Chapter Eight The Switchblade

CHAPTER EIGHT THE SWITCHBLADE

‘Crap,’ Millie said. The short parts of her bangs had frizzed out and she was frantically fixing her hair as we lingered on the court. ‘I don’t want to play against Dom. He’ll see how terrible I am and then he won’t come to my house party next week.’

‘You invited him to the party already?’

Millie slow-blinked at me. ‘Didn’t you invite Nic?’

‘Um…’

‘God, Sophie.’ She scrunched her eyes and started to rub her temples. ‘Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that head of yours.’

‘I hadn’t even thought about it,’ I admitted.

‘ I hadn’t even thought about it ,’ she mimicked in the world’s worst attempt at my accent.

‘I’m not from the South,’ I pointed out.

‘It’s on your birthday,’ she countered, ignoring my jibe. ‘You should definitely invite him.’

‘I will.’ I tried not to feel nervous about the prospect of inviting Nic to a house party taking place on my birthday where a grand total of five people would actually acknowledge me.

‘In the meantime, let’s hope Dom doesn’t lose all respect for me during this game.’

‘It’s OK,’ I soothed, retying my ponytail. ‘He’s already seen how bad you are.’

She shot me a withering look. ‘It’s bad enough he’s already seen me sweat. It must be over a hundred degrees today.’

Alex, Robbie and Foxy joined us and started stretching again. They were so pumped it was almost laughable. ‘Just one more game, guys. We’ve nearly got this,’ Alex said.

‘We so don’t got this,’ whispered Millie.

I nodded my head solemnly. ‘We are screwed.’

Alex turned his attention to us, his face awash with concern. We were loose cannons, and his awareness of that fact couldn’t have been more obvious. ‘OK, the Crimson Falcons are a man short, which means Foxy, Stenny and I can take the strongest three. Millie and Sophie, you stay on the tallest guy.’

‘I don’t want to mark Luca!’ I wailed.

‘Can I mark Dom?’ Millie asked hopefully.

Alex raked his hands through his hair, sweaty strands flop-ping back around his eyes. ‘No. If Luca’s free to move around, he’ll throw our game off.’

Over Alex’s shoulder I could see the Priestly brothers taking up their positions on the court. Nic was passing the ball back and forth between his hands, his expression focused. Beside him, Luca was smirking like it was going out of fashion. I wondered if he even had a facial expression that didn’t read as ‘smug ass’.

‘Earth to Sophie.’

‘Huh?’

Alex was staring at me, his big blue eyes as wide as Millie’s. Sometimes it was eerie how similar their expressions made them. ‘Did you hear what I said?’

I shook my head dumbly. ‘Were you speaking?’

He released a sharp sigh and placed his hands on my shoulders, locking gazes with me. Ordinarily I would have been giddy if Millie’s hot older brother got this close to me, but my hyperawareness of Nic was distracting me. ‘I need you to keep Millie focused. I’ll take care of the rest. The Crimson Falcons are going down.’

‘You have to stop calling them that. I can’t take you seriously.’

He pressed harder on my shoulders, as if to steady my resolve. I watched a stray bead of sweat slide down the side of his face and on to his neck. ‘Sophie, can you please focus?’

‘Hey, man, I think she gets it.’

Alex withdrew his hands and I pulled back to find Nic standing right beside him. He was giving him that look again – that I-don’t-trust-you-and-maybe-I-want-to-kill-you look, but it was up close this time, and full of hostility.

‘You’re so worried about losing that you have to eavesdrop on our huddle?’ Alex returned.

Nic arched an eyebrow. ‘You’re so hyped up about this game that you’re going to freak her out about it? Give her a break.’

Alex squared up to Nic; they were almost the same height, but Nic had the advantage. ‘I like to win and so does she.’

‘I bet Sophie likes to have fun too. Have you heard of that concept?’ Nic clenched his jaw. ‘Leave her alone.’

‘Who the hell are you , anyway?’ snapped Alex. ‘You don’t know either of us, so why don’t you get out of our business and worry about yourself?’

Nic didn’t move. They stood almost chest to chest, and I could see by the way Alex was flicking his gaze towards Robbie and Foxy that he was angling for backup. Not for the first time I registered Nic’s defensive stance, and understood his distrust of Alex was about me. By the way he was staring at him, it looked like Nic was trying to bore a hole through Alex’s forehead.

‘Boys, chill out!’ I squeezed myself into the space between them, pushing them apart with my hands. Alex fell away, but Nic didn’t budge as easily. I could practically feel the testosterone seeping through his pores. ‘Let’s just start this thing, OK?’

‘Fine.’ Alex’s teeth were gritted.

