"Youkinda screechlike her too."
"You want meto call you Bowser?" Isaid trying to getthe upper hand, but as he crossed the finish line in first place, I slumped.
"No,Peaches. You can justcall me winner."
I glared but kept my eyes on the screen. “You’ll always be last place in my book. L.P. L.P. rolls off the tongue quite nicely too.”
He grumbled something about showing me what could roll off my tongue nicely but I ignored him, so happy with my quick work on a degrading nickname for him.
We bickered and played again and again. Before I knew it, the sun was setting. I finished in first place only to throw my controller down, "I gotta go!"
Jax rolled his eyes. "You can't leave just because you finally won."
"Get over yourself, L.P. I won like ten times in the last hour."
He stood to his full height and crossed his arms, trying intimidation. "Peaches, let's be realistic."
Maybe it was the way everyone backed down from him or the way he commanded everything around him but I never wanted to give in to him, to let him have anything without a fight. I put my hands on my hips and stood a little straighter. “L.P.,”—I mimicked his tone—“realistically, Jay beat you last time, and he's the worst."
"Hey!” Jay jumped up. "I'm way better at Jax in most things. He plays this way too much."
I patted Jay's arm and glared at Jax for making me indirectly insult Jay who always stood up for me. He was the sweet one, the one I would call my friend. I held Jax's eyes. "Of course, Jay. We both know you're better than Jax at most everything."
Jax's eyes widened as he took a menacing step forward. He searched my face again, analyzing me. "What the hell does that mean?" he ground out, a gravelly tone in his voice sending shivers up my body.
I stepped back quickly and turned as if unaffected. I didn’t answer him because I didn’t really know what it meant. Jay and I were friends, nothing more. I didn’t know if he was better at anything than Jax, other than being my friend.
He was the absolute best at that.
"See you guys later!" I yelled over my shoulder as I bounded down the stairs.
Halfway out the door, Jax yelled from the stairs, "See you on Sophomore Kill Day."
I winced at the reminder.
Jay would protect me. I hoped.
What Jay wouldn't be able to protect me from was walking into my kitchen and seeing my father sitting at the table, glaring at the door.
"Where's Mom?"
"You mean Mother?" he asked, his voice louder than even his normal yelling voice. "I'm asking the questions, Aubrey."
I nodded, frozen in the doorway.
"Close and lock that door. You are letting in the cold."
I turned and did as I was told. I had no choice. Not when I didn't know where my mom was.
As the lock clicked into place, I felt my body start to shake. I couldn't turn back around. I willed myself to pivot, to face my father.
I pled with my self-control, begging it to help me stop shaking, to give me the courage to ask him again where he'd locked Mom up this time.
Control, that little friend of mine, wasn’t needed though. Instead, my father yanked me back by my French braid and spit out, "What the fuck is this? She let your hair grow this long?"
Tears stung my eyes from the hair pulling.
The tears spilled over when he reached for the knife block and slid a large butcher knife from it. The metal glinted in the light. It shined as if it had been sharpened and primed for just this specific moment. When the metal sparkled as it swung toward me, I wondered if blood made it shine more brightly.