QUINTON
Christmas Day. The entire house is decorated and smells of sugar cookies and gingerbread spice, and the lights twinkle across the Christmas tree in the same tempo the music plays softly in the background. All of this used to excite me and make me feel fuzzy and warm inside. Today, there is emptiness, a hollow feeling in my chest, where the memory of my sister lingers.
I look down at the bracelet in my palm, the diamond in the heart-shaped pendant glittering even more than the Christmas lights surrounding me. Adela loved this piece of jewelry, and knowing she gave it to Aspen leaves me with an odd sense of satisfaction. Almost as if my sister approved of Aspen from the afterlife. At least I got my sisters on board. The rest of the family will be a whole different issue.
“Ivan, Violet, Damon, and Keira just got here.” Scarlet’s soft voice drags me out of my head.
I close my fingers around the bracelet in my hand and stuff it in my pocket before I spin around to face my sister. “It’s about time, I’m starving.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible after the mountain of cookies you ate earlier.”
“Cookies don’t feed these muscles. I need protein to keep this gun show going,” I say, pointing at my arms.
Scarlet rolls her eyes at me. “You are so full of yourself.”
“Funny, people keep telling me so. Maybe there is some truth to it then?”
“Definitely.” Scarlet giggles, and I enjoy the moment of lightness with her.
We walk into the dining room together, where our parents, uncle Damon, and the rest of our extended family are gathered around the table.
“There they are.” Mom smiles, but it’s half-hearted. She tries her best to pretend to be happy today, but we all know how hard this is for her.
Our entire lives, she counted our firsts. First steps taken, the first day of school, our first love, and our first heartbreak. Since Adela’s death, we count a new, much more dreadful set of firsts, and this will be the first Christmas without her.
Scarlet and I join our family at the table, where I take my seat next to our father. Damon is on the other end of the table, with Aunt Keira by his side.
My mom’s sister, Violet, is sitting next to her with her daughter, Tessa, between her and her dad, Ivan. Roman, Ivan’s brother, and his family, including Ren, are here as well. He came home when Christmas break officially started, and Matteo left Corium for the holidays.
Scarlet and Tessa are about the same age but don’t see each other much since Ivan doesn’t want her involved in our business. After an incident when Tessa was six, Ivan took her and Violet and moved away, leaving the life of crime behind them for good.
I know it was hard on Mom not seeing her sister as often as she’d liked, especially when Adela died, but I don’t blame Ivan for leaving.
Out of our entire family, my cousin is definitely the most sheltered. As a matter of fact, she thinks my father runs an international freight company, and Uncle Damon, as well as Roman, are part owners. At least some of that is technically true.
“Hi, Quinton, how is school? Learning anything yet?” Damon greets.
“A few useful things, but mostly stuff I already know.” I shrug.
“I looked up Corium University. It looks beautiful online. Maybe I can see it in person one day,” Tessa asks hopefully.
Of course, the Corium website is a complete fake, a front so students have something to show to keep appearances up for instances just like this.
“It looks nice, but it’s fucking cold up there.”
“Quinton, no cussing,” my father warns, and I almost laugh.
“Sorry,” I mumble before I continue talking. “Seriously, though, they make it look much nicer in the pictures than it is. You’re not missing anything.”
“I must be missing something if you, Ren, and Scarlet get to go there. I’m sure Luna will too. Basically, I’m the only one not going.”
“You’re not missing anything,” Ren chimes in.
“Really, I’ve been there once, and it’s not that great,” Luna agrees.
“And I don’t even know if I’ll go there.” Scarlet shrugs. “Where are you planning to go? Maybe I’ll join you.”
“Well, it depends on where I get in. Of course, I’d love to go to MIT and get an engineering degree, but I’m not sure if I’ll make it.”