‘Fine.’ Nic turned on his heel and gestured to his brothers. They huddled up on the other side of the court.

Millie sidled over to me and dropped her voice. ‘I think Dom’s going to ask me out.’

Alex and Nic were getting into position for the jump ball.

‘How do you know?’

A shout went up from somewhere behind us; the ball was in play and Nic had possession.

‘He was flirting with me like crazy. And I thought I was shameless! I can tell he doesn’t want to wait until the party to hang out.’

Nic scored the first basket before I had time to reply.

The game moved so quickly I could hardly keep track. I barely touched the ball, and Millie only managed to bounce it once before Luca zoomed by and dribbled it out from under her. Every time Nic passed me, it felt like he was deliberately slowing down so I could feel him brush against me, and I kept blissfully forgetting I was supposed to be marking Luca. By half-time, we were behind by six points.

At the start of the third quarter, Robbie passed the ball to me – I was standing near the basket, wide open. I sprang up, but the ball was knocked from my hands before I could shoot. It bounced away as Gino barrelled straight into me. I would have flown off the court if Nic hadn’t jumped out of nowhere, catching me from behind. I stumbled against him with a thump.

‘Careful,’ he panted, his breath unsteady on my neck.

‘Nic!’ Luca yelled. ‘Heads up!’

I looked up just in time to see a big orange blur whizzing directly at my face. My head slammed backwards into Nic’s chest, and he grabbed me as I slumped against him.

‘ Tu sei pazzo! ’ Nic screeched over my head.

Tears started to stream down my cheeks, mingling with the blood that was pouring from my nose.

A little crowd formed around me.

‘Sorry.’ It was Luca’s voice, but I couldn’t focus on him. ‘I did say “heads up”, though.’

‘Why would you pass the ball to me when her face was in the way?’ Nic seethed over me.

‘Why would you be feeling her up in the middle of a basketball game?’

‘ Vaffanculo! ’

I didn’t need to understand Italian to guess what that meant.

Millie whipped off her vest and handed it to me. I started to dab my nose, pinching the bridge with my free hand to stop the bleeding and trying not to smell the years of stale boy-sweat that had been encased in the mesh.

‘Can everyone just give her some space?’ Millie demanded.

Nic pulled his hands from my waist and joined the others, who were all staring at me with various levels of concern. Except Gino, who was tracking the movements of a nearby butterfly and snickering to himself.

‘Do you think you can keep playing, Sophie?’ Alex asked.

Nic bristled, turning on him. ‘Are you serious, dude? That’s all you can think to say?’

‘What the hell is your problem?’ Alex shot back.

Before Nic could retort, Millie was stomping her feet on the concrete like the angriest two-year-old imaginable. ‘What the hell is wrong with both of you? Stupid boys and your stupid competitiveness. Just shut up, all of you! Sophie and I are absolutely not continuing this childish game with you hot-headed Neanderthals so you can win some stupid , cheap-ass trophy. We want no further part in this pathetic charade.’

‘I—’ Luca began.

‘No!’ Millie raised her index finger and pointed it directly into his eye like she was about to poke it. ‘Not another word from you . If you have something to say, you can write it in a card and send it to Sophie’s house with the nicest flowers money can buy. And you can say how sorry you are for being a giant ass and nearly killing her. She could have died . Do you understand that? Died! And all you have to show for it is that smirk. I don’t think it’s one bit funny, and I’ll have you know I am a great judge of humour. So why don’t you wipe that smile off your God-awfully perfect face and grow a sense of humanity, you smug douchelord.’

I couldn’t quite fathom how everyone was managing not to laugh at Millie’s ridiculous dramatics. If I had been in slightly less pain, I would have been doubled over on the ground myself.

‘Mil—’ Alex tried.

‘No, Alex!’ she shouted. ‘I don’t want to hear your excuses either. Where did you even come from anyway? I find it hard to believe we crawled out of the same womb. If you’re not man enough to go through life without a fake trophy telling you something about yourself, then you’re not man enough to speak to Sophie or me. And that goes for all of you asshats.’ She grabbed me by the arm and started pulling me away from everyone. ‘We are going to the sidelines, where there is ice cream. And that is final! ’

I could see the lingering shock in their eyes; they had obviously underestimated Millie. Nic was boring holes in his brother’s forehead. If looks could kill, Luca would have been long gone from this world.

‘Resume play?’ I heard Alex say as we left the court.

‘I can sit the game out to make it even.’ My heart leapt at Nic’s suggestion.

‘No way. We finish it like this. We’ll still beat you.’

Stupid Alex.

