“I guess I’ll be going shopping after school for everything else I need,” Borden said. “Dishes, pots and pans. Groceries.”
“How grown up,” I said, feeling a tiny bit jealous. I’d been dreaming of living in Asteria House someday, but that goal was so far down the line, it still seemed impossible. Here Borden was, now, living his own life.
He just chuckled and nodded to the door. “I’ll walk you home.”
“How do you think the Boys reacted when they woke up?” I asked as we slowly walked down the road.
Borden shook his head. “I wish I could have seen it. When they had to go looking for their things without anything to wear but the clothes on their backs.”
I laughed and pictured it. Their angry, red faces as they found their furniture on top of the roofs of the buildings. Their clothes and belongings spread across an entire square mile of space. “They so deserved it.”
Borden chuckled and nodded in agreement. “This was kind of fun today. I kind of like having you as my partner in crime, Margot. It was a little unexpected.”
I looked over at him, and as he met my gaze, I felt something change. I felt my last walls come down when it came to him. And I knew I’d finally forgiven him. “Yeah, this was kind of exactly what I needed.”
I slowed as my house came into view. All the lights were on. And my stomach sank, because I knew what was waiting for me inside.
“You ready for the interrogation?” Borden asked.
I sighed. “Not really.”
We stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
“Then how about we go get all of Nathaniel’s stuff back instead?” he asked. “Put off the inevitable a little longer?”
“Yes,” I said immediately.
And for another hour, we ignored real life. We found the storage unit where the Society Boys had put all of Nathaniel’s things. As far as I could tell, it was all there, and surprisingly, it was all undamaged. Using the same method as we had with Borden’s things, we moved all of Nathaniel’s back to the solarium.
It didn’t quite look exactly the same when we were finished placing it all back inside, but close enough. His bed was back against the one wall. His desk was replaced. His couch was ready and waiting.
I knew I would never get the books back in the right order, so we left them in a stack beside the bookshelves.
And finally, when the hour was pushing eleven, the two of us headed back to my house.
All the lights were still on inside. I could see Dad’s silhouette in the window, in his chair, his head bent.
“I hate feeling like I’m going to have to go in there and explain,” I said as we stalled outside. I hugged my arms around myself, clouds forming in the air as I breathed. “Can’t I just be allowed to feel the way I feel, and deal with everything in the way I see fit?”
“In theory and a perfect world, yes,” Borden said. “But that’s the problem with caring about other people. We have to strike a balance.”
I nodded, because he was right. I could indeed go inside and go straight to my bedroom and ignore everyone.
But I couldn’t do that, because I cared about everyone inside.
So, I let out a sigh, and Borden and I walked up the steps and opened the door.
Nathaniel, who had been pacing back and forth across the living room with a book in his hand, his nose in the book, instantly froze. His eyes went from Borden to me and to Borden again.
Dad looked up from the book he was reading, waiting, silent.
Mary-Beth stepped out of the kitchen, glaring at Borden and I as if we were two kids who’d wandered away from the play yard for too long.
“Borden and I hurried karma along,” I said, keeping it simple and clean and calm. “I don’t know how well it will work, but I tried to erase Borden and all of us further from the Society Boys’ minds. They’re guilty, I knew they were. And then I needed some space to think and breathe.”
“I’ve found an apartment, I’m all moved in,” Borden said, and his calm and clean manor gave me boldness. “We got all of your things back, Nathaniel. I’m sorry my presence in your solarium made your things a target. Thank you for taking me in for the last week. But I’ll be sleeping at my new place from now on.”
They all just looked at us, not knowing what to say. And I had to wonder, how much had I scared them? What did they think I’d done, or where I had gone? But I didn’t care nearly as much as I should have.
“Thank you for all your help today,” I said, turning to Borden.
“Likewise,” he said back, and I gave him a little smile, feeling grateful for all he had done for me today, in not questioning me and letting me do and feel what I needed to. “I hope you all have a good night.”
He turned and walked out the door. And I cut right across the living room between everyone.
I didn’t say a word as I went up to my room. I shut the door behind me, ignoring the sounds of voices downstairs.
I changed into my pajamas. And I crawled into bed.
I slept like a baby, feeling that just a little bit of justice had been served.
Chapter Nineteen
I was awoken the next morning by the sound of knocking on my door. I barely opened my eyes when Dad stepped in.
I instantly knew something was wrong by the expression on his face. He looked gray.
“Dean Lowell called this morning,” he said. I sat up in bed, feeling my heart drop into my stomach. “He wants you to come into his office immediately.”
I felt sick. My palms were instantly slick with sweat and I’m pretty sure all of the blood in my entire body disappeared.
I nodded and climbed out of bed. Dad stepped out so I could get dressed.
I pulled on a plaid skirt and a white button-up shirt. I didn’t have time to do anything about my hair, so I pulled it up in a high bun at the top of my head.
When I stepped into the living room, Nathaniel and Mary-Beth were nowhere to be seen.
Apparently, they’d gone home last night.
Instead, Dad stood there next to the door, looking as if he was about to go to the doctor’s office and get some life-ending news.
I pulled my coat on, and I stepped out into the early morning air.
“What happened yesterday, Margot?” Dad asked as soon as we started walking down the sidewalk. “You just disappeared, were gone all day, and didn’t say a word about where you were going. We were all worried absolutely sick.”
I swallowed once. I knew this time would come. I knew I was going to have to explain. And I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.
So, I told my father what Borden and I had done. I told him that I didn’t feel bad about it, because the Society Boys deserved much, much worse.
And then Dad didn’t say anything. He walked by my side, and I could feel anger rolling off him in a way I’d never experienced in my life. I didn’t know if I wanted him to yell at me. I’d never experienced that before. I’d never given him a reason to be angry at me.
The school was still very quiet when we walked through the doors. It was early, and classes wouldn’t start for nearly another hour, so we didn’t have to fight our way through as we weaved through the halls.
Our pages were still hanging from the walls, proof that the Society Boys had bought their grades. Several were missing, as if someone had ripped them down. But most still stayed in place, damning them all.