Chương 8: Chapter 8: Antony And Cleopatra

“Tell Jasper to stop talking to me about his girl crush!” Seth exclaimed from the passenger’s seat. “He’s been texting me since lunch and I don’t even know who this girl is!”

“Sofia is a popular cheerleader who probably is going to change schools while being partners with Jasper for a project,” I explained.

The car ride home was already better than the way to school. All the kids seemed to be in a better mood.

Thankfully, Oliver was laughing along with Serena who was telling her latest story about high school. She’s been trying to assert her brilliant math skills, while still staying under the radar.

Our life needs to remain hidden from the world. The kids all worked their hardest to stay out of trouble. We couldn't have any inconveniences from the school that would lead to having to call Eric.

“Pizza Friday is happening tonight! No snacks or sweets before dinner!” I stated, making sure that the kids knew they had my undivided attention tonight.

Pulling into the driveway, I almost crashed into the garage. Sitting on our front porch was Wes.

What was he doing here?

How does he know where I live?

I led the kids to the front door, making sure they all got out of the car safely. Wes sat on the front steps watching me unlock the front door. I didn't think it was a particularly interesting task to be watching. Hopefully, he left the house as soon as possible. I wanted to take a nap!

I can't have him in our house, seeing that we don't have any parents around! That would raise questions that I refuse to answer. I needed Wes as far away from our house as possible. He couldn't be here. It was going to ruin everything.

Single file, my kids went into the house not sparing Wes a second glance. I taught them well.

“Alright,” I drawled out, pushing them in one by one. “Homework first. Seth and Serena, no plotting world domination before homework is done. Derek, no studying, or experiments for fun before your assigned homework is done. Oliver, if you’re going to do homework in your treehouse, then I want you down before dinner to show me it’s done.” All the kids were walking into the house. They were used to these speeches of mine, but they always did it without fail. I knew how to trust my kids.

“What about me?”

I squatted down in front of Ariel, ignoring the searing pain of staying in that position. I loved this girl so much, but I needed her to grow taller so I wouldn't throw my back out.

“You, little miss, have been in my company for almost an hour and I still haven’t gotten my hug from you. I want my hug now and that’s an order,” I smiled, pulling little Ariel into my arms. Her flowing red locks tickled the skin on my arms. She didn’t have braids today, because I didn’t have time to do them for her this morning.

Once I let her go, Ariel took her small legs into a full-on sprint into the house. She almost stumbled over her feet, but she made it to the living room couch unharmed. I shut the door behind us, leaving Wes and me out on the front porch.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

Wes furrowed his brows and held up his copy of Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare.

Oh sh*t!

“Sh*t! I’m so sorry! I completely forgot,” I exclaimed, ushering him into the house.

“I got that from the way you looked at me like I’m crazy,” Wes laughed.

“I’m so sorry! Just uh- just sit in the living room. We can get started in there,” I explained, feeling embarrassed about our house. It was messy and unorganized. However, nothing ever gets lost. Our messiness had a system where we knew where everything is.

I grabbed two water bottles from the refrigerator, before going back to Wes in the living room. He had detailed instructions for the project. We hadn't chosen our specific novels to use yet, but we needed at least three novels that gave the illusion of romance.

My fictional romance novels weren't the type of books to use for academic purposes. Wes brought Antony and Cleopatra with him, so I assumed he thought about using that play for our project.

Good choice.

“So, should we start looking into different books to use? I’ve read Antony and Cleopatra a bunch of times, so we can use that if it’s a book you like,” I explained, going through the hundreds of books that I’ve read during my lifetime. “Come upstairs with me. I have a lot of books up there that we could use.”

Wes obediently followed me to my bedroom. His eyes wandered to the walls of my bedroom. He wasn’t being subtle about snooping through my bedroom.

A collection of Polaroids and black and white pictures were hung on my walls, cataloging the last seven years that I’ve spent in this house with the Hastings’ and being part of a real family. I never took pictures before coming to this house. I spent three years in nine different foster homes. Nobody wanted me. Why would I take pictures in a place where I wasn't wanted? Clarice helped me to see that they wanted me in this family. These pictures were proof that my kids and I were a family.

“You’re really talented,” Wes whispered, more to himself than to me. He kept his back facing me, so I couldn’t tell what his facial expressions were saying. “Violin? You’re very artistic.”

“Uh, yeah. My parents wanted us all to learn an instrument growing up,” I explained vaguely, trying to make the word parents sound normal. Other people need to believe that Eric and Clarice were my parents. Admitting that you were a foster child is embarrassing enough, especially when I didn't want Wes knowing anything about me. “My siblings and I used to put on concerts, but since we all play classical instruments, having a rock concert with the violin wasn't our best idea.”

“How did you get into reading?”

“Greek myths were read to me as a kid. I found the fictional gods and goddesses to be fascinating. It wasn’t until I started branching out, did I realize that I love reading so many different books from what other people read,” I explained.

