Secret Affinity

15

Dad was right about that annual city party being popular. It was all over the news, billboards, and community faculties. Almost all the seniors in school were going.

“Wear the blue dress we bought,” Dad said through the phone.

It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was lounging on the couch eating chips.

“Dad, I told you I’m not going to that party,” I repeated. I still remembered what Crimson told me in the music room. She might be kidding, but I didn’t want to take any chances.

“It’s in a week, so you have time to change your mind,” Dad said. I shook my head. “And you look stunning in that dress. You looked just like your mother.”

I smiled. “Really?” Although my personality was like Mom’s, many people said I had my Dad’s looks. “Are you coming home early today?” I heard a sigh on the other end.

“No, sweetie,” he said. I complained to him that I was bored. “Bored? You finished all your school work?” I said yes. “Go play with the neighbours or babysit them. Whatever it is.”

“Uh, I kind of don’t…” I scratched my ear. “I don’t go there as much anymore.” Dad was horrified. “No, I mean, I want to, but I can’t.”

“They don’t let you?” he asked. I said no. “Then why?” It was super complicated. “Ari, I don’t care what your silly excuse is, but don’t break a bond with your neighbours like that. Go, spend some time with them.”

“But, you don’t know.” I got up to a sitting position. “I don’t…it’s complicated. I don’t know. I want to go.”

“Then go,” Dad said, feigning annoyance. “I have to get back to work. Go on. Love you.”

“Wait!” I said a second after he ended the call. “Talk to me a bit longer.” I took a deep breath and put the phone away.

It was a silly excuse. I could visit the McCoys’ whenever I wanted, so why did I let Arian get in the way? But at the same time, he knew how to keep me away. He was scary and threatening, even if he hadn’t really threatened me.

Standing up, I decided to go to their house after all. I got my coat and stepped outside onto the light snow. It was melting again with the sun shining bright outside, but snowier days weren’t far away.

I stood on the porch for about three minutes, my hand in mid-air. I finally knocked, and Evin opened the door.

“There you are,” he said, frowning. “I thought you were dead.” I laughed a little, and he let me inside.

I put my coat on the hanger and joined him at the dining table. Andy and Liara were eating lunch, and Evin had a pile of textbooks and papers on the table.

“Hi, Little Mermaid,” Liara greeted me with her mouth full. “Did you miss me?”

“I missed you,” Andy said, smiling. Gosh, he was so adorable. I missed them, too. A lot. I mean, it was only a week, but it felt like months.

“You wouldn’t believe how busy it was for me,” Evin told me. “Babysitting these little brats—oh God, you really need to come back.” I told him I didn't have time, and he rolled his eyes. “You have time. I overheard mom and grandma talking about some fight you and Arian had.”

“It wasn’t a fight,” I corrected him quickly. Evin raised an eyebrow, and I dropped my head. “I didn’t think it was a fight.”

“I have a feeling Arian’s the reason why you’re not coming over anymore,” Evin said. I opened my mouth and closed it. “I know Arian better than anyone else in the house, so that has to be the reason.”

“It, it doesn’t have anything to do with…” I paused, unable to mislead the conversation. “Leave it.”

“Leave it?” Evin said. “I need you to come and help me take care of Andy and Liara. It’s driving me crazy, and grandma’s going out a lot lately.” He sighed. “I know I’m being selfish now. I’ll pay you. I need them out of my hair.”

“It’s alright,” I said, watching him rub his forehead. “I’ll come and babysit. Problem solved.”

“No, it’s not,” Evin said. “What if Arian does something stupid again, and you disappear for a month. I’m dead. Dead. Tell me the truth, did Arian say something to you that hurt you?”

“Can we not talk about it?” I asked, trying to weasel out of it. Evin waited for me. The clock ticked, and I bit my lip. “Okay. Please don’t tell him I told you this. He said, um, something about my mom and it was a little hurtful. Yeah.”

“What’d he say? If you don’t mind me prying,” he asked. I shifted uncomfortably. “Okay, okay. That’s fine.”

“He said something about, how she died or something like that,” Liara spoke out. Are you kidding me? When she saw the look on my face, her lips curved down. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I mumbled. Evin had a really strange look on his face, the kind of face you make after you see someone do something stupid. “Evin?”

“Arian!” Evin shouted. Horrified, I told Evin to leave him alone. “Arian! Come here now! You little asshole, now!”

“Evin, it’s okay,” I said desperately. “I’m, he’s, this is going to cause more problems. Please—”

Arian appeared at the top of the staircase with his hair disheveled and crinkled sweatpants. “What the f**k is wrong with you?” he said in irritation.

“It’s almost an hour past noon. Why the f**k are you still sleeping?” Evin said to him with equal irritation.

