Page 8 of Rot

I flashed a smile at my mother, which caught her so off-guard she had to blink half a dozen times. “Elias is great. I like him.”

“Really? He didn’t give the best impression last night—it sounded like he wasn’t happy with us being here.”

“He’s just grumpy. He’s used to having this house all to himself.”

My mother returned to her dresser, continuing the folding of her shirts. “I suppose I can understand that. Plus, from what Maggie told me, the accident scarred him pretty bad.”

The accident. Must mean the hunting accident Uncle Dave had died in. “What do you mean?” I asked. I guess, to a normal person, losing a parent so young would be traumatizing, especially so random like that.

Once again my mother stopped what she was doing to turn and look at me. She wore a conflicted expression on her face, and I could tell she didn’t want to tell me whatever it was. But, the longer she stared at me, the more she must’ve realized I wasn’t going to let it go, so she finally relented in a barely audible whisper, “Elias was with Dave when it happened. He watched his own father die before the medics could get there.”

Oh.Oh. Well, didn’t that shed some light on my dear cousin?

“How terrible,” I muttered, though really, I didn’t think it was so terrible at all. After all, if there’s one thing I knew, it’s that there was nothing like watching a person die, whether that was from drowning or something else. Watching the life flow out of someone’s body, watching their movements grow slow and unsteady, watching them become still.

Watching someone die tended to fuck most people up. It wasn’t a wonder why Elias wasn’t exactly the most amicable guy around. He probably carried some daddy issues with him. Maybe he worked out so much now because he couldn’t do anything to save his father then. Make himself feel more in control.

Also could be why he hated us being here. The last time he wasn’t alone in this house was probably when his dad had been alive. Having others in the house, well, it was a reminder that he wasn’t. Uncle Dave was dead and gone.

But you know what? That was a part of life. Elias would just have to get used to it.

Chapter Three

Aunt Maggie thought signing me up for school was a great idea. My mother talked with her about it the next time we were all there for dinner, which was Tuesday. I guess Aunt Maggie had already gotten the papers and such for my mother, and she’d taken them up to the school on Monday. My first official week back was next week.

Elias, of course, didn’t say anything during that conversation—although he did excuse himself from the dinner table early, before he’d eaten all of his food. He stormed upstairs, to his room, and we all heard the door slam shut.

Aunt Maggie had changed out of her nurse’s smocks, but her hair was still up in a messy bun, greasy from a long shift. She watched her son go with a pained expression on her face, and then she looked at me, all apologetic. “I’m sorry about him. He’s… well, his attitude’s never been great, but these past three years have been rough.”

“It’s alright,” my mother spoke in my place. “We understand. Losing someone like that is never easy.”

“Still, I’ll tell him he needs to work on his attitude,” Aunt Maggie said, glancing at me. “Especially since you two will be going to school together. There are no buses for the high school, so you’ll have to ride with him.”

I asked, “He won’t leave me at school, will he?” Meant it as a joke, but based on the look my aunt gave me, it was something I should worry about, apparently. But here’s my secret: I didn’t worry about anything.

“If he does, he’ll lose his car privileges on the weekends.”

My mother waved a hand in the air. “Oh, that’s all right. I can drive her to and from school. We don’t need to inconvenience Elias—” The more she spoke, the more I wondered if she was trying to keep me away from Elias—or keep him away from me. Probably the first one. For obvious reasons, my dear, sweet mother didn’t trust me with anyone, even a relative.

“Nonsense,” my aunt said. “Elias has to go to school anyway. Might as well save some gas.” To me, she added, “He’ll behave. He won’t forget you. I’ll make sure of that.” She ended the sentence with a smile, but I wasn’t sure whether I believed that smile or not.

The rest of dinner passed uneventfully, and when it was time to clean up, I offered, “Elias hardly ate. Should I take his plate up to him?” Really, I just wanted to gloat. I’d never gloated before, but I was feeling like it was the perfect time to learn how to do it.

Scoreboard was: one-Sloane, zero-Elias. I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, now that I was enrolled in school. Mother and I weren’t going back.

“No, he won’t eat any more of that. But if you want to take up a peace offering later, I think I have some cookies in the fridge. Elias is a sucker for chocolate.” Aunt Maggie grinned at me as she took his plate off the table and went to the garbage, scraping the leftover food off. “That boy got his father’s sweet tooth.” She sounded a lot sadder right then, which I took as my cue to leave.

Let my mother deal with the feelings of sadness or whatever. I didn’t do that shit. There were a lot of things I didn’t like dealing with. I was just happy I’d be going to school next week, with my dear cousin.

I went up to my room, pep in my step, and went through my entire closet, hoping I’d brought some nice clothes I could wear to school. I wasn’t one of those girls who enjoyed preparing outfits, but this time… let’s just say it was a special occasion. I really wanted to make each and every day I had here count.

I wouldn’t be here forever, I knew that, so I planned on enjoying the ride for as long as I could.

Night fell outside, and a soft knock on my door alerted me to my aunt’s presence before she walked into my room, carrying a plate of fresh cookies. She set it on my bed before appraising what I was doing and giving me a smile. “Picking your clothes for next week out already?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I didn’t bring all of my clothes. I don’t even know what I have.” I had a walk-in closet at my grandmother’s house. I did miss all the extra space, the extra items of clothing I’d never wear in a million years but still had anyway. The waste. The gluttony. The greed.

“I know it’s been a long time since I was a kid, but Blackrain High is very different than what you’re used to. Everything’s old and small. I think Elias said last year’s graduating class had a total of one hundred and fifty-one students. His has a few less.”

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