Empire High Untouchables

by Ivy Smoak

  “And I didn’t lie about Kennedy.”

  “Yes you did. Felix and her are just friends.” Like Felix was just friends with me? Because we weren’t technically dating. He’d said it himself. Was it possible that Kennedy was the other girl Felix was seeing? The thought swirled around in my head. No. Definitely not. That couldn’t be true. I swallowed down the lump in my throat.

  “If you say so,” Rob said. “Better get to the bottom of that, though. It seemed like you were getting pretty close to Felix in the cafeteria. Wouldn’t want to see you get hurt.”

  The lump was already back in my throat. “Like you care.”

  “I care,” Matt said.

  You’ve got to be kidding me. “Yeah, right. Like you cared about me on Saturday when you stuffed me into your closet like a dirty shirt?” Thinking about his shirt made me think about him removing his shirt. His abs. His strong arms. Stop.

  Rob laughed. “Who puts dirty shirts in their closet? You’re a weird one, Sanders.”

  “We’ll talk about this later,” Matt said when Mr. Hill walked into the room. “Just pick a day.”

  “I literally can’t. I’m grounded. For the whole semester.”

  “Why?”

  I ignored him.

  “Why?” Matt asked again.

  “Miss Sanders are you planning on talking during my whole class?” Mr. Hill asked.

  Are you kidding me? Matt was the one turned around talking to me. And words had left his mouth more recently than mine. Why wasn’t he in trouble?

  “No, Mr. Hill,” I said. “I’m sorry,” I added, hoping he’d let me off the hook this time.

  “Good. Since you’re in such a chatty mood, why don’t you start us off today by reading from the top of page 47?”

  Not again. I started reading. And kept reading. And reading. My throat started to grow hoarse again and still Mr. Hill made me read. I hated this class. I hated this school. I cleared my throat for what felt like the hundredth time. And I hated Matthew Caldwell.

  ***

  My uncle and I were sitting in silence eating dinner. The silence was killing me. He was probably waiting for me to apologize. But I wasn’t in the mood. I pushed around some of my rice with my fork.

  He cleared his throat.

  I waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. Maybe he heard that I’d eaten lunch with Felix. He just as easily could have been waiting for a confession instead of an apology. He wasn’t going to receive either from me.

  The minutes ticked by.

  He pushed his plate aside. “Do you want to watch a movie tonight?”

  It was a peace offering. I knew that. But maybe I wasn’t ready for peace. I didn’t respond.

  He sighed. “Kiddo…”

  “I’m not a kid.” I dropped my fork onto my plate. “May I be excused?”

  “I know you’re not a kid. But…”

  “I only have two friends at school. If you make me stop talking to Felix you’re cutting my friend count in half.”

  “You know that’s not what I want. But that boy…”

  “You don’t know him.”

  My uncle sighed. “I know enough.”

  I was about to protest when the phone rang. I looked back down at my half-full plate. No one ever called me. The only person that had my number was Kennedy, and she never called. She always just walked over.

  My uncle stood up and grabbed the phone. “Sanders residence.”

  There was a long pause.

  “Yes, but that won’t be possible.”

  Another pause.

  “Because she’s grounded.”

  I looked up from my plate.

  My uncle was staring at me. “For school you say?”

  Pause.

  “Yes. I see.”

  Another pause.

  “She stayed out past her curfew.”

  “Who are you talking to?” I mouthed silently at him.

  He ignored me. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said into the phone.

  Pause.

  “Sure, sure. Tomorrow night is fine.”

  Another pause.

  He smiled. “You too. Goodnight.” He hung up the phone and turned to me. “Now he seems like a good boy.”

  “Who?” But my stomach had already turned over halfway through the conversation. I knew exactly who. I just had no idea how he got my phone number. Or why the hell he was calling. I’d made myself more than clear today.

  “Matthew something or other. He says you have a group project together?”

  I nodded because that was all I could do. Matthew Caldwell was absolutely not a good boy. I was pretty sure he was sent straight from hell just to annoy me.

