Chapter 7: Nicholas

Mom had on a dark purple dress and diamond studs in her ears. When I walked through the door, she dropped her makeup compact and froze.

“Nicholas,” she said. “What are you doing home so early?”

“Alex gave me a ride.” I gestured to her dress. “What’s all of this for?”

“I’m going on a date with a guy I met when I was taking a stroll.” Mom bit her lip. “I want to say that I have not forgotten your father, and a part of my heart will always belong to him, but—”

My face split into a huge grin. “It’s great, Mom! You deserve to be happy. How long have you two been together?”

“A little over a year.”

“You hid it from me that long?”

My skills must have gotten dull.

“You were away on a mission for most of it.” Mom kissed me on the cheek. “Thank you so much for understanding, sweetheart. If there’s anything I can do for you, name it.”

“Now that you mention it, can you tell my group that we can’t work at our house?”

She frowned. “Why not?”

“If they come here, then they’ll know where we live. And if the Underground gets a hold of our address, they can send assassins.”

“You’re far too paranoid, sweetie. It’ll be fine. High school students won’t turn you in to a criminal organization.”

Mom kissed me again before slipping on painful looking stilettos and heading out the door.

I almost told her about Ace, but I didn’t want him to have another reason to kill her. The bruises around my neck pulsed in agreement.

Mom didn’t come home for dinner but she had left lasagna in the fridge. I ate it in front of the TV.

“EAGLE agents uncovered an Underground meet point and took thirty of their hitmen into custody,” said the reporter. “The director has been delivering on his promise to rid our country of the Underground once and for all. Back to you in the studio.”

The two news anchors sat at a desk shuffling papers.

Bridget looked at Harry and cleared her throat. “EAGLE also discovered the identity of the previous Underground leader, Michael Bunting, who died of gunshot wounds eight months ago.”

Harry took over. “Judging by the Underground’s habit of passing the mantle of leadership through murder, it would seem the new ruler of the kingdom of crime is Michael Bunting’s killer. The question is, who?”

Who indeed. If EAGLE captured the leader, the Underground would fall apart, fighting over who would take over. I considered questioning Ace but he might not even know who it was.

Only a select few in the Underground saw the leader face to face. Fewer still knew his real name.

I found it hard to concentrate in school with Ace next to me. As Lexi and Alex chattered on about project ideas, we sat in stoic silence. I kicked him in the leg when he stood up. To his credit, Ace didn’t even wince before going to join Josiah.

Try as I might, I could not get Mom to back out of letting Ace come to the house on Saturday. I broached the subject again at dinner on Friday.

“Mom, can we—”

“I know what you’re going to ask, Nicholas, and the answer is no,” she said. “If one of them is hurting you, then tell me. Otherwise, my decision still stands.”

When I said nothing, she continued, “My boyfriend is coming over for dinner on Saturday. I want you to meet him. Do you think your friends will leave by that time?”

I pounced at the chance. “If it’s too much of an inconvenience, I can tell them to go someplace else.”

“Nice try, sweetie, but I’m not backing out now. Just do your best to finish before six.”

Alex was the first one to come.

“Nice place,” he said, dropping his backpack on the ground.

I looked at the laundry basket filled with dirty clothes. Mom would be mortified if a guest saw it out in the open.

He followed my gaze and shrugged. “It makes it look homey. My parents hired so many interior decorators to renovate our house that it feels like a museum.”

The doorbell rang again a few minutes later and Lexi came in carrying a giant backpack. Journals and loose papers spilled onto the ground when she unzipped it.

“I came up with some ideas for our project,” she said. “I’ll read through some of my favorites and you guys can decide what we do.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for Ace to get here first?” Alex asked.

“It’s ten past one. We might as well get started. This project could make or break our grades, in two classes no less.”

“Since when did you care about grades?” I said.

“Since my grandma told me I could dye my hair whatever color I want if I aced all of my core classes.”

The door to the kitchen swung open and Mom came in, carrying soda and chips.

“I thought you guys could use a snack.” She set the food down on the coffee table.

