Page 195 of Their Naughty Student
“I stayed at a friend’s house that night.Didn’t come home after school because I didn’t want to hear it anymore.Gretchen called me, asked if I was at home.Said she needed to talk to Dad, but he wasn’t answering.I told her about the argument, said I wasn’t going home until Sunday night.I needed a break.”
Edge took a deep breath, and he shuddered when he exhaled.
“Gretchen called me again that afternoon, told me I needed to go home, to have Dad call her immediately.It was important.I didn’t ask her why, didn’t care.Still don’t know what it was about.”
He swallowed hard, set the beer on the counter.
“I walked in and found my father and grandfather dead in the living room.The house was a wreck.Broken glass, torn furniture, the curtains hanging off the windows.My mother was in the kitchen, on the floor in a pool of blood, the gun still in her hand.From what the police said, she’d shot them both, then destroyed the house before putting the gun to her own head and pulling the trigger.”
“Oh, God,” Jamie whispered.“I’m so sorry.”
Edge turned, put his arms around her, and held her tightly.I watched, unable to move.
“She was sick,” he muttered.“We all knew it, but we pretended it didn’t matter, that we could handle it on our own.Gretch did research on the disease, said it was genetic, that one or both of us could have it.”
I hadn’t heard this before, so I got to my feet, moved to stand beside them in the kitchen.
Edge met my eyes.“I’ve had this voice in my head for the longest time.Thought maybe I was going insane, too.”
I didn’t look away.Couldn’t.
“I ignored it, fought it.Did the opposite of what it was telling me to do.”
Jamie pulled back, stared up at him.
“It wasn’t telling me to do specific things.More like to let things go, to stop fighting myself.Nothing harmful.”
“Your conscience,” Jamie whispered.“Not a voice.”
He smiled.“Yeah.It took me a long time to realize that.You, actually,” he said, “both of you.When I accepted what I really wanted, to love you both, it disappeared completely.”
“You’re not crazy,” I told him, stepping closer and sliding my hand around his head, pulling his mouth to mine.
“No,” he said softly.“Not in the technical term.But I am crazy about the two of you.”
“Ditto,” I whispered, smiling against his mouth.
“Hey,” Jamie said in a huff.“Care to include me in this mushy moment?”
She broke the tension in that instant.Edge reached for her, lifting her off her feet and setting her on the counter.
“I love you,” he said as he leaned in, pressed his forehead to hers.
“I love you, too.”
“What am I?”I harrumphed.“Chopped liver?”
Edge threw his arm around me, jerked me forward, and crushed his mouth to mine.When he released me, Jamie did the same.
“I quit the club,” Edge blurted.
Jamie and I drew back at the same time, staring at him.He could clearly see our confusion because he continued.
“I talked to Trent.Decided it was best to resign my position.I’ll stay on until he fills the spot.I’ve been getting in my own way for too long, trying to structure a world that I fit in, rather than fitting in the world I want.”
Jamie stepped up, cupped his face.“Whatever makes you happy… That’s whatIwant.”
He kissed her gently, and I could see he had needed that approval.
