Blake Heritage (English)

Chapter 16

The two teenagers had finally returned home. Maya welcomed the familiarity of her parents, but was exhausted from everything she had faced this weekend. She put down the papers that had purposed the trip to New York on the buffet, briefly explained their weekend and swiftly retired to her room. As for Blake, he dreaded seeing his family again. He had forgotten to update them about his "studying" and had bizarrely not received any frantic messages from his mother, which was unusual. Elena and Eden had either decided to give him a bit of breathing room, or they were furious, Blake postulated. The second hypothesis was more plausible knowing what his parents were like. He finally opened the door. Hearing noises from the dining room, he hesitantly headed towards his fate. After walking all day, he had only one desire, to go up to his room and sleep. The weekend, although pleasant, had exhausted him.

— Eden! Blake's home! Elena yelled. Oh, I've missed you. 

She hugged Blake tightly. He was surprised yet relieved by the greeting. He didn't feel capable of arguing with her for the umpteenth time.

— I missed you too.

— You're right on time. We were going to sit down to eat.

— Awesome! I'm starving! Blake was feigning excitement to avoid hurting his parents' enthusiasm about his return.

— You can tell us all about your weekend.

— Yes... Hi Dad.

After a short hug, Blake shifted to his usual place. His mother put down the last plate and sat down in turn.

— So? Your weekend?

— Excellent! We studied well.

— Who was this friend again? I can't remember if I asked you.

— It was Maya, she's new, we get along extremely well. They don't live far either. I think I have finally found someone with whom I have a real friendship.

— That's great! I'm happy for you, his father replied.

— Yeah, it's cool. We're quite similar, Maya and I, and I know that I can count on her. I think we'll get a good grade; we're almost done.

— Two days spent studying – I should hope you get a brilliant grade!

— What's the exam topic then? Elena asked.

— Honey, leave Blake alone, I'm sure he wants to discuss something else.

— God yes! Anything but that dreaded exam.

Blake who had not thought about this question, was delighted by his father's intervention, and had suddenly become mesmerised by the contents of his plate. This forced transition; however, threw a considerable cold over the dinner's atmosphere which had started well. After a few minutes of silence, Blake spoke.

— I don't want to lie to you, I hate it. Just because you, for whatever reason, have decided to bring me up in lies doesn't mean that I have to act the same. Although I did spend the weekend with Maya, it wasn't because of the presentation. We went to New York. And before you react, I want to clarify that whatever you say to me is meaningless, I will not care because I had the best weekend spent with the most wonderful of people. Save yourselves from the intrigue and the prying questions, I might as well just lay it all out on the table, we are together. Now you know everything.

Blake seemed relieved to share what he had really accomplished this weekend and he was especially proud of himself for not falling into parents' footsteps. Nobody reacted and Blake was shovelling down his plate of food to escape the premisses as soon as possible.

— How was New York? Elena asked.

Blake was shocked by the question. Why was she being so nice and conciliatory towards him?

— Uh... It was incredible. I've never seen such a beautiful city. It was great and noisy, but I loved it.

— What did you do there?

Blake began to recount his New York adventures. Their evening ended sat around the crackling fire in the lounge. He even showed them photos that busted with young love and joy. Never had he shared such a pleasant and intimate moment with his family. Blake felt so good at the time and saw that something had changed in his parents' behaviour. Maybe they had realized Blake was no longer a boy, and that they would lose him one day or another if they continued behaving in the same manner. He experienced this moment of family bonding, a new feeling, just as he had experienced the novel on his first day in Central Park.

After what felt like hours of chatting about his weekend, Blake retired to his room. He took a long shower then slipped into bed. Even though he wasn't the spending the night with Maya, whom he already missed, he was happy to be at home.

Before turning off the light he saw a huge book lying on the carpet in front of the central fireplace. Always guided by his curiosity and enchanted by the book's atypical appearance, he got up to take a look.

The work was indeed original. The book was bound by what seemed to be an old, and precious wood. Blake, a voracious reader, although used to the vast array of book bindings, thought this was a peculiar material to use. He had never seen anything like it, he wondered why this particular material has been chosen, after all, wood had very little give and was unfit for the delicacy of turning pages. Engraved on the front were the words, "The Heir". What could it mean? His curiosity was notoriously insatiable and he felt the familiar urge to understand bubble inside him.

To his surprise, the first pages were blank. He carefully turned the pages one by one perusing each one to ensure he didn't miss anything, but there was nothing there. Why would the core of such an extravagant book be wordless? Blake wondered. After leafing through the whole thing without noticing any writing, he decided to reread the book. He was sure that he had missed something. It just wasn't possible that such a beautiful book would have nothing written in it. All there was, laid puzzlingly solitary at the heart of the book:

"Forgive my courage, yours will be rewarded"