Peter did too but always quickly looked away. Every time he glanced back, my heart would flutter, and I swear every time that my heart beat sped up, Peter and Jack would tense up.

“You’re not even letting her play?” Mae appeared in the door with her hands on her hips, sounding appalled. Ezra stood behind her, but he just chuckled at the boys, as if he hadn’t expected any different from them.

“She played,” Jack said defensively. “She just, you know, wasn’t very good.”

“I had to put Jack in his place,” Peter said.

“Well, that’s enough of that,” Mae informed them. She walked over to the couch, pushing Matilda onto the floor and sitting next to me. “She’s probably bored out of her mind.”

“I’m okay,” I smiled at her. Truthfully, I hadn’t had a chance to be bored. Watching Peter do anything was intoxicating.

“Turn that off anyway,” Mae gestured to the game.

Jack grumbled, but he complied. Peter took off his guitar and set it down in front of the entertainment center, and then he sat in the chair on the exact opposite side of the room from where I was sitting.

“It’s a fun game,” Jack complained to no one in particular, then sat down on the floor in front of me. Matilda grabbed a thick rope chew toy and brought it over to him. He started yanking on the rope, and she growled happily and wagged her tail.

“So, Alice, are you still in high school?” Ezra asked. He’d been standing in the doorway, but somehow, he’d moved into the chair closest to me without me noticing.

Mae was running her fingers through my long hair, and I thought about how weird it was. If any other person had been doing that, I would’ve pushed them off and thought they were insane. But with her, it felt perfectly natural and comforting.

“Uh, yeah, eleventh grade,” I answered.

Ezra looked at me as if I was fascinating, but I couldn’t imagine anything about me would interest a person like him. It reminded me of what Peter had said, about them putting me on display, and it did kind of feel like that. Not that that made any sense.

“Are you doing well in school?” Ezra asked.

“Not really,” I admitted. I knew that I could lie to him, and part of me wanted to in a desperate attempt to impress him, but I also knew that I wouldn’t lie to them. It just didn’t feel right.

“Are you planning on continuing your education?” Ezra leaned back in his chair, but there was nothing disapproving about him at all. He was merely taking it all in and trying to find out more about me. No matter what I had to say, it wouldn’t upset him, because it was part of me, and for whatever reason, he approved of me.

“Maybe.” I felt sheepish, but decided to continue anyway. “I was thinking about being a doctor.”

Peter chuckled, and then shook his head. “Of course she is.”

“I was thinking of psychiatry, actually.” I started blushing when Peter laughed. I hurried to explain myself, so they wouldn’t all think I was a total fool.

“I can see that,” Ezra nodded, looking intently at me. “You have insight.”

“How can you even say that with a straight face?” Peter asked Ezra incredulously, who just turned and looked at him sharply.

“She’s only seventeen,” Ezra reasoned. “You don’t think she has insight for being that age? And she must have an incredibly high tolerance since she hasn’t yet killed either you or Jack. That’s patience and wisdom brewing.”

I blushed even more deeply at his compliments and dropped my eyes to the floor. Nobody had ever talked about me like that.

“Don’t.” Peter’s voice had gone hard again, and he gave Ezra a look, which he returned evenly. Then Peter shook his head. “She’s too young! And she’s too…” He decided against finishing his sentence, and then got up suddenly and stormed out.

“Peter!” Jack groaned, then got up and went after him.

“Jack, leave him,” Ezra called after him, but Jack just shook his head and kept going.

“He can’t keep getting away with this,” Jack said and disappeared out of the room after him.

“You just have to ignore him,” Mae purred warmly in my ear. She began braiding my hair, something my own mother had never done, and tried to comfort me. “He’s just that way.”

“I just don’t understand.” Confused, hurt tears were stinging my eyes, and I wished they would go away. I thought about wiping at them, but Ezra was staring at me, and it would only make my crying more obvious.

“What, love?” Mae asked softly, pushing stray strands of hair out of my face.

“Why he hates me so much,” I mumbled.

“He doesn’t hate you,” Ezra said. “He just wishes he did.”

I know that was meant to comfort me, but I don’t really know how that made things better. Wanting to hate me felt almost worse. It was a choice he was trying to make.

“I need to use the restroom,” I announced. I wouldn’t be able to fight the tears much longer, and if I cried, I’d rather do it in the privacy of the bathroom. I stood up, and Mae’s hands reluctantly fell away.

“Do you remember where it’s at?” Mae started rising to show me where it was at, but I nodded first.

“I’ll be right back.” I dashed out of the room as fast as I could without making it obvious that I was running away to cry.

On my way to the bathroom, I had to go past the stairs, but that was as far as I made it. Peter’s smooth voice stopped me sharply. Hidden at the bottom of the steps, I could hear them upstairs in Peter’s room. He was talking to Jack, and he didn’t sound angry like he did in the living room. In fact, he sounded more sad than anything else.

“I’m not trying to be mean to her,” Peter was saying, sounding small and apologetic.

“But you are! You should’ve seen how terrified she was to come over here, because of you!” Jack, on the other hand, definitely was angry.

I winced at the sound of him confessing my embarrassing secrets, but I stayed longer to listen to their argument.

“Maybe she shouldn’t come back then.” Peter was saying it reasonably, as if he was only thinking of what was best for me, not because he didn’t want me around.

“You’re such an ass,” Jack said. “I like her, Ezra likes her, Mae’s practically in love with her. She’s going to be around. I don’t know why you’re fighting everything so much.”