Overprotected

Chapter Six

I enter the kitchen, fully dressed. Mr. and Mrs. Linston are making breakfast.

"Good morning Lexi!" Mr. Linston says.

No one should be that cheery at 8:30 in the morning.

"Hello."

"You're up early." Landon says behind me.

I twist to look at him, "Yeah, I had trouble sleeping."

"Would you like an egg, kids?" Mr. Linston says.

"Yes." Landon says as he leaves. "I'll be back, I'm going to get some juice."

"You better make three eggs, Landon will probably eat more than one." I say placidly.

Mrs. Linston almost drops her plate. "No no, dearie, not three. We'll make four."

"Four," I repeat, confused.

"Bad luck comes in threes they say, so we never buy anything in sets of three. You'll note that there's nothing having to do with three in our house. In fact, we've probably spoken of the number too much." Mrs. Linston says with a shudder.

"Now dearie, settle down. I'm sure the fates will be kind and forgive us for saying the number too many times." Mr. Linston comforts.

I roll my eyes, they're absolutely ridiculous.

"Besides, Noir can finish the eggs up, if the dreadful child ever wakes." Mrs. Linston says.

"Mom, Noir is 19, not exactly a child." Landon says, coming in with the juice.

We sit and eat breakfast, and Landon turns to me. "Want to come to the barn with me today? It's a Saturday so a lot of the kids should be there."

"Without Noir?"

"He'll probably be nursing a hangover. We're better off without him," Landon says.

"Alright, just let me go change." I say, and run upstairs to put on jeans.

I brush my hair into a low ponytail and apply a little makeup. Then I dart downstairs and clamber into Landon's truck.

We're quiet during half the drive, then I speak. "How did you know Noir got a little drunk last night?"

Landon chuckles, "The kid gets drunk at least twice a week. It was a Friday and he went out with his no-good friends, what do you expect?"

So Landon doesn't like Noir's buddies either.

"Your parents don't mind him drinking underage?"

"Are you kidding? They don't care about a thing the guy does. As long as he's not bothering them, anything goes."

"I would think that since you grew up with the idea that he is bad luck pounded into you, you wouldn't like him. But you certainly seem to," I say.

"Well I have a big sister named Caroline who never believed in what Mom and Dad taught. So we grew up treating him like a normal person. Isabella is the only one who agrees with them and treats him like crap." Landon explains.