  “He wanted to make sure it was okay to work on it tomorrow afternoon. I’ll drop you off to do your project with him after work. Make sure to get the address from him at school.”

  He even assured that I’d talk to him tomorrow? Confident prick. “I’m grounded though,” I said. “I can just split up the work with my group. We don’t have to meet after school.”

  “School work always comes first.” He grabbed his plate and placed it in the sink. “I’ll do the dishes if you want to pick the movie.”

  I wanted to tell him that Matt was a liar. A cheat. A bully. But I didn’t know how to tell him that without admitting that I’d kissed him. That confession might just tip the scales to me being grounded for eternity. Especially if I was related to him. God, what is wrong with me?

  I could ask. I could ask right now and put the issue to rest. But I kept my lips closed. Not knowing the truth was better than knowing in this case. Right? I took a deep breath. None of it mattered because I wasn’t going to kiss him again. I needed to focus on what mattered. “Please don’t make me stop seeing Felix,” I said. “Can’t I just do chores around the house? Or like…write I’m sorry 100 times on a sheet of paper? Or something else to satisfy this whole grounded thing?”

  My uncle placed one of the plates in the dry rack. “Your mom never grounded you, huh?”

  I sighed. “No. But I also never did anything bad. I was a little preoccupied taking care of her.”

  He rinsed off his soapy hands and turned to me. “I can’t stop you from talking to a classmate in school. But right now, I don’t feel comfortable with you hanging out with Felix outside of school.”

  “What if he just comes here? While you’re here?”

  “Are you actually sorry? Because I haven’t heard you say it yet.”

  “Of course I’m sorry.”

  He didn’t say anything.

  “I didn’t mean to worry you.” I knew how terrible worrying felt. Like a vine encircling your heart and slowly crushing it. “I’m sorry.”

  He nodded. “We’ll discuss Felix another week. What kind of guardian would I be if my semester-long grounding only lasted 2 days?”

  “A really good one?”

  He laughed and started doing dishes again. “Ask me again next week.”

  “What about Kennedy?”

  “Ask me again next week,” he repeated.

  I wasn’t allowed to hang out with Felix or Kennedy but my uncle was forcing me to hang out with Matt? What kind of sick twisted nightmare was I living?

  Chapter 22

  Tuesday

  “I’ll pick you up at 8,” my uncle said.

  I stared out the taxi window without moving. When I’d seen the Caldwell’s house on Saturday night, I thought it looked like a haunted mansion. I was picturing the same thing for this house. But the Hunter’s mansion didn’t have the same feel. The gray stone exterior reminded me of a restored estate that had been turned into a museum back home. It wasn’t scary. But it looked equally as cold.

  “Kiddo?”

  “Yeah?” I turned away from the window.

  My uncle was smiling at me. “8 o’clock, okay?”

  “You don’t have to pick me up. How much trouble can I get in on the subway?” We’d taken the subway halfway here and a taxi the rest. It was complete
ly insane of him to go so out of his way. Back and forth and back and forth again. But he insisted that grounded kids didn’t ride the subway alone.

  “I’ll be waiting right here,” he said.

  I knew he didn’t want to have to come up to the door. He didn’t want the people who lived in such an ostentatious expanse of a house to judge us. But I was pretty sure they all had more secrets than me. And they were judging me regardless. “Sounds good,” I said. “See you then.” I opened the car door and stepped out.

  The cool autumn air made me pull my jacket tighter around myself as I made my way up the gray stone steps. Well, not my jacket. I’d tried to give Felix his coat back today, but he’d insisted that I keep it. And I was grateful. Because it was a hell of a lot warmer than mine.

  Before I lifted the knocker, I watched my taxi disappear out the main gate. Part of me wanted to run after my uncle. Beg him to not make me go into this house. He was abandoning me for four hours. Four. I wasn’t sure I could handle Matt playing with my emotions for that long. Or Rob who was probably going to cash in on his bet soon. Or James who was blackmailing me with one of my many secrets.