Arian furrowed his brows when he noticed I was there. “Can I help you?” It was very sarcastic.

“No,” I said at the same time Evin said ‘yes’. Evin told Arian to come and sit. “I said it was okay. Why are we bringing this up?” I told Evin.

Andy waved at Arian when he came and sat at the very end of the table. Liara went to go put her lunch plate away.

“Wh—” Arian began.

“You were in a fight with Ari, right?” Evin said. Arian sat back with his arms crossed. “And, I recall, you said something very personal to her?”

“I didn’t think after an entire week she’d go and snitch to my older brother.” Arian had no intention of making the topic any easier to talk about.

“First of all, thanks for referring me to as your actual brother,” Evin said. “And second of all, she didn’t come here to snitch. She came to babysit because I’m about to explode with work and handling the kids.”

“Okay, and what’s the issue?” Arian said.

“There is no issue,” I said. “Evin, he…I don’t know.” That was a big explaining failure. Arian’s eyes, even if he just woke up, were clear as glass when he gave me one of those ‘just-don’t-talk’ looks.

“Listen, I think Ari’s not coming here anymore because of you,” Evin said.

“Is this some kind of business gain?” Arian asked. “She does the babysitting work and you get your valuable time.” At this point, Evin seemed like he wanted to throw a chair at Arian.

“You’re not getting the point,” Evin growled. “Don’t scare her away like that, and don’t be such an asshole. That’s why I called you here.”

“I have nothing to do with her,” Arian said. “And for your information, that wasn’t the first time I ‘fought’ with her.”

“Huh?” Evin said. “That means you were an asshole even before that?” I covered my face and peeked through my fingers. Why were we bringing up old facts now?

“I told her to never talk to me,” Arian said and shrugged. “Maybe that’s why she’s not coming anymore. Not my fault.”

“Not…not your fault,” Evin repeated. “And you told her to never talk to you because?”

“It was my fault,” I budded in. “I was, um, talking about personal things. About the person who lived in my house before we moved in.” Arian shot me a glare, and Evin broke into a laugh.

“Archie. Archie Crane?” he said. “Holy. Holy. I know I shouldn’t be laughing, like, I’m sorry Arian, but you’re being such a kid now.”

“I don’t get it,” I said. Evin calmed down, and he leaned back on his chair. I knew right away this was going to be bad.

“Archie used to live in that house for as long as I can remember before you and your Dad moved in,” Evin said.

“I’m leaving,” Arian said, getting up.

“You, sit down,” Evin ordered. Arian didn't adhere. “You know I can threaten you in many ways, Arian. Get your ass back down.” Arian had the murderer's face on when he sat back down.

“You’ll pay for this,” Arian said. Not to Evin, but directly to me.

“No she won’t,” Evin said. “Anyway, Archie used to be good friends with some of the children in our family, including Arian. The NE stuff in the city was really serious back then—”

“I’m telling you, you’re only going to scare her,” Arian interrupted. “It won't be my fault this time if she cries.”

“She cried because of you?” Evin asked in disbelief. Arian stood up. “Okay fine, sit back down. Ari, you have to promise me you’ll be fine after hearing this.”

“I, uh, I’ll be okay,” I said. “If it's that bad, we can go to DQ to feel better.”

Evin laughed. “Sure. So, the NRs and NEs were very intense back then. So intense to the point, some people were killed for disobeying orders.”

My breath stalled. Yeah, that did scare me.

“Archie, and the more I think about it, was just like you when he was younger. Shy, quiet, but a lot of fun to hang out with, and he made everyone happy around him.”

“I’m not fun to hang out with,” I said, frowning. And how could he disseminate that much about my personality?

Evin’s eyes darted to Arian for a second before landing on me again. “Everyone says that about themselves. Anyway, Archie was the kind of kid who messes up a lot, and you can say, he messed up with an NE Agent.”

“I’m afraid that sounds just like me,” I murmured.

“Yeah, I know,” Evin said. “But he messed up, and he was shot on the spot.” I cupped my mouth and glanced at Arian. He was staring at the table with his jaw clenched. “Arian was friends with Archie the longest. He, Archie, and Rowan were very close friends.”

“Rowan, as in, the NE Agent?” I said. Evin and Arian shared looks, and Evin nodded slowly.

“But, the weird thing I noticed is,” Evin said, “You’re literally exactly like Archie, but the girl version. The girl, older version.” It was all silence for a couple minutes, neither of us talking.

I cleared my throat. “Sorry, I…” But apologizing was stupid right now. “My, well, my mom,” I swallowed hard. “She was…she was shot, too.” Both looked at me with their full attention. “I,” I took a deep breath. “It happened right in front of me. That’s what, um, happened to her. I just felt like sharing.”

“You didn’t have to, Ari,” Evin told me softly.

