It was Saturday morning, and Alejandra was doing her homework. She was also doing her best to study for her finals that were at the end of the month. The end of the semester was coming up. She wanted to make sure she aced her tests. Her college level literature test she hoped wouldn’t be too bad, but it still made her nervous. She was reviewing her notes about the books they read, since there would be a quiz on the ones they read throughout the semester. She didn’t pick a great time to be sick and miss two days in a row, but she also could not go to school.

  She finished her essay on Gulliver’s Travels when the front door opened. She glanced up to see Hraktar walking in with Quetzal in his arms. She smiled at their familiar faces as Quetzal jumped out of Hraktar’s arms and scurried over to them.

  “Hey,” she whispered, since her mom was asleep. “What brings you two here?”

  “You should have brought us here, but you didn’t, so we came to find you,” Hraktar said.

  Alejandra frowned. “What?”

  “Rafael went to work this morning. You were supposed to teleport us to you to keep you safe. Ezekiel is already at the store with him, and we waited for you to teleport us,” Hraktar said.

  Alejandra set her pencil down and covered her face. “Oh, god, I’m so sorry. You’re right.”

  That was a stupid mistake. One that could have cost her life. They needed to stay in pairs. Derek, the guy with the most loving family, had already convinced his parents that Milo needed a place to crash for a few months. Thankfully Miguel and Amanda were the kind of people who opened their doors to anyone, so Derek was never alone. Alejandra always had Rafael, and Evelyn always had Nick. Alejandra had been so used to being around Rafael that she forgot to teleport Hraktar in when Rafael went to work.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Just don’t do it again,” Hraktar said as Quetzal climbed onto the couch and curled into a ball.

  “I know. I won’t. I’m sorry,” Alejandra said.

  Hraktar sat on the ground. Ever since the deadline had been shortened two months, Hraktar refused to touch anything made by humans unless he deemed it sturdy enough. He didn’t want to break things, being a huge half orc.

  “You’re too important to the group to lose,” Hraktar said, leaning back and closing his eyes.

  Alejandra felt her throat tighten. She tapped her pencil against her paper, trying to pretend she’d been working on a math problem, even though her textbook was shut and she still had her essay from English out.

  Hraktar cracked an eye open, a frown on his face. “You don’t believe so?”

  “I…” Alejandra kept tapping on the page. “It’s…”

  Hraktar sat up straighter, watching her. “Alejandra?”

  She shook her head, dropping her pencil to wipe a tear. “It’s nothing.”

  Hraktar raised an eyebrow. “That’s quite the insult to my intelligence, you know.” He said it with a light enough tone, but the shame still dropped on her.

  “I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry, Hraktar.”

  “What’s bothering you?” Hraktar asked.

  She kept her hands over her face, feeling the hot tears coming out. “Everything. I… I didn’t trust Nick. I hated him. Wanted to kick him out of the group. And he…”

  “Had an actual good reason for why he did what he did?” Hraktar asked.

  Alejandra bit her lip to keep the sob at bay. She needed to be quiet. Her mom needed her sleep, and the last thing she wanted was her to wake up and comfort Alejandra. She kept her hand over her mouth to stop her sobs. Hraktar stood up, looking alarmed. Alejandra closed her eyes so she didn’t have to see his face.

  “Alejandra?” Hraktar asked.

  She shook her head, standing up so quickly the chair scrapped on the floor, and she ran out of the room to the backyard. She didn’t go far before she wrapped her arms around herself, still trying not to cry too hard. Almost a week later, and the shame still boiled inside her, making her feel uncomfortable in her own skin. She wanted to tear it off so she could be rid of it. Wanted so desperately to make different choices.

  “It’s not your fault,” Hraktar said.

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  “Isn’t it?” Alejandra asked. “I got so mad at him. Hated him. Wanted him to leave forever. And I was wrong. Completely wrong.”

  Hraktar sighed as Alejandra sank into a worn-out chair. She curled into herself as Quetzal climbed into her lap.

  “I… think I understand,” Hraktar said.

  “What?” she asked.

  “What you’re feeling,” Hraktar said.

  Alejandra shook her head. “How could you possibly know?”

  The fighter sighed, then sat down next to her on the ground. “Let me guess. Your background is one where you feel like you’ve been hiding a darker part of you. Your father got angry, selfish, and beat you. You’re reminded that half of you is made up of him, and despite how much you try, you want to hope you will never, ever, be as brutish as him. Then something happens, you get angry. Selfish. You want to hurt Nick. You did hurt him. And you realize with an aching clarity that you are your father’s daughter. And the shame is too much to live with.”

  Alejandra closed her eyes, burying her head in her hands as the hot tears slid down her cheeks.

  “You’re not worthless, Alejandra,” Hraktar said as Quetzal reached up to nuzzle her under her chin. “You’re not brutish. You can make your own choices, free of your father’s influence, and you have a group of friends and an older brother who think the world of you.”

  Alejandra shook her head. She needed to apologize to Nick. She had to. But…

  “I can’t apologize without sobbing,” Alejandra said.

