Flutter

“I thought you couldn’t turn if you were dead,” he said but didn’t open his eyes.

“I don’t know why it worked, but it did.” Mae walked closer to him, and he didn’t move. “I called for Peter, and he said the only thing we could do was turn you, so he did. And then we took you back home and took care of you and loved you.”

She put her hand on his chest, and he let her, but he was visibly shaken. His heart beat erratically, and the color drained from his face.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Jack asked as evenly as he could.

“The last thing you remembered was following the girls, and everything was confusing and frightening enough in the beginning,” she said. “We didn’t want to add to it, so we let you believe that the girls had done it.”

“So you lied to me?” When he opened his eyes, they had gone icy. “You lied to me for the past sixteen years? You thought that was a better alternative?”

“No, we just… I didn’t know how to tell you,” Mae floundered.

“Whatever.” He pushed her hand off him and stormed out of her bedroom. I went after him because I felt I should, but I had no idea how I could help him.

“Jack!” Mae called, running after him. She tried to touch his arm, and he jerked it back from her. “Jack! Please! It doesn’t change anything!”

“It changes everything!” Jack made it as far as the living room before he whirled on her. “You killed me! You…” He ran his hands through his hair, and he couldn’t process what she told him. “And you covered it up! How could you lie to me about something so important? What else have you been lying to me about?”

“Nothing! This was the only thing, and it wasn’t lying!” Mae looked away from him and shook her head, her eyes swimming with tears. “We just let you believe what you wanted.”

“Bullshit!” Jack yelled. “You let me believe what you wanted me to believe! You didn’t want to tell me that you had almost left me for dead! And if Ezra had been there, instead of Peter, you would have! He never would’ve let you turn me!”

“What’s going on?” Ezra asked, coming down the stairs at precisely the wrong time.

Sometimes, it really sucked being able to feel everything Jack felt. He had his arms wrapped around himself, and he was very close to throwing up. He’d always thought they’d been so moved by his plight that they saved him, when really, he had just been a casualty.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me Mae killed me?” Jack shouted, turning his anger on Ezra. “You made me live a lie the entire time!”

“You’re being melodramatic,” Ezra said calmly. “Nothing has been a lie.” He gave Mae a disparaging look, and she shied away from it. Apparently, he didn’t approve of the way she told Jack.

Cautiously, I took a step towards him. Jack wasn’t mad at me in particular, but he felt kinda mad at the world. He stood in the middle of the living room. Ezra and Mae were in the living room doorway, and Mae started crying. Milo had smartly decided to stay behind in Mae’s room to hide.

Somehow, Milo’s pep talk had turned into this, and I felt sorry for him. He probably didn’t feel any better about his situation when he saw Jack reacting this way.

In fairness, I don’t think Jack was that upset about what happened. Or at least, he would’ve gotten over it a long time ago. He just didn’t like knowing he had been lied to about something that was such a major event in his life.

“Jack, you know they love you,” I said, and he looked at me uneasily.

“How do I know that? How do I know anything they ever said was true?” Jack asked me honestly.

“You know how much you mean to us!” Mae insisted. “Look at everything we’ve done for you and tried to do!”

“You know what? I really don’t wanna hear from you right now,” Jack snapped at her. He turned and headed for the stairs. “I don’t wanna hear from anybody!”

When he ran up to his room, I followed him. He had no reason to be mad at me, but he didn’t really feel like he wanted me around. He paced in his room, and I stood awkwardly in the open doorway, so I wouldn’t be intruding on his space quite so much.

“Why would they all lie about this?” Jack ran his hand through his hair. “Why couldn’t they just tell me the truth? Is it really that hard?”

“Kinda. I’m sure Mae was really ashamed of what happened, and you didn’t remember,” I said. “They probably just thought it would be easier for everyone.”

“I could’ve died!” He stopped pacing so he could look at me. “Mae almost killed me, and she never thought it was the right thing to tell me? And I don’t get why I don’t remember. Everyone else remembers when they turned so vividly. Why can’t I? Did she do something to me?”

“You died, that’s why,” Peter said, startling me.

He must’ve been in his room when he heard Jack yelling, and we had been too distracted to notice him coming out into the hall. I glanced back at him, then crossed my arms firmly over my chest and moved closer to the wall, away from him.

“You were dead for almost five minutes,” Peter said. “We weren’t even sure the transformation would take, but you’ve always had a strong heart.”

“Well, thank you so very much,” Jack said, his voice heavy with sarcasm.