“He can’t keep getting away with this,” Jack retorted and disappeared out of the room after him.
“You just have to ignore him,” Mae purred warmly in my ear. She begun braiding my hair, something my own mother had never done, and tried to comfort me. “He’s just that way.”
“I just don’t understand.” Confused, hurt tears were stinging my eyes, and I wished they would go away. I thought about wiping at them, but Ezra was staring at me, and I thought it would only make my crying more obvious.
“What, love?” Mae asked softly, pushing stray strands of hair out of my face.
“Why he hates me so much,” I mumbled softly.
“He doesn’t hate you,” Ezra told me in his perfect, confident voice. “He just wishes he did.”
I know that was meant to comfort me, but I don’t really know how that made things better. Wanting to hate me felt almost worse. It was a choice he was trying to make.
“I need to use the restroom,” I announced thickly. I wouldn’t be able to fight the tears much longer, and if I was going to cry, I’d rather do it in the privacy of the bathroom. I stood up quickly, and Mae’s hands reluctantly fell away.
“Do you remember where it’s at?” Mae started rising to show me where it was at, but I nodded first.
“I’ll be right back.” I dashed out of the room as fast as I could without making it obvious that I was running away to cry.
On my way to the bathroom, I had to go past the stairs, but that was as far as I made it. Peter’s smooth voice stopped me sharply. Hidden at the bottom of the steps, I could hear them upstairs in Peter’s room. He was talking to Jack, and he didn’t sound angry like he did in the living room. In fact, he sounded more sad than anything else.
“I’m not trying to be mean to her,” Peter was saying, sounding small and apologetic.
“But you are! You should’ve seen how terrified she was to come over here, because of you!” Jack, on the other hand, definitely was angry. I winced at the sound of him confessing my embarrassing secrets, but I stayed longer to listen to their argument. Maybe then I could figure out why Peter wanted to hate me.
“Maybe she shouldn’t come back then.” He was saying it reasonably, like he was only thinking of what was best for me, not because he didn’t want me around.
“You’re such an ass,” Jack growled. “I like her, Ezra likes her, Mae’s practically in love with her. She’s going to be around. I don’t know why you’re fighting everything so much.”
“None of you understand, okay?” Peter sounded like he was on the verge of tears, and his voice had gotten sharper. “Ezra has Mae, and you’re too young.
And this is like a holiday for Mae! She’s always wanted a daughter.”
“Look, it doesn’t matter!” Jack had grown exasperated. “She’s going to be around, and you’re just gonna have to find a way to deal with it. Without hurting her.”
“You know I don’t want to hurt her.” Peter had gotten so quiet, I could barely hear him, but his voice was unmistakably sincere. He truly didn’t want to hurt me, or even hate me. So then why did he?
“Yeah, I do!” Jack snapped. “So knock it off!”
“Okay!” Peter relented.
The conversation appeared to be winding to a close and I could hear footsteps getting closer to the steps. I couldn’t have them catching me eavesdropping, so I ran to the bathroom. At least I felt less like crying now, even though I felt even more confused about what was going on. They were a family (that weren’t really a family) that had paranormal abilities (but they weren’t explained) and they all adored me (for some unknown reason), except for Peter who wanted to hate me (but didn’t hate me).
When I came out of the bathroom, both Peter and Jack had returned to the living room. Peter remained cordial but distant. Jack played with the dog and tried to get everyone involved in some other video game. Ezra continued to ask me questions about myself, ranging from what my mother did to what television shows I liked the best, and Mae seemed contented to play with my hair for the rest of her life.
It was after eleven o’clock when Jack declared that we should get going.
Even with the anxiety, the night had passed amazingly fast. They all walked us to the garage door, even Matilda, making me once again feel self-conscious.
They were constantly putting me in the center of the attention, when they were all far more beautiful and fascinating than I could ever dream of being. Mae hugged me tightly to her, and she looked almost like she was going to cry because I was leaving.
“You will come back, won’t you?” Mae asked plaintively. Her hands were still on my arms, squeezing them a little too tightly, and Ezra put his arm around her waist, gently pulling her back from me.
“We really enjoy having you over,” Ezra said, managing a much less frantic invite than his wife.
“Oh, she’ll be back,” Jack answered for me, grinning broadly.
Peter, who had been standing off to the side, took a step closer to me, and his piercing green eyes met mine. For one irrational, euphoric second, I thought he might kiss me, but he stayed frozen several feet from me. Then, very softly, but so strong that it was definitely a command, he said, “Come back.”
“Okay,” I nodded. He must’ve established his human interaction quota with that, because then he turned and walked out of the room. I regained some sense of composure and forced a smile at Mae and Ezra. “I’ll be back. I promise.”
“We’ll see you soon then,” Ezra smiled at me. Mae looked as if she was going to explode with glee, and Ezra kept his arm firmly placed around her to stop that from happening.
“I told you Ezra would like you,” Jack said when we were in the garage. We were heading down to his Jeep, and I had a long tirade of questions to ask him, so I kept my mouth shut until we were safely inside. I didn’t want my thoughts interrupted at all. “Do you disagree?”
“I do not,” I replied, then hopped into the Jeep and waited for him. He had barely gotten in when I turned full on to face him. “Okay. What the hell does your family want with me?”
“What do you mean?” Jack asked carefully. He thought he knew what I meant, but he didn’t want to accidentally give away too much.
“You’re all fawning all over me, like I’m a shiny gem or something.” That wasn’t the right way to say it exactly, because I felt like they genuinely liked me.
“I don’t know how to answer that.” He started the Jeep and backed out of the garage.
“Jack! I have a right to know what exactly you’re doing with me!” My voice sounded shriller than I had meant it to, but some small part of me was actually afraid. They were powerful and beautiful and they wanted me. It was flattering, but it was terrifying.
“No, I know. I’ll answer you. Just give me a minute to think about it.” The radio was still playing Smashing Pumpkins, and he turned it down a little as we started the drive home. I knew we only had a few minutes until we got there, so I didn’t have much time to spare.
“You guys aren’t really brothers are you? I mean, not in the blood relative sense.” It was more of a statement, but Jack laughed and shook his head.
“You’re trying to tell me that you all have the same parents?”
“No, we don’t,” Jack admitted, still chuckling over my question.
“You’re more like a fraternity or something?” I pressed.
“Kind of, but more than that.” He was vague, as usual, and I sighed.
“Jack, what’s going on?” I asked him earnestly. “What is all of this? Why are you guys so different? And why do you think I’m special?”
“Do you trust me?” He looked gravely at me.
“Yeah, you know I do.” My heart raced. He was finally going to tell me something.
“Okay. Then… I will tell you, very soon. But you just have to wait a little bit longer.”
“Why? What’s going to happen in a little bit longer?” I demanded to know.