be able to get in my car with Arissa getting in yours at the same time.”
“Which car do we take?” Damian asks.
“Mine. It’s closer. The girls first and us right behind so they can get to the doors easier.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Guys,” I interject, “it won’t work. They’re closer to the cars. They’ll be on us before we can open the doors.”
“How do they even know where you live?” Arissa asks.
“Notice how no one is in front of my parents’ house?”
“Oh,” they say in unison.
“I bet it was my mother.” I move away from the window. “So, do we stay in or get mobbed?”
“What do you want to do?” Jason asks me.
“No, I warned you guys this could happen and you all said you were in. You have to decide. Do you want to avoid the reporters more than you want to go out?”
The three of them regard each other expectantly.
“If your dad was here, he could hold them back,” Damian says to Arissa.
“Yeah, but he’s at work,” she states.
“It’s Friday. The trial starts Monday. We have the weekend to go out if we want,” Jason suggests.
“We have the cookout at your house tomorrow,” I remind him.
“I want to go out,” Arissa whines.
Damian shrugs at Jason. “You two don’t have to go with us.”
“No,” Jason says. “We should go. We can’t help that they got here right after we did.”
“Okay. Then we’re back to how do we leave?”
Jason ponders a minute, left arm across his chest and his right index finger curled around his lips. He glances between me and Arissa.
“They really want you,” he says, pointing to me. “If we hid both of you under a blanket or a jacket, they wouldn’t know which one you are.”
“How are we going to keep from breaking our necks if we’re under cover?” I ask.
“We’ll walk you two out and get you in the car. Or we could carry you two.”
“Which would be faster?” Arissa asks.
“Carrying.”
“Okay. Let me get some blankets.” She heads up to the linen closet.
“You sure you want to do this?” Jason asks me.
“I’m not letting other people run my life anymore, J. Andrew and Rose get to draw the boundary lines because they’re my guardians. But no one else.”
He grins.
“What?”
“You’re more assertive. I like it.”
I smirk. “Must be all that therapy.”
“Or just tired of taking crap for so long.”
“Definitely that.”
Arissa returns with two beige throw blankets cradled to her chest and Rose in tow. “I figured Mom could at least close the door behind us if you two are carrying us.”
“Good idea, babe.” Damian grins. “We’ll take my car. If we’re going out the front door, it’s closer.”
He and Jason each take a blanket from her.
“You guys be careful,” Rose says.
“Don’t worry, Rose. We will be,” Jason states, pecking her on the cheek as we gather around the door. “Is the car locked?” he asks Damian.
“No. I left it unlocked, thinking we weren’t going to be here this long.”
Jason looks to me. “Ready?”
I nod. He shakes out the blanket and then laughs once I’m covered.
“What?”
‘You two look like ghosts that were rolling around in dirt,” Damian laughs.
“Ha ha.”
Jason takes my arms and places them around his neck like he does with Mike. “Hold on, Parker.”
I clasp my hands together and one of his arms slips around my back while the other sweeps me up behind my knees. The door cracks as it separates from the doorjamb and Jason bursts forward like he just got the ball on a fast break. A flurry of muffled rapid questioning is garbled through the blanket. Jason sets me down and guides me into the backseat. Jason and Damian remain quiet and refuse to respond to the reporters. The car rocks side to side as Damian and Jason climb in and slam their doors.
“Keep the blankets on until I tell you to,” Jason tells us.
“Yeah, I kinda figured we should wait,” Arissa retorts with a sharp edge of sarcasm in her voice.
Damian starts up the car. “At least they didn’t completely rush us. It could’ve been worse.” He reverses and because I can’t see the curb, the bump going from driveway to street feels bigger.
After a few minutes, Jason says, “You can take the blankets off now.”
The theater is dim while commercials and trivia questions play on the screen. Arissa and Damian make out on my right. Jason sits on my left with the armrest between us pushed up. The soda we’re sharing is snug in his cup holder and our popcorn is