chances are hell just slither back to his room and hibernate for the rest of the school year . `` no , amelia , you do not know what you ask . at the time , i 'd hated that eric had to be there , but soon it had felt like our home too . he could refuse and allow her to do her spying alone , but he was supposed to be the man . truth was , he was but a single drink short of neither knowing nor caring whether he was alive or dead . 