Chapter 11
2538 Words
Eleven
Austin
Phoenix and I are seated across from Holly in her office to discuss my sister’s stupid prank. My knee bounces, and I’m having trouble keeping my anger in check. Both from the stupidity of my sister and Holly. How could she think I’d be some slimeball and do that with a student?
Holly’s eyes flash to mine a few times. If she’s looking for reinforcements, she’s crazy. Phoenix has been acting up for over a year, and clearly I’ve failed at keeping her in line, so I’m no help here.
“I have to suspend you,” Holly says.
“She’s not sitting around the house all day,” I say.
Phoenix glares at me.
“What? So, you can think of new ways to be an asshole?” I ask her.
“I don’t think we should name-call,” Holly says in a placating voice.
“I’m calling Savannah, so expect a visit from her today,” I say to Phoenix.
“Great.” She crosses her arms and looks in the other direction.
“Why did you put the ad up, Phoenix?” Holly rounds her desk and sits on the edge, crossing her ankles.
She’s wearing a skirt today, and if I wasn’t so mad, I’d envision my hand sliding up between her thighs. Okay, I did. But just for, like, a millisecond. I stopped myself because apparently she already thinks I’m a pervert.
“Because it’s funny.” She shrugs.
I should tell Holly to give up the fight. Phoenix is Phoenix. I can’t even explain her at this moment. She fights me on every single thing these days.
“Do you have any idea how that affected my morning?” Holly asks. “Did you think about Fay or even your brother when you decided to do it?”
Phoenix ignores Holly and turns her head to look at me, raising her eyebrows with an expression of boredom. I nod for her to answer Holly. “Well, it gave you something to think about other than my brother seducing me.”
“Out.” I stand. “I’m sorry, Holly, I don’t mean to override you, but just suspend her. She’s deserving.”
Holly stares between the two of us. “Okay. It’s Wednesday, so you’re suspended for the rest of the week.”
“Great.” Phoenix jumps to her feet and holds out her hand.
“What?” My forehead crinkles in confusion.
“Keys.”
“In your dreams.” I pull out my phone and dial the only person who has the time to babysit her, though he’ll do a crap job of it. “Hey, it’s me.”
Holly crosses her arms, still eyeing Phoenix and me.
“What’s up?” Denver says.
“You still in town?”
“Until after Founder’s Day, why?” He sounds as if he just woke up.
“Come to the high school and pick up Phoenix. She’s been suspended.”
He laughs. “Classic. Why?”
“We’ll talk about it on Sunday. Dinner, remember?” I eye Holly. She really doesn’t need to know anything else about my life today.
“I’m not coming until you tell me.”
“Denver…” I sigh and rub the bridge of my nose.
Phoenix beams at me because she now knows suspension equals fun if Denver is in charge.
“Is that a family member?” Holly asks.
“It’s my brother. Do you really know nothing about us?” Phoenix asks.
“Obviously I don’t.”
I smile at Holly, happy that she can give it back to Phoenix.
“She put the high school for sale on Craigslist,” I say into the phone.
Denver laughs again. “I love that girl.”
“Listen, no fun of any kind. Take her home, strip her room of electronics, and don’t let her out.”
“How many of you are there?” Holly asks.
Phoenix sits back down and crosses her legs, eyeing me for a moment before leaning toward Holly. “There’re nine of us. And just so you know, there’s another one of me roaming the halls. That’s Sedona. Then there’s Austin, Savannah, Brooklyn, Denver—whose twin is Rome—Kingston…oh, you know who you should meet next?”
Holly smiles at Phoenix, tricked into thinking Phoenix is being earnest. Phoenix is pissing me off, that’s what she’s doing.
“You should meet my sister Juno. I mean, she is the matchmaker of Lake Starlight. And since rumor has it you and Austin aren’t knocking boots anymore, she might as well find you someone who has more respect for you than to screw you in his Jeep.”
“Come now!” I tell Denver. “You.” I point at Phoenix. “Go out there and wait for him to show up.”
