Unraveling Soren by Marisa Maichel (books under 200 pages txt) 📕

where a guy with a blond surfer haircut was strumming a guitar.

“Do you play?” I asked him.

“Yeah,” he replied, “But I’m not very good yet. You play?”

“Yes, I do. I also play piano.”

“I never got the hang of piano,” he said. “My dad wanted me to play, but I kept screwing up. It disappointed him when I quit.”

“I’m Reese,” I said, offering my hand.

“Randy,” he replied, taking my hand. “I’ve been going here for two years.”

“Two weeks,” I told him. “I’m eighteen and my first time here was two weeks ago.”

“When did you realize you were…you know…”

“When did I realize that I was bi? When I was thirteen, but I didn’t tell my father until I was fifteen.”

“Did he support it?”

“Oh, yeah. He’s bi, too.”

“Lucky,” Iris broke in, chuckling. “My mom thought it was a phase. She was all like ‘When are you going to stop dating girls?’ And I’m like ‘Mom, I’m never going to stop dating girls.’”

“My dad thinks it’s his fault,” Randy said. “He divorced my mom three years ago. And then she died. Today is the anniversary of her death.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Don’t be. She wanted to die. She couldn’t live without him. But she could live without me,” he muttered darkly.

“Still, it’s not easy. When my parents got divorced, I went years without seeing my mother. My father…he has some influence, and he kept her away.”

“At least your mother’s alive,” Randy said. I didn’t know what to say to that.

“They’re about to start the movie marathon,” Iris cut in, brightly. “Tonight’s theme is gay movies. Interested?”

“I am,” I said.

“Me, too,” said Randy. “I think they’re showing E-Cupid first. It’s about this guy who downloads a dating app, and everything goes to shit after that.”

“I think I’ve seen that before,” I said, scratching my head. “My girlfriend likes that movie.”

“He has a girlfriend,” Iris joked to Randy, who scowled.

“Does she at least give head?” he asked.

“Our sex life is better than your sex life,” I snapped. Iris laughed, and Randy turned bright red.

The movie marathon turned out to be a hit. Bad movie after bad movie was shown, with a couple of good ones thrown in for variety.

It was midnight when the showings stopped, and a lot of people had already gone home. I decided to go home, myself. I said a goodbye to Iris and Randy, then drove home.

When I got back, it was the opposite of peace and quiet. Father and Uncle Soren were arguing, very loudly.

“What are they fighting about this time?” I asked Louis.

“Grandfather,” he said. “You know how Grandfather wants to kill himself? Your dad says we should let him go, but my dad says otherwise. Plus, you know, Mitra and Katonah showed up this afternoon with some animal skins as a peace offering. My dad tore them up and told Mitra he would never let her go, would never forgive her, not if he lived to be a million years old.”

“I bet that upset her,” I said.

“It devastated her. She started crying, which pissed off Katonah, so he and my dad got into a fight. Would have killed each other, too, if Spencer and Toby hadn’t been there.”

“Where’s Samantha?” I asked.

“Chris asked for her help with something. She’s at the Nicolai house.”

“We need more guards,” I said.

“I agree. Did you have fun tonight?”

“Are you seriously trying to change the subject?”

“No, I genuinely want to know if you enjoyed yourself at Alliance Alley.”

“It’s Rainbow Alley, and we watched a bunch of bad movies. I made a new acquaintance, and possibly a new enemy.”

“That’s my boy! Show him what for.”

“He’s human,” I said.

The arguing got louder.

“ENOUGH!”

Grandfather came running down the stairs. “I’ve heard enough! It’s going to happen, whether you like it or not! I just need to put my affairs in order, and then I will die.”

“What about your great-grandkids?” I asked.

He smiled gently at me. “I’m sure they’ll be wonderful, Reese, but I must do this. I need to be with my Amalia again.”

“Father, I’m sorry,” Father began, “But we will all miss you terribly. And Reese’s life has only just begun.” He gestured to me. “He will soon marry Sarah and have babies of their own. Lots of babies, according to him.”

Grandfather’s eyes reddened. “I know, and I will be sad to see them go.”

“Grandfather, please,” I said. “I wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for you.”

“And Amalia,” he said. “Oh, very well. I will live, but only long enough to meet my great-grandchildren.”

I hugged him. “Thank you, Grandfather!”

“And who knows,” Louis said. “There may be another woman out there for you.”

“Maybe,” Grandfather said, rubbing his chin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

School was difficult over the next few days. The superintendent of our district stepped in as a temporary principal. The first thing she did was give both me and Ryan Arthur a warning. Since Ryan had provoked me, he got detention, while I got leniency. I used a bit of hypnotism on her to get that.

Arnold Turner was forced to resign and was blacklisted from working in education. Sarah avoided me at school and at home. She still wore her engagement ring, though. Ari said that what I did was like cheating to Sarah, which was the last thing she wanted to do, due to her past law-breaking.

I called Sarah and left an apology message, but she didn’t respond. I called Mother, but she didn’t know what was wrong with Sarah.

Finally, Sarah called me, in tears.

“I’m sorry I was such a bitch the other day,” she said.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” I said

“Actually, I’m not. I should tell you something. Turner tried to blackmail me.”

“He what?”

“He said that if I didn’t get dirt on you, he’d screw up my chances of getting into a good school. He’d take all my money.”

She needed me.

I was there within minutes.

She was sitting on the porch, still crying.

