Page 55 of Lords of the Campus

“We can’t go over there now,” Archer says, a dark look on his face. “We promised not to hurt Eli and I don’t want to traumatize him by confronting her while he’s asleep.”

“First thing tomorrow morning?” I ask, grateful it’s a Sunday so we don’t have class.

“Yeah.” Archer nods, a grim expression on his face. “She’s such a manipulativebitch,” he growls, his arm sweeping out to knock a bunch of shit off his dresser, uncaring as his things clatter to the floor. “I’m so fuckingpissed! I can’t believe we ever thought about trusting her after everything she’s done to us!”

“She can get fucked,” I mutter, a scowl on my face. “I don’t care why she did it. She lied to us. She had plenty of time to come clean. She should have come clean right away, but she didn’t.”

“Why would she keep us from him?” Levi asks, pain in his voice as he holds his arms close to his chest. “That’s our son. We lost out on nearly two years of getting to know him. We missed so much already.”

Archer sighs. “I suddenly don’t feel like partying,” he says, looking at the mess on the floor. “Do you guys want to sleep in bed together like when we were kids?”

We don’t usually sleep in the same bed anymore, having outgrown the need a long, long time ago, but tonight, it feels like I need my brothers with me, so I nod. “Yeah, let’s just try to get some rest before we confront her tomorrow.”

The three of us change out of our party clothes, ignoring the noise downstairs and get into bed together like when we were kids. As I drift off into an uneasy, restless slumber, my mind is filled with thoughts of the upcoming confrontation, wondering if we’ll finally get a straight answer from Lyric for once.

Early the next morning, I wake with Levi’s arm in my face and I push it away. I start sitting up and grumbling to myself as the sun streams directly in my eyes. The events of last night come rushing back and I lean over, head in my hands. We’re going to have to confront Lyric today and I feel nauseated thinking about it.

Archer wakes up next, sitting up and stretching. Our eyes meet and we share a silent understanding, both of us nudging Levi awake too.

Once we’re dressed, we head over to Lyric’s dorm right away. It’s only a quarter past seven, but she’s already awake. I can hear the faint sounds ofBlueyplaying in the background.

Archer knocks sharply on the door, and Lyric answers it with confusion on her face.

“Hey,” she says, her voice soft. “Didn’t expect to see you this early. Are you guys here to kidnap me for our celebration party?” Her face is open and hope fills her eyes.

“We need to talk to you,” Archer says, pushing past Lyric and entering her house. “Levi, take Eli and put him in his bedroom.”

“What the hell?” Lyric asks, her expression changing from hope to horror in an instant. “What are you doing? Why are you taking my son?”

Levi lifts Eli and carries him into the bedroom while Archer and I face Lyric, blocking her from going after them.

“What the fuck is going on?” Lyric demands. “What are you doing? You can’t keep me from my son!”

“Ourson,” Archer growls. “Or were you never planning on telling us?”

“What?” Lyric’s voice has gone high-pitched, fear in her eyes. She swallows hard. “What do you mean?”

I point my finger at her. “Don’t you dare play dumb, Lyric Shaw. We know the truth. That boy in there is our kid!”

Levi rejoins us, hands on his hips. “You lied to us. You always lie!” he says, his voice choked with emotion. “How could you keep our son from us?”

“How did you find out?” Lyric asks, shrinking in on herself.

“It doesn’t matter,” Archer spits out. “The fact is, you lied, again and again. Why did you lie?”

“I wanted to tell you!” Lyric shouts, wincing when Eli starts crying from the other room. “I wanted to tell you,” she says, lowering her voice. Her eyes fill with tears. “The day of the pep rally, I was going to tell you,” she confesses. “But you guys were busy with the prank. I couldn’t bring myself to distract you. I told myself that I’d tell you after. But then everything went wrong…”

“You mean, when you told the police we were the ones responsible for putting dynamite in the drone and burning down the gym,” Levi says, voice flat.

“I never—” Lyric starts, but I cut her off, getting into her face.

“You did. We saw you with them! Stop fucking lying!” I shout.

“Shh!” Lyric hisses. “If you upset my son, I’ll call the campus police on you!”

“You meanourson,” I remind her. “That kid is half ours!”

“I’m the one who raised him!” Lyric snaps. “I did it all alone! Do you know how it was, being the pregnant teenager? I was the town slut. I was the whore who couldn’t keep her legs shut. I was shunned byeveryone,” she hisses. “You have no idea what that was like.”

---