“It’s not my first day in school, Aunt Maria. I’m a senior, remember?” Winter picks an apple from the fruit bowl and pours herself a glass of juice.
“I know. But it’s your first day in school here. You need lighter clothes. Come on, let me treat you.”
A forced smile stretches Winter’s lips. My mom’s phone rings, and she exits the room to take the call.
Winter sits around the table. “Is your day going better than mine?”
“Not exactly. I’m going job hunting today.”
“Fun.” She grimaces. “Got anything in mind?”
“There’s a convenience store five minutes from here. Last I heard they were looking.” I fill the seat next to her, setting my coffee down.
She nods. “I’m sure you’ll get it.”
“I hope so. I don’t know how much longer I can ignore the lights on my dashboard.”
Before my cousin can reply, a shirtless Kendrick breezes into the room, backpack dangling off his shoulder.
“What’s up, ladies?” He tosses his backpack on the table, making a beeline for the fridge. His half-opened bag catches my eye. I sneak a hand inside and pull out the assignment on top.
An English paper.
C-
“Not your grades, that’s for sure,” I point out, and Winter stifles a laugh. Kendrick seriously needs to get his shit together. Between the fights and school, he doesn’t study nearly as much as he should. Having a mean right hook won’t get him into college. Irritated, he speed walks to me, snatching the paper out of my hands.
“Mom should’ve swallowed you.” He shoves the essay back inside his bag.
“Aw, love you, too, bro.” I lift a palm to my chest.
“So, sis, how much time did you spend making your mental to-do list last night? Like six hours out of eight?” he taunts.
I want to oppose but press my lips together in defeat. He’s right. I did do a mental list last night. Fell asleep way too late because of it.
I don’t miss a beat. “I’d rather count the things I have to do than the girls I did.”
Winter chokes on her apple.
If she thinks my brother not saving himself for marriage is choke-worthy news, she’s in for the months of her life. Last time she was here, Kendrick had just started dating his first girlfriend, Nicole. Don’t think they’d even made it past first base yet. Then shit hit the fan, leading to a nasty breakup, a parade of rebound girls, and, ultimately, my brother’s transformation into a world-class fuck boy.
“Is it always like this with you two?” Winter asks.
“Yep. Should’ve thought twice before leaving the beavers, cous.” Kendrick pours cereal into a bowl, bracing himself against the kitchen island as he eats.
Winter raises an eyebrow, shooting him a look that says “Sure, it’s not like my parents enrolled me into a new school in the middle of my senior year against my will or anything.”
She settles for, “Whatever you say, Kendick.”
His head snaps up.
“What’d you just call me?”
I smile at their bickering. Kendick is a nickname we came up with when we were kids. Winter mispronounced his name once, and it just stuck.
Does Kendrick hate it? Oh yeah.
Do we care? Absolutely not.
“Hey, show-off! Morgan is going to be here any minute. Put some clothes on.” I gesture to my brother’s bare chest. This is becoming a bad habit of his. He’s turned into an exhibitionist since he’s started working out obsessively for his stupid fights.
He scoffs. “Please, we both know seeing me shirtless is the most action Miss Goody Two-shoes could ever get.”
Harsh.
But not entirely false.
Morgan’s a self-proclaimed boy-repellant. She’s never been kissed or asked out on date. Whenever I bring it up, she says the hotties in her books love her and it’s all she needs, but I know it bothers her.
Weirdest part is, Morgan James is far from a troll. With her cute, hipster glasses, full lips, hazel eyes, long strawberry blonde hair, and oversized sweaters, she’s every teenage boy’s sexy nerd fantasy. Problem is, she’s shy and a bit awkward—okay, a lot awkward. She gets so nervous around the male population her language skills revert back to those of a fetus.
“I’m going to get dressed.” Winter jolts up, throws her apple core away, and hastens out of the kitchen. The second her footsteps fade down the halls, my brother ruins my mood.
“Oh, and I need the TV tonight. The guys are coming over.”
“What?” I sit up straight. “But I already invited the girls. Why can’t you just hang out somewhere else for once?”
He shrugs