Page 172 of Charming Like Us

Looking deeper in him, I ask, “What are you talking about?”

I can’t imagine sharing what we learned here today withanyone. The diary was personal. Private. She didn’t want anyone to see it, and I should have just shut it off from the jump.

“Kinney’sfourteen,” Oscar says. “That bastard should be expelled from her school, at the very least.” He meets my shock. “I’m a bodyguard, Highland. Your job is to keep their secrets, but I have a duty to protect them. Right now, Tye Smith is a security threat. I’m calling her brother.”

I know why he wouldn’t reach out to her parents first. Maximoff is the safe place for the younger kids, so going to him first means Kinney won’t feel betrayed by security.

33

OSCAR OLIVEIRA

I’m brilliant,and so are my ideas. Historical evidence: I came up with the fake-dating strategy between Thatcher and Jane. Did not mean for them to hook up or get engaged. But a second reward just means I’m inadvertently even smarter than I realize.

So Maximoff didn’t hesitate when I threw out another top-tier idea.

“Rainbow Brigade’s first emergency meeting is coming to order,” Kinney decrees, lighting a few candles on the table like this is a fucking séance.

Hey, we are unburyingfeelings.

All six of us are wedged in a corner booth in Superheroes & Scones, a comic-book coffee-shop hybrid in Philly. After-hours, the store is dead quiet. Most of the lights are turned off except for the one above the superhero-centric café area.

“First off,” she says, “thank you all for coming on such short notice.” She intakes a breath, and Maximoff extends an arm over his sister’s bony shoulder.

It’s been a long night.

Once I told Maximoff what happened, he approached Kinney, and she agreed to go to their parents together. The Hale family talked it out, and Kinney decided she didn’t want to report the incident to Dalton Academy, even at the urging of her mom and dad.

In the end, they’re agreeing to respect her wishes. They probably hope she’ll change her mind, once she takes some time to think it over.

What was jarring was that Kinney kept this to herself. Didn’t even tell the girl squad, her best friends. And Maximoff said that he wished she felt safe enough to open up to someone.

I had a light-bulb moment.

And here we are.

The first ever emergency Rainbow Brigade meeting.

Though we’re not her own age or women, Kinney created the Rainbow Brigade to feel included among trusted family members and bodyguards who are LGBTQ. What better space for her to come to in a crisis than the one she built?

Great seating arrangement in the corner booth, as well. Kinney is in the middle with Tom and Maximoff on either side of her. Jack is close to me, my arm over his broad shoulders, and Farrow and I are sitting comfortably at either end.

Highland spreads his long legs more against mine, so he’s not kicking the Hale prince across from us.Love that for me too.

“Secondly, I’d like to remind everyone that what you heard or saw on my camcorder stayshere,” Kinney says, pushing candles among the bottles of root beer. Those were provided by me and Jack after a gas station run. The pints of ice cream and spoons are Farrow and Maximoff’s contribution.

Tom Cobalt just stole a Thor hammer off the merch wall.

We all promise Kinney to never tell a soul without her permission.

Tom raises a hand. “Question, Kinney-witchy-boo.”

She glares at the nickname. “Ask.” Her voice is deadpanned.

I swig the root beer like it’s my popcorn.

Farrow is amused as fuck too. The famous ones bring endless entertainment, which always softens and lightens the raw, heavy parts.

Though, my boyfriend is a little more reserved than usual. I wonder if it’s because of paparazzi tonight. When Jack and I exited his offices and walked to his car in a hurry, a cameraman shouted at him,“Are you gay or bi, Jack?!”