Page 37 of Discord
Reid whipped his head toward me. “Of course not. It was a normal reaction under the circumstances.”
His soothing words did nothing but stab me in the heart. “I accused Milo of hurting Raven. I sent him into a spiral over a misunderstanding—”
“You did the right thing,” he pressed. “He might not have hurt Raven, but he did hurt you.”
“Barely,” I whispered.
I had one of my epic meltdowns and accused him of awful things. Milo lost it momentarily and grabbed my throat, probably to stop me from saying more appalling things. He regained his faculties and let go. It was followed by a million apologies, then he moved across the nation as his own form of retribution.
“I provoked him.” I shook my head, scoffing. What was wrong with me? “I pushed him until he finally snapped,” I said shrilly. “And I did it with his one weakness.”
“That’s no excuse. Milo moved to California because he realized he needed help. He shouldn’t be around others if he’s dangerous.”
I choked on the lump in my throat. All I wanted was to make things right with Milo. “Maybe I should reach out to him?”
“Not right now. He… he needs to separate himself from this needy family. He needs time to himself. We have all been driving him to the brink since he was eight.”
Including myself. I drove him to this.
Reid looked somber. “It’s not your fault. The guy just needs a break.”
I let out a harsh breath. “You think we fucked Milo up, don’t you?”
Reid sighed, then lowered his head to his elbows. “Honestly, yes.”
The silence between us became stifling. My throat and chest were tight at the resounding understanding.
We had ruined Milo’s life.
* * *
“Rabbit, why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?” Milo could barely suppress the irritation in this voice. “This is due tomorrow, and the nanny has already left for the day. Remember, flyers go up here…” His voice trailed off upon pointing at the board on the kitchen wall.
We were supposed to put up school notices on the board, so Milo could remember. But he had been studying for his midterms and forgot to tell the nanny to take care of it.
Five dozen baked goods were due tomorrow for a school fundraiser.
Milo (or the nanny) was supposed to buy supplies for my science project.
And there was a notice about changes in school uniforms. They had given us new logo patches to be sewn onto our blazers. Effective tomorrow.
A few other notices about Reid’s school were also hung on the board.
Milo stared blankly at the bulletin board, overwhelmed. He didn’t know which task to tackle. His books and highlighters were on the kitchen island, and I had a feeling he had barely enough time to cram for his exams.
I said nothing because I knew what was happening to him. It had been happening more and more frequently over the years.
Quickly, I scanned for Raven and located her on the patio just as she glanced inside. She saw the alarm in my eyes and charged through the screen door on cue.
“Hey, guys,” she said brightly.
“Hi,” I responded meekly while Milo’s eyes were glued to the board.
Heavy breaths. Chest rising and falling. Trembling hands. Milo was having a full-blown panic attack.
Raven followed Milo’s gaze and frowned. Then she was in front of the bulletin board, skimming the due dates on the notices, snatching the flyers upsetting him the most. Without missing a beat, she took out her phone and texted someone.
“I was just about to sew the new logo on Mia’s blazer.”
