Chapter Forty-Four -- A Gang Of Great Minds
After Jonathan told him that he wanted to talk to Rusty by himself about the blackmail, Maddox discovered that the free time he had on his hands was as good as any to begin rallying the troops. His first choice was a no-brainer.
"Ray of Sunshine," he said cheerfully as soon as the guy picked up.
"Maddox? Maddox Kingsley!" Ray exclaimed, seemingly having forgotten that he had stopped being Maddox's loyal fan not so long ago. The explanation for the change of heart came swiftly. "Jonathan told me on the phone how you drove night and day to get to him! In case you're wondering, you're totally forgiven."
"I wasn't wondering," Maddox teased in turn. "Hey, what are you and Hanna doing for New Year's? If you don't have set in stone plans, there's a party with your names on it."
"A party with The Amazing Four?" Ray asked excitedly.
"There are going to be other people there, but yeah. Plus, I'm counting on you to convince Jonathan to come to the party, as well."
"Color me flattered, but I doubt Jonathan would tell you 'no' to anything at the moment."
"Yeah, speaking of which." Maddox scratched his head and sat on the bed. "Jonathan told me about those messages blackmailing him, and also that he told you, so I was thinking of joining forces."
"Sure thing," Ray said brightly without waiting for more details. "Wait, I hope you're going to convince JJ to come back to school. Once you go JJ's cooking, you never go back, and that's a fact."
"That's what I want," Maddox confirmed. "He told me he'd think about it, but I feel like an asshole if I insist for him to do it only for my sake. At his old school, the people were complete douchebags about it."
"Yeah, I know," Ray said, his voice dropping with a forlorn sigh. "I promised him that I wouldn't let the same thing happen to him at Sunny Hill, but I have to admit that I've only come up with a handful of ideas so far, and I'm not sure how effective they will be."
Maddox was rightfully impressed with Ray's capacity to come up with some plans already. He had only been gripped by righteous anger and had done very little in terms of thinking of a coherent strategy for dealing with the potential fallout of Xpress releasing the video. Still, it didn't hurt to ask. "Is one of those ideas somehow related to punching anyone who dares to say a thing to Jonathan's face?"
"And behind his back," Ray replied. "Seriously, you need to think of all angles when you come up with something like that."
Maddox couldn't agree more. "Well, I thought of that, too. I haven't yet discarded it. I mean, it could still be an awesome way to deal with fuckers who care too much about other people's lives."
Ray laughed at the other end. "JJ won't be crazy about it, I bet. He's that kind of nice person."
"He is," Maddox said in kind. "So, are you and Hanna on for the party? I'll send you the details."
"We're totally on board. I mean, she came to see my folks on Christmas, and I'm going to meet her parents, but we can make it to the party. It's for a good cause, and I'll convince Hanna."
"So," Maddox drawled, "meeting the parents and all that, huh? What do you know?"
"And you, where are you right now?" Ray asked and laughed. "By the way, what are JJ's parents like? Are they really scary?"
"You'll have to ask Rusty about that. He's already dealt with the toughest side of the family."
"Ah, Rusty. JJ told me he's also there, with you two. I bet you had an awesome Christmas party."
"You can say that again." As much as Maddox enjoyed spending time chatting with Ray, they needed to focus on finding ideas to brainstorm at the New Year's party. "We'll talk about it when we meet up. So, grab Hanna and get her on board. I'm sure she'll help."
"Totally. See you guys, then. Now, I need to pack my bags so that I can go meet Hanna's parents. Wish me luck!"
"I don't think you need it, but hey, good luck, and come back engaged."
"Engaged?" Ray perked up significantly at the sound of that. "Wait a minute, are you and JJ planning something outrageously romantic to make the rest of the world look bad? 'Cause I'm not gonna lie, I'll have to hate you two a little."
"Why, don't you want to propose to Hanna?" Maddox asked.
"Yeah, but she's one hell of a girl, and I don't plan on scaring her off. I'm biding my time."
They knew they were joking when they talked like that, but Maddox was also very aware that they were both only half-joking. He bid Ray goodbye and dropped to the bed, with his phone pressed to his chest. Pursing his lips, he began thinking of the most effective ways to punish the fuckers writing for Xpress. If possible, he wanted to put a foot so far up their asses that they wouldn't be able to sit for a year.
But first and foremost, he needed to think of ways to protect Jonathan and his fragile self that had been hurt so badly in the past. No way in hell Sunny Hill would be a second bad experience for him. The Amazing Four would take care of that.
Only that they wouldn't be only The Amazing Four. No, they would have Ray and Hanna with them, and, of course, Jonathan. That meant the name needed to undergo some amendments.
Hmm, they had to come up with another name, different from the one given by those assholes at Xpress. But what would be a good one for a gang of great minds?
***
Jonathan found Rusty in the living room, all by himself. He was on his feet, close to the piano and was studying the polished surface, his arms behind his back, as if he was a teacher searching for mistakes in the homework of an unfortunate schoolkid.
"Hey, Rusty," he called out to draw his attention.
He was pleased to see that Rusty was wearing the new sweater, and by the looks of it, he seemed very content with his new look. Rusty turned on his heel to face him. "Hamilton, do you like sneaking up on people?"
"I wasn't sneaking. You were just lost in thought. What were you thinking about?"
Rusty shrugged and moved away from the piano. "Hey, do you think your mom got terribly mad 'cause I don't wanna see that vocal coach? It said something on the note that the first ten lessons have already been paid in full."
While the notorious troublemaker was trying to make it sound like it didn't trouble him much and that he was only asking out of politeness, it was easy to see how anxious he actually felt. He was digging into his palms with his fingernails, then pulling at the cuffs of his sleeves and dragging them down.
"Don't worry about my mom. She told you the paid lessons are not time-sensitive, so you'll be able to take them whenever you feel like it."
Rusty hesitated before speaking again, shifting his entire weight from one foot to another, as if he couldn't decide how to stand in a more comfortable position. "What if that time never comes? What if I never go?"