  But if I learned one thing from my mom, it was that we didn’t back down just because something was hard. We fought. We fought until the very end. Even if the end was sooner than either of us hoped. I could make it through four hours. I was about to lift the knocker when the door creaked open.

  Oh God, this place is haunted too.

  But instead of a scary gust of wind or smoke monster, there was a man standing there in what could only be described as a butler uniform.

  “Hello, ma’am,” he said, keeping the door ajar with a white-gloved hand. “Can I help you with something?”

  “Um…” I was expecting Rob or Matt to open the door. James if I was unlucky. Not a strange man who didn't know why I was there. “I’m Brooklyn.”

  “I’m sorry, Brooklyn. I think you might have the wrong house.”

  “This is Rob’s house, right?”

  He frowned.

  “Robert Hunter?”

  “Yes.”

  I wasn’t sure why this man wasn’t letting me inside. “He invited me to work on a school project. I might be a few minutes late.” I swallowed hard when the butler just stared at me. The longer he stared, the more certain I was about what was happening. A prank. This was all some stupid joke. Invite the new girl to your house and pretend you didn’t? Were they planning on throwing me out? Filming the whole thing? Wasn’t making me sit in the closet in the dark bad enough?

  “No, I don’t think so,” the butler said. “I’m expecting a young man for a school project. Sanders is his name.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s my last name.”

  “Oh.” He laughed. “Well it would have been nice of young Robert to tell me he was expecting a girl. He made it very clear when we spoke that Sanders was a boy.”

  I heard familiar laughter behind the butler.

  “Just a bit of fun, Eric,” Rob said. “Because she’s one of the guys.” He threw his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into the foyer. “Right, Sanders?”

  “No. Not really.”

  He laughed. “See? Always jesting. Right this way,” he said, keeping his arm around my shoulders. “Bring up the snacks in a bit, will you Eric?”

  “Of course, sir.”

  My sneakers looked out of place on the marble floor. And on the ornate twisted staircase Rob was leading me up.

  “Aren’t we going to work downstairs?” I asked. “In the kitchen or something?” The last thing I wanted was to hang out in Rob’s room. I’d had this fear all day that I’d wind up in a closet again. It would be best if the only hiding option was a pantry. At least then there would be food.

  “Nah, James’ computer is in his room.”

  I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to be in James’ room either. Or his house. Or anywhere near any of these people.

  “What? Are you afraid I’ll lock you in again?” he asked. “Don’t be. I already won the bet. Now it’s just a matter of what I’ll make you do.”

  “You could do the gentlemanly thing and forget about the bet altogether.”

  “James is the gentleman. Me?” He let his arm fall away from my shoulders. “I’m the youngest son. And as you can probably tell…the youngest sons of prestigious families aren’t held to the same standards as their older siblings. I’m anything but a gentleman, Sanders. Nice jacket by the way. Are you trying to make this evening unbearable on purpose?”

  “What?” I was too focused on the fact that Rob thought his brother was a gentleman. We were talking about the same James, right? The blackmailing druggie with the sad smile?

  Rob slid his index finger and thumb down the zipper of Felix’s coat. “He’s not going to like this.”

  “Who? James?”

  Rob laughed. “Naïve as ever, Sanders. You’re driving him mad you know. Playing hard to get. It’s his weakness.”

  I wasn’t as naïve as he thought. Because I knew now that he was referring to Matt. “I’m not playing hard to get. I have a boyfriend.” I didn’t. Felix had made that pretty clear. He’d been kissing someone else. I think. Regardless, it was easier to pretend that Felix and I were exclusive. I didn’t want Matt to try to kiss me again. Or get anywhere near me at all. I was going to set some ground rules fast on this stupid after-school project hangout.

  “Huh. If you say so.”

  The way he said it made it seem like he knew I was lying about Felix being my boyfriend. What did Rob know? I realized it was possible that he knew who else Felix was kissing. Before I could ask him, he opened the bedroom door.

  “Sanders has arrived,” Rob said and strolled into the room.