I shrugged one shoulder. “I mean, you pulled out his deep story about someone he probably found dear to him. And I thought I should probably talk about my mom who was very dear to me, too.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not his entire story,” Evin told me.

I cupped my cheeks. “That’s not my entire story, either.” I went back to what Arian said several months ago near the side entrance gate. “Now we’re even again.”

“Again?” Evin asked in confusion. Even if Evin didn’t understand, I knew Arian did. “So, now that we got everything cleared up, you’ll be coming to this house whenever you want, and you, Arian, will stay away from her.”

“She should be staying away from me,” Arian said, “not the other way around.”

“You do realize that makes no difference, right?” Evin said. He stretched his arms above his head. “This is making my bones hurt. Ari, you still want to go to DQ? Andy, you want to go?”

“Yeah!” he said, looking up from his picture book. “Big A, you want to come with us?”

“No,” Arian said, putting his cheek against his hand. “You messed up my morning so bad.”

“Oh yeah, what was your punishment for being mean to Ari?” Evin asked Arian. “Mom didn’t like it, but grandma loved it.”

“I have to take her to and from work everyday,” Arian said. Evin gave him a confused look. “What?”

“How is that punishment?” Evin said. “We even thought of asking you to take her to and from school.”

“I think the punishment,” I said quickly, “is enough for him.” Arian’s expression was impressively emotionless the whole time. It was freaking me out. “Why do you keep staring at me like that?”

“That’s what he always looks like,” Evin told me. “I’ll go get Andy dressed.” The moment I stood up to go find Liara, I heard a distant ringing sound.

Arian left the table and went upstairs to go get the phone, which I assumed was his. I found Liara in the living room and told her we were going to DQ. We waited for Andy and Evin to come downstairs, but it took longer than I expected.

Arian came down first with the same clothes as before, but now with a black coat on. Both his and Evin’s faces were dour for some reason, but we followed them out.

“I thought you weren’t coming,” I said to Arian when he sat in the driver’s seat. I had to squeeze in the back with Liara and Andy.

“You want me to leave?” he asked darkly. I was dumbfounded but didn’t say anything as he drove off the driveway. I heard Arian growl to Evin, “Why are we going to DQ right now?”

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Evin told him, and in a lowered voice, “I didn’t expect you to be this cautious.” Arian’s eyes remained cold on the road ahead. “Don’t worry guys. Nothing to worry about,” Evin said out loud.

After we made out order at DQ—Arian didn’t get anything—we sat around one of the tables outside. Andy asked Arian if he wanted to take a sip of his smoothie, and Arian declined the offer. Arian was like the parent here. Not even. He was like a random person who came to sit down without a word.

At some point, I asked Evin about the mayor’s sons’ party. He said he talked to my dad about it a long time ago and said I should go.

“Who should I go with?” I asked.

“Whoever you want,” Evin shrugged. “I usually go with my friends. Arian came once or twice with Rowen. Rowen’s not coming this year, so I can get Arian to look after you.”

I glanced at Arian. “Um, I think I have a friend I might go with.” But I had to talk to Crimson about that. “I didn’t want to go originally.”

“It’s going to be okay,” Evin told me.

When we left, Andy and I still had our drinks with us. We were both slow eaters and drinkers. The kids wanted to go to their favourite park, in walking distance, so we left the car and headed towards the main intersection.

A commotion was going on in the middle of the roads. Cars, all white, were parked at the centre of the intersection.

“We should go home,” Arian said. Something about his tone told me we were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

“We have to go through the right gateways,” Evin said. “Guys, stay close, okay?”

We were the only people at the intersection, and I followed close behind the McCoys while we crossed the street. I was observing all the cars and all the men wearing white suits. They were walking all over the place, but none were looking at us.

That was until someone put a hand on my shoulder and turned me around. He shadowed over me in a bulky size, his green eyes piercing, and he had reddish, almost ginger-looking hair. He was one of the people wearing white suits.

I paled.

“Where is your Brilliant Cove identity card?” he asked in a frighteningly deep voice. I was unable to speak. “I won’t ask you another time.”

“I-I,” I stammered. I clumsily looked through my bag.

“Ma’am,” the man said. “You—”

“Excuse me.” I was pulled back by my forearm, and Arian was suddenly in between us. “She lives here,” he said to the man. Both were silent for a tense moment before Arian dragged me back.

He didn’t let go until I was with Evin and the kids again near the stop sign. Liara held my hand, and I rubbed my arm exactly where Arian had held on to.

“That was something,” Evin said, looking at Arian. “You acted pretty quickly.” Arian trailed behind us this time, so he was at the back. I looked behind me, past Arian, past the stop sign, and at the intersection.

The man I saw earlier was gone.