The Fallout (11 page)

She took my hand and squeezed so hard it hurt.

We didn’t need to know anymore. We’d gotten what we needed.

Gig Harbor.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

As soon as dinner was over, Lexie grabbed my arm and whispered, “Your room.”

I helped carry dishes into the kitchen, made sure everyone was busy, and then headed up to my room. Lexie was already there, pacing. Her eyes lit up. “Finally!”

On my computer, I pulled up the website for birth records. We found the correct paperwork to fill out online. But as I started to fill in her name, I stopped. “Crap.”

“What?” she asked.

This was one time I couldn’t use a fake last name. “I have to use your real name.”

“So do it,” she said.

I hesitated. “But if someone…”

Lexie grabbed my wrist. “Eli. I need to do this.”

“Okay.” I printed it out when we’d finished. Lexie held the papers in her hand and looked them over. “You’re sure it’s right?”

I nodded. “It’s everything we know. We’ll mail it out tomorrow and then we wait.”

Lexie’s eyes met mine. “What if—”

“What?”

“What if … they’re weird or something?” Her eyes filled with tears. “Or worse, what if they’re awesome? And they just didn’t want me?”

“Stop.” I reminded her, “You’re not going to get any life stories. Not yet. You’ll get nonidentifying information. Maybe it won’t be enough to tell you anything.” Honestly, I was certain we were in the middle of a wild goose chase that would end with my sister being very disappointed.

“Right.” She nodded. “You’re right,” she said, and stood up. “Thanks, Eli.” She closed the door after her.

My room was too quiet, so I turned on some music.

Since getting back to Seattle, I’d gone through a stack of iTunes gift cards that Gram had gotten for me when she’d purchased all the other cards for Lexie and Reese and all the online shopping. Maybe it made me seem spoiled, to have all this at my disposal, but I figured after all those years of being underground, a couple hundred new songs weren’t going to morally bankrupt me. I had some punk band from Wisconsin blaring as the door opened.

Eddy came in, kicked the door shut behind him, and threw himself on my bed. “Hey.”

I nodded at him.

He lay there on his stomach, chin propped upon his crossed arms. “What’s going on with you?”

“Whadya mean?”

He rolled his eyes. “Come on. It started the other day when you went to that progeria place. And you were seriously quiet at dinner.”

I didn’t want to tell him what was going on with Lexie, that we were going through with the search for her biological parents. I also didn’t want to tell him that I was still worried about the doomsday people who may or may not know where we lived. But I knew him. He wouldn’t leave without something.

“The other day, at the lab”—I leaned forward, rested my elbows on my knees, and lowered my voice—“I met a girl.”

Eddy’s eyes widened. “Like a
girl
girl?

I laughed. “Living, breathing, yes.”

“Sweet!” Eddy propped himself up on his elbows. “What’s her name?”

“Verity. Her little brother has progeria.”

Eddy lowered back down. “So did you call her?”

“How do you know I even have her number?”

Eddy laughed and rolled over onto his back. He grabbed one of my pillows and started tossing it up and catching it. “You totally called her.”

“What if I did?” It pissed me off he was no longer looking at me, so I walked over to the bed and grabbed the pillow as he tossed it.

“What?” He looked up at me. “It’s no big deal you called her.”

I dropped the pillow on his face and sat down, leaning back against the headboard. “It’s not?”

He shook his head.

“But what about…”

He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

I shrugged. “We’re kind of trying to stay hidden, aren’t we? I can’t exactly start … I don’t know…”

“
Dating
,” said Eddy. “It’s called dating.”

“Really?” I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. “When was the last date you went on?”

He rolled over to face me. “Just a group thing in Hawaii. With kids from families that Gram knew.” He sighed. “There was one girl I talked to, but I couldn’t tell her who I really was. None of my Hawaii friends know who I really am.” His gaze met mine. “That’s our biggest obstacle, you know. Does a girl ever like us for us—”

“Or because of who we are. And what we have.” I’d never realized Eddy felt that same way. He just always seemed so sure of himself. I said, “But when we were younger and went to school like everyone else, we had friends.” It all seemed so long ago. “Didn’t we?”

