Page 30 of House of Deceit

I see it on their faces, he’s starting to win some of them. He gives me a smirk as everyone focuses their attention on me once more, and I know he’s the person I need to watch out for.

“How do you know that?” I ask.

“I studied,” he says, simply.

Ever since the lights turned on, he has been incredibly pleasant and kind to everyone, but under the placid demeanor, there was something about him that made the hair on my neck stand up.

“There’s nothing in the contract that states there must be ten men and ten women,” Molly says, sticking up for me. “My father is an attorney, and we read every word of it together. There was nothing in it about the composition of the contestants. It’s not like our wranglers participate in competitions for us or whatever. Charlie will have to stay out of the bottom two, just like everyone else.”

I bump her knee under the table and smile. “Thanks, girl.”

“Afraid you can’t beat her?” Parker taunts.

“Well, I for one welcome the competition Charlie brings to the table. There’s nothing my coach instilled in me more than strength in the face of adversity, and I encourage you all to take that advice to heart,” Lucas says.

We all turn back to our spaghetti. Cain’s shoulders tighten as he returns to his food, seemingly annoyed at his inability to turn everyone against me.

The household migrates outside once we clear away the remnants of dinner. Pergolas cover multiple beds with gauzy curtains hanging on a track so they can be moved to enclose the bed or open it to the breeze. Molly and I have our curtains pushed open so the orange-tree-scented air can wrap around us. The lights in the pool make the water seem like it’s dancing as people splash and play.

Ice clinks as I raise my habanero margarita to my lips. The mixture of salt from the rim and sweetness of the drink rolls across my tongue, the bite of the spice burning my throat. I notice Parker sitting on the pool’s edge, his feet hanging in the water.

“So, why are you here?” Molly asks. Her straight-to-the-point questions thrill me. I look up at the stars through the slats above us.

“You first.”

“On my birthday, I was sitting there, listening to everyone sing to me as twenty-six candles flickered on my cake, and I didn’t recognize my life. I could feel myself changing, not fitting into the mold I had mindlessly fit myself into, and I didn’t know what to do. Friends that didn’t fit any longer. A job that couldn’t pay my bills. A relationship that, well, saying it wasn’t right is putting it nicely. I guess you could say I ran, hoping I could leave it all in the past.”

It’s nice knowing I’m not the only one trying to run from problems. We sit there in silence for a moment and watch the games in the pool. Teams have been created, one person on another’s shoulders while they try to shove the other team off balance. The first team to fall loses.

“There’s running to escape a situation and running toward the person you’re supposed to become. And in my experience, those are very different things. The former, you end up in the same situation because wherever you run, there you are. But the latter,” I pause, taking a drink, “the latter is more of a metamorphosis. Shedding who you were to become who you need to be. Better to run and be you than stay and hide from yourself.”

Parker lifts his arms, his muscled back flexing as he ties up his hair before leaning back on his hands once more. His strong arms hold up his toned body as he watches the others having fun.

“So, why are you here?” Molly repeats.

I look at her bathed in the low light and give her my truth.

“Because I didn’t have any other options.”

It’s Tuesday, privilege competition day, and the first full day when House of Deceit really begins. An air horn awakes us. I sit straight up in bed like Dracula from his coffin. Jayden gives a shout of surprise and tumbles to the floor, his leg tangled in his sheets. He sheepishly untangles himself, but remains there watching all of us. Raven is in a ball under the covers at the foot of her bed. She doesn’t move. Molly rolls over and looks at me.

“Did you stick your finger in a light socket last night? You look like you’ve been electrocuted,” she asks.

Mumbles come from Raven’s cocoon.

“If you’re gonna talk, babe, you gotta come out from under the covers,” Molly tells her. Raven doesn’t move, but slowly, her comforter inches down until her head is poking out.

“I said she was rolling around like a demented gymnast until about four in the morning. And you snore like a freight train, so I wouldn’t be goin’ and judgin’ anyone else.”

“Fair enough. My apologies my need for air ruined your night.”

“I didn’t notice,” Jayden says shyly from the floor. He’s so quiet and small I almost forgot he was there.

“Do your ears not work?” Raven sasses.

“Be nice,” Molly tells her. I can’t see Raven’s eyes, but I know they rolled. Her obvious dislike of mornings is so reminiscent of Courtney, who will murder you with a single look if you speak to her before ten a.m., I have to keep myself from laughing.

“Attention everyone,” the disembodied voice comes over the announcement system, interrupting our conversation, “the privilege competition will start in thirty minutes. Please be in the announcement room by that time, dressed in the provided attire.”

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