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“No!” I say. I’m laughing, but it’s mostly because I don’t know what to do. Seth has always been reckless. He doesn’t care if Colby gets mad at him. He doesn’t have to live with him after the huge fight that’s sure to ensue when he finds all of his belongings out of order.
“Come on, I remember you doing stuff like this to him all the time when you were younger. I’m doing it. You can either join me or live knowing that you could have had a hand in the most epic sibling prank ever, but you were too chicken,” he says with a casual shrug of his shoulders as he saunters over to the massive bookshelf in the corner to get to work creating chaos in Colby’s house.
Do I want to do this? I did mention it because it sounds fun. Colby’s overly organized ways have always driven me insane, and I’d love nothing more than to undo it all. And Seth being here will make it five million times more exhilarating. But I’ve already burned one bridge with Colby today. Do I really want to burn another one? What if this is his final straw? He might decide he’s had enough and kick me out into the cold. Okay, it’s not that cold… It’s the end of March in Texas, but the nights are still pretty chilly.
Seth starts moving books around, and I can’t resist. I have to get in on this.
“I am not a chicken,” I say. I jump up from the couch where I’m sitting and run over to the shelf to move the books around. Colby has a ton of books. It probably took him hours to alphabetize these. You’d think my little librarian heart would be cringing at the idea of the books not being organized, but nope. For the sake of driving Colby crazy, this is worth it.
When the books are in complete disarray, we move on to his closet in his bedroom. Colby’s shirts are organized by color. Color, people! It looks like a friendly, obsessive-compulsive rainbow. Even his jeans are folded and stacked in order from lightest to darkest. I knew he was anal, but I didn’t know it was this intense. We move the shirts around until it looks like color threw up in the closet instead of lining up neatly in a single-file line. Seth takes it a step further and throws a few shirts on the floor for good measure.
Next, we move to the pantry, his bathroom, and a case of old DVDs Seth found in a closet. I squeal in glee, thinking about how it’ll take him weeks, maybe even months, to find that one. I’ve been living here for a month now, and I haven’t seen him look in that DVD case once. I wasn’t even aware that there were people still watching DVDs.
“Can you picture his face when he goes through his house and sees all of this?” I ask with a laugh. This is my every childhood dream coming true. Well, not all of them. I’m not performing onstage in a frilly pink tutu and tiara like I dreamed of when I was five. And I’m certainly not happily married and raising little hooligans with the man currently smiling at me.
“I can’t wait,” Seth says as he imitates Colby’s angry face. It’s perfect. He has it nailed. I laugh a full belly laugh, and Seth does too. I hold onto his arm and try to make the face too, which winds up making us both laugh harder.
“That’s a terrible impression of his face,” Seth says. “You should be able to do better than that. Y’all look exactly alike.”
“I can’t help it. I’m laughing.” My hands grip his shoulders, and he freezes. He stares into my eyes, watching me like he’s trying to see into my soul.
I stop laughing and ask, “What?”
Seth’s head inches closer to mine slowly. So slowly. I inhale, not fully believing what’s happening. His lips meet mine in the softest, sweetest kiss. He wraps his arms around my waist, and my hands hold firmly onto his shoulders in an effort to keep from floating away. Because this must be a dream. I’m soaring through the clouds, and any minute now, I’ll wake up.
Seth breaks the kiss and looks into my eyes, and the smile on his face takes my breath away. I can’t do anything but stare at him. He tightens his arms around me and lifts me up off the ground before bringing his lips to mine once again. This is the best dream I’ve ever had, and I never, ever want it to end.
The front door opens, and then I think I hear Colby yelling. I can’t be sure because my brain is on the fritz at the moment. Seth drops me to the floor and jumps away from me quickly.
“What the hell, Seth? That’s my sister!” Colby yells. His front door is still wide open, so the neighbors are getting a good dose of daytime drama right now. Who needs soap operas when you’ve got the Stuarts living next door?
He charges forward toward Seth, but I jump in front of him. I can’t let Colby murder the man I love. Plus, I don’t have thousands of dollars to pay a bond to get him out of prison, and I really don’t want my family to become a national sensation for all of those true-crime fanatics.
“Hannah, I need to talk to Seth…alone,” Colby says in a growly voice. I don’t want to leave Seth all alone to deal with him. Colby has a temper. And he has no right to be angry about this, anyway. Seth and I are two adults who can make our own decisions.
I straighten my spine, prepared to demand to stay and speak up for myself, but Seth takes hold of my arm.
“It’s okay, Hannah. I’ll talk to him. You can go,” Seth says. I feel deflated, but I go to my room and lie down on my bed and watch the ceiling fan spin around and around and around. So, now I’ve done three things to anger my brother in one day, and he hasn’t even seen all of the things Seth and I rearranged yet.
I can’t stand sitting here while they discuss my life. I want to know what they’re saying, so I do what any mature, nosy adult would do. I sneak down to the edge of the hall and listen to their conversation. They’re speaking in hushed tones, so I have to concentrate to hear everything.
“What were you thinking, Seth?” Colby asks. I can hear the frustration in his voice. I don’t understand what his problem is. Yes, Seth has had a lot of girlfriends over the years, but he has never been a womanizer or cheater. He has disappointed his fair share of lovesick women, but overall, he’s a good guy. A good guy my brother has known since he was a child. They’re best friends. He should trust him with his sister.
“I’m sorry. We were hanging out, and I don’t know what came over me,” he says, and my heart feels like it’s being ripped from my chest. I guess you can go ahead and add me to that list of disappointed, lovesick women.
“She’s my sister. You can’t do this to her.” I want to shout, Yes he can! Anytime he wants! But that would give me away, so I keep myself plastered against the wall, holding my breath.
“I said I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” Seth assures him. My eyes start leaking. I refuse to call them tears because I swore I’d never cry over Seth Miller again after he didn’t show up to my twentieth birthday party. Colby and Jameson both came, but Seth bailed to go on a date with a leggy blonde woman. I’d never met her before, but I hated her all the same.
But man, they sure are leaking a lot. I don’t want to be this person.
I’ve barely spoken to anyone today. Millie keeps watching me, and the concern in her eyes is driving me insane. I feel like a parrot that only ever learned one phrase. “I’m fine,” I say on repeat. No one believes me. They’d be terribly gullible if they did, considering I’m not putting any effort into this performance. Even Gertrude commented on my glum mood.
Millie follows me around and says, “You’re not fine. I can see it all over your face. Your shoulders are hunched like you’re carrying the weight of the world on them. I’m going to find out what’s wrong with you one way or another, so you might as well tell me now, young lady.”
I raise my brow. Young lady? Does she think she’s my mother? My actual mom doesn’t even say that to me anymore. Millie crosses her arms and taps her toe, waiting for me to spill my guts to her. I’m not cracking, though. She can stare at me with those squinty eyes all she wants, but she won’t break me. Not everything needs to be discussed. Some things can be kept to oneself.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
