“Oh.” Margot hums on the other side of the phone and I can tell she’s sipping her iced coffee. Probably her second of the morning already. “Why?”
She’s taking this awfully well.
“Well, I wanted Nico to leave me alone and Arden needed help with his statistics class so it just kind of made sense. And it was his idea!”
I’m blathering at this point but I’m just so confused to how she’s not having a bigger reaction about the thought of her best friend and her brother being together. Even just for pretend.
Margot remains silent, allowing me to continue. “And, well, things kind of…escalated last night. Without giving too many details, we almost…”
“Say no more,” Margot says, and I hold back my giggle. "You know, I've never understood why you guys don't just date in the first place."
"What are you talking about? I can't date your brother?" Putting the phone on speaker, I place it on the kitchen counter and start loading the dishes in the dishwasher.
"Why not?"
"Because! He's...he's your brother!"
"So?"
"So! He's yourbrother!" Closing the dishwasher, I collapse onto a dining room chair. The phone is still on speaker and I raise the volume to hear her better.
"That argument stopped working the minute I said 'so'. And now you officially have my blessing. Next excuse?"
I'm silent for a moment.
"Oh, so there is an actual reason. Okay, tell me."
I pause for a second. I’ve never really voiced this to anyone, these thoughts I have about Arden and my father. But, Margot deserves to hear it as much as I need to say it. "Do you remember, when he was in eighth grade, Arden got into a fight with Darren Parks during recess?"
"Vaguely."
"And then in sophomore year when Arden beat the shit out of Connor Hart?"
"What are you getting at—oh Dani, no. He's not a violent person, you know that. He's not your da—"
"You're so sure?"
It's Margot's turn to be silent. Just in time for keys to jiggle outside the door.
“Shit, I’ll call you later.”
“Wai—” I hang up the phone as Arden enters the apartment.
He looks at me sitting at the table. “I forgot my phone,” he says, walking past me toward his bedroom. He emerges seconds later and heads back toward the door.
Phew, I don’t think he heard anything.
"You think I'm too violent for you?"
Fuck."Wait, that wasn't what it...you weren't supposed to..."
"Do you want to know why I got into that fight with Darren in middle school? I overheard him talking about you. Couldn't tell you exactly what now but it was enough to piss me off."
"Okay, listen–"
"And Conner? He made some shit comment about your body in gym class."
"What did that have to do with you?"