Chapter 8

As the week went on, Lyric thought she would feel differently. Angry, even. But she just felt empty. And she never knew empty could hurt so much. When Alex talked to her, his voice had changed, like she was just some random person he met on the street.

Grace had worn him down, and Alex finally agreed to take Lyric with him when he installed the dashcams and trackers in all the sheriff’s department’s vehicles. After that, she was allowed to sit in when Alex taught Mandy the finer details of the software.

He was polite and answered any questions Lyric had that were work-related. But at home, he kept to himself. He would either take Boomer for a run or be in the basement where he had his computer. Lyric assumed he was like other boys his age she’d lived with and was watching porn.

The more she was around Alex, the more she regretted messing with his lunch order and taking credit for the coffeemaker. She never expected he wouldn’t just accept that it was a joke and didn’t mean anything.

She suspected Alex was a loner and had possibly been bullied. That would explain why he just shut her out. It had to be a protection mechanism.

Then they’d gotten Friday off because Alex had pointed out that this was supposed to be a part-time job. Grace said they were all caught up at work, so she would see them Monday.

Lyric had taken advantage of her day off and slept in. When she’d come downstairs, Boomer and Alex were nowhere to be found. She assumed he was out exercising the hellhound. Still, several hours later, she realized the truth: Alex didn’t want to be around her.

She didn’t know anyone, and it was too far to walk to town, so Lyric was stuck at home with only her thoughts.

Janice came home early from work. Lyric took off her headphones when Janice knocked at her door.

“Where are Alex and Boomer?”

“No idea. They were gone before I got up.”

Janice’s eyes narrowed.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Lyric said as she looked away.

“Are you and Alex not getting along?”

If Janice hadn’t sounded so concerned, Lyric wouldn’t have said anything. Instead, it all came out in a rush. When she finally stopped talking, Janice was shaking her head.

“You actually asked him if you could see the code for his apps?”

“I just wanted to understand it better. He got all weird and cold and told me ‘no.’”

“Then you messed with his lunch order,” Janice said, shaking her head again. “Alex is very particular about how he eats. It’s not that he doesn’t like vegetables; it’s just that he doesn’t want them on his sandwiches.”

“I know that now,” Lyric admitted. “Since then, he’s treated me differently. It’s like he doesn’t trust me.”

“You unknowingly hit upon a couple of Alex’s hot buttons. All I’ll say is that he has reasons not to trust people. I imagine that if you’ve lost his trust, it’ll be hard to regain. You may have to face the fact that you and Alex might never be friends. I’d hate to see that happen, but I do know that Alex wouldn’t do anything to hurt you ... that is, unless you mess with his stuff,” Janice said.

Boomer came bounding up the stairs to let Janice know they were home. Alex followed the dog up the steps, and Janice and Lyric were in the hall when he reached the top. He wore shorts without a shirt and looked all sweaty.

“You stink. Go take a shower, and I’ll start dinner,” Janice said.

Alex glanced toward Lyric but turned his back on her and went to get cleaned up. Boomer had heard the word ‘dinner,’ so he bound down the stairs, followed by Janice. Lyric decided she needed to fix things with Alex.

“This is better than what they serve at Little Nonna’s back home,” Alex said as he swallowed a big bite of Janice’s chicken parm.

She’d also made garlic bread and a shaved salad with a lemon shallot dressing. Lyric had to admit that Janice’s food was the best she’d ever eaten.

“What did you do today?” Janice asked.

“I took Dawn and Boomer to breakfast at The Breakfast Car. I think he hates her little Kia Soul more than I do. She’s made it her goal to teach me to play golf, so we spent the morning at the driving range. By the end, I was at least hitting the ball straight. We went to the clubhouse for lunch and then hung out at the pool. After that, I went to Zac’s, and we played basketball.

“I needed a day like this after working all week,” Alex said.

“Why didn’t you invite Lyric?”

Alex didn’t hesitate.

“She was sleeping, and I figured she didn’t want me waking her up on her day off. Besides, you haven’t signed her up to get into the clubhouse facilities.”

“We can get that done tomorrow,” Janice said to Lyric. “Grace and I are going to the Soused Pig tonight. It’s ladies’ night. What are you two doing?”

“Ethan’s having a party, and I thought I’d stop by for a bit,” Alex said.

“Take Lyric. It would be a good way for her to meet other kids in the neighborhood.”

“Sure,” Alex said, turning to Lyric. “We’ll leave at eight.”

Alex explained who Ethan Brewer was as they walked to his house. His father owned the largest construction company in the county. When they walked past the clubhouse and driving range, his was the next home. His dad had built most of the houses in the subdivision but had saved the best for his family.

“Something else you should know about Ethan: he’s a little excitable. I sent him a message that I was bringing you, and he can’t wait to meet you,” Alex said.

Lyric wasn’t sure whether she believed Alex until the door swung open to reveal Ethan bouncing around like a bunny on meth. She swore he squealed as he pulled Lyric into the house. Alex walked past them and headed to the back of the house, where she could hear music playing.

As host of the party, Ethan insisted on guiding Lyric through the mansion.

“If we throw a big party, we set up another table in this area for guests.”

The conservatory—yes, this frickin’ house had one of those, whatever that was—had a wet bar and additional seating. They walked through what Ethan called the library back into the foyer.

“Under each of the staircases is a half bath.”

Kind of excessive, but good info for later.

They walked past the double staircases and into the kitchen. Off to the other side of the kitchen was a butler’s pantry that seemed like it was the size of her bedroom. The question that popped into her head was, if they have a butler’s pantry, did that mean they had a butler?

Walking through the butler’s pantry led them into the dining room. There was a table large enough to seat eighteen people. Past the dining room was a friendlier living room. At least in there, she wouldn’t be afraid to sit on the furniture.

When they made their way to the backyard, she could see the party was actually at the guest house and wasn’t nearly as big as she expected. There might have been twenty people in attendance.

Looking across the can-filled yard, she saw a group of girls who must be best friends gyrating their bodies to the hip-hop song booming out of the speakers. The noise spilled onto the makeshift dance floor, otherwise known as the patio. They clung happily to each other, sloshing their drinks, and making flirty eyes at the guys standing around the edge of the patio.

Ethan showed her where the coolers with beer and sodas were. He opened her a bottle of a local beer called Bump n’ Grind. As soon as she had her first beer, Ethan vibrated away to fulfill his role as host.

Lyric could see that most of the partygoers were in groups, but she spotted two girls off to the side, so she went to say ‘hi.’

“How is he immature?” asked the diminutive pixie with her short, thick, wavy, dark hair.

“This is the first time he’s texted me since prom. Besides, you should never say ‘yes’ when a guy asks you out at the last minute. My sister says that’s how you know a guy is serious about you. He asks you out on Tuesday or Wednesday for the weekend because he wants to make sure you don’t make other plans,” said the cute blond-haired girl. She had a faint Eastern European accent; Lyric guessed Ukrainian or Russian.

“So, what did you tell him?”

“I decided to teach him a lesson. I said, ‘Oh, shoot, I wish you would have asked me earlier, but I already have plans.’ He needs to know I’m a woman in demand. Lots of boys want to ask me out, and he needs to learn to plan ahead.”

“But that totally backfired because he’s seen you here without a date.”

“Who are you guys talking about?” Lyric asked.

“Oh, hey. I’m Ivy, by the way, and this is Natasha. You’re the new girl living with Ms. Conly,” the pixie said.

“That’s me. I’m Lyric.”