Chapter Seven-Repercussions

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LUC


SCHOOL WAS STARTING tomorrow, and I had no motivation to endure it. Ben and Devin were sharing a bag of chips in my living room. Whenever they snacked on my food, I'd find my cupboard empty and I would need to do more groceries. I should send them the bill one of these days, see what it takes to fill up their insatiable appetite.

"You heard news of Minnie?" Ben slurred with a mouthful of chips.

"She didn't say much," I replied, suspecting that she was dissembling dark thoughts and pushing them down. That might not bode well. "But she helped with Chuck and found out what happened with him."

Silence welcomed my obscure announcement. Devin stopped munching and her eternal frown deepened. I should have told them about NIO sooner, but I didn't fathom it was an emergency to the point where I couldn't let the family enjoy the holidays. Now, things were different.

"What did she find?"

I explained the whole story, slowing while reminiscing that time in junior year that snowballed until Chuck broke because of me. They knew about it, of course. That lousy day, they'd tried everything to cheer me up but I avoided all my friends. 

As I dove into details, their faces twisted up. Devin put the bag of chips down, seeming to want to spit the chew. She was still angry about the NIO business, the addresses and Lauren's underlying traces behind all of it. Before my sister disappeared, she used to be cool. After she was gone, Devin became insufferable. People were lenient, figuring it was her way to deal with her loss, but she never fully recovered.

"Crap..." Ben shook his head and sat down. "This is a disaster."

Devin seethed in her corner. "I can't believe this. She comes up in this town and you suddenly revolve around her like she's the goddamn sun. All she ever does is make us save her ass. She's dead weight if not trouble."

I dropped my hands to my lap. Her face flashed in my mind like an obnoxiously loud pop-up. Riley didn't mean to bring trouble, though I had to admit, trouble followed her like a loyal dog. 

Maybe I was quick on the trigger for her. 

I felt like if I weren't, something might break beyond the point of fixing. She ran. A lot. Without thinking, without a breath, she ran straight to places she shouldn't be. I needed to run after her before it was too late. 

"You know, now. And I'm sorry it had to come out this way. What would you suggest, anyways? Outcast her before she's even stabilized?" My huff came out slow yet sharp. "Without that contact on her phone, Michael would have never revealed to me what happened with Lauren."

"How dare you think we had no right to know about NIO first?" she finally yelled, and the trees outside curved under a strong wind. She moved closer. "She was not just important to you, you giant jerk! Don't you think we would have also wanted to know what happened?"

Ben slid his palms between us and pushed us apart. "Guys, calm down. It doesn't change anything."

I inhaled through my nose, eyeing Devin. "I didn't mean to keep you in the dark. I was planning on telling you."

"You mean before or after the hunters killed Ethan?" A vein popped on her forehead.

Anger flared up, heating my veins, but I didn't find it in me to start shouting. The last time we went over this, she lost her temper and tried to strangle me, but I didn't hold a grudge. Just this once. 

Devin was hurt and shocked. Even if she had a knack for testing my nerves, I didn't want to rehash that. We were mutants, for crying out loud. We all had behavioral issues.

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