“Come to Founder’s Day, Holly, and you’ll meet the whole gang.”
“Phoenix,” Holly says before my sister can flee from the room. She turns around slowly, a self-satisfied smirk plastered on her face. “You will refer to me as Principal Radcliffe.”
She stands still and stares for a moment, her gaze shooting over to me for a second. Then she opens the door and leaves.
“I swear she was a good kid at one point.” I tuck my phone into my pocket. “I better get to class. My brother will be here in twenty. He has to drag his ass out of bed first.”
“Okay, I’m sure Fay will enjoy the company.”
I glance behind me to find Fay offering butterscotch candies to a smiling Phoenix.
“She can turn it on and off pretty easily. Have a great day.” I walk toward the door.
“Austin.”
I stop, my hand on the doorknob.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you earlier. I let my mind get away from me.”
I circle around. “You thought the absolute worst possible thing of me.”
“Well…” Her gaze drops to her feet. “You told me nothing about your situation. I thought you were single. I didn’t realize you were the guardian of your sisters. When you said you returned home because life happened, I didn’t know you meant you’d sacrificed your own future to make sure your family had one. I saw you this morning in the courtyard with Phoenix. Can you understand a little why I thought maybe… after what I saw?”
I cross my arms. “You know what I think? I think you wanted to see a bad side to me. A self-fulfilling prophecy, if you will. I think you don’t want to be attracted to me. I think you moved up here to hide from something. Whether it’s a guy or your family or life, I don’t know. But the fact that you could draw that conclusion?” I shake my head. “You know what? I can’t deal with this right now.”
I open the door and walk out, shooting Phoenix a death glare before I head back to my classroom to finally start the shittiest day I’ve had in a long time.
I arrive home to find most of the Bailey crew at the house. All their cars, including my Grandma Dori’s Cadillac and Uncle Brian’s truck, are parked along the long driveway to the house.
“Great, f*****g great,” I murmur as I head up the walkway to the front door.
I walk into the house to find them in the kitchen, with the exception of Phoenix, Sedona, and Jamison, who are huddled at the dining room table, doing homework.
I toss a packet of papers on the table. “This is your work from Mr. Layton.”
“Thanks,” Phoenix murmurs.
“Austin!” Grandma Dori spots me first. Her blue eyes sparkle and her wavy gray hair is pulled back off her face in some kind of clip.
Denver has Brooklyn dancing, instructing her how not to step on her husband-to-be’s toes.
“Where’d you learn to dance?” I pass them and grab a carrot Savannah’s cutting for the salad. “Why are you all in my house?”
“It’s our house,” Denver says.
“You moved out,” I remind him.
Savannah smiles softly at me.
“Here, let me show you how it’s done.” Uncle Mike kicks Denver out of the way and sways side-to-side with Brooklyn.
He should be the one to show her, since he’ll be doing the daddy/daughter dance with Brooklyn at the wedding. He circles her around and around until they leave the room.
“Uncle Mike!” Brooklyn screeches, but I know from her tone that she’s amused by whatever he’s doing.
Denver plops down on the kitchen stool, stealing a carrot for himself.
“Another one and I’m taking a knuckle.” Savannah points the knife our way.
Denver holds up his hands. “Whoa, when did you become so aggressive?”
“Birth,” I say.
Denver nods and Savannah narrows her eyes.
“The doctor says I need daily exercise. Walk with me, Austin?” Grandma Dori circles her arm through mine.
Savannah shoots me a look that says she’s had enough grandma guidance for the night and now it’s my turn.
“Of course.”
Ten minutes later, Grandma’s got her shoes on, as well as her hat, her gloves, and her parka. To every other Alaskan, it’s sweatshirt weather.
“Thin blood,” she says. Obviously telepathy is one of her skills too.
“Have fun, you two!” Sedona calls.
One day it’ll be her turn to take in Grandma Dori’s wisdom.
