(REWRITING) The Skylar Experiment : Coveting

Chapter Fifty-One (2) - The Cool Kids

RILEY

SCOTT LIGHTENED UP the very next second, leaving me guessing whether he meant more by that or was just being an inconsiderate pot stirrer. Heather drained her chardonnay in one ambitious gulp. Anything else the man said, she stopped paying attention, but she hooked my gaze for a moment. She attempted to smile. 

"That must have been so hard, realizing your father hadn't been honest with you," Scott pointed out, causing another stab of pain in the chest. 

My spine hit the rigid line of the couch arm. "It is."

"Lucas requested a bracelet from us, saying you were having troubles with controlling your abilities in public. Stress will often do that before we learn to manage ourselves. How far along is the training?"

I dared to raise my eyes, this time. Did he tell the elders about the party incident...?  

"I... I still can't run." Luc emerged from the basement stairs across the hall, and I almost cried in relief when he spotted me in the living room. As he went up the steps, another head popped up and then came a tiny body asleep on piggyback. Another one in bowed braids was stubbornly curled around his leg. Ethan closed the march. 

Luc stopped at the railing and said something. The little girl shook her head. 

I think Scott responded but I was so engrossed at the stranger who approached Luc to receive the sleeping child while the remaining one was pouting, her face adorably devilish. Her cheeks were chubby and pink, just perfect for pinching. Mutant babies looked like cherubs or porcelain dolls. 

He passed me an exhausted wince from the distance. I was no good with kids, so I couldn't relate. They steered clear of me unless they were under five. 

His mouth parted to form words, then he swooped and propped her in the air, ripping a joyous babble from her lungs. He spun her overhead like a helicopter, then put her back on ground level next to the waiting man. 

Patting her head, he moved on. With Ethan, he parted the crowd to get to me, a brow furrowed the closer he walked. 

"Scott." He nodded at the foot of the couch. 

"Your new friend is lovely company," he returned, grinning at both of us. "To think that you would have dragged this out even longer, it's ridiculous."

Luc folded his arms, dead silent for several beats. "You know why." He turned to me, and his face opened up. "There's a hide and seek game about to start downstairs. Come on, you're the only one missing."

I straightened my legs, all too eager to be saved from this sticky situation, when Ethan tilted out of his shadow. 

"Didn't they vote no on including her?"

Something in my heart fizzled out. I froze. Luc's fists didn't match the calmness of his reply. 

"I have veto power." And he coaxed me to join, then flicked his chin at Heather and the perplexed elder. At this point, I'd rather go anywhere else rather than be asked twice. We ditched the couch, him placing himself last to block Scott's view, and I didn't understand what just happened. 

We walked by the man with the two children and tumbled to the basement. Finally, I found Ben standing next to Devin, Maïa and a bunch of younger teenagers, as well as a handful of kids. Much to my relief, Niko was absent from the congregation. 

A Wii game and remotes had been abandoned behind the group. 

Devin scoffed, a red party cup in her hand. "We said no."