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Lowering myself down onto the chair across from him, I asked, “How many times have you moved?”
He sighed. “This year or in my whole life?”
“This year,” I said, though I wondered what the total number would actually be. There was a pain in his eyes that made me think I shouldn’t ask how many times he had moved in his whole life.
“Three,” he said.
I stare at him in shock. I can’t believe he’s moved that many times. “Army brat?”
“If only.” He sat up, staring at me intently, and let the story of his life spill out. “You see my mom has a problem with recreational drugs. It makes it difficult to keep a job and a stable place to live. She’s been in and out of rehab, so I’ve spent a lot of time with my grandparents. So, we’ll just have to wait and see if things work out for us this time.”
“What about your dad?”
“What about him?”
“What does he say about all of this?” I asked him. I instantly felt sorry for him. I could tell by his glare that was the last thing he’d want from me. I imagined with the life he had described to me; he must have seen a lot of things. Things that someone like me had only seen in movies or on TV. My parents had provided us a pretty good life and weren’t doing drugs. They only had the occasional alcoholic beverage, and even that never got out of hand.
“Not around,” he said, as if it was an obvious answer.
With that, Aiden came flying out of the house. “Would you please stop giving Mom and Dad a hard time about going to the beach this weekend? I really wanna go, and if you acting like a brat spoils it, I’ll deck you.”
My eyes snapped to Aiden’s and then back to Derek. It was then that Aiden realized Derek was there.
“Hey, man. What’s up?”
“Not much. Just getting a chance to meet your little sister.”
“I’m only younger by a few minutes,” I protested.
They laughed at me now.
“Ready to head out?” Aiden asked, and Derek nodded. Before leaving the deck, Aiden turned to me. “Give Mom and Dad a break, will ya?”
“Whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Good to meet you,” Derek said, tipping an imaginary hat before following Aiden around to the front of our house.
I would learn more about the horrors of what Derek had gone through and what brought him to us in the coming months. Derek’s mom wouldn’t stay sober. But this time, instead of moving him, his grandparents came and stayed at his mom’s house, giving him stability. I didn’t see his mom a whole lot after that. But I never again asked about his dad.
“Hello, are you still there?” Emma calls into the phone. “Talk to me. What are you so worried about?”
“Sorry,” I stammer, trying to bring myself back to reality and not to thinking about Derek and his painful past. “It’s just like you said, I’m worried he’s going to have a change of heart when he realizes that Aiden will kick his ass. Or that he’ll have some kind of text exchange with the band and that’ll be the end of our date. I don’t want him to give up on this. I’ve wanted Derek since the minute I saw him.”
“I know you have. But you just have to give him something he can’t say no to. You have to be so fucking hot that it takes all the strength he has not to want to rip your clothes off. Give that Serena bitch a run for her money.”
“I’m pretty sure I can’t compete with her. And I wouldn’t want to.”
“Well, no one is hotter than my best friend. Except for maybe me.” She giggles into the phone. “How is your brother, by the way? Has he come down to the house yet? Should I come down there and, you know, go down?”
I can almost see her waggling her eyebrows at me as she’s sexualizing my brother. “Oh God, Emma, please stop. You’re going to make me puke. I don’t know what it is you see in him.”
“You’re not supposed to, silly,” she tells me. “Besides, he’s a fucking rock star. The likes of Aiden Zaks are never going to look my way.”
I can tell by the way her voice fades off that she’s not happy about that reality. “I’m sorry, Emma.”
“It’s fine. Let’s go back to talking about your upcoming date with Derek. Now, what are you going to wear?”
I put her on FaceTime, and we decide on a plain black tank top and the blue denim jean skirt I brought, along with my Birkenstock sandals. It’s simple but she’s right, that’s something he’ll like about it.
