Staying Grounded [BXB]

Open Rebellion

CRAIG:

"Are you almost finished with your reading?" Mum knocks on my open door even as she passes through it.

"Yeah." I don't bother to lift my head from the textbook. The words are starting to blur together on the page. "Why?"

"We're going out. You have half an hour."

My unauthorized excursion to the farm yesterday did not result in the upset I thought it might.

I returned home to find Mum out for a stroll with Christopher and Dad shut away in his office. And honestly, it's made me wonder whether I could have been setting the punishment for myself this whole time. Like, all that I sacrificed for them this past week has been of no consequence whatsoever.

Is it weird that I think the bollocking I'd expected may have been preferable?

Probably.

Mum has already disappeared from my room by the time her words process and I look up.

I follow, and she's halfway down the staircase when I catch her up. "By 'we,' you mean...?"

"Yes, Craig. You too. We're all going out, so get a move on."

"Where to?"

"Have you finished that chapter?" She counters, arching a brow.

"Do I have to dress smart?"

"You have to hurry up." Her tight-lippedness about this outing has me nervous.

I stand my ground. "Mum?"

When her eyes flick up and away, my worst fear is confirmed, and I don't wait on her answer before shaking my head. "We've been invited over to the Tinwell's," she relents too late.

"No.""It's not up for debate."

"Absolutely not!" I turn and start back up the stairs.

"Kathryn's making paella. Young Gary has an exciting announcement to make, and he wants us all there to hear it."

My foot stops mid-step. "What?"

"Don't," she warns. "Don't you dare start in with your nonsense! You need to let go of this grudge you're clinging to, all over one silly mistake. Gary's holding out an olive branch here. The two of you used to get on so well."

Silly mistake? I drop my head. There's so much wrong with what Mum's just said, I don't know where to even start. Olive branch, my arse! But, yeah, sure, a time did exist when Gary Tinwell and I 'got along.' It was a time he'd use me for money, and I let him so as not to cause friction between our families. Of all the people to betray me, though, I genuinely never thought it would be him. I thought we had an understanding, and that was my silly mistake. Nothing remains between us now that can be repaired.

Especially in light of what I learned yesterday. "And attempting to rape a girl? That a silly mistake too, is it?"

A vicious slap to the banister whips me around. "You weren't there that night any more than I was, Craig. So you can pull yourself back on that accusation!"

So, she knows. I'm shaking my head again. Shaking in general, actually. "It's true, Mum. He—"

"There are two sides to every story, Son!"

"Except his is the only one you care about, right?"

For a single, awful millisecond, I brace for her next slap to be across my face. Instead, taking a deep breath, she closes the distance between us by two steps and fixes me with a harsh blue stare. "Let's be honest, here, Craig. That girl has nothing to do with this. Because what matters to you is only ever you."