  “And do you think Nick will judge you for that?” Hraktar asked.

  “No. I’ll judge myself,” Alejandra said. “I should be stronger.”

  “Ah, well. Sometimes you just have to trust you’re strong enough to do what needs to be done and hope there’s a healer around to fix you,” Hraktar said.

  Alejandra felt a small smile cross her face despite everything. She still felt nauseous, but she knew what she had to do.

  “If it makes you feel better, I still can’t trust myself to be alone with Grizzizzik,” Hraktar said. “Thankfully that rogue knows it. Because he’s still alive.”

  Alejandra glanced at Hraktar. “It was pretty nasty what he did.”

  “Yeah.” Hraktar placed his hands on his knees, staring at the back fence, shaking his head. “He is a constant thorn in my side that tests my orcish side.”

  Alejandra placed her head on Hraktar’s shoulder, since she could reach it now that she was sitting in a chair. “Do you think Grizzizzik got a fit punishment?”

  Hraktar shook his head. “I already know I’m the kind of person that isn’t good with knowing when a punishment is fit or not.”

  Alejandra felt a part of her ache. Hraktar’s backstory was quite the dark one. “Hraktar? I’m glad you’re here.”

  The fighter nodded. “Me too. Next time you should teleport me in so I can get here faster.”

  Alejandra smiled. “I’ll do that.”

  ***

  Evelyn had finished breakfast, reading over the email where Gemma suggested family therapy, as well as talking more about the situation at their regular session on Thursday. Evelyn’s heart was pounding in her chest, because she wasn’t sure how her family would react to going to a group therapy session. She wasn’t sure how well it would go, either. True, Nick was no longer tied to Chaos, and therefore didn’t need to do anything chaotic, but Walt didn’t know that. He still treated Nick like he was about to start a crime empire of his own.

  Walt slid into the chair across from Evelyn. “Hello.”

  Evelyn felt her glare come back immediately. She shut off her vocal cords, and refused to even tempt the idea of talking to him. Not until Walt apologized. She saw her nail marks healing on his face, and it bothered her to no end that they weren’t deeper.

  “It’s been a week with only two cars, and it’s getting a bit aggravating juggling so many schedules,” Walt said. “Would you like to come with me to pick out a new car?”

  Evelyn’s eyes narrowed, angry that he was talking like nothing wrong had happened the past week. Like he didn’t bully Tyler. Or that she was going to miss out on seeing him because Walt wouldn’t let her see him ever again.

  “Okay, maybe not a brand new car, but I think this will help put all this behind us. Let’s get you a car,” Walt said.

  “You think buying me a car will somehow make up for the fact that you bullied my friend?” Evelyn blurted out, incapable of staying silent.

  Walt sighed, folding his arms on the table. “Evelyn, he was a college aged boy hanging around you too much. If you’re not going to be careful, I needed to make him understand. I’m quite confident that he won’t try anything now.”

  Evelyn glared at him, trying to put every ounce of anger into her gaze. Maybe if she was angry enough, the anger would turn into physical pain that she could use to hurt Walt more. She was angry that her fingers couldn’t dig deeper. That she slapped instead of punched. Her fingers curled into fists.

  “Come on, Evelyn. I really think this will help,” Walt said.

  Evelyn remembered Nick mentioning how Walt’s parental obligations often felt transactional. Perhaps this was the answer Evelyn needed. To bargain.

  “If I come with you, can you schedule a time we can all go to family therapy?” Evelyn asked.

  Walt blinked, no doubt surprised at this sudden change of topic. “What?”

  “Family therapy. I’ve talked to Gemma about it, and she thinks it’s a fantastic idea.”

  Walt crinkled his nose. “Who’s Gemma?”

  “My therapist. I go to therapy dad, remember?” She tried not to layer on any sarcasm, but it was hard not to.

  “You use her first name?” Walt asked.

  “She wants me to.”

  Walt sighed. “Family therapy? Really?”

  “Yes, really,” Evelyn said, even as her heart started to feel a little lighter. “Everyone comes together to talk.”

  “Talk about feelings?” Walt asked, the skeptical look still on his face.

  “Yes. Because it helps,” Evelyn said. “It’s helped me.”

  “And… when would we have to do this therapy?”

  “As soon as possible,” Evelyn said. True, Gemma didn’t give a suggested time, but this was Evelyn’s own stipulation. The fake happiness in Walt’s eyes drained away, leaving him annoyed.

  “Evelyn, this is ridiculous,” Walt said.

  “Family therapy, dad. Then I’d love to put this behind us,” Evelyn said.

  Walt rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

  “Make the appointment for as soon as possible before we leave,” Evelyn said, too worried Walt would “forget”.

  Walt sighed, one that reminded Evelyn a lot of Nick. “I will make the call now.”

  Evelyn smiled as Walt walked away, pulling out his phone. True, it wasn’t a relaxed smile by any means, but it was a smile of triumph. She managed to get something out of this, not just a car. How actual therapy would go was anyone’s guess, but it was a step in the right direction.