Page 46 of Knight

“That’s right. Before Hugo came in and swooped me up,” she says. “And spit me out.”

Now Christian’s piping up, “Mom …”

“But she forgets that with all her renovations,” Allie says to me but she has a smirk on her face like she’s trying to get at her mom. “And late night shopping trips.”

“What? Again?” Hugo asks, finally breaking the attention from his food and phone. “I thought you were taking her to get a new violin.”

“Guys, I haven’t played that thing in years!” Allie flops back in her seat before turning to her dad, crossing her arms. “We were at Waldorfs until eleven.”

“Alejandra,” her mom sighs.

“That’s all you want to do isn’t it, Bianca, spend my money?” Now Hugo’s dropping his fork before Bianca’s going at him in Spanish, Allie slumping in her chair.

“They’re so fucking embarrassing,” she groans. But I can’t help but smile, this is the most normal I’ve felt in an Eden Gardens household since I’ve got here. Even including the constant arguing from Christian’s parents. At least they’re nice enough.

When we’re all finished I help Bianca and Allie clear the table, Christian joining in as Hugo scrolls through his phone again. He’s not as interesting as I thought. He seems like a regular guy. A rich dad who rather hold on to fame than become a family man.

“Alright.” Christian closes the dishwasher, taking the towel off his shoulder. “Now, we’re going upstairs.”

“Are we ever going to talk about why Jo’s here?” Allie asks.

“Alejandra, manners,” Bianca says, taking a dinner roll out of her daughter’s hand. She turns to me. “Now, I know this place seems like the forest from Snow White, but don’t let it eat you alive.” Bianca points the roll at me. “Fitting in is better than standing out, and if you know Christian, you’ll be fine.”

“So what am I? Useless?” Allie asks, Christian pulling my hand to the steps. “And what kind of advice is that?”

“Well, you’re not exactly a socialite,” Bianca responds.

Allie goes into a monologue about how little socialites bring to society but her voice drones off as Christian and I reach the top steps. He pulls me into his room and if Damien’s room is dark, and Isaac’s room is funky, Christian’s room is damn near perfection. In the clinical sense.

This boy is clean, his room mostly decorated in grey and blue and I hate that it immediately reminds me of Damien. While Damien has the one jersey on his wall, sports memorabilia hangs everywhere on Christian’s blue walls. Most are from his dad’s team. Jerseys, pucks, signed gloves and masks. It looks like tens of thousands of dollars worth of merch sits around us.

Taking the folded paper out of my jacket, the police report, a shiver runs through me. God, even this jacket feels different knowing what I know. Sure, it’s comfortable but I wear it because it reminds me of my dad. It lost his scent years ago but it still feels like him. Knowing what I know now though? It feels different. It brings up way too many questions. Like, is there more to my parents than I know? Or are they victims of a violent, unforgivable crime?

“Jo?” Christian’s voice shakes me out of my thoughts. He’s on the grey sofa in the middle of his room, a big TV screen in the built-in unit. He has Superbad cued up on the screen, I can tell by the colours in the intro. “You’ve been staring at that thing for a while. You want to talk about it?”

“Nope,” I say, shrugging off the jacket before flopping on the sofa beside him. “I kinda wanna forget about it all. At least for now.” His brows raise, eyes widening a smidge as he sits up, but I shake my head, slapping him on the knee. “I meant with a movie.”

His shoulders drop and I nudge him. He smiles, the music to the movie starting to play as he raises the volume. “I guess McLovin’s hard to compete with.” He shrugs. “Better than King.”

The mention of Damien still sends my stomach in knots and I’m about to call him on that but there’s a knock on the door.

Allie peeps her head in, hair hanging off her shoulder. “Can I join you?” she asks. “Or is this another date?”

“Not a date,” I say, scooting over to make space. My shoulder squishes into Christian’s side. “Come on.”

My words come out the same time Christian says, “No.”

She comes in anyway, wiggling a little baggie of pot between her purple painted fingers. “I bring gifts. And after yelling at my mom for the last little while, I could use a friend. I’ll even take a brother.”

Christian glances at me before the expression on his face softens. “That’s actually not a bad idea. I’ll get the towels.” He gets up, disappearing through a door while Allie plops on the cushion next to me. She reaches for the book on Christian’s coffee table. When she opens it, a grinder and a pack of papers sit on top of red velvet lining.

I smile, “So you guys do hang out together.”

“Sometimes, I guess,” Allie rolls her eyes, breaking apart a nug into the grinder. The smell of herby fruit mixes with the smell of Christian’s cologne. “But don’t tell anyone, I have a reputation to keep up.”

“That goes both ways,” Christian says, stuffing a fluffy white towel under the door.

Shaking my head, my eyes are on Jonah Hill while the twins help me get settled. Christian even grabs a mickey from below his bed. In a few seconds, Allie lights the joint, giving me the first pass and once I take a puff, it’s like magic.

---