Page 12 of We Are the Stars

“I flipped off a guy and he flipped out.”

“He who? The guy?”

“No, Jase. Carsen scowled, but he was already doing that.”

“Carsen?” Fish’s brows shoot up. “Carsen who?”

I peek at my parents, who are back to communicating via eye contact only. Their lips are pulled tight, their shoulders rigid. Holding Fish’s stare, I tell him, “Carsen Wheatley.”

“WHAT! Youcannotflip him off. Are you insane, Elliott? He’s dangerous!”

“Nemo Ryan Mathers! You will bite your tongue this instant!” A good thing to know is that my mother hardly raises her voice, especially not to Fish lately. This means he crossed a hard line.

“What? I’m not wrong and you know it. The case against him is stacked as high as can be. If his dad would ever contest it, there’s no way the courts wouldn’t overturn their ruling and convict Carsen. Rightly so, seeing as he murdered his own mother.”

My mother’s eyes turn to steel. “Were you there? Did you witness what happened? No? Then shut your trap, Fish. It’s not only none of your business, but not your place to decide if he’s guilty or not.” She snaps her attention to the rest of us at the table. “Do we all understand?” Everyone nods, including Dad. “Good. Now let’s get a move on with this afternoon, shall we?”

We all scurry to clear our plates from the table. The room fills with the scraping of chairs against the floor, the rush of water rinsing the crumbs from our plates, and the clinking of the dishwasher as it grows full. Fish is the first out of the room, aggravation evident in his hard stare. Erik tries to rush off to finish his mud pit without Brett but is stopped short when Mom threatens to physically force him into the shower. Dad whistles the entire time like nothing is wrong.

I’m almost clear of the room when Mom’s voice stops me. “Elliott, a moment?”

Swinging back around, I casually return to my chair, waiting to hear what it is they’re going to lecture me about this time, because they are definitely in lecture mode.

“We want you to know that we trust you, but do be careful.”

“Careful? I was just going to my room to read, maybe take a nap.”

Mom sighs. “You know we’re talking about Carsen here.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Of course I know they’re talking about Carsen, but what I don’t understand is why. I don’t know him. I don’t even think Iwantto know him. I was in a mood earlier and I let it get the better of me when I flipped him off. After Jase’s reaction to him, I’ll admit my curiosity grew. And fine, after Jase told me Carsen murdered his own mother, I was alarmed and intrigued, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to track him down and befriend him to get him to tell me his story.

If I want to know, I’ll Google it. I’m certain it’s all on the internet somewhere.

“You two do realize I don’t know the kid, right? I didn’t even have a real conversation with him other than ordering my lunch. I have no intentions of getting to know him because he sort of seems like an ass.”

Dad grins. “All right, kid. We wanted you to know that’s where we stand.”

To anyone else, the way he says this appears cool, almost uncaring, but he’s my dad. I know him, and I can hear the worry embedded in his voice. He doesn’t believe me. Neither does Mom.

“Noted. May I be excused now? My bed just called my name and it sounded sexual.”

“Sure, but clean your mess up first.”

“My mess? I put my plate in the washer.”

“The salt,” Mom answers.

Dad reaches over and brushes the salt off the table. “Boom! Done.”

“Nigel! Who’s going to clean that up now?”

“The dog will get it,” he tells her, inching closer and closer to the exit.

“We don’t have a dog!”

He presses his hand to his chest, his mouth falling open in false shock. “We don’t? Since when?”

“Since always, you ass!”

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