Page 16 of Infinity Chronicles 2
“I didn’t tell her I kissed Delaney, I told her Delaney kissed me…”
“Ah see now that makes more sense,” Ares adds nodding his head.
“But I kissed her back,” Dante adds beforeAres is even done defending him. He sounds nearly as dismayed about it as I am.
Ares hits the brakes a little harder than necessary. “What the fuck?” He turns to face his brother in the seat behind me, with the car at a full stop.
“Itjusthappened, they came in to announce I was the winner. She jumped up to hug me. She kissed me before I realized what happened. It was just a little kiss. But before I pushed her away… there might have been a second where… I kissed her back. I don’t know, it happened so fast. And the photographer for the Independent was snapping pictures. I didn’t mean it. It wasn’t a real kiss.”His words are rushed together in a mess of information.
Ares turns back to face the windshield and he lets his foot off the brake, so we inch forward again. His head shakes back and forth a few seconds later, like it took him that long to digest the information. His lips in a tight line, he opens his mouth like he might say something, but looks in my direction and snaps his mouth closed and shakes his head again.
“Itdidn’t mean anything,” Dante whispers, soundingcompletelydejected. I’ve sat in silence the entire time. I don’t know what to say. I really don’t think Ihave the right to say anything considering the situation, but that’s not what my heart is telling me. That, and my head keeps telling meI can’t expect something from them that I’m not giving myself.
“It’s okay Dante, I’m not mad.” I cross my arms over my stomach, my shoulders rounded down, making myself smaller.
“Well I am, and even if you’re not admitting it,you’re something—mad, hurt, something.” Ares huffs repositioning himself in the seat.
“You don’t care, but you left school?” Dante leans forward, sounding skeptical, maybe even a little sad.
“I didn’t say I didn’t care. I said I wasn’t mad. How can I be? I could do the same thing to anyof you.” I shrug my shoulders looking down at my lap.
“Thanks for making this even harder you dipshit,” Ares grates. “Laura doesn’t think shehas the right to be pissed because she gets all of us, and we only get her. She thought that she would have to share us in the same way, and youjustconfirmed her assumptions.”
“But that’s… no. That’s not how it is. It’s just us,” Dante adds, his voice more urgent.
“I know that, but this is all new to her, she doesn’t fully understand the bond yet. And we’ve been doing a piss-poor job of explaining it to her, if she thinks she can’tbe pissed off because you kissed another girl. Which can Ijustsay again, what the fuck Dante?” Ares ends on a shout.
I duck my head instinctually, he can be scary. His big palm lands on the back of my neck with gentle fingers, massaging my stiff muscles.
“If I hadn’tbeen caught off guard, it never would have happened,” Dante pleas.
I snort. “That sounds like the samekind ofexcuse I’ve heard guys at school sayto girls.‘I was drunk, it meant nothing. My hand wasn’t down her pants, I was falling.’” I mean really,do guys think girls are that stupid? They only believethatshit because they want to. They don’t want to see the truth in front of their faces, so they believe the lie because it’s easier, and it hurts less.
Angry now, I turn in my seat, dislodging Ares's hand. “What happens the next time when she does more than just kiss you? That won’t be your fault either? You’llbe so caught off guard, next thing you know you’ll be having sex.” My voice is rising with my anger. “How would I even be able to trust you?”
Dante shrinks away from me, turning his head so his neck is bared. He won’t even look at me, I flip back around facing the front.We’re out of the school lot and on the road that leads to Turtle Creek. “Where are we going?” I bark.
Ares clears his throat, and says, “I got a hit on the security system, I wanted to go check out the camper and seeif anythingis out of place.”
“Well, what did the video show?” I focus on Ares’s profile as he grips the steering wheel.
“Nothing, there was interference, whoever was there knewthere was surveillance equipment, or theytook precautions in the event there was. That’s why I wanted you totake alook around, see if you notice anything. And I want you to talk to Mark, see if hesaw who was here.”
I nod my head biting my lip, eager now thatI have something else to focus on other than Dante and Delaney. It’s not long before Ares turns into the front drive of Turtle Creek. Even though I haven’t been here in a few days, everything looks exactly the same.
There are afew long-term trailers parked around the pond, along with Mark’s mobile home. We creep past the front area slowly, taking the narrow drive toward the back where my momparked. I didn’t complain, never did when she wanted to be as far away from others as she could. I was just happy we weren’t too far from the bathhouse.
We pass by the storage lot where local people stow their trailers and campers for the cooler months, or if they don’t have the room at home, and I spot our old motor home.The yellowish paint has faded into an off-white, but the stripes of orange and brown are stillvibrant. I notice nothing out of place as we slow to a stop a few feet from the rear end of the RV. I never mastered backing the thing into these narrow spots, but Mom didn’t care.
“You good?” Ares asks when I make no move to get out of the SUV.
“Yeah, itfeels like it’s been longer than a few days since I’ve been here. It feels empty, like it’s been out here for years.” A few weeds around the blacktop pad we parked on are risingupto the underside of the motor home. Usually they’d be matted down with my coming and goings, between grocery shopping and laundry mat, but the motor home hasn’t moved in a least two weeks. That only adds to the abandoned feel.
Grabbing the door handle I purse my lips, should I ask Dante to stay outside? It makes little since to deny Ares entrance. He’s been in there several times already, but Dante hasn’t. There’s no real reason he needs to now. I also don’t want to issue him an order, especially after what we were just talking about, I don’t really want to talk to him at all. Not to mention Ares has probably already told all of them or showed them the inside of the camper with his cameras.
Dante opens the rear door and exits, so I do the same. Ares comes around to our side and we all just stare at the only home I’ve ever known. When I take a step forward, Ares grabs the back of my neck. “We go in first, but I want youto really look around. Someone has been here, we need to know who itwas, and what they were doing here.”
I nod, falling back behind them as they approach the door. “Dante, anything?” Ares asks, looking over the screen door like it might be booby-trapped. Dante’s shoulders hunker down low as he closes his eyes and inhales deeply. His nosepinches up in a sneer as his head moves to the left, and then to the right.