  I waited a moment, trying to clear my head. I wished I was about to walk into some random sunroom or second kitchen, but there was a nameplate on the door. This was definitely James' bedroom. I took a deep breath. All I had to do was not engage with Matt. Or James. Rob would be the only person I talked to. And I’d keep it to a minimum.

  James’ room wasn’t anything like Matt’s. There was no fear of coffins or vampires as I walked in. But still…that same coldness had me crossing my arms in front of my chest. Everything in the room was baby blue. Like his parents had found out they were having a boy and vomited the color everywhere. There were also a few posters on the wall of Giants’ players. It could have been any boy’s room in New York. The only thing unique about it was that one wall had floor to ceiling shelves filled with books. It was practically a library. Which didn’t exactly make the room feel any homier.

  “Sanders, this is James,” Rob said.

  I looked over at James.

  He was sitting at his desk staring at me staring at his room. It looked like he wanted me to disappear as badly as Charlotte always did.

  “We’ve actually met,” I said.

  “Right, right,” Rob lightly slapped my shoulder. “I forgot that you two were talking at the party last weekend. You can just sit on his bed. I already filled him in on everything yesterday and he’s almost done.”

  I just stood there. I didn’t want to sit on James’ bed. And not just because it was James’ bed. I had purposely not looked at Matt since walking into the room, but he was on the bed. I felt locked in place. James’ eyes on me. Matt’s eyes on me. “Then why the heck am I even here if it’s almost done? You said you needed my help.”

  Rob laughed. “We just thought it would be fun to hang out for the night. Right, Matt?”

  I finally mustered the courage to look over at him.

  Matt was sitting on the bed, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. His hair was wet. He’d probably just showered after football practice. Or maybe he just showered because he was dirty from all the sex he was having with Isabella. Too bad you couldn’t scrub away an STD.

  And even though I knew he was sleeping with Isabella, my heart still started racing when I saw him. I didn’t know what the term was for being a brother lov
er off the top of my head. All I could think of was pedophile. Was I worse than a pedophile?

  “What are you wearing?” Matt asked.

  Suddenly the jacket felt warm. The room was no longer cold. I was pretty sure they’d turned the heat up to 80 to make me sweat. “Can I borrow your phone?” I asked Rob. “I need to call my uncle to come get me.”

  “Don’t be that way, Sanders,” Rob said. “Come on, we just want to get to know you better. Here, a drink will help.” He gestured over my shoulder.

  Eric had just walked in holding a tray of glasses filled with amber liquid.

  I thought he was supposed to be getting snacks. Not alcohol. Where were Rob’s parents?

  Rob lifted up two of the glasses and held one out for me.

  “No thank you.”

  “Have you ever even tried bourbon? You might like it.”

  Alcohol was not my friend. None of it. “I’m already grounded.”

  “We’re not going to tell on you, Sanders.” He kept his hand outstretched. “We’re pretty great at keeping secrets.”

  I was sure they weren’t. “Where are your parents?”

  Rob laughed. “Geez, what is it, Tuesday? My mother’s downstairs, probably a few drinks in herself, berating the housekeeper. My father is most likely picking up a call girl in a bar on Wall Street.”

  I was pretty sure my mouth was hanging open. He was kidding…right?

  “And if my dad isn’t doing that, he’ll be home soon and my mom will start berating him instead of the housekeeper. A classic Hunter Tuesday.” He took a sip of his drink.

  “That’s enough,” James said.

  “What? We’re supposed to be getting to know each other.”

  “She doesn’t need to be privy to our parents’ personal lives. I’ve got this covered. She’s right…she can go.” James grabbed the glass from Rob’s hand and downed it. Then he took another from the tray and went back over to his desk. In a few seconds that glass was empty too.

  He was mad that I was here. Clearly. But I wasn’t the one blackmailing him. Asshole.

  “Who rammed a stick up your ass?” Rob asked.

  I laughed.

  James turned from his chair and locked eyes with me.

  The smile fell from my lips.