Fear Games

4. The Remembrance Society

I sighed. "Because Emerald, Kael, and I need your help. You see, we're victims, too. Our mothers weren't the only ones impacted by the Fear Games. Our whole lives have revolved around it. The fear, the uncertainty of life, the unstableness of our parents' love lives. That's why we're doing this. And we want you to be here to help us figure this stuff out for ourselves."

There was silence for a moment. Finally, Emerald was the next one to speak. "If there's anyone here who doesn't want to be, now is your chance."

No one moved. Everyone stayed perfectly still, waiting for one of us to say another word.

"So this is it," I said. "We are the Fear Games Remembrance Society and this is our first meeting."

EMERALD

When the first meeting ended and we all went our separate ways, I dropped Cinder and Kael off at their house and made my way back to my own. When I arrived, I saw that Mom's car was in the driveway. I had a feeling she was going to ask about what we were doing and I hated lying to her about it. I just knew deep down that there was no way she or Eden would be okay with the group meetings. But we were doing it for our own sanity. We needed to be able to talk about the events that shaped our families' lives forever.

I entered the house and found Mom pacing around the kitchen, on the phone with who I assumed was my father. She was yelling into the phone and said, "Well, not thanks to you, I finally got the money to bring our son back home." There was a pause in between her statements. "I don't care what you think! He's coming home whether you like it or not! Eden gave me the money." I plopped my backpack down on the couch and pressed my ear against the wall, not that I really needed to considering how loud she was being. "Yes, she gave me the money! Why are you being like this? She's my best friend! She wanted to help! I'm done with this conversation. Talk to me when you quit being a fucking asshole." When I heard her end the call, she sighed and I appeared in the doorway.

"Is everything okay, Mom?" I asked, trying to keep the topic on her and Dad so she wouldn't ask about what I had just been doing for the last hour.

"Yes, honey, everything's alright," Mom said without looking at me. She was standing in her robe, staring out the kitchen window as if she were trying to ignore my gaze. "How was school?"

"School was fine," I said. Please don't notice that I'm over an hour late home. Of course, it was entirely possible that Eden had already spoken to Mom about how Cinder said we were all hanging out after school.

Mom didn't say a word about my lateness. Instead, she said, "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure," I said as I made my way to the dining table to sit. When I did, I noticed that she didn't sit by my side. She continued to stand and still wouldn't look at me. "What's this about?"

"I have to ask you something," Mom said, "and I need you to be a hundred percent honest with me. Do you understand?"

"Mom, what's wrong?" I asked. Suddenly my whole body went cold and my hands went numb, tingling from fear of what she might say.

She finally turned around and came to sit right next to me at the table. "It's about Fear Games."

Shit, she knows, I thought. She knows about our group. "What about them?" I asked, trying to play stupid.

"I didn't want to have to tell you this, but I figured that I might as well," Mom said as she reached for my hand. "Josh contacted me last week."

"Josh?" I exclaimed, pulling my hand away. "As in the Josh that you've always told me about?"