Page 274 of Hide and Keep

The lights… The same ones that haven’t given out since. I assumed because Edwin fixed them, but now I’m questioning that, too. I’m questioning everything.

Did Ever turn the lights off so I wouldn’t see? She’s a very talented liar. I’ve believed her for less.

Ever didn’t seem like herself that night. That’s the only thing I know for a fact. But was that because she’d just gotten fucked, willingly? Or because that motherfucker…

I can’t even think it. I can’t eventhinkwhat Mallory Larson might’ve done to make Ever’s dress look like this. It’s in tatters.

Was it wanted or not?

I squeeze the material, releasing an odor like mildew. Ever does like moss and other nature stuff, but her clothes are always pristine. So why not this dress? What happened to it?

And why is it stuffed in the back of her closet? There’s a dry-cleaning truck here every few days. She could’ve had it cleaned, possibly even repaired by now if she wanted.

I’ll probably never know for sure. How would I? Even if I did get to see Ever again, which to be honest is the biggest stretch of all time after that cold-hearted castoff downstairs, I can’t believe anything she says. I can’t. I thought I could. I tried.

Fuck. I did. I believed her when she said she loved me. And that was after she admitted to keeping her identity from me.

She kept so much from me. So fucking much. Why?Why?What the fuck did she have to gain from constantly hiding shit from me?

Was it all a game? Was I just a goddamn game to her?

That’s how it seems. That’s how it feels, like I got played by a spoiled little rich girl with nothing better to do, no one else to…play with. Damn. I did get played. She’s just like her mom. Emotionally immature. Narcissistic. Dead. To me at least.

I’m fucking done.

“Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise,” my mom offers.

Sitting next to her on the couch, my dad bobs his head. “The Munreauxs…have a reputation.”

I fucking snort. I know. I was the one hired to protect it.

“So do I,” I say, making the living room go silent. They know it’s true. They’re the ones who suffered right along with me, getting judgmental stares, callous comments, even death threats. They got so bad following Yasmin’s passing, my parents had to get an alarm installed on the house. They’ve been paying for standing by me ever since.

After several minutes, my mom sighs. “You’ll bounce back, honey. You always do.”

Exactly. I’ve been bouncing from one assignment to another, never stopping to appreciate…anything. Not even my support system.

“Thanks, Mom,” I tell her seriously. “You, too, Dad. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you guys.”

“Probably something rash and irreversible,” my dad says, referencing the darkest time of my life—my senior year. I’d lost everything, or what I felt was everything, and I just wanted it to end. I even told my parents I was considering ending it myself, ending…myself. If it wasn’t for their unconditional love and support, I would’ve.

“Probably,” I confirm quietly, my thoughts, as usual, going back to Ever. She has no support system whatsoever, nothing to keep her from doing anything rash and irreversible. She had me though. I kept her safe.

Now she doesn’t have me and I have no purpose. Again.

“I’m gonna go to bed.”

Zeus’s head lifts to watch me pop up from my spot on the floor.

“Stay here, buddy,” I tell him. I need some alone time. I’m severely deficient in alone time.

“It’s not even seven o’clock yet,” my mom complains.

“I’m exhausted,” I say, surprised to find I actually mean it.

I feel my parents’ stares, as well as our dog’s, all the way down the hall.

As soon as I flop on my bed, my phone chimes, and I have to flip to my back so I can pull it out of my pocket.

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