After the game, Nic found me on the sidelines nursing my nose with an unopened popsicle. Millie had gone in search of Dom to try and salvage their burgeoning love after her crazy outburst on the court. Alex had stormed off in a huff, and Luca was probably strolling around somewhere with a giant trophy tucked under his arm.

‘Congratulations on your win.’

‘Thanks.’ Nic sank on to the grass beside me and pulled his knees up, wrapping his arms around them. ‘But I don’t think a two-foot plastic trophy is going to improve my life much.’

‘You probably would have lost if I had continued playing,’ I teased. I took the popsicle away and wiggled my nose around to restore some feeling, relieved that it didn’t seem broken.

‘Good as new,’ Nic said. He inched closer to get a better look and I noticed a small sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of his nose. ‘It’s perfect.’

‘What is it about you boys and your incessant need to assault me anyway?’ I asked. ‘Have you got it in for me or something? You could at least be more subtle about it.’

‘Must be something about you.’ Nic flashed me a roguish grin. ‘We’re usually very discreet.’

‘Four boys and discretion. Those terms don’t exactly go together in my mind.’

‘Well, actually there aren’t just f—’ Nic fell away from his sentence when something behind me caught his attention.

I looked over my shoulder.

At the edge of the riverbank, past the last court, I could just make out a ponytailed figure shoving someone with short blond hair behind the trees. Alex and Gino. It was hard to see, but they looked like they were fighting.

Nic sprang to his feet. I tried to keep up, but he was much faster than me.

Within seconds he was at the riverbank, pushing through the trees and pulling Alex off his brother. When I caught up with them, I found Gino doubled over, unmoving, with his head clutched loosely in his hands. Nearby, Nic was pinning Alex on the ground, and the two were trading insults.

Alex jerked his body to the side and kicked out at Nic, making him fall back on to his haunches.

‘This has nothing to do with you!’ Alex shouted as they both clambered to their feet.

‘You just knocked my brother out!’ Nic yelled, thundering into Alex and tackling him at the knees. He slammed him into a small tree that bent backwards under their combined weight.

‘Stop!’ I tried to pull Nic away from Alex, but he wouldn’t budge. I stumbled just in time to avoid Alex as he surged forwards, headbutting Nic and knocking him clean over into the dirt.

‘Alex!’ I screeched. ‘Have you gone insane?’

‘His brother started it!’ He came to stand over Nic. ‘You’re a family of dirty cheats! Go back to wherever you came from!’

Nic spat a puddle of blood on the ground. ‘Don’t talk about my family,’ he threatened. He stood up with great effort, squaring himself against Alex’s attempts to shove him back down. He righted himself and swung out. Alex ducked, leaving him grappling at the air. When Alex shoved him again, Nic didn’t budge. Instead, he flung his arm out and pulled Alex into a headlock, dragging him to the ground again.

As Alex cursed and pummelled his hands into his sides, Nic plunged his fist into his back pocket and pulled something out. With a flick of his wrist it doubled in length. He tightened his grip and hunched over Alex until the two were almost nose to the ground. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but I registered the glint in Nic’s hand as he moved it between their struggling frames, and I screamed as the realization took hold.

‘Nicolò, smettila! ’

I jumped at the sound of Luca’s voice. He appeared from behind me, running towards his brother. He grabbed Nic by the back of his neck and tore him away from Alex.

The colour in Nic’s cheeks faded as his brother whispered urgently in his ear. I scanned his open hands – the knife he had been holding was gone.

Beside us, Gino was slowly starting to rouse himself. He got to his feet, rubbing the back of his head. He regarded the scene groggily before nearly knocking me over as he stumbled up the bank towards his brothers.

Alex had gotten to his feet as well, and was shaking with anger. He started towards Gino.

‘Don’t even think about it,’ said Luca. ‘Just walk away.’

‘Two on one isn’t fair,’ said Alex, starting to circle the brothers, two of whom were completely spaced out. Nic hadn’t said a word since Luca pulled him off Alex, and Gino was still having trouble standing upright. I could see Alex sizing them up, zeroing in on their injuries. ‘You should fight your own battles next time, Gino.’

I came between them. ‘Alex, just go home,’ I said. ‘This doesn’t need to get any worse.’

He narrowed his eyes at Nic and then Luca, considering his options. Then, reluctantly, he relented. ‘Fine. Are you coming?’ he asked me.

I glanced at Nic. Not without an explanation . ‘In a minute.’

‘They’re bad news, Soph,’ he said, his voice laced with confusion. ‘Why are you taking their side?’

‘I’ll just be a minute,’ I repeated, trying to ignore the sense of betrayal in his expression.