He blew out a breath and fell onto his back. “Yeah, I guess. But we always had cool parties and stuff.” He smiled. “You’d have to be stupid
not
to be friends with you and me.”

“Well,
you
anyway. They put up with me to hang out with you.” I remembered that part of it pretty well. Eddy was popular. I was his bratty, tagalong twin.

Eddy said, “It’s all different now. We’re not just famous for being rich anymore.”

“We’re freaks,” I said.

“No,” said Eddy. “We’re not.”

“Right,” I said. “
We’re
not.” I tapped my chest. “
I
am. Lexie is. Terese is.” I shook my head. “I don’t know what the little kids are.”

Eddy reached over and grabbed my foot. “You are not freaks. You were put in a totally crappy situation. It wasn’t your fault.” He paused. “You might have experienced stuff no one else in the world has, but it doesn’t make you a freak.”

“Then why don’t I feel that way?” I asked. “Even just talking to Verity that day…”

“What?” Eddy asked.

I shrugged. “It’s, like … we had a conversation. A normal conversation. We just talked. And it seemed so normal.
I
even seemed normal. But…”

“But what?”

“There was so much still there, beneath the surface. So much still on my shoulders. How can I ever tell anyone who I really am? What I’ve been through?”

Eddy started to say something, but I stopped him.

“No, listen. What if I had said, ‘Hey, I’m Eli Yanakakis’? There would have been this momentary pause on her face as the wheels started turning. And she would have thought,
Oh, Eli Yanakakis, son of Rex, who started YK, who—oh my God—he’s been underground for six years
.” I sighed. “I can see it now.”

Eddy said, “But you didn’t say that.”

I shook my head.

“So you don’t know.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, believe me, I know.”

“It’s too much pressure to keep everything a secret. We can’t do it that much longer. Even Mom knows that.” Eddy sat up. “One day you’ll have to trust someone enough to tell them.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I guess. But what if they want nothing to do with me after I tell them?”

Eddy smiled. “You’ll always have me.” He jumped off the bed. “Els made an apple pie earlier. Coming?”

“Yeah,” I said. Pie sounded good. Anything to get my mind off a girl who, if I had any brains, I would never try to see again.

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

The next day I woke up and everything was clear. I wasn’t ready to have to deal with telling someone, anyone, who I really was. I wasn’t ready for a negative reaction from them.

Verity was nice. I could see myself hanging out with her. Maybe liking her. Maybe liking her a lot. But having her look at me strangely when I told her the truth? That my name wasn’t even EJ?

That would hurt.

So I texted her to say I couldn’t do anything that weekend.

She replied, asking about the next one.

I didn’t answer.

Saturday morning we all got ready for the Mariners game. I pulled on a pair of jeans and then a throwback Mariners shirt. When we’d first arrived in Hawaii, Eddy had one like it. I thought it was cool, so when Mom started ordering clothes, I asked for one.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Mom was in her bathrobe, her hair up in a loose, messy knot on top of her head. She looked exhausted as she held Finn, who was fussing like crazy.

“What’s up with him?” I asked.

Mom shook her head. “I don’t know. But Lucas started throwing up in the middle of the night, and I think he’s got whatever Cara had. Gram’s with him. I think I’d better stay home with the three little ones.”

“Why don’t we just do the game a different time?” I asked. After the day at the aquarium, I was fine with delaying our next outing.

“Do what a different time?” asked Eddy, who bounded into the kitchen, wearing jeans and the same shirt I had on. Well, the same except that his was softer, more worn, and mine probably still smelled like the plastic bag it had been shipped in. He stopped and stared at my shirt, then said, “I’ll go change.” He headed back up the stairs.

My face turned red.

I got that it would be stupid for us to wear the same shirt, but the look on his face … it hadn’t been a harmless reaction of
Oops, better change so we don’t look like the identical twins we are
. It came across like it was more an annoyance, like I was someone he had to put up with.

Mom looked at me. “You okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

She put Finn up on her shoulder. “You’re fine with Tony going?”

I frowned. “Who?”

Mom said, “Tony, Eddy’s friend that helped find Lucas the other day.”

Eddy’s
friend
? “He’s going with us?”

Mom bit her lip. “You didn’t know.”

I asked, “When did that happen?”

“Eddy just kept asking and I figured it was okay.”

