ason’s mom, as I stuff my face with seconds.
She laughs as she puts down a tray of other finger foods on the couch sectional in front of us. All of our friends are sitting in Mason’s basement on a large, black, U-shaped couch that accommodates us all nicely. There’s a flat screen TV mounted to the wall in front of us tuned to the news, though no one’s really paying attention to the guy running for governor who is making a speech. It’s really just background noise.
“I’m glad you’re all enjoying it,” she says, brushing her dark hair out of her face. “I always tell Mason to invite you all over more often.”
Mason loads his plate with the new food she just brought in, talking around a full mouth. “And I told you that I don’t wanna share your food.”
She playfully swats the back of his head, distracting him long enough for Noah and Chase to grab the last two chicken wings he was reaching for.
“Not cool, guys!” Mason directs his comment at the two food thieves, who just smile as they stuff their faces.
“Relax, I have more,” Brian announces as he comes down the stairs with a tray of hot chicken wings, not even getting to set them down before everyone’s grabbing them off the tray.
Brian shakes his head and sits at the end of the couch. “Wow, you’d think you guys haven’t seen food in weeks.”
“Don’t look at us,” Annalisa says, gesturing to me and Charlotte. “We’ve just learned to adapt. If we’re not fast enough, they finish all the food.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Mason agrees with a mouth full of food, and Natalia swats him again.
“Manners,” she scolds, but she’s smiling anyway. “Do you boys want something before it’s all gone?” she asks Jason and Jackson, who are sitting in the entertainment section of Mason’s basement, a foot away from the television, playing a video game.
“No,” they shout back in unison.
“No, thank you.” Aiden reprimands them, and the boys repeat the phrase robotically.
“Sorry.” Aiden looks back at Natalia a bit sheepishly. “I bought them that video game as an early Christmas present and they’ve become obsessed.”
“It’s not a problem,” she says with a genuine smile.
Noah clears his throat. “Uh, I didn’t want to tell you because I thought it would make things worse”—he shifts under everyone’s gaze—“but social media’s blowing up with people wanting to know if you killed Greg or not.”
Aiden exhales sharply and runs a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I know. Are you guys getting bombarded with questions?”
Everyone makes a noncommittal sound, trying to not make Aiden feel bad but basically confirming his question.
“I’ve just been telling everyone to go fuck themselves,” Julian asserts with a crooked smile.
Aiden breathes out a chuckle, but it’s obvious to everyone that it’s forced. For all his toughness and confidence, knowing that his situation is affecting the people around him bothers him.
Brian sits up straighter. “I have an idea. It’s winter break, you guys don’t have school. Why don’t you all take these two weeks to go away? It doesn’t even have to be far. Just get out of town to take your mind off of it and let this all cool down.”
We look at each other. Can we all just skip town and have fun together? Drama free?
Noah’s the first to speak. “If my mom doesn’t kill me I am so in!”
What seems like a collective sigh of relief escapes us as everyone jumps in, admitting that it’s a good idea. Even Aiden admits it would be good to get away from everything and let the twins have fun, if it doesn’t ruin everything with the social workers checking in with Brian.
Can I go, though? Even if I could convince my mom to let me go, I’d be around everyone 24/7. I’d have to be myself, sleeping pills and closet baseball bats and all. As I glance at Aiden, who looks like his mind is running a mile a minute, a swirl of guilt wraps around my heart and squeezes. I’ll be leaving everyone in just a few weeks. This is my last chance to be with them all, and I don’t think I can pass that up.
Brian claps his hands together once, a huge smile on his face. “Great. Any idea where you’d want to go? Break officially starts tomorrow, so you might be hard-pressed finding a place.”
“Torywood Springs.” Aiden speaks up before anyone can suggest anything else. “It’s a shore town about five hours away. It’ll be too cold to swim, but …”
“Actually, I think a friend from work has a vacation house there,” Brian says. “She’s in Australia right now, so she’s not using it. Let me make a phone call—she’ll probably even let you stay there for free.”
“Wow, that’d be great. Thanks, Dad,” Mason says as Brian stands up.
“It’s not a problem. You kids deserve a break from all of this. I’ll go make a call, and if your parents are all okay with it, you can probably leave as early as tomorrow.”