Castle. Something we’ve practiced a hundred times. If Chris can make jokes, maybe all this isn’t so bad after all.

“One problem of many is that I don’t know how I’ll do this without you. Who’s going to convince the other current Knights to help us?” I pull the giant, pleather-covered armchair over to the side of his bed.

“We’ll figure that out.” Chris gives me a crooked smile. “How has the Knight squad been managing without me? What phase of the plan are you at?”

“Phase three, I think?” I exhale sharply. Then, in a rush, I tell Chris everything about our training in the laundromat, meeting Eddy, and going on the news with Bettina.

“Viking Eddy!” says Chris, with another smile. “Did you know he once paid a server to bring him twenty turkey legs and he ate all of them during the course of one show?”

“He had twelve when I waited on him last.”

Chris shakes his head. “That guy. He’s a legend among the Knights. Even Dalton likes him. We have a board in the Knights’ locker room that has a collection of his greatest feats.”

“You have a board? What is it, like classic locker room stuff? Tell me you don’t do that patriarchal nastiness.”

“Nah,” says Chris, blushing. “It’s record holders like Eddy Jackson—most turkey legs eaten in one sitting. And then people to watch out for, like Viviane, this rich, middle-aged lady who would do creepy stuff like throw panties into the arena. She’s the record holder for kissing the most Knights. She’d sneak up on us during a photo.”

“Ewwww. That’s harassment and not okay for anyone to do. Ever.”

“Exactly,” says Chris. “She’s been banned from the Castle, but we get lots of people who do similar stuff.”

My blood steams to think about it. Chris sees the look on my face and nods.

“Yeah, I’m hoping that the changes you’re making will help with things like that too. But back to our board. It’s not all bad. Like I said, Eddy’s on there. And then there’s Owen, this little kid who came to every show for an entire month, as part of his Make-A-Wish program.” Chris’s voice trails off and I can’t bring myself to ask what happened to Owen.

“That’s a lot of ground to cover on one board.”

Chris yawns as he nods. “I’ll show you when you’re a Knight.”

“Hey, I brought you something.” I pull the still-intact-through-some-miracle LEGO Sears Tower from my bag.

Chris reaches out for it, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “You’re so weird. What did you bring this for?”

“It’s a reminder of your dreams, stupid. Remember you want to be an architect?”

“Your eloquence is dazzling,” says Chris, smiling. “But thank you. I’d almost forgotten about this.”

“It’s here to remind you that you can do other stuff, you know, after the Castle. Even if you don’t get to ride again.”