‘Suit yourself. I’m out of here.’ Alex started walking away, but not before adding a pointed ‘You’re lucky!’ over his shoulder. I wasn’t sure which of the brothers he was talking to.

‘No,’ said Luca. ‘You are.’

Once Alex was out of sight, I turned my attention to the Priestly brothers. Nic was breathing hard, his expression unreadable as he scanned the grass around us. Beside him, Gino’s hair was falling unevenly around his ears, like a lopsided mushroom. He held that same crazy look I had seen out on the court: darting and unfocused. Luca was regarding me calmly.

‘We’re going to go now,’ he said, as if he were leaving a party, not a brawl.

‘What the hell was that about?’ I asked, ignoring his flippancy.

‘He called me a cheat,’ said Gino slowly, like the memory was just dawning on him. He was obviously concussed, but I couldn’t tell what was wrong with Nic, who was still uncharacteristically quiet, his eyes downcast. ‘He said I played dirty on the court.’

‘So what?’ I asked.

‘So I had to shut his stupid mouth up!’ He raised his voice and I registered his pronounced lisp for the first time. It must have been the effect of his chipped teeth.

Luca rolled his eyes. ‘Relax, Gino.’

‘Fighting’s not the right way to shut someone up,’ I said, stopping the phrase you dumbass! before it slipped out. I grabbed Nic’s arm and tugged him away from Luca’s grip. He pulled his attention from the grass and looked up, the embers in his eyes igniting, and at last he seemed to register me.

‘I’m sorry you had to see that, Sophie,’ he said quietly. ‘I was just trying to defend my brother and it got out of control.’

‘You think?’

‘We’re leaving,’ said Luca, gesturing for Nic to follow him. ‘Come on.’

His dark eyes studied the space around me as he pulled himself away.

‘Wait!’ I said, following him.

He turned.

‘I just saw you pull a knife on Alex. You can’t just walk away from that!’ As I said it, I couldn’t quite believe it was true. It was such a dark thing to do.

Nic shook his head. ‘No, I didn’t.’

‘I saw you,’ I countered. ‘You took it from your pocket.’

‘You don’t know what you’re talking about,’ said Luca without bothering to turn and look at me. ‘Come on, Nicolò.’

Nic’s forehead creased with concern. ‘I think you must have imagined that, Sophie.’

‘I didn’t imagine it,’ I protested.

Nic wasn’t listening to me. He was giving me that look – the one that adults use when they’re patronizing you – the Mrs Bailey look. ‘You had a traumatic incident earlier. I think you need to rest.’

I recoiled from him. ‘I know what I saw.’

I was angry now. One minute Nic was being light-hearted and attentive, and the next he was pulling a knife on my best friend’s brother and then making me think I was crazy when I questioned him about it.

‘We’ll talk about this again, OK?’ said Nic.

He gave me a brief nod before turning on his heel, leaving me glaring at the back of his head and wondering if I was going nuts or if he was the most convincing liar I had ever met.

I was about to go back across the courts and find Millie when something along the riverbank caught my attention. I followed the glint and in a flash I was combing through the grass and picking up the switchblade I had seen Nic pull from his pocket – so this is what he was looking for. And I had thought his downcast expression was a display of remorse. I felt a strange mixture of triumph and nausea as I turned the blade over in my hand. It was six inches long and razor-sharp. I flicked it closed. The handle was heavy and gold and, in the middle near the base, a crest had been etched into it. It was jet black and inside it there was a perched eagle carved in ornate flourishes of deep red. Its half-spread wings brushed along the outline.

Below the crest, there was an inscription:

Nicolò, May 12th

I almost dropped it. This wasn’t just any switchblade; this was an expensive, personalized switchblade, inscribed with Nic’s name and, I guessed, his date of birth. It was important; it had meaning. And I had no idea what that actually meant.

I turned the handle over again, zeroing in on the bird inside the crest. I knew what an eagle looked like, and at a second glance I realized this wasn’t one. A hawk, maybe? Then it hit me. The bird inside the crest was a falcon. A crimson falcon. I didn’t know what that meant either, but I was sure now, right down in my gut, that it meant something to those brothers, and it sure as hell meant something to Nic.

The realization made me feel panicky, because I knew I wasn’t in control of my reaction to it. Even if my uncle was right about the Priestly family, I still couldn’t help the way my heart flipped every time I thought about Nic’s dark eyes – there was something about him, something I couldn’t ignore. I was developing feelings for someone who walked around with suspicious bruises on his hands and carried a weapon wherever he went, a weapon he was clearly prepared to use . A weapon he would come back for but wouldn’t find. I knew I couldn’t trust my illogical heart, and that meant I had to do everything in my power to stay away from him so I wouldn’t have to.