The word "incest" caught Pantheon so off guard that he choked on his own spit. "AHEM, COUGH, COUGH..."
Once he recovered, he cursed, "Holy shit! Kid, you think this is a novel? Some cliché forbidden love story between cousins?"
He clapped him on the shoulder and said with profound gravity, "Rook was right. You should read fewer trashy novels. Incest? You're the one who looks like you'd be into incest."
Chase Hawkins: "..."
He didn't have a female cousin.
Then he heard Pantheon add, "They're fake cousins. They're not related by blood at all. They're from two completely separate families."
'Fake cousins?'
Chase Hawkins froze for a moment, his mind struggling to catch up. "But the parent-teacher conference..."
"That's where Scholar Quincy has us all beat. It's why we can't even hope to catch up."
Pantheon's words were tinged with envy. 'How come I never met parents like Mortimer's? He gets away with dating early without getting a beating.'
