Crazy House

Chapter 17: Well, Shit.

This a shorter chapter, but I hope you guys enjoy :)

Chapter 17

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lie.

"Oh really? Then would you like to tell me why it is you are just arriving to your room when you left the dining room about half an hour ago?" Ryder asks, one of his eyebrows arches up disbelievingly.

"Well, I didn't think I would make it to my room without fainting so I went into Sophie's room to sit down for a bit since I knew she wouldn't mind. I only just got back enough strength to walk a few minutes ago," I respond, the lies coming out without a second thought. To be honest, I am a little worried about how easy it has become.

"You look fine to me," he notes. I open my mouth to reply but he holds up a hand. "Cut the crap, Juliette, I am not stupid. Did you honestly think I wouldn't put up a protection charm? You can continue to tell me all about your journey towards recovery if you want, but we both know it is utter bullshit. You are not sick, you never were sick and you not in the midst of some miraculous bout of healing. So I'm going to ask you again, why were you in my room?" I swallow, so much for being the master of lies. I was going to have to come up with some other strategy.

"Who's Benjamin?" I ask, hoping distraction would work instead. Ryder's face instantly transforms, losing the cold and filling with surprise. His eyes widen and his eyebrows shoot up his forehead. Clearly, he was not expecting this.

"What?"

"Who is Benjamin?" I repeat. "Was that your dad's name? Or his dad maybe?"

"No," he says very slowly, still taken off guard. "My dad's name was Tristan."

"Then who did you steal the violin from?"

"No one," he scoffs. "That violin belongs to me. It is an old family heirloom, my parents gave it to me when I turned eleven." I pause for a while, realizing that this was probably the last gift his parents ever gave him.

"Do you play?" I ask softly.

"Yeah, I do," he says just as soft. Ryder looks...different. Softer, gentler; he looks sad in a way you can only be when thinking of times and places long since gone. "I have ever since I was three years old. My dad taught me, he was a music teacher back in the day, he could play over twenty instruments. I know how to play quite a few others as well, but my favorite has always been the violin." Ryder shakes his head and within seconds the ice is back. "Why the hell am I telling you this? You never answered my question."

"And you never answered mine," I fire back. We glare at each other for several minutes, not saying a word. Suddenly, there is a knock on the door and in come Amy and the siblings. They stop short however, as soon as they realize who else is in the room with me. "Can you give us a second?" I ask them and they slowly back out of the room, their eyes wide as saucers, and shut the door behind them. "I think you should leave."

"Fine," he snaps. "But don't think for a second that this is over, because it's not." He stomps towards the door, his face filled with a cold rage.

"Oh and Benjamin?" I call after him. He stops and turns around; at first he looks confused by the smirk on my face, but then he realizes what he's done. "You're last name is Ryder, isn't it Benjamin? I always assumed it was Arrington, like Elias and your grandfather, but that was your mother's maiden name. Then I saw the violin, and now this. So tell me, do you prefer Benny or Benjie?"

His eyes narrow to absolute slits, "Step in my room again and you will regret it for as long as you live," he snarls. And with that, he continues to stomp out of the room.