We haven’t even reached our usual path through the trees before she lays into me. “Phoenix is getting out of control. You need to rein her in. It’s ridiculous that she’s not looking into schools yet. She needs to figure out what she’s going to do with her life. Also, I told Savannah to put money aside for Brooklyn’s divorce because that fiancé of hers is just… well, I’m a lady, so I won’t go on. You still thinking about leaving?”
Typical Grandma Dori. Right from one thing to the next.
I grip her hand on my forearm, just in case there’s any ice I don’t see. “Not thinking. I am.”
She nods. “I suppose it’s your right. You coming back here instead of trying your hand at baseball. I have no fight in me to try to stop you.”
“Thanks.”
“But take this for what’s it worth from an old lady who’s lived a lot of years on this earth. You might not find what you’re looking for down there. The grass sometimes looks greener because you’re seeing it through a filter.”
“What does that mean?”
She smiles at me. “You’ll know what I mean if things don’t end well. That’s all.”
“Thanks.”
Sometimes Grandma Dori’s wires cross. I’m not sure I understand what the hell she’s talking about. I’m hoping to go to California to coach, not play, but maybe she missed that fact somewhere when I announced it to the family.
We walk in comfortable silence through the woods for a bit before she speaks again. “Tell me about this principal lady. She’s very pretty.”
We reach the small lake hidden on our property and sit down on the bench my parents placed there for Grandma Dori when she started getting older. The water is still half frozen, but it’s thawing around the edges where the water is shallow.
“There’s nothing to tell.” I shrug.
She smacks my shoulder.
“What was that for?”
“I raised you better. Your mama and your dad raised you better than to do that. I was embarrassed when my friends at the center were talking about it.”
“They read it?”
She nods. “We’re old, what else do we have to do? Lucky for you Viv’s daughter rear-ended Father McAlister. Did you read that yesterday? It’s made them forget my grandson is wooing women in his Jeep.”
“Sorry,” I mumble, unbelieving that I’m having this conversation with my grandma.
She hits my shoulder with hers. “But the picture of the handprint on the fogged window was hot.”
I shake my head, unable to stop from smiling. It might’ve been the hottest night of my life, but I’m not telling her that. “Can we talk about something else?”
“Phoenix told us about the misunderstanding.”
“Of course, she did.”
She laughs and places her hand on my thigh. I stare at her gloved hand, picturing the wrinkles and age spots I know lie under the fabric. She’s growing older, and I hate that I’ll be leaving her when I know she’s going to need more support soon. Will Denver step up? Will Rome return for good? Kingston is only nineteen. I don’t want him to sacrifice his dreams like I had to. Savannah will always look out for her; I’m sure I can depend on that.
“I think you need to make it up to this principal. Embarrassing her like that when she was new in town isn’t very gentlemanly. Does she even know who you are? What your name means in this city? What you gave up to come back here?”
I shake my head. “She’s only here until the end of the year, and I’ll be leaving anyway. There’s no point.”
She huffs, her shoulders falling. “You have now. I’m not telling you to ask her daddy for her hand in marriage. I’m only suggesting that you owe it to her to take her out on a proper date. Let Buzz Wheel print that.” She hits my shoulder again.
“C’mon. You know what she thought. I mean, how could she?”
“She’s not from this town. She didn’t know you had two sisters at that school. You’re fairer, like your daddy, and Phoenix looks more like your mom. You don’t look related. Cut her some slack.”
“Fine,” I say begrudgingly. I suppose I can somewhat understand how she could make that mistake.
“Besides, it’ll make me look good at the center. Ask for a window seat at the restaurant and maybe take a nice stroll down Main Street.”
We both laugh.
“Now, it’s damn cold. Get me back to the house.”
I stand, holding out my arm for her. She slides her arm around mine, and we walk away from what I think is every Bailey’s favorite spot.
“And don’t worry, your grandpa always loved the thrill of a tryst in the most unlikely of places. You probably got your love of adventure from him.” She smiles, looking up at the sky as though my grandpa is staring down at her.
To quote Phoenix—eww!
- Writer
