Lily holds back a smile but her eyes shine. “Band shirts are kind of a universal style, Ryne. I have my own stash of them.”
I plop back down on the couch and grab my bowl of popcorn, then toss a piece in the air and catch it. Lily stretches over and swipes a handful and munches on it silently. I pull the bowl protectively closer and draw my knees up to my chest.
“Don’t try to give me that ‘I’m a young, hip aunt’ crap. R.E.M. and Rick Astley shirts don’t constitute as cool,” I tease her. “Besides, she can buy her own clothes. Or she could, if you and Nathan would make her get a job. You know, like you made me do when I turned fifteen.” I swear I’m not bitter, I’m just tired of my wardrobe dwindling away at the hands of my little sister.
“I am a young, hip aunt, thank you very much. And try to cut her some slack. It’s hard being a teenage girl.”
“I am the epitome of slack with her. It doesn’t negate the need for Ry to get a job.”
Lily throws a piece of popcorn at my head. I catch it in my mouth again and chew smugly. We sit together quietly, passing the popcorn bowl back and forth between us. A few minutes later what sounds like a herd of elephants makes its way down the stairs and Rylee storms back into the living room. I’m glad to see she’s changed into something that belongs to her. I frown though when I catch her expression, and as she flies past the couch I reach over and grab the hem of her shirt.
“Whoa, turd nugget. What’s wrong?”
Rylee tugs her shirt out of my grip and crosses her arms over her chest. She’s glaring a hole in the floor so I bend my head down and peer up at her. I stick my tongue out and cross my eyes. It’s my go-to face that’s made her laugh ever since she was a baby. She cracks a watery smile but it wavers quickly. When she sniffs a few tears hover on her lashes.
“Boys are stupid.” Her clipped three-word response, while not necessarily inaccurate, doesn’t clear anything up. I straighten up again and scratch my head.
“If you like the shirt that much, Rylee, just keep the damn thing. The tears are a little dramatic.” She whips her head up and I’m not ashamed to admit I squirm a little at the look in my baby sister’s eyes. She’s the perfect model for the expressionif looks could kill.
“You are stupid sometimes, Ryne, but it’s not about the t-shirt. It has nothing to do with you.”
My hackles rise and cold fury pools in my gut. I toss the empty bowl aside and stand. “All right, whose ass I gotta kick?” Look, violence may not always be the answer, but there are few things as satisfying as putting the fear of God into a whiny teenage boy who has wronged my sister.
“There will be no ass-kicking,” Lily declares.
Yeah, okay.
Rylee scuffs her toe against the carpet. “Dylan bailed on our plans for tonight. It’s just annoying because now I’m stuck at home all night.”
I absorb the weight of each word. My brain pings on the name Dylan and my eyes narrow. “Dylan Griffin? Why did you have plans with him in the first place?” He’s a shit stain not worthy of breathing the same air as Rylee, and I’ve told her as much on multiple occasions. She’s upset because of him yet again, which is further proof.
Rylee crosses her arms over her chest. “We were just going to go to the movies, Dylan, Scott, Maggie, and I. But that’s not happening now. He was our ride and he bailed.”
Dylan’s a year older and therefore has what she and her friends all covet: a license and a car to drive. The tight ball of tension in my gut loosens a bit since she won’t be going out with him tonight and I plop back down in my seat. But Rylee’s upset and I’m not okay with that, not if someone outside of these four walls is the cause.
I hold up the popcorn bowl. “Get me more popcorn.”
“Seriously, Ryne? You ask me what’s wrong and that’s your response? Get me more popcorn?”
I wave the empty bowl at her. “I’ll drive you and your loser friends to the movies later if you do. You’ll have to squish into the truck, but whatever.”
Her face lights up. “Really? And you can pick us up afterward?” I nod. She leans over the back of the couch and throws her arms around my neck. “Thanks, Ryne. You’re the best. Even if your room is stinky and you’re sometimes stupid.”
“Yeah, whatever,” I mumble, wrapping an arm around her. Displays of affection always make me uncomfortable, but her words still hit me in the chest and the warmth of them temporarily thaws the frozen thing inside it. I draw her in tighter and kiss the top of her head, and then shove her away. “Popcorn. Now.” I wave the bowl at her again. She snatches it from my hands and stomps off toward the kitchen, but not before I catch the smile on her face. When I look over at Lily and see the soft look directed my way, I swallow my partial smile with a large gulp of water.
Girls are so weird.
4
Dacen
The last few afternoons I’ve found myself in my fully unpacked room with some actual free time and nobody to talk to. I haven’t made any friends here yet and my afternoons have reached all-new levels of boredom. I’ve spent a chunk of time trying to map out my college plans, but I haven’t been able to nail down what I want to study. It’s really frustrating because I’m all about planning, and I can’t plan if I don’t know what it is I’m planning for.
I crumple up another sheet of loose-leaf paper and toss it in the trash can beside my desk. List number eighteen this week has still proved fruitless in trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. I sigh and put my head in my hands. It’s too quiet around here. Right now it’s just me and my puppy, Robin Stark, while Mom and Dad are at work. The evenings are even more pathetic. Last night I fell asleep on the couch watching reruns of The Bachelorette. I mean, honestly, what the hell? I’ve turned into my Grandma Becker.
I need to make some friends or I’m going to go bonkers. So far none of my teammates have shown any inclination toward friendship except one guy, Jeremy Doyle. He seems okay enough to hang out with, although I’m getting anI’m interested in more than friendship with youvibe from him, and I definitely do not feel the same. I'm still cautiously optimistic about starting at Knoxton Falls High School. If I can make some friends before school starts, I’ll be golden.
My vision blurs as I focus on the second hand ticking its way around the clock on the wall. Other than a soft whine now and then as Robin Stark sleeps, you could hear a pin drop in the house. Every soft tick-tick-tick of the clock grates on my nerves. My stomach growls, reminding me I haven’t had lunch yet, so after letting the puppy out and securing her in her crate, I grab my keys off the kitchen counter and head out to find some food.
