The Rockstar Chronicles

Scars

 As amazing as the bedrooms were, it didn’t take long to get boring. Especially for Hardyn and Ryder, who didn’t seem that impressed by anything except the shared pool. They did have some fun though, watching our reactions.

“That was great,” Ryder said as we descended the stairs.

“What was?” I asked innocently.

“Watching you and Grady explore the house.”

“What? Why?” I didn’t understand, but I saw Grady’s ears turn red. He’s blushing, I thought and I wondered why he was embarrassed.

Hardyn smirked. “It was pretty amusing. I mean, what did you live in before?”

Suddenly, I understood why Grady was blushing. They were looking down on us, laughing at our impressed reactions to what they thought of as normal.

“That’s not what I meant,” Ryder protested sharply.

“Then what did you mean?” I asked, my voice short. I pressed my lips together, struggling to hold back both anger and tears. Don’t cry in front of them, I thought.

“It’s just,” Ryder hesitated, slowing down so that we fell back from Hardyn and Grady. I could tell they noticed. I started to speed up, unwilling to listen to his excuses, but his hand brushed against my arm, asking me to stay, and I slowed my stride to match his.

He lowered his voice. “It reminded me of when I was little. I remember the first time me and my brothers saw our new house. It wasn’t this good.” He glanced around. “Not nearly as big, but it was bigger than what we had been living in. We were so happy.”

His gaze was open and honest. I found myself getting lost in his blue eyes, but I caught myself just in time. “What were you living in?” I asked, more to make conversation than actual curiosity.

This time, Ryder blushed. I noticed Hardyn’s head raise slightly and I knew he was listening. I started to warn Ryder, but it turned out I didn’t have to.

“Oh, you know,” he said, his eyes turning distant as quickly as if a shade had been lowered. “The usual.”

I didn’t press him further.

“Anyway,” he said as we followed the others into the backyard, intent on inspecting the pool. “It was nice. It reminded me of a long time ago. I had almost forgotten.” He laughed softly, scuffing his foot against the earth. It left a wide scar in the otherwise perfect surface and he hurriedly shifted his tennis shoe to flop the grass back into place.

“It seems such a long time ago now.” I listened, watching as he struggled with the uncooperative clump of grass.

“We can’t get in,” Hardyn complained as he came to stand beside us. Grady stood at the gates, rattling them with his hands, but they remained tightly locked. “We don’t have the code yet.”

Grady leaned against the iron bars, his arms crossed across his chest, and grinned at us. “Well, let’s go in and get it. I don’t know about you three, but I’m ready for a swim.”

He straightened suddenly, jogging past Hardyn, who yelped and fell quickly into his wake. I, too, started to go in, pausing near the sliding glass doors of the kitchen when I realized Ryder wasn’t coming. He was still playing with the clump of grass, struggling to make it fit once more.

“Ryder?” I asked. “You coming?”

“What?” he glanced up at me. “Oh… yeah, I was just… trying to fix it.” He left it reluctantly, coming towards me slowly.

He laughed, but it sounded almost false, a bit forced. “Think they’ll notice?”

I glanced at it. It was noticeable, but only because the rest of the yard was so perfect. I started to make a joke about it, but then I saw the worried look in his eyes. I don’t know how, but I knew something much bigger than worry over being yelled at for landscaping was on his mind.

So I did what I almost never did. I lied.

“It looks fine,” I said. “I wouldn’t even notice.”

Some of the worry left his eyes, replaced by relief. He went inside without another word, not even a glance back.

But I looked back before I closed the door. It stood out, like a wide scar on the immaculate surface. A break that couldn’t be fixed. I lied, I thought. I never do that.

Little did I know, it wouldn’t be the last time.

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