“Leave it alone!” he had snapped, his voice barely muffled by the closed door. “I know my kids well enough to know it won’t work. Stop pushing it.”
And my mother’s low voice in reply, attempting to soothe him – I could only catch the words “family counseling” and “blame”. It was obvious that whatever she had said had riled Marcus up, because he stormed towards the closed door – I had quickly ducked behind the corner – and shouted, “Stop telling me what to do! I raised the boys, I’ll figure it out myself!”
My mom had been quiet the next day, giving me half-hearted smiles and excusing herself to go to bed early. It worried me – but I didn’t dare ask what was running through my mind: were she and Marcus going to survive this? It broke my heart, because I thought well of Marcus, and he of all people didn’t deserve for this to happen. I forgave the side of him that came back late at night, haggard, whose haunted eyes now sported dark circles as he nursed his coffee in the morning. Despite everything, he was back to being his usual kind self to me, asking me if I needed a ride to school, which I always declined, knowing he needed time to sort out his thoughts.
“Ella!” I turned to see Sarah walk towards me, my musings interrupted, but I was glad.
“Hey,” I replied, offering her a hug.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, peering down at me. She was half a foot taller than me, but this was something I was used to, being one of the shortest kid I knew almost all of my life.
“Not too shabby. But people are being weird again.”
She squeezed my arm. “Well, you’re definitely back in the spotlight. The football team might be on your back too. Rumor has it that you interrupted some lucky girl’s night.”
I stared at her incredulously. Some lucky girl’s night? I had to swallow the nausea bubbling up my throat as an image of Monica being pinned down by a half-naked Hans with a knife on her back popped into my head. “How would that explain Hans and Cole both being away?”
She shrugged a slim shoulder. “You know people don’t use their brains before spreading stories.”
It made me wonder. “Is Monica not in school?”
Sarah shook her head. “I haven’t seen her since the party. But...you said nothing happened to her, right?”
“If you mean did he get to rape her, no, that didn’t happen, but...it almost happened, and with a knife against her, too.” I shuddered at the thought. I wouldn’t be in school either, at least not so soon, if I had to go through that trauma.
Sarah stared at me, then blinked. “I knew there was something evil he was hiding behind that pretty face.”
Masks, that’s what those are, I thought as I passed by the beautiful faces of Sean, Jeremy and Hunter, who all stared at me with curiosity. Just masks hiding their true selves.
***
I sat alone in the kitchen, savoring every warm, chocolatey bite of the brownies Susan had whipped up. She watched me, a pleased smile on her face, then pointed to the tub of vanilla ice cream she had placed next to me. “Are you sure you don’t want more?”
I almost moaned at the thought of all the calories I was putting into my mouth. I must have gained at least five pounds since arriving in Gray Lake. “Susan! I’ll have the ice cream...later.” Hah! So much for saying no. You’re terrible.
Susan watched me thoughtfully. “Hans would have taken two bowls.”
I replied lightly, “He’s an athlete. He has football practice daily. So he can eat all he wants.” But I saw the sad gleam in Susan’s eyes as she absent-mindedly wiped down the table. “How long have you been working for the family?”
Her lips curved into a small smile. “Since just before the twins were born. I tell you, they were a handful right from the start. Cole once took my beautiful teapot and threw it down the stairs when he found it had tea and not his hot cocoa.” She smiled at the memory. “Hans wasn’t much better. Always got Cole into trouble, with his endless tricks and twin switching.” She clucked her tongue.
I thought about the note he wrote to Hank. “Were they badly affected when their mom was out of the picture?” I wasn’t sure of the exact circumstances surrounding their divorce, and hoped Susan would shed some light on it. I wanted to understand what Cole and Hans had gone through, what made them the way they were.
“They are better off without her,” was her clipped reply. I wasn’t sure I agreed, seeing how Hans had no qualms about hurting a girl. And Cole, too, with his anger issues.
“She was...a bad mom?” I felt bad for prying even as the question left my lips. The thought of the twins losing a parent almost explained everything to me.
Susan huffed as she took my plate and washed it up. “She was selfish. Only cared about the money and looking good in front of her friends.”
“When did she leave?” And why?
Susan clucked her tongue again. “She wouldn’t have left. She needed his money too much. How else was she going to pay for that expensive lifestyle? Marcus found her in bed with the gardener and kicked her out. I say good riddance.”
My heart clenched at the thought. Poor, kind Marcus. A philandering wife, and now a possibly mentally unstable son.
“That’s so sad,” was all I could manage in reply.
Susan looked at me before turning around. “You don’t know half of it.”
Chapter 18
Ella
A week flew by, and the whispers and stares died down. I caught glimpses of Monica as she walked the halls in school in between classes, but she either didn’t see me
