Page 8 of Burn Bright
JUST ME????
It’s not computing fast enough. It’s not computingat all.
He grips the doorknob but faces me. “No one in my family knows, and I need to keep it that way.”
What the…?
This isn’t just a secret big enough to implode his life. It’s massive enough to spill to tabloids for cash. It could help pay for my housing.
I could turn on Ben in a heartbeat. It’d be so easy to pocket the ammo and payday. There’s nearly nothing stopping me from destroying him.
“You’re unhinged,” I say again. “You barely even know me, but you know enough that I could ruin you out of revenge—I hate your brother and he hates me—or out of desperation. Because you know that I could use the money.”
“Yeah…I’m hoping you keep it a secret.”
“Hope?” My stomach churns hearing that word out loud, and I come closer to him. “That’s what you’re banking this on?”
“I’m banking on you.” He stares down at me from beneath his ballcap. “I’m banking onyou, Harriet.” His deep voice is a caress. It’s terrifying how much I want to feel it all over my body. “I might not know you that well yet, but I think your heart is good.”
“You think,” I repeat like he’s lost it. “You’re out of your mind.” I lace my hands on my head before they fall to my neck, my pulse on an ascent. I grip my shoulders like I pulled a muscle. The one class I almost failed was P.E. in ninth grade.
As a non-endurance runner, fuck the mile death run.
But I don’t hate this weird out-of-breath feeling with Ben. It’s one born from anticipation, from the things that slam through walls and soar. I’ve experienced so much of life alone that to share this moment with another is heady, dizzying,maddening.
And I realize…I’m losing it too.
Ben looks me over. “Tell me not to believe in the good in you. Tell me I should be scared.” Our eyes can’t unfasten.
“You should have some fear for your life. Where’s the self-preservation, Friend?”
“Courage doesn’t exist without fear. We all have to confront things that scare us at some point.”
So this does scare him.
The idea that I could betray him.
I can’t imagine screwing over a person who’s helped me not once buttwice.This secret isn’t a grenade that could blow me up. It feels more like his heart. Like he was the one who cracked the organ in half. He was the one who gave it away.
“You might’ve chosen the wrong person.” Better to warn him now. “I’ve never been a safety net for anyone. My parachute probably has holes in it.”
He twists the doorknob. “Guess we’ll be on a fast descent together, Fisher.” He gives me a salute from the brim of his hat. “See you around,Friend.”
My heart can’t slow. “See you, Friend.”
2
BEN COBALT
ONE WEEK LATER
What is it like to have four older brothers? What’s it like to have two sisters? What’s it like to be the son of a feminist icon and a legendary billion-dollar man? What’s it like to be a part of the Cobalt Empire?
Everyone wants to know the truth.
Very few ever will.
Entrance into my family is like finding a golden ticket in a Wonka Bar, only then to be battle-tested in a Colosseum. Death is more likely than victory.
