All That Really Matters by Nicole Deese (new books to read TXT) 📕

find his gaze waiting for me there, offering me a quiet strength, despite his own weary state.

I gave a little wave, and he waved back.

It was incredible how such a short interaction with Silas could have such a profound effect on my psyche. In just a few moments, he’d managed to restore the balance I’d lost, that tipsy uncertain feeling all but gone now. At least, until I reached the front door and heard the unmistakable sound of a chair knocking to the ground and an impossibly high curse word screeched over the rom-com movie soundtrack.

I threw open the door and pushed inside, stunned at the sight of Wren braced in what could only be described as a Warrior One yoga pose, her frail body blocking Monica from a seething Sasha. A palette of makeup and a broken mirror lay on the floor between the two ex–best friends.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Sasha hissed through her teeth.

Monica tilted her chin higher in the air, clearly unafraid. “Yeah, well, there’s a lot of things I shouldn’t have done. You should know, you’ve been involved in most of them.”

“Okay, that’s enough, girls,” said Glo, rounding the giant popcorn machine and heading straight for the trio. “Clean up this mess and meet me on the porch. No need disrupting everybody’s evening because you three are struggling to keep your manners intact.”

“What’s the point?” Sasha snapped back. “It won’t matter soon anyway.”

Visibly stunned by her outward defiance, Glo’s eyes ticked back to her. “The point, Sasha, is that I’ve given you a direct instruction, so unless you’d like to add another round of chores to your list for disrespect, you’ll do what I’ve asked without further argument. That goes for you two, as well.”

But Sasha didn’t move. Not even a single bat of her eyelash.

“Sasha,” I pressed softly. “Come on, let’s just get this cleaned up so we can go outside and talk.”

Sasha turned from Monica to me, her voice breaking. “It won’t matter. You get that, right? No matter what I say, no matter what story I tell, it will always come down to me against them.”

“And who do you think made it that way?” Monica blurted. “You! You’re the one who doesn’t know how to have more than one friend at a time.”

Sasha spun and glared at the two girls with such venom I felt the bite from where I stood by the door. “I would rather rot in a halfway house like your mother than be caught dead with a snitch like her.”

“Stop! No!” Wren screamed as Monica pushed her aside and threw Sasha to the floor, taking another two makeup palettes and a bowl of popcorn down in the process.

As Glo dropped her full weight onto Monica and twisted her arm behind her back like a secret service agent, I blocked Wren from getting sucked into the mosh pit and shouted for Clara, who’d just walked in through the back door. She ran over immediately, assisting Glo in removing a now completely hysterical Monica from an utterly stoic Sasha. Had the girl even blocked her face when Monica swung?

“I’ll go get Silas,” Clara said, heading for the door.

“No! Don’t,” I called out after her. “We can handle this.”

She whipped around. “But Silas is—”

“Dealing with his own crisis at the boys’ house tonight. Leave him. We got this.”

She studied me, wide-eyed, then looked to Glo as if for confirmation.

“I’ll text him in a minute,” I assured. “But for now, take Sasha to get ice for her cheek, and I’ll help Glo with Monica. We’ll separate them all for the night and work through the same conflict protocol Silas would if he were here.”

Glo’s face was awash with reluctance, but after a minute, she nodded her approval. “Text Silas, Molly. Let him know there’s been an altercation but that we have it covered.” She pointed at Monica. “Go sit in my room and wait for me there.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The remorse in her voice tugged at my sympathy.

Wren’s made-up face had paled considerably, and everything in me wanted to wrap my arms around her, but since I’d been the one to call the shots, I had to finish them out.

“Jasmine?” I asked. “Would you oversee the clean-up here, please? We should probably call it a night.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said, as she stole a glance at Wren.

“I can help, too,” Amy offered, followed by Liberty and two other girls.

“Molly. Clara.” Glo waved us both into the kitchen. “I agree that we need to separate these two tonight, but our policy is clear when it comes to pairing off. We can’t allow a mentor to be one-on-one with a single resident overnight, which means I’ll need you both to stay with Monica this evening. I can keep Sasha here at the cottage with me and the others.”

“Right, sure,” Clara said in confirmation. “We can do that.”

I felt much less certain about this plan than Clara appeared to. “Maybe I should be the one to stay back here—”

Glo zeroed her authority on me. “There’s a bunk room up at the manor, bottom floor, far right. You’ll find bedding in the linen closet next to the theater room. Clara knows where. Would you both agree to stay in there with Monica for the night?”

We both nodded.

“I’ll keep Sasha close to me tonight. I’ll pull her and Amy into my room with mattresses on the floor. That’s all I can do at this late hour.”

I nodded again and glanced back at Wren, who swiped at a silent tear. I didn’t know how far this feud between them went, but something told me I’d only seen the tip of the iceberg. Whatever secrets had gone on in this house, they clearly didn’t begin and end in the garden shed.

Glo must have read my thoughts because she put a hand on my arm and said, “I’ll talk to Wren once I get Sasha settled in for the night. You can follow up with her in the morning. For now, I