Page 4 of Nerdelicious
The door opens.
“Finally.” I rush to the sink to wash up, but Grace speaks up before I can turn on the water.
“Are you going over to Jude’s later?” she asks.
Jude is her older brother, sort of. He lives with Beast, her other brother. Or foster brother, or something. The details are kind of hazy. They don’t talk about it much. The first and only time I asked how they were related, Jude said something about blood being thicker than water, and Granny said she was happy none of them were in her family tree, and then they changed the subject.
“No. Why would I be going over to Jude’s?”
“They’re having a party.”
“They’re always having a party.” They live walking distance to the local college, making it a prime location for never-ending loops of drinking, carousing, and hooking up. “I’m too old.”
Not really true, since I graduated early after taking college credits in high school, but still. Me and parties with a bunch of strangers sound like the seventh circle of Crowley’s hell.
“It’s the last one,” she says with emphasis, eyes wide at my lack of enthusiasm. “Until fall anyway. And by then you’ll likely be gone.”
“And?”
She crosses her arms over her chest and leans against the doorframe. “So instead of going out like a normal adult, you’re going to spend another Friday night locked in your room listening to Halsey sing about how you should be sad?”
“No.” I scoff. Yes. Absolutely yes.
She grins, her smile impish. “Come on, Fred. It will be fun. I can go with you.”
I laugh. “Beast would murder me with his giant bare hands.”
Grace laughs with delight, the devil.
Beast is close to seven feet tall with broad shoulders, stark features, and an eternal five-o’clock shadow. He’s a little terrifying. It doesn’t help that he doesn’t speak. Ever. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him so much as clear his throat. And I’m not sure what his real name is. It can’t be Beast. Can it? It’s probably a John Wick thing, where they call himBaba Yaga, all dark and grim, but he’s actually, you know, John.
A cow bell jangles from downstairs.
“Coming!” Grace heads out.
I shove my hands under the water, thinking about the party at Jude’s.
Maybe Grace is right. Maybe I should go.
But Jude has his girlfriend, Annabel. And Reese—Granny’s biological granddaughter—will probably be there with her boyfriend, Fitz. And they’re all nice, but it’s like a never-ending happy-couple-in-love fest around them.
The only other one there I know will be Beast. Who I can’t have a conversation with, so I’ll basically be at a random party by myself. Surrounded by people and yet all alone.
Not exactly enticing since my self-esteem is still recovering from Jack’s rejection. How do you move forward when the one who was supposed to love you dismissed you like season two ofThe Defenders?
Downstairs, Grace and Granny are in the kitchen, whispering to each other.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
They leap apart.
“Nothing.” Granny grabs a bowl from the counter and bustles into the dining room with it.
Grace grabs a serving spoon and follows her without meeting my eyes.
They’re up to something, no doubt.
In the dining room, I slide onto the bench-style seat across from Grace. Granny sits at the head and we reach out, holding hands for prayer.
