Jema

14. Two of a Kind

a/n: no flashback this time :3

I'm detecting the vibe that lunch is just about the only bonding William can handle with the six of us. Although things seem to be working out abundantly well—Anna happens to be into videogames, Cal and Dennis are girl-crazy, and Nicky and I keep cracking inside-jokes about being 'the poor gay flower child' of the family—I still sense the unspoken strife between us.

Part of me still wants to shun Nicky and the rest of them for basically winning William's presence in their lives. Oh well. It's probably for the best.

Except they're filthy rich.

We basically had nothing for years, and they've been living like royalty since their early years. I want to blame them for that, but it's all William. He broke my side of the family while they got to thrive. That feeling will probably never go away.

Nicky finally grabs my hand after we're done eating. "We're going to talk outside."

"Where are you going?" William asks.

"Outside," Nicky sighs. We link arms and walk out the door. He looks like he's a whole foot taller than me. And it's not like we look much alike. Nicky is... well, am I allowed to say he's beautiful? He's really good-looking. Thin, like me, but it looks sophisticated on him. Skinny on me looks small. It looks like he dyed his hair platinum blonde, but then dirtied it up a little. One thing we share is the full lips, down to the shape, but besides that, my hazel-brown eyes look like dirt compared to his bright, cobalt blue ones. His eyebrows are dark and his eyelashes are long. Well, maybe we share more of William's traits than I thought. I've always had long eyelashes.

"Ugh, that was ridiculously exhausting, wasn't it? I'll call an Uber and we can go hang out with my friends," he says. I just go along with it. Mom definitely wouldn't approve of me leaving, but I trust we'll be back before anything crazy happens.

"Maybe we should stay close," I suggest. "You saw how... confrontational my mom was."

"Your mom is gorgeous, by the way," Nicky says, disregarding what I said as he clicks away on his smart phone. I can't tell the difference between touch-screens these days. But it looks expensive nonetheless.

"Where are we going?"

"My house, duh," Nicky giggles. "It's five minutes away. Oh look, someone will be here in like, two minutes. Anyway, you can meet my whore mom and William Jr. if they're home. He's so cute; he looks just like me."

Holy shit. Did he just say that about his mom?

"Okay..." I say hesitantly.

"Oh and you can meet my new puppy, Clifford. Oh my god, you know? I've wished for the longest freaking time to have a gay sibling, like—this is like the fates or something. The universe is sending me great vibes right now," Nicky sighs, hugging my arm. So, he's a little on the flamboyant side. I don't mind that at all.

Nicky talks for the entire two minutes while we wait. I thought Dennis could talk forever. Nicky bounces all over the place.

As soon as we sit inside the back of the car, Nicky reaches his hand in his bag, pulling out a small bottle of something. Hairspray?

"Please don't bother trying any funny business. I have pepper spray," Nicky says shortly. When I realize he's talking to the driver, I blush. How blunt. The driver rolls his eyes, but nods anyway. "618 McCormick way."

"I know a guy named Cameron McKormack," I say randomly.

"Is he hot?" Nicky asks.

"Yeah, I guess. He's my teacher." I remember that I never texted Cameron back. I wonder what he wanted. I never replied to Terrence either. Shit. I wish Trinlee would reply to me. All the explaining I have to do needs to be in more than text, though.