(unedited)
I'll be better off without you.
In no time, I'll be forgetting all about you.
You saying that you know,
But I really really doubt you,
Understand my life is easy,
When I ain't around you.
"Problem" -Ariana Grande (ft. Iggy Azalea)
The beach cottage definitely wasn't a cottage.
It was a mansion with a private beach. Though with the Elite being who they were, I was only marginally surprised.
It took about half an hour for Ashton to replace the tire, even with Jacen's begrudging help- or maybe because of it- so we got there around one. Nathan, Skylar, Keira and Vanessa were already there.
Vanessa gave me a quick tour, though I would probably still get lost with how big it was. The house was unofficially split into two sides. The west wing was where I, along with the rest of the Elite would be staying. On the other side was where their parents would be.
The kitchen, living room, games room and other common rooms were in the middle.
"Other than occasional dinners, we don't cross much," Vanessa had told me.
I almost asked why they didn't just go on separate vacations altogether, then decided against it, since it wasn't really any of business. Maybe it was like Saturdays, for me, Raine and Kaden- something that had started out as a family thing then slowly changed as they got older.
The room I got was near the end of the hallway, between Vanessa and Jacen's rooms and across from Ashton's. it faced the back, overlooking the private beach the Merrick's owned. The room was huge, about the size of my room back home.
I had gotten the afternoon to myself, since everyone was busy unpacking and had spent most of it dreading dinner, which was when the adults would arrive. And among them would be Blake and Avril's killer.
I knew it probably wasn't Mr. Sinclair since Kaden had worked with after their deaths. The others, though, I had no idea.
I heard a knock at the door and looked up to see Ashton leaning against the doorframe. "Hey, we're going to head down stairs since dinner's in an hour. Coming?"
Great.
I finished my text to Kaden and hit send, then stood up.
"Was that Kaden?" Ashton asked as I followed him down the hall.
I glanced up at him. "Is he asking you to keep tabs on me too?"
"No," he said. "He threatened to castrate if anything happened though."
I winced and closed my eyes. Kaden and I are definitely going to have a little talk when I get back. "Sorry."
From the way Kaden had been acting recently I was starting to believe he still saw me as a twelve year old. I had always kept to myself, so I guess there hadn't really been the need for these kind of threats until the Elite. I had gotten the birds and bees talk at the lovely age of thirteen when we had started seventh grade Sex Ed but that was pretty much it.
Ashton shrugged, but didn't reply since we were heading down the stairs and the others would be able to hear us now. They still didn't know about Kaden and Ashton's case at least as far as I knew.
"What took so long?" Nathan asked as we walked into the living room. "You went up to get Elena ten minutes ago."
What? But Ashton had only knocked two or three minutes ago. What had he done in the time between?
"I went to the bathroom, Sherlock," Ashton said. I blinked. I couldn't be sure, since I wouldn't ask, but I had a feeling he was lying. I hadn't heard the flush of a toilet or anything, but then again I hadn't noticed Ashton at the door until he knocked.
You're being awfully paranoid, Lena.
I was allowed to be, though.
I shoved the thought out of my mind for now, and instead shifted my attention to the two adults beside Nathan. I recognized them as Ashton and Nathan's parents before he greeted them, from both magazines and their similar features. Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair were the only adults here so far.
"Hey Mom, Dad," Ashton said. "This is Elena."
"Nice to meet you," I said, feeling a little uncomfortable as I their hands. I knew the Sinclairs were probably safe, for Avril and Blake's murder at least, but it was still strange meeting the Elite's parents.
Mrs. Sinclair gave me a suspicious look -not mean, more like the look you got when you were caught doing something bad, but wasn't in trouble- and glanced between me and Ashton. "Are you tw-?" she started.
"No," Ashton interrupted.
I bit the inside of my cheek, feeling a slight flush creep up as Nathan smothered a chuckle. Thankfully, before anyone could say anything else, the front door opened. Two people I recognized as Mr. and Mrs. Blaire walked in, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Winston and a couple guys who were carrying their luggage. The butlers? assistants? headed straight upstairs without a word.
"Where's my dad?" Vanessa asked.
"He said he was coming at three," Mrs. Winston told her.
Vanessa frowned. "He didn't say hi," she said quietly, so quietly that I almost hadn't heard her with the other noise in the room. Ashton and his parents had gone to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Blaire, leaving me with Nathan.
"You okay?" I asked, noticing the frown on his face.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, Vanessa's dad is just a jerk."
"Because he didn't say hi?" It seemed a little extreme. I mean, it was rude, but maybe he had just forgotten or something.
Nathan shook his head. "Vanessa never sees him and he doesn't care. A couple years ago, he was shipwrecked on an island. They couldn't find him for two weeks and Ness was freaking out. When they rescued him, he didn't call, or visit her to tell her he was okay. Instead, he flew to the other side of the world for a business meeting."
"Wow." Nathan's story reminded me of what Vanessa had said at the mall last week, about how she spent Christmas with the Sinclairs sometimes. She had said it depended on whether or not her dad came home, which was awful, but I hadn't thought it was this bad.
It made me feel sorry for her.
"Why don't you go get him since dinner's almost ready?" Mrs. Sinclair was saying to Vanessa.
Vanessa shook her head. "I don't want to interrupt him."
Mr. Merrick did come out of his office, eventually, halfway through the first course of dinner. He nodded a greeting to everyone, but his eyes were practically attached to the phone in his hand.
"He works a lot," Skylar, who was sitting beside me, leaned over and whispered. "So if he gets up in the middle of a conversation or something, just ignore it."
Thinking about it now, I had heard a bit about Mr. Merrick throughout the years. Apparently he was a harsh, and ruthless businessman, taking vengeance on anyone who tried to stop him or stand in the way of his company.
Dinner was awkward, to say the least. Some of the adults, Mrs. Winston and Mrs. Sinclair especially tried to make small talk, asking about school and other things, though most attempts fell flat since no one was willing to talk.
It was at the start of the main course when I got put on the spot.
"So who are you parents, Elena?" Mrs. Winston asked, turning to look at me.
I hated this question. I had hated this question since I was seven and unsure of what to say. I still really wasn't. If anything, I knew even less what to say than I did at seven. They weren't asking for my life story, I neither had to not wanted to tell them I had gone through three -maybe even four if you counted Freya- sets of parents in seventeen years, but I didn't know which set of parents to reply with.
Jared Jordan and Freya Scott were my biological parents. Jared and Hayley had been the first ones to raise me. They had died in a car crash- an actual accident as far as I knew.
Then there was Blake, who had been Jared's cousin and Avril Jordan. I had been with them for the longest time- seven years. Then they had been killed- possibly, probably by someone sitting as the dining table.
And finally, there was Raine and Kaden. I liked them, but I had been twelve when I came to live with them, so I didn't feel like they were my parents- not a hundred percent. "Uh," I said, realizing Mrs. Winston, and now half the dining table, were still waiting for an answer. "I live with Raine and Kaden Fleming."
"I've worked with Kaden. He's a good business man, but very quiet about his private life," Mr. Sinclair remarked, giving me a curious look. "I know he got married years ago, but I didn't know he had a kid as well."
"They're not my biological parents," I explained. I had the attention of all of the table now, even Mr. Merrick and Mr. Winston who had seemed addicted to their phones. "Raine and Kaden adopted me after they died."
It wasn't a secret that Raine and Kaden had adopted me. A couple newspapers and websites had talked about it at the time, though there hadn't been major coverage about it. Mr. Sinclair was right- Kaden was very quiet about his private life. He tried to keep as much of it out of the newspapers at the time. Since there hadn't been much drama around me being adopted, the story had been dropped pretty fast in favor of more scandalous affairs.
Though with the time I was spending with the Elite, someone might have dug up the story again. I seen the news section of the grocery store, or checked any online gossip sites recently, though, so I didn't know for sure.
"Who were your biological parents?" Mr. Winston asked.
I squirmed, clenching the napkin in my lap between my hands under the table. I wasn't entirely comfortable digging up my past and laying it out for the Elite to see. Especially with their potential involvement in Avril and Blake's murder.
Surprisingly, it was Keira who saved me. "Alright, Dad," she said. "Give Elena some time before you ask her to spill all her secrets."
Even as Mr. Winston dropped it, I couldn't help but wonder if his curiosity meant something. Avril and Blake probably hadn't been killed by one of the Elite since the would have been twelve at the time, but it could've still sort of been related to the case now. If it was the same family. If Blake and Avril had somehow provoked one of the Elite's parents who had a mental illness they had passed on to their kid.
Keira Winston or Jacen Winston.
It was a big conclusion to jump to, though. It had only been a small question that might've stemmed from curiosity. But Mr. Winston hasn't been very involved in the conversation throughout dinner.
And one of the first things I had learned from Kaden and his work was that the smallest things sometimes became the biggest details.
â¡ the trouble with love â¡
I had trouble sleeping that night.
I wasn't sure if it was from knowing that Blake and Avril's killer was probably sleeping soundly somewhere in this house, what Nathan had told me, or something else altogether. Usually when I couldn't sleep at home, I wandered around the house until I got tired or made myself some warm milk or tea, but I didn't know if I could do that here.
It was silent, aside from the quiet sound of crashing of waves coming through the open window , but that didn't mean everyone was asleep. It was possible that the walls were just soundproof. I wasn't sure what I would do if I bumped into one of the Elite's parents.
I shifted and twisted around to stare out the window. I didn't like closing the curtains or drawing the blinds when I slept even if I was sometimes blinded when I woke up. It was pretty dark out, with only half a moon shining through thin clouds, but even that didn't make my eyelids feel heavy. I sighed and sat up.
I can just say I sleepwalk or something if I bump into someone, anyway.
I grabbed a sweater on my way out, deciding to sit on the porch in the back for a little bit, until I felt more sleepy at least. I didn't expect to see anyone else when I stepped onto the porch, but there was someone sitting a little ways down the beach. It was dark out, so I wasn't sure who it was, though they looked make.
Then they lifted a hand that holding a bottle and as he tipped his head back, I caught a glimpse of light brown hair.
Of course. "Jacen?"
He glanced back at me. "Elena."
I shuffled and sat down beside him, wrapping my sweater tighter around me. "Are you drunk?" I asked, noticing the slight stench of alcohol on his breath. I couldn't read the label on the bottle in the dark, but it smelled strong.
"Not yet," he said.
"Is midnight drinking some kind of hobby for you?" I demanded, remembering the night of the sleepover when I had found him in a very similar position.
"Only when I need to relax," he replied, his words already starting to slur, just he slightest.
I raised an eyebrow, even though he wasn't looking at me. "How much have you had?"
"You can't judge, if you haven't tried," he replied, avoiding the question.
I sighed and took the bottle, then, careful not to let the rim touch my lips, tipped it back. I swallowed a small mouthful of the burning liquid with a small wince. "There. I can judge," I said, handing it back to him. "It still sucks."
"That was a wussy sip," he replied, taking a large gulp. At this point, I was surprised he wasn't flat out drunk. Then again, maybe I was just a lightweight.
I shook my head. I had to be careful. Not only would I regret it in the morning when I woke up with a pounding headache, I would also regret anything I said tonight if I got too drunk. I could manage a sip or two of strong liquor before I got too dizzy, but not anything past that.
"Why did Ashton punch you?" I asked, changing the subject.
"I tried to steal his phone, remember?" Jacen replied sarcastically. He didn't even try to hide the fact that it had been a lie, though I wasn't sure if that was his intent or if he was just too drunk to care.
"His phone was dead," I pointed out. "Why did you say that made him punch you?"
Jacen was good at provoking Ashton, especially when he tried, but Ashton had seemed sure that he wouldn't do anything to Jacen.
"Why do you think it was me?" Jacen asked. "It's not my fault he can't handle the truth."
I gave him a suspicious glance. "What truth?"
"You should stop putting Ashton on pedestal," he remarked. "He's gonna get you killed."
"What?"
I didn't put Ashton on a pedestal. Kaden sort of, almost, trusted him, and his parents were alright, so it meant he might be the safest of the Elite, but that didn't mean I had him on a pedestal.
And he'd get me killed? Ashton was the one who had approached Kaden to try and stop this. I mean, it was possible that was just to throw him off, but it was a lot of trouble to go to, especially given that Kaden might not have even known about the game in the first place.
"He likes you, Elena," Jacen said.
Huh?
But I didn't let my surprise show. "Isn't that a good thing?"
I knew if I didn't succeed in making Ashton like me and Ashton and Kaden couldn't convict the killer, I was dead -though Kaden might send me out of the country before that- but what if I did? I didn't know what happened then, but if losing meant death, then wouldn't winning mean the opposite?
"No," he replied, shaking his head. "So you should stop trying."
"I don't want to die!" I exclaimed. "I'm just trying to stay alive."
"Don't bother," Jacen said, taking a swig from the bottle. "You're dead either way."
-- â¡ --
Teaser: "Something you want to tell me, Ash?"
QotC: If I wrote a book for every member of the Elite would you guys read them? It wouldn't be like their PoV on this book, but their own story.