Chapter 65

Joe’s POV

Joe continued to worry about his mom while at school the next day. He was determined to help her, however he could, but he wasn’t sure where to even begin. He could get her something? Like on Christmas or a birthday, everyone loved having gifts to open. Joe sure did.

But he didn’t have a lot of money. He’d already broken into his piggy bank recently for a toy that he really wanted. He beat himself up know, realizing he should have saved it instead.

His mom never really seemed to mind how much money he spent on gifts, though. She sometimes had an even bigger reaction to gifts he made for her than she did to one he bought her from the store. Making her something to brighten her day might be the best choice for him. But… what would he make?

The fridge was already covered in his drawings. She had necklaces and bracelets that he’d strung together with plastic beads on a string.

There had to be something. He just hadn’t thought of it yet.

Joe was so immersed in his thinking of the perfect gift that he didn’t immediately notice nearby, William behind shoved so hard that dropped his lunch bag. Another kid, older and bigger than William, snatched up the lunch box from the floor and held it over William’s head, laughing as William tried to jump to grab it.

“Give that back!” William shouted.

That shout was what pulled Joe’s attention.

Joe hated only a few things in this world. He hated when his mom was sad. He hated Brussel sprouts. Above all, he hated bullying.

Joe and William had a tumultuous kind of friendship. William himself had started as Joe’s bully. In the kid world, Joe would have every right to turn his head away and let karma play out here.

But Joe wasn’t that kind of kid. Even if he and William hadn’t started down a road to reconciliation, he still wouldn’t be able to walk away and ignore someone being bullied. No matter who it was.

So Joe, full of 6-year-old rage, stormed over to the scene. The main bully, the one holding the lunch bag, didn’t expect anyone to intervene. So he had no idea that Joe had come up behind him, until Joe snatched William’s lunch bag right out of the bully’s hands.

“Hey!” the bully snapped, turning.

“This doesn’t belong to you!” Joe shouted at him.

“That’s not one your business,” the bully said back, equally as loud.

The noise drew the attention of a small crowd, including teachers. Immediately, a teacher from the older kid’s class intervened.

“What are you doing, Malcom? Leave those kids alone, or we’ll have to call in your parents again.”

The older kid, Malcom, huffed a frustrated breath. Glaring at Joe, he said, “You got lucky this time.”

“Malcom, that’s enough,” the teacher said, sterner. He gestured Malcom forward. “It’s time for homeroom, and we’re going there together.”

Malcom grumbled but obeyed. The kids that had gathered, hoping for a fight, dispersed, each with a varying level of disappointment at the show being interrupted.

Alone now, Joe handed the lunch bag back to William. William took it, though his gaze was hard on the ground.

“Thanks,” William said, in a way that made him sound like he wasn’t very thankful at all.

“Yeah, well. Don’t lose it again,” Joe said, feeling foolish now for helping someone who didn’t have the decency to be thankful. He would again, though. Joe wanted to make his mom proud, even if the other kids didn’t care.

That didn’t mean he had to stay around and talk to the ungrateful person though, especially if they didn’t want to talk.

Joe turned to walk away, when William called out. “Joe. Wait.”

Joe stopped and looked back.

“Can we talk for a second?” William asked.

“It’s time for homeroom,” Joe said.

William looked up, revealing how… upset he was. Even though he was frowning, his eyes were filled with frustrated tears. “It’s important. I need to talk to my half-brother.”

Joe followed William into the boy’s bathroom so they could have a few extra minutes to talk privately. Joe was determined not to stay long though, not wanting to get in trouble for being late to homeroom.

He didn’t know what to think about the half-brother comment. Liam was William’s dad. Joe wanted him to be his as well, but he understood that was more a hope than a reality.

Still, Joe didn’t hate the idea of having a half-brother. He always wanted more family. William was a pain sometimes, but from what Joe had seen on TV and movies, brothers often were.

“What’s the matter?” Joe asked, when William seemed to hesitate.

“I think my mom might be doing something bad to your mom,” William said.

Joe was immediately on alert. Was this why his mom had been sad lately? “What did she do?”

“You can’t tell anyone,” William said.

“If she’s hurting my mom…”

“I’m serious. She could get in trouble, and I… If you don’t promise to keep it secret then I’ll never tell you.”

Joe frowned. This was complicated. He wanted to help his mom but he wanted to help his brother too.

“I don’t know what to do,” William said.

“What happened?” Joe asked.

William had a cell phone in his backpack that he brought out now. He fiddled with the code, unlocking it, then went into the folders to find an audio file.

“You have to keep this a secret,” William said, and hit play.

Joe vaguely remembers Sophia’s voice, she’s around so infrequently. In the recording, though, a woman who sounds like her seems to be talking to a man.

“If I give you this tip, I want to see it spread all over the news,” the woman said. “I want it to totally ruin Aria’s career. Her life. Everything. The bigger this story spreads the better. I want her to be so shamed that she moves out of town.”

The man laughed. “You are ruthless, Sophia. What if this tip turns out not to be true?”

“Do you need things to be true? This is the story of the year, and will create a huge scandal. Think of all the ad time you will sell. And will keep selling, even if it turns out to be false.”

“It is false, isn’t it? You already know.”

“So what if it is. Just do what I say and everything will be fine.”

“You are a cruel one. But you know I’m soft on you. Let’s ruin this woman’s life, then.”

“Trust me. She deserves it.”

The recording ended there.

“That was my mom,” William confirmed.

Joe frowned. “Why does your mom want to ruin my mom’s life?”

“I don’t know,” William admitted. “She hates her. I don’t know why. Your mom is super nice.”

“We have to tell someone,” Joe said. “We can’t let her get away with this.”

“But that will get her in trouble,” William said. “What if she gets arrested or something? I already see her so little…”

Joe frowned harder, conflicted. He wanted to help his mom, but didn’t want to hurt his brother and friend.

His heart hurt.

Like William, Joe also had no idea what to do.

Aria’s POV

I wasn’t used to sitting around at home when I should be working. As I was suspended, I wasn’t even allowed to try to siphon through her emails and work remotely. All this free time gives me too much space to think. Over-thinking leads to too many bitter thoughts.

Someone had set me up for this, and I still didn’t understand why.

Cleaning the house kept my mind at bay for a little while.

When someone rang the doorbell at lunchtime, I was pleased to have something to distract myself.

Yet when I opened the door and saw Logan standing there, I didn’t know how to feel.

“I’ve heard about what happened,” Logan said. “I want to help.”