My mouth dropped open. “How is it okay? Tell me how it’s okay! You don’t want anyone to know who we are or where we are, but then you’ll let a stranger go to a baseball game with us?” I realized I was yelling.

Mom held up her palm toward me. “Sweetheart, calm down. I know I have to accept the fact that you all want to go out into the world, and it will happen sooner or later and—”

“Mom?” Reese walked into the kitchen in a flowered nightgown, her hair down and fluffed out around her face. She held her stomach with both hands. “I don’t feel good.” Then she threw a hand over her mouth and ran into the small bathroom off the kitchen.

We heard her throw up.

“Uh-oh. Another one down.” Mom handed Finn, who had finally calmed down and was whimpering quietly, to me. “I’d better go check on her.”

Just then, Eddy came back into the room, wearing a Cubs shirt. Almost the opposite of mine.

I said, “So your new
friend
is coming, huh?”

Eddy’s face turned a bit red and he headed to the fridge and opened it. “I thought it would be a nice thank-you for helping with Lucas.” He pulled out a gallon of milk and poured a glass.

“So you’re going to tell this stranger who we are?”

He shook his head. “No, not really.”

I rolled my eyes. “How is that going to stay a secret?”

Mom came back in and took Finn. “Reese is sick, too. Looks like it’ll just be you two and Lexie.”

I crossed my arms. “And
Tony.
Don’t forget Tony.”

Mom said, “If this is a problem, we’ll just cancel. Forget the whole thing.” She sounded miffed.

Eddy said, “No! I don’t want to. God!” He shoved the milk back in the fridge and slammed the door. “It used to just be me and Gram and it was so much frickin’ easier. Now everything has to be decided by a hundred people and I never get to do what
I
want!”

Mom’s mouth fell open and I had to sit down on a stool. So that was how he really felt? That his life was easier when we were all …

“I’m so sorry we’re not all
dead
!” I snapped.

“Eli…” He looked at Mom. “I’m sorry.” Eddy paled and shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I didn’t—”

“It’s pretty clear you
did
mean it,” I said. “Or you wouldn’t have said it!”

“Eli!” Mom narrowed her eyes at both of us. “Just go. Both of you. I have sick kids to take care of and it’ll be easier without you two around.”

Lexie walked in the room, wearing jeans and a Mariners shirt, her dark hair in a loose bun on top of her head. She looked excited, but her face fell as she saw us. “What’s wrong?”

Mom said, “Nothing’s wrong. You look pretty, sweetheart.”

“Where’s Reese?” asked Lexie.

Mom said, “She’s sick.” Then she looked at me and Eddy. “Now go and take your sister to the ball game.”

Eddy turned and headed outside. Lexie started to ask me something, but I just brushed past her and went outside. In the SUV, Lexie and I sat in the backseat and Eddy rode shotgun with Lee. Eddy pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and punched an address into the GPS. “This will get us to where we need to pick up Tony.”

I leaned forward. “You seriously are still bringing him?”

“Who?” asked Lexie.

Eddy said, “He texted me, said he’d be there.”

I slumped in the seat. “We don’t even know him.”

“Who?” repeated Lexie.

Eddy turned around and looked at me. “We’ve been texting. Tony’s cool.”

Lexie grabbed my ear and twisted.

“Ow!”

She asked, “Who is Tony?”

“Let go!” I said, trying to get loose from her grip.

Eddy said, “This guy who helped us find Lucas when he ran off at the aquarium.”

Lexie let go of me and I rubbed my ear.

Her eyes narrowed. “Does Mom know he’s coming?”

Eddy said, “Yeah.”

Lexie looked at Eddy and back to me. “And she’s fine with some stranger knowing who we are?”

Eddy said, “It’s easy now, with just the three of us.” He pointed at Lee. “He’s our uncle.” He pointed at me. “You’re EJ, since that worked so well for you before.”

Lexie asked, “And who am I?”

Eddy shrugged. “You can be … Alex.”

“Oh, just
awesome
.” Lexie glared at Eddy. “I can’t believe Mom is okay with you inviting some stranger to go with us! How would you have explained all the kids? And Mom? Everyone knows what Mom looks like.”

Eddy said, “That’s why this is way easier.”