“I’ll kill him,” I said, holding her. She covered her tear-soaked eyes.

She cried for a long time. I just held her, letting her know that I was there.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“It’s not your fault, baby,” I said.

She sniffled and smiled a little. “Not to be cheesy or anything, but I like it when you call me baby.”

“Well, you’re my baby. Mine, mine, mine.”

“You sound like those seagulls in Finding Nemo.”

I smiled at the reference. She loved that movie. I picked her up and carried her inside, whereupon the tiny dog known as a Chihuahua started barking.

“Shut up, Coffee,” Sarah said. Coffee snarled at me from a safe distance. Spunk just licked my pant leg. I put her down, and then she led me upstairs to her room. There was a new silver and turquoise duvet on the bed, and matching pillows.

She sat in her comfy floor chair from PB Teen and started taking her clothes off. First, her jacket, then her shoes and socks. And then she started taking her shirt off.

“I think I’ll skip work tonight,” she said, yawning. “I’d rather sleep.”

“I’ll text them for you. Who are you working for tonight?”

“Plant’s. You know, the restaurant named after Robert Plant?”

“New job?”

“Transferred. The restaurant where I worked before was toxic.”

“You need to slow down, or you work yourself into a grave.” I shuddered at the thought.

“I know, but….” Her eyes widened, and she clutched her chest. She fell over.

“Sarah! What’s wrong?”

She didn’t answer. She couldn’t. I delved into her mind. Her first thought was a heart attack. But she was too young for a heart attack.

I picked her up as she started seizing. I put her on the bed.

“Mom! Alexander!” I called.

Mom came rushing in, and her eyes widened as she took in Sarah.

“Mom, I think she’s having a heart attack!”

She shook her head. “No, no, no! She’s too young! I thought those were over! ALEXANDER! GET YOUR ASS UP HERE!”

Alexander came rushing in, and he allowed himself to look panicked when he saw his foster daughter. Mother went over to Sarah and picked her up. She ran out the door at human speed and went to the car.

“A car’s not fast enough,” I said.

“The chill will kill her,” she replied. “The speed will make it worse.” She put her in the backseat. I hopped in the front seat, and Alexander got into the back with Sarah. He kept her propped up, her head in his lap.

We reached the hospital in record time and Alexander carried Sarah in.

Mother talked to the staff while I sat on a chair. I felt like there was a rock in my stomach. I loved her. I always would. I thought back to that night, the night when she first said the most words she’d ever said to me. She had barely noticed me before, although I worshipped her from afar.

She stood out to me out of all the other girls in that clique. I knew she had a good soul. She was kind, intelligent, sweet. She was brave and funny, beautiful and slightly vain. She was perfect. I’d had to accept that fact that she wasn’t perfect when we became friends and then when we started dating. She was the only one of those girls who would accept me for me.

Mother was filling out paperwork, Alexander was pacing, and I was nervousness twiddling my thumbs. And then I heard a scream.

I jumped up and started to run, but Alexander caught me around the waist and held me prone.

“It may not have been her,” he said.

“It was her,” I argued. “I know her scream. It was definitely her.”

A blond nurse came by, and I flagged her down.

“How is she?” I asked.

“She had another seizure right after the first one. We’re taking her in for a CAT scan. She’s a bit too thin, too. Do you know if she had any eating disorders?”

“She used to be bulimic.”

“That explains it. I have a theory. I’ll be right back,” she said pointedly, then left. I sat on the chair again, practically on my stepfather’s lap. He purred to calm me down. It was odd. I’d never heard him purr. Real tenderness from him was rare.

“She’ll live,” he said.

“What if it’s my fault? What if I did something, or didn’t do enough?”

“Nonsense,” Mother said, scratching my head. “She’s strong. She can’t die. She’s the prettiest girl I ever fostered. And the sweetest. We all love her, Reese. We all could have done things to make her life easier.”

“For example: no more work,” Alexander suggested.

“Exactly,” Mother said. “She has paid all her mother’s debts and more.”

At the mention of Alicia, Mother squeezed a pen so hard that ink spurted out.

“She’s overworking herself because she’s proud,” Alexander pointed out. “Our girl is literally working herself into the ground. A week off to rest and sleep, I say.”

“I agree. And more food. She’s much too thin.”

And then I heard a high-pitched noise that hurt my ears.

“Code blue! Patient’s heart rate has flatlined!” someone shouted. “The girl in the next ward!”

“Sarah!” Mother clutched her heart and stood up, but Alexander grabbed her hand.

“Control yourself, my love. They are professionals. They will save her.”

It was hours later, or it seemed like hours later, that the blond nurse came in and told us we could go see her.

She looked frail and weak in the hospital bed. Her cheeks were sunken, her skin white as a sheet. Someone had taken the tie out of her hair, so it hung loose around her shoulders. I noticed then how tangled it was.

“Mom?” she whispered, as fragile as a kitten.

“Baby, I’m here,” Mother said.

“Mom…can I have water?”

“Of course, my love. I will be back momentarily.”

“You almost worked yourself into the ground, sweetheart,” Alexander said gently. “You need to slow down, or you’ll die.”

Mom came back with a paper cup full of water. I hit the button to make her bed sit up, and Mom administered the water.

“I died,” Sarah told us, when she’d finished.

“I know, love,” Mother said. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“It’s all my fault,” I said.

“It’s not your fault, son,” Alexander said, putting his hand on