Alex looked like he had seen a glimpse of heaven. “Your mom is officially my new favorite person.”

The three of us spent the next hour chatting and eating junk food, all thoughts of productivity forgotten.

An engine roared outside followed by the doorbell ringing a few seconds later. Ace stood on the welcome mat with a half-eaten cookie in hand. Behind him, a motorcycle zoomed down the street.

“Thanks for the ride!” He called as he stepped inside the house.

“What took you so long?” I snapped. “You’re over an hour late.”

Ace took a bite of the cookie. “I thought you didn’t want me here in the first place.”

Lexi came up behind me. “Better late than never. Now we can get started. I was thinking of building a flamethrower and programming it to blast our analysis of Henry V into the air with fire.”

Her face was dead serious.

“That’s a bit ambitious, Lexi,” I said.

“But if we pulled it off, we’d be guaranteed an A.”

“Let’s try something more doable,” Alex suggested. “Like a science fair tri-board with our findings on it.”

Lexi rolled her eyes. “A fake science project is boring unless it involves objects exploding. We should combine different elements and compounds so the chemical formula spells out the words we want to say.”

“That’ll either end with a muddy liquid or with us setting the house on fire, neither of which I want to do,” I said. “What about a slideshow?”

“Boring. Where’s the excitement? Where’s the sizzle? Where’s the adorable kitten that breathes fire?”

I feared for her sanity.

Ace held up a hand. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. How many of you have actually read the play?”

Alex and Lexi developed a sudden interest in the throw pillows.

“We need to come up with what we want to convey before we think of ways to present it. Step one is reading the actual play.”

“Who died and put you in charge?” I said.

He shrugged. “You have to understand what you’re doing before you do it.”

I hated to admit it, but Ace had a point. By the time five o’clock rolled around, we had filled a notebook with analysis and research. Once we had a project idea, it would be simple to insert the information.

Throughout it all, Mom bustled in and out of the kitchen where she was making the meal for tonight. She had promised it would be a basic home-cooked meal, but I swore I could see her making stuffed mushrooms and filet mignon.

Every once in a while, she poked her head into the living room and ordered me to tidy up. It consisted of Alex, Lexi, and I kicking loose objects under the couch as Ace scribbled notes.

The sound of the doorbell made us all jump. Ace landed halfway on the floor with Alex sprawled across his lap. I banged my knee against the coffee table.

Lexi snickered from her perch on the couch armrest. “Suckers.”

I swatted at her as I went to answer the door.

A tall man with dark hair and green eyes stood in front of me. Even in jeans and t-shirt, he had the presence of a general.

“Seth!” Mom stepped past me and wrapped him in a hug. “You’re early.”

“Sorry, Diana. I just couldn’t resist seeing you again.”

His entire face transformed when he smiled. The hard lines melted away and his cheekbones didn’t seem as sharp as before.

Mom pressed her lips together in disapproval but a smile was threatening to break through. “I’m not done with dinner and some of Nicholas’s friends are still working on a project.”

“Knowing you, it’s highly probable you made enough food to feed an army. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“But the house is a mess and the kids—”

“Relax, Diana. I’d love you even if you lived in a hut of spiders.” He turned to me. “Besides, I’d like to meet your friends, Nicholas. It’s nice you found them so quickly after starting at a public school.”

We headed into the living room.

“Guys, this is my mom’s boyfriend, Mr…”

I trailed off, uncertain.

“You can call me Seth,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you all.”

“Likewise. I’m Alex.”

Alex held out his hand to shake.

“Lexi.” She flashed him a smile.

Seth smiled back.

When he turned to Ace, surprise and recognition flashed across his face. Ace looked like he wanted to bolt for the door, cry, and punch Seth in the face, all at the same time.

They looked like a pair of garden statues. Alex shifted in his seat and Mom seemed unsure of what to do.

Then the doorbell rang.

“That must be my mom,” Alex said. “I’ve got to head home for dinner.”

“Can you give me a ride?” Lexi asked. “My grandma drives like a demon with road rage.”

After they left, Mom bustled into the kitchen to check on her pasta. Ace, Seth, and I sat on the couches, facing each other. At least Seth and I were. Ace pulled out his phone and avoided looking at both of us.

Seth cleared his throat. “So, Nicholas, how has school been?”

It was the cheesiest icebreaker question an adult could ask, but I snatched it like a lifeline.

“It’s been okay,” I said. “With homeschooling, I ended up ahead on certain subjects and behind on others. The students all seem nice though.”

Ace snorted but didn’t look up.

Seth ignored him. “I get. It must be hard transitioning. Which subjects are you having trouble with?”

“English. We’re reading Shakespeare.”

He winced in sympathy. “I’m afraid I won’t be much help there. I know he’s supposedly a literary genius, but I would appreciate it a lot more if I could understand his writing.”

“Exactly! I don’t see how it’ll ever help me in life.”

“To be honest, you’ll never use most of the things you learn in school, but it’s the teachers’ job to give you a basic foundation so you’re prepared no matter which career path you choose.”

“Which path did you go down?”

“Business. I’m the head of a corporation.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Ace muttered.

Seth shot him a warning look. Mom came into the room to announce that dinner was ready.

Ace got up from the couch. “I should head home then.”

“Your parents aren’t here to pick you up?” Mom asked.

“No, but I’ll be fine. Walking’s good exercise.”

“Yes, but walking alone at night is dangerous,” she said. “Stay for dinner, Ace. There’s plenty to go around. If you still don’t have a ride by then, Seth can drop you off.”

“No! I’ll be fine, Mrs. Pierce. Really.” Ace sounded panicked.

“Nonsense. I won’t let a sweet young man like you be mugged in some dark alleyway.”

Mom placed her hand on his back and steered him into the dining room. Seth followed them, looking amused. I was tempted to laugh myself at her description of Ace. Mom couldn’t be farther from the truth.

She had outdone herself with the food this time. An entire roasted chicken sat at the center of the table, garnished with sprigs of rosemary. A large steak was on the plate next to it. There were platters of appetizers like crab cakes, spring rolls, and the stuffed mushrooms I had seen her making earlier. Two giant crystal bowls were filled to the brim, one with Caesar salad, the other with pasta.

“Diana, this looks wonderful,” Seth said.

“Oh, it was nothing.” Mom set up another place at the table.

“You didn’t need to go to so much trouble. I would have been satisfied with takeout.”

“Let me spoil you just this once, Seth. Heaven knows you don’t eat enough.” Mom smiled. “Dig in everyone.”

“Did you boys help her make this?” Seth asked, looking at Ace.

It was an innocent enough question, but I heard the tension in his voice. Seth’s real question was if Ace had been given a chance to mess with the meal.

“If we tried to cook, we would have set the kitchen aflame,” I joked.

Seth relaxed and helped himself to some salad.

The food was delicious. I occupied myself with stuffing as much of it into my mouth as possible while Mom and Seth chatted. Ace picked at his plate, watching Seth out of the corner of his eye. Every so often, Seth would glance back in his direction as if he wasn’t sure Ace was real. I wondered what happened between the two of them.

By the time Mom brought out the dessert, I felt like I would burst. Still, I managed to down a slice of chocolate cake. It would be a shame to let good food go to waste with Mom watching her figure and Ace nibbling at his food like he had an eating disorder.

Seth kissed Mom on the cheek. “I have to head home now. If you tell me where Ace lives, I can drop him off.”

“There’s no need, sir,” Ace said stiffly. “I’m sure my friend will finish up his run soon. He can stop by to take me home.”

“Assuming you’re talking about Harley, that friend of yours also drives a motorcycle which is hardly safer than walking, especially in the ghetto.”

“Since when have you ever cared about my safety?”

“Ace, let him drive you home,” Mom said, following him outside. “It won’t be a bother.”

With the air of someone walking up the gallows, Ace opened the car door and slid into the passenger seat. Seth kissed Mom one last time before starting up the car and pulling out of the driveway.