DAMAGED

20.

Janet spent the whole weekend locked up in her room. She hasn't spoken to James or me since he told her about his mistake, but I hear her cry about it every night after she comes home from a party. I think their conversation wounded her, but since she hasn't given me the chance to talk to her, I've let myself take a step back, so she can deal with it alone. The one thing that breaks my heart is the tension between the twins. It's like the huge elephant in the room that Mr and Mrs Miller have noticed too, and by the look of it, Mrs Miller is just as tired of it as I am.

"Okay, you guys spent the weekend like strangers and I've had enough of it." She turns to James, raising a brow at him. "James, what did you do?"

His eyes widen for a split second before he raises his hands in question.

"Why would you assume that I was the one who did something wrong?"

We all give him the 'duh' look and he smiles then chuckles softly.

"I didn't do anything." He shrugs. "I spoke to her about her behaviour-"

Janet looks up at him and the death glare she gives him has me terrified. Oh, if looks could kill, James would've been dead from the moment he opened his mouth.

"-and she got mad at me for voicing my concerns."

Janet scoffs, getting up from her seat.

"That's because you are not the kind of person I need advice from."

We all watch Janet flounce towards the fridge, but Claire does it with her hands placed on her hips. Her foot bounces lightly on the floor and her eyes narrow as she tries to understand the reason behind all of this.

I notice the look on Nick's face and almost laugh at how he quietly places his chin in the palm of his hand and watches the scene unfold.

He notices me smiling and wiggles his eyebrows in response with a smile of his own. He then turns back to the conversation between the twins when Claire popes a question.

"What is it about her behaviour that you are so concerned about?"

James hesitates. "I-"

"James." Janet gives him another death glare, but instead of shutting him up, it results in a proud smirk appearing on his face.

"She has be-"

"James."

This time her tone is more demanding, but desperate at the same time. Claire raises her eyebrow and Janet chuckles nervously, coming back to the table.

"Oh my, look at the time." She starts grabbing all of our bags. "We need to leave or else we'll be late and I don't think Isabelle wants to be late for her first day."

She looks at me as Claire side-eyes her kids one after the other.

"James, what is it that you were saying?"

I hear Jan curse under her breath as she comes to a halt next to me. She turns to look at James who looks back at her. She clenches her jaw and James' smirk widens.

"This isn't the time for a staring contest, guys; we all need to get going." Nick says, getting up from his seat.

Since I've been going to school, Nick has not had an excuse to stay home, so he's been going to work every now and then and from what I can see; work is draining him at the moment. I've also heard him speak to Claire about losing a really important client and hearing how he spoke about the matter made me feel bad for some reason.

I watch him collect the plates from the table and pile them up as James decides to put Janet out of her misery by telling Claire that he thinks that Janet has been doing too much.