“Are your parents Greek?”

Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

“No, they met while they were both vacationing in Greece. Growing up, they gave my siblings and me Greek mythology nicknames based on our personalities, because we loved hearing the myths.”

“What’s your nickname?” Wes asked.

“Leto.” Goddess of motherhood. Fitting, wasn't it?

Don’t ask about my family anymore.

Please! Please stop asking about my family.

It’s not hard to see that my siblings and I didn't look alike. Seth and Serena spoke fluent Spanish when they were trying to keep secrets. You can hear that I was not Hispanic based on my horrid accent and my limited knowledge of Spanish words.

“What about The Odyssey?” Wes questioned.

“What about it?”

“The love between Penelope and Odysseus stretches for twenty years. She waits all those years for her husband to return him from the Trojan War,” Wes said, flipping through my copy of The Odyssey. I had put dozens of post-it notes in the margins of my favorite lines. “Penelope won’t let herself believe that Odysseus has returned. Her love for him is strong enough to last all these years but doesn’t see that he’s in front of her. True love is about knowing the other person. Odysseus knows the secret signs that he and Penelope have together,” Wes read my annotations inside the book. “You sound like a skeptic who doesn’t believe in real love.”

“I believe in love but—” Wes looked at me waiting for an answer. “I think some people are meant to find love and some people aren’t.”

“Some people. Meaning you?” Wes questioned.

I avoided his gaze and continued searching through my bookshelf. I picked up three more possible options for us to use. My extensive knowledge of Greek mythology was going to be helpful for this project.

Wes continued looking at me waiting for a response. When it was clear I wasn’t giving him one, he shifted his gaze to my lips. The darting of his eyes was so quick it almost made me think it was my imagination. He turned away and continued looking around my room. He was comfortable looking at my pictures but didn’t seem comfortable looking at my books.

I think Wes and I have different interests in book genres. He's looking at the inner workings of my soul through my books, and I don't think he wants to ask about my book preferences.

“Lucy!” I turned to see Ariel standing in my doorway. She ran inside and jumped on my bed. “Lucy, I want to play! Look what I made today!”

“We’re going to play after dinner. I promise,” I said, seeing her energetic side dwindling down. She shied away when Wes looked in her direction. She took a pillow and hid behind it. “Can you say hi to Wes?”

“Hi,” she whispered. Wes smiled and waved at her. Ariel’s shyness transformed to her usual happy demeanor. “Do you want to see my painting?”

“Ariel ... Wes and I are doing work together. How about you stay and help us? You can help us make our schoolwork look beautiful!”

Ariel stayed with Wes and me in my bedroom. It didn’t take long to get into a rhythm of doing our work in silence. We’d look through some books and write down the romance aspects. I’d sneak a peek at Wes over my computer screen. He wouldn’t notice me looking because he seemed so invested in the work. After hearing from Jasper that I do most of our projects for us, he probably doesn’t want to let me do all the work. He had seen me at my most tired. If only he knew why.

The walkie-talkie on my nightstand started beeping.

“I finished my homework,” Oliver’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.

“I’ll look over your work after dinner,” I said while checking the time on my phone. “Pizza will be here soon. Make sure you wash your hands after coming inside.”

I ordered the pizza and prayed that Wes would take our dinner as his cue to leave. He was so engrossed with taking notes that he hadn't realized that it was already after six o’clock. He had his nose in these books since we sat down. He didn’t want to sit on my bed with Ariel and I, so he was sitting on the floor next to my bookshelf.

“Lucy!” Derek shouted. “Seth put powder on my drums!”

“Oh no,” I sighed. Wes started cleaning up his books and computer. Thankfully, he looked ready to leave. The look of pure devastation on my face was probably an indicator as to why he was leaving.

I couldn't have more than a few hours of peace to work on my schoolwork. Doing work and being with Wes in my bedroom was the most normal I’ve felt in years. He didn't seem to take notice of how miserable I felt right now, but if he did then he was keeping it to himself. Thank you! The last thing I needed right now was to answer more questions. I wanted to help Derek clean his drums, then do what needed to be done for the night.

“Can I go to the door with Wes?” Ariel asked.

“Sure. Your step stool is in the kitchen, make sure you turn the lock towards Ares’ food bowl when he leaves,” I explained. I got up and didn’t bother cleaning up my books and papers. I’d go back to work at some point during the night. I walked with Ariel and Wes out of my bedroom but stopped in front of Derek and Oliver’s room. “I’m sorry about this. It gets kind of crazy in here sometimes. We can definitely work in the library next week during lunch.”

“Yeah, this was fun. It was nice learning things about you … and your siblings,” Wes smiled, taking Ariel’s hand and going down the stairs.

I swallowed the realization that I’d stared at Wes’ lips during our goodbye exchange and prepared myself to walk into Derek’s bedroom.

Whatever was on the other side of that door, was nothing compared to what was going on in my heart.

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