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“Yeah, my art.”
Lily frowns. “You’re so not fun. You hide all day in the basement drawing when you could be meeting this super romantic guy who will sweep you off your feet and kiss you in the most romantic way that’ll transport you to a magical place where—”
“Come back to reality, little sister who worships me, and let’s go home before Mom and Dad begin to worry.” She starts the car and pulls out of the student lot.
Our parents aren’t overprotective, but they never hide how much their three kids mean to them. Dad lost his parents in a fire when he was fourteen, so I guess there’s a part of him that always worries about us. He’s a social worker, helping kids find good homes, since he lived in some terrible foster homes when he was my age.
Evie puts on music and all three of us sing along. We’re pretty good singers, a talent we inherited from Mom, but none of us want to pursue a career in that. I’m hoping to go to culinary school after I graduate. Lily wants to be a marriage counselor and Evie’s been accepted to an incredible art school.
We reach our house and walk inside, dumping our school stuff in the kitchen. Mom and Dad—Ally and Zack—are at the stove making dinner. Dad’s arms are wrapped around her waist as they sway to the beat of a song only the two of them can hear. Then they press their lips together and make out like they haven’t seen each other in years.
“Ugh,” I groan, like I do every time I see them like this. Lily’s got hearts in her eyes, as usual, and Evie rolls her brown eyes.
“Again?” she mumbles as she makes her way toward the basement, where her art studio is.
“Ally, the kids are home from school,” Dad whispers in Mom’s ear.
Mom laughs. “Maybe we should pretend they’re off living on their own and aren’t bothering us?”
Lily squeals. “You can pretend all you want. We’re leaving. Come, Liam.” She nods toward the stairs, signaling me to give them privacy. Evie salutes and goes downstairs to work on another masterpiece.
I grab a water bottle from the fridge. “You know, you’ve got only a few months left with Evie and less than a year with me and Lily. You sure you want to get rid of us that badly?”
Chuckling, Dad wraps his arm around me. “You know we’re just kidding. How was school and practice?”
I shrug. “Same old. Coach’s been tough on us, but we’re doing great. And school was school.”
Mom turns to my sister with a grin. “Did you discuss any good books at book club?”
“Unfortunately, Willow had an appointment so we had to cancel. Are you and the rest of the Four Musketeers reading anything good?” Mom and her friends have recently resurrected the book club they started when they were in high school.
“Sure. I’ll give you the list of the books we have lined up.” She looks from Lily to me, putting on her teacher face. “Go get started on your essay that’s due tonight. Remember, I want it in my inbox before midnight.”
I groan. “Trying to kick us out so you can make out some more? We get the message. Come, Lil.”
Lily lingers behind as I go to the stairs, smiling excitedly as she watches them for a few more seconds, and then follows me. I know we’re lucky. Many kids our age don’t have parents who are so sickeningly and annoyingly in love. I should jump for joy every time they make out, like Lily does. But ugh. It’s a bit too much sometimes.
Fine, I admit it—I secretly love seeing them all lovey-dovey with each other. But no one has to know that.
In my room, I drop down at my desk and start my algebra homework. I’ll write the essay later, since it’s easier. As I’m working on the problems, my mind wanders to what happened in class today. How embarrassed Chloe was when she couldn’t solve the equation on the board.
Reaching for my phone, I tap on her number and bring it to my ear.
“Hey, Liam,” Chloe says, and I can picture the smile on her face. “What’s up?”
“Not much. Doing homework.”
“Yeah…I’d do it too if I actually knew what homework we were assigned today…” She laughs shyly.
“It’s part of the reason I called. I thought you might want some help with algebra since you, uh…”
“Looked like a dummy today in class?”
“You’re not a dummy, Chloe.”
“I know, thanks. I just felt like one today. Sure, I’d love help with algebra.”
We spend a while going over what we learned today. I also tell her about the English essay that’s due tonight, since she was too distracted in class to hear Mom give us the assignment.
