Crazy but Sweet, Sweet but Crazy

11: two questions and one lie

"A penny for your thoughts?" Jessica's voice snapped me out of my reverie.

For the first time in six months since Jessica's travel to Paris for her movie shoots, Jessica, Sonia and I sat at the dining table for breakfast.

Sonia and I tucked into our toast, cream cheese and lemon juice, while Jessica had her serving of kale juice.

All the while I sat in front of the TV watching Criminal Minds with Jessica and tucked into strawberry ice cream last night, the bruises Elliot had shown me didn't leave my head.

A gradient of colors- green, purple, blue, red, and underlying scars.

The bright, bright smile Elliot had worn in school was so dizzyingly incongruent with the bruises under his clothes.

I'd found myself googling, searching up on videos of the Lockwood family.

Lockwood Co. was a conglomerate company that owned companies spanning various industries- from electronics, fashion to real estate.

It was a household name, not just because of the high quality and sleek designs of its products and services, but because of its picture perfect family known for tight bonds, regular contributions to charity and community service at old folks' homes and orphanages.

"I grew up watching my mum's love for fashion and giving back to society."

In the YouTube video promoting the newest fashion line, Elliot wore a simple dark blue button-up and black slacks, both from the clothing line personally designed by Isabella Lockwood.

He smiled. "Adopted or not, it doesn't make a difference to me. My mum is just mum, my dad is just dad, and my brother, just my brother."

"Nothing. Just thinking about French homework," I mumbled through a mouthful. "Are you preparing for another photo shoot? I thought you said it's 'burger time' since your movie period's over."

"Well, I'm Jessica Lee. Perfectionist actress." With exaggerated grace, Jessica tucked a non existent strand of her hair behind her ear, wriggling her eyebrow.

"Awesome," I clapped drily.

"Truly," added Sonia with a giggle, refilling Jessica's cup with more juice.

"Sonia, I thought you were on my side. What happened in the six months?" sulked Jessica, sipping the juice with obvious disgust.

"No, Sonia's on my side. Right, Sonia? We successfully baked a chocolate cake together."

Jessica let out a moan, cupping her cheeks in her hands. "Chocolate cake? Fuck, you just made me crave chocolate cake-"

"Language," piped in Sonia disapprovingly, slipping vitamin pills through my lips and passing me a cup of water.

"Right. What happened to having a swear jar? Clare my dear daughter, you're lovely and perfect but you should cut down on your swearing a little, or you might scare guys off," lamented Jessica, letting out a "Fuck!", just as she spilled a drop of juice on her lap.

"Eh cowards scared off by things like that are not worth Clare's time. The boy who came by last night certainly didn't seem to be a coward," mused Sonia, smiling at me innocently.

Not a coward. Hypocrite- or so I thought not too long ago. Now, I wasn't sure what to call Elliot Lockwood anymore.

"Definitely. He's a very strong boy," remarked Jessica after some thought, popping in her own vitamin pills. "The kind that would survive in Hollywood. Thrive, even, perhaps."

Even Ian, accustomed to seeing all sorts of people throughout his career (most of whom were comfortably apt at fabricating stories and data), saw Elliot as just "poor boy", a "nice boy". And of all words, Jessica described him as "strong".