Read To the Steadfast for Free Online Page B

hand on Violet’s shoulder to calm her. I never thought she’d be this upset. 
“We’ve all slept in the same bed together before. Nothing happened, Violet.
Just sleeping.”
    She gives a heavy sigh.
“Promise?”
    “Promise.” My eyes dart
to Mischa who nods at me. It’s a nod that says we won’t ever tell her.
    “Good, we gotta get
back to Aunt Claire's before she notices you never came home last night.”
    Mischa slips his shoes
on. “I’ll meet you out front in a minute.”
    After Violet leaves, he
turns to me. I’m not sure what to say. Things have changed for me, but I’m not
sure they have for him.  Are we still in the friend zone or is this going to
lead to something more?
    “We good?” he asks,
bending down to kiss my cheek.
    “We’re good.”
    He leaves before I can
say anything else. I expected something else, something more, but he just
waltzes out that door like everything is normal.

 

    I walk across the
lawn into my next-door neighbor’s
yard. Killian Carmike is a college sophomore, and when his parents are away, he
invites the kids over to play. He’s been begging me to stop by for a few
weekends, but until tonight, I’ve been busy.
    “Cody!” Killian wraps
his huge arms around me as I enter the house. His face is covered by a crooked
baseball cap. Pieces of his curly brown hair stick out from under it. He shoves
a beer in my hand and points to the fifteen or so people crowded around the
living room, mainly guys.
    “Hey, guys. This is my
neighbor Cody. Cody, these are my friends. Say hi!”
    I give them a small
wave and set the half-empty drink down. All the guys look like bodybuilders.
One guy is so muscular he can’t even drop his hands down at his sides.
    “You got any vodka?” I
ask.
    Killian shakes his
head. “Tonight, all we drink is Killian’s lager.”
    This guy can be so full
of himself, making us drink only his beer, but he’s a fun guy. We’ve always
lived next door to each other, but since he’s a few years older than me, we
never really hung around the same crowd. Until recently, that is.
    He opens a cooler and
shoves a fresh bottle of beer, the one he’s named after, in my hand.
    I hate beer, but I know
if I drink it quickly enough, the taste will fade away, followed by the
emptiness.
    “Shouldn’t you be at
home studying or something?” he teases.
    “Who has tests on
Mondays? You’re killing my buzz here!”
    He goes back to his
friends, and I wander through the living room. I came for the free booze, not
to make friends. All the people here are older than me which kind of makes me
feel uneasy. Someone comes up behind me and leans in close.
    “When are your parents
coming home?” Killian whispers in my ear.
    “Who knows? Who cares?
When are yours?” I take a swig of the beer.
    “You wanna get out of
here?”
    That’s his version of
asking me if I wanna go to the rooftop. It started last summer when he came
home from his first year of college. We were both home alone, and he saw me
sitting out back by the pool. He asked if I wanted to help him film a video. Of
course, I thought it was some porno ploy and started throwing chips at him. He
explained it was a video for his YouTube channel and we had a good laugh
followed by a trip to the roof of his house to watch a comet with his telescope
and after that, it became a weekend habit. When he’s home, we drink on the
roof, talking about stupid stuff until we pass out.
    “Sure.”
    He grabs my hand and we
leave his friends behind.
    “I think your dad is
having an affair with my mom,” I blurt out.
    Killian straightens up.
Loose lips involving the affairs of one of the most honorable men in Betty is
always a bad idea.
    “I wouldn’t doubt it.
Hope she doesn’t get too attached. Dad isn’t about to ruin his career with an
affair scandal.”
    I was hoping he’d deny
it, but when I realize he isn’t, I drop it.
    Once upstairs, we climb
from his window and navigate to the middle of the roof. I situate