“You won’t. And you wouldn’t have this time if you’d just listened to me.”
“But if I do, you basically get kicked out of school.” Which means no joining the League, which is, like, his whole future.
“So don’t break the rules.” He makes that sound so simple.
“Yeah, but—”
“No buts. You’re my friend, and we were owning that class. We make a good team. You messing up once doesn’t change that, so just shut up about it.”
“But—”
“Seriously, X. I mean it. It’s not like you’re going to make the same mistake. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Except it wasn’t a mistake. I mean, assuming the situation had been real, like we thought it was. And that was a rule I actually knew about. What happens when I break one on accident?
But Riley’s smiling at me like he doesn’t care that I screwed up, because we really do make a good team. I messed up and got him in trouble, and he’s still my friend, and he still wants to work with me. So I smile back and say, “Yeah, you’re right. Everything’s going to be fine.” Even if I don’t really believe it.
“Damien.” Gordon walks into the living room later that evening, waving a brochure. Only walks might not be the right word. It’s more like he’s trying not to stomp.
I stop doing my homework and set down my binder next to me on the couch, giving him my full attention. “What’s wrong, Dad? You sound like something’s bothering you.”
He scowls. “I found this in my desk.”
“Oh?” I say that all innocent, like I don’t know what he’s talking about. And no, it’s not the same brochure I found. It’s not the one about sending superpowered kids to some camp that’s not-so-secretly an asylum.
“Did you make this?” He holds the brochure out to me. It’s glossy, full color—really professional looking. So I’m not sure why he thinks I made it. Well, other than the picture of him I used for the photo on the front.
In the picture, he’s standing there in his Crimson Flash outfit, with his red cape billowing out behind him. On the top of the brochure, it says, If you’ve got severe bowel problems made worse by your superpowers, don’t worry—you’re not alone. And at the Super Sanitarium, we’re here to help.
I raise an eyebrow at him. “I think you need to be more selective about which companies you agree to be a spokesperson for. Unless you really do have severe bowel problems. I mean, don’t sell people false hope.”
He glares at me. I can hear his teeth grinding. “Let me put it another way. I know you made this brochure. Now I want to know why.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Damien.”
“I just hope you’re getting the help you need at this place.”
He takes a deep breath. “Is this because of the... If you have a problem, you need to come to me and talk about it. Instead of attempting to punish me for it.”
Attempting? “So you’re saying you don’t feel like you’ve learned your lesson?” I pick up my binder and write that down, shaking my head.
“No. That’s not what I...” He clears his throat. “You found the brochure I brought home, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. Thanks for coming to me when you had a problem. Instead of, you know, going behind my back and making plans to have me committed.”
He sighs and sits next to me. “I was only thinking about it.”
“What?!”
“About suggesting therapy. That’s all. I thought it might help.”
“Help with what?”
He looks away. “To help you make better decisions for yourself.”
If anyone here needs to make better decisions for themselves, he just proved it’s him. “I don’t need help making decisions. But even if I did, aren’t you supposed to teach me that? As a parent, I mean. I guess parenting’s just not for you, huh?”
“My job is to make sure you learn how to make the right choices, and if I can’t get through to you about it, then that means finding another way.”
“Okay, then there’s no reason to send me to that place, because, lucky for you, I already am making the right choices. Your job is pretty much done.” When he just sits there, scowling at me, I add, “You should be happy about that.”
“Doing what’s right isn’t about doing whatever you want, regardless of the consequences.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You broke the rules, on purpose. You attacked an unarmed man. And you don’t think there was anything wrong with that. Now, I understand wanting to protect those kids, but you need to learn when it’s okay to use your power and when it’s not.”
“Let me guess. The times when I’m supposed to use it are... never?”
“You shouldn’t think it’s okay to use it on people.”
Wow. He’s seriously telling me what I should think? And he makes it sound like I go around zapping everyone I see. “Uh-huh. And before you say you think I’m crazy and need to take a semester off to ‘rediscover myself’ in group therapy, let me ask you this. Do you want the whole city to see that brochure with you on the cover? Because don’t think that’s my only copy.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy. And I’m not sending you to therapy.”
Good, because high-quality color prints don’t come cheap. “Too expensive?”
“It wasn’t the right choice. I want to get through to you, but I realize replacing one institution with another and inflicting more rules on you isn’t the way to do it.”
“And you were afraid I’d zap them all and you wouldn’t get a refund when I got kicked out. It’s okay—you can admit it.”
He shakes his head, then claps me on the shoulder before getting up. “Just come to me next time you have a problem, all right? And, please, consider your decisions before you act on them. Villainy might be about doing whatever you want, but being a hero is about following the rules.”
Chapter 5
I GET ONE OF Mom’s guests to take a picture of me and Zach under all the sparkling icicle lights and real boughs of holly, in front of a ten-foot-tall Christmas tree at the wedding. We’re both wearing black tuxes with green accents. Just like Mom wanted, since all the guests are supposed to dress up in red and green for her perfect Christmas wedding.
“I’m Marianna’s son,” I tell the wedding guest as she hands me my phone back. She’s got gray hair and a red velvety dress that makes her look kind of like a Christmas stocking. I think she’s one of Taylor’s aunts, though I don’t know which one.
“Her son?” she says, glancing across the room at where my mom is pretending to dance with Xavier, as if that will somehow confirm what I’m saying.
“Her other son. You might have seen me on the news. And this is my good friend, Zach.”
“His hero friend,” Zach adds, holding out his hand to shake with her.
She doesn’t take it. Her eyes dart to his thumb, even though the lighting in here is too dim to actually tell whether he has an H or not.
“He’s only fifteen,” I tell her, meaning he’s not old enough to have his letter yet. “I like them young.”
“Oh. That’s...” She looks around, maybe hoping to spot someone she knows so she can get away. “I really have to... go. But it was very, um, nice meeting you.”
“Actually,” I say, before she can run off, “can you do me a favor? Another one, I mean. Can you tell my mom you saw us here? I’m not allowed to talk to her.”
Her forehead wrinkles and her mouth drops open a little. Instead of answering me, she acts like she didn’t hear and disappears off into the crowd.
The lighting in the picture she took of me and Zach isn’t great, but you can definitely tell it’s us. I post it to Facebook and write, On another date with your boyfriend, tagging Amelia so I’m sure she’ll see it.
“You didn’t tell me you had another brother,” Zach says. He means besides Alex.
That’s because I wish he didn’t exist. I shrug. “He’s the all-villain son Mom wish
ed she’d had instead of me. She didn’t even get pregnant with him until after she kicked me out, but she fed him some growth formula she invented, so now he’s way older than he should be. It’s like she just can’t wait to replace me. We... don’t exactly get along.”
“Oh.” Zach chews his lip, thinking that over.
“Uh-oh.” I catch sight of Mom making her way over here. The bright red hair and the huge white dress are kind of a giveaway. “That’s my mom. You know what to do.” I glance around, but Zach’s already gone invisible. He and Riley both have the same power, and most of the time it seems pretty lame, but once in a while it comes in handy.
“Damien.” Mom has this big fake smile plastered all over her face, and she says my name through gritted teeth. Her hair is done up in this twisty shape on top of her head, with some curly strands left loose to hang next to her face. Her dress is stark white and has tons of tiny, sparkly snowflake beads sewn onto it. She’s left Xavier behind to come talk to me. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m here, staying away from Xavier, just like you said.”
“You know that’s not what I mean. I’ve been hearing that you’re here with someone.”
“Yeah, you knew I was bringing a date.”
“Someone who’s not Kat.” She looks down her nose at me, even though I’m taller than her.
“Kat’s on a ski trip. She couldn’t make it.”
“So you brought someone else.”
“I didn’t want to mess up your plate count. Why, is there a problem?” I grin at her.
She folds her arms, the fake smile melting into a scowl. “You said you would behave. At my wedding.”
She says that as if I might have a dozen weddings to go to and can’t remember which ones I promised to behave at. “How am I not behaving? Unless...” I put a hand to my chest and pretend to be shocked. “You don’t have a problem with me bringing a guy as my date, do you?”
“Damien.”
“Wow, Mom. For a woman who’s had two kids out of wedlock, each with different fathers, you’d think you’d be more open-minded.”
She narrows her eyes at me. The snowflakes on her dress sparkle in the white icicle lights. “That’s not it. I know you’re with Kat.”
“So you’re only okay with it because you know I have a girlfriend? Way to be socially conscious.”
“That’s not what this is about.”
“Really? Because you obviously have a problem with me bringing him, and I don’t know what else about him could possibly be bothering you.” I tap my chin, pretending to think that over.
“Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m getting at.”
I gasp. “Is it that he’s a hero?”
“When I said not to upset your brother, I assumed you wouldn’t also be trying to upset me.”
She should really know me better than that by now. “Is there something upsetting about having hero genes? I didn’t think it would be a problem, since I’m half hero, and having me, your firstborn son, at your wedding doesn’t bother you, does it? There’s nothing inherently offensive about me existing, is there? Or is it that your guests think I might be sleeping with him? Because we all know how offensive a villain sleeping with a hero would be.”
Her face and part of her neck turn an angry red. “I told you not to cause a scene.”
“How am I causing a scene? You’re the one who came over here to harass me about my date. I was minding my own business. It’s not my fault if you invited a bunch of narrow-minded people who have a problem with non-traditional couples.”
There’s a high-pitched squeal, and then a screech of “Moooommmmmyyyy!” Xavier comes running over, looking like he’s about to cry from being away from her for more than two seconds. His hair—which is the same bright red as hers—has been gelled down so much, it looks like plastic doll hair. He grabs her arm, more like a toddler would than an eight-year-old, at least until he spots me. Then he launches himself toward me, throwing his arms around my waist and practically knocking me over. “Damien!”
I don’t hug him back. I know this is where I’m supposed to, because he’s a little kid and he’s my brother, and if it was Alex or Jess glomping onto me right now, I wouldn’t even have to think about it. But it’s Xavier, my replacement, and it’s kind of all I can do not to push him away.
Zach reappears next to me, giving me a curious look as he watches me standing there awkwardly. “This is your brother?”
Xavier steps back, leaving a smear of snot on my jacket, and scowls at Zach. “Who’s this?” He has a screechy, demanding voice that reminds me of nails on a chalkboard.
Zach smiles and waves at Xavier. “Hi, I’m Zach. Damien’s friend.”
Xavier ignores him and says, “Mom, tell him to stop looking at me.”
“Xavier, sweetie,” Mom says—and I feel a twinge of jealousy when she calls him that—“that’s not how we talk to our friends, remember?”
“But he’s not my friend. And you told me Damien wasn’t going to be here!”
I raise an accusing eyebrow at her. I guess she figured it would be too hard to keep Xavier from seeking me out if he knew I was here.
“Well, that’s... he surprised me,” Mom says, putting a hand on Xavier’s shoulder and drawing him closer to her. “I didn’t know.”
Xavier wipes his nose on the back of his hand. “He was supposed to be my best man.”
“Ring bearers don’t have best mans, sweetie.”
He looks at her like she’s insane. “I could have had one, if I wanted. It’s my wedding, too.” Then he turns to me and says, “Grandpa was looking for you. So was Grandma, but Mommy said you weren’t here.”
A cold, sick feeling spreads through my stomach when he talks about my grandparents. Our grandparents. I’ve talked to them on the phone a couple times over the past few months, but I haven’t seen them in person in about a year. And it’s bad enough that Mom lied to Xavier about me not being here, but to them, too? I glare at her. “Wow, I guess I really should have RSVP’d, huh?”
“I’m staying at their house tonight,” Xavier says. “Maybe you could stay over, too. I’m Grandma’s favorite person in the whole world, so she’ll make cookies whenever I tell her to.”
“Great.” I’ve been their grandson for almost seventeen years, but I haven’t even seen them since last Christmas. And now Xavier’s staying over at their house and is my grandma’s favorite person. Right.
He picks up on my sarcasm and tilts his head at me, like he can’t figure out why I would have said that that way. “Why don’t you want to go there with me? It won’t be perfect unless you go, so you have to. Mom, tell him he has to.” His voice gets extra whiny when he says that.
“Damien,” Mom says through gritted teeth, as if this is my fault.
Zach exchanges a look with me, like maybe now he can see why I’m not crazy about Xavier.
Xavier watches us, unable to interpret what’s going on. His eyes water and his chest starts heaving in and out as he takes deep breaths. “Stop it! Stop being mean! You’re my brother, and you have to come to my grandparents’ house with me if I tell you to!”
His grandparents’ house? Little flickers of lightning run along my back, but I keep it under control. And I think I keep my voice pretty calm when I say, “I don’t have to do anything.”
Mom puts an arm around Xavier and starts petting his hair, even though it’s so plastered down it’s basically a shell. She whispers something soothing to him, then glares at me from behind his back and says, “Damien. You promised. Tell your brother you’ll spend time with him.”
I promised I’d stay away from him, not have a sleepover. It’s kind of the opposite.
“Oh, look, someone I know,” I say, spotting Kat’s parents over at the refreshments table. Normally I wouldn’t go out of my way to talk to them—well, to her dad, anyway—but given the circumstances, I’d rather be talking to anyone except Mom and Xavier. “Com
e on, Zach.” I grab his arm and pull him along.
“Damien!” Mom scolds. “This isn’t what we talked about.”
I ignore her and walk away a little faster.
“So that’s your brother?” Zach says.
“Yeah. You want to trade?” As if I would ever do something that awful to Zach.
He makes a face. “You don’t really think my mom will have another kid, do you? Because, I mean, that’s what people do, isn’t it? They get married and have another kid.” He swallows, looking pretty disgusted with that idea.
Which is understandable, since Curtis is a douchebag and couldn’t help but have douchebag offspring. “I didn’t think my mom would. She wasn’t even going to tell me I had a new brother. But that doesn’t mean your mom will.”
We get to the refreshments table. Kat’s Mom sees me and smiles, waving us over. She has a small plate in one hand with carrot sticks and some tiny sandwiches on it. “Oh, Damien—there you are! Your mother told us you weren’t here.”
“She’s pretending I don’t exist.” I smile at them, as if I didn’t just say my own mom is purposely lying to everyone about me even being at her wedding.
Kat’s dad pulls his cell phone away from his ear, stuffing it in his pocket. “I was just calling Kat. To see how she’s doing on the trip.” He looks me up and down suspiciously.
And I think we both know he was calling her to see if I was there, holing up with her and sharing her bed for a week, because Mom said I wasn’t around. “This is my friend, Zach. He’s my date, since Kat couldn’t be here.”
“Hi,” Zach says.
Kat’s dad gets this self-satisfied smile on his face. “She said she’s having the time of her life.”
Great. “She’s just saying that so you won’t worry.” She’s probably devastated without me.
“She’s there with all her friends. Her villain friends. Having fun.” There’s an unspoken without you at the end of that sentence.
“It’s only a week. I could have gone, but I had to be here. For the wedding.”
He gives me a really skeptical look. “Did you? Your mother didn’t even know you were here.”
The Betrayal of Renegade X (Renegade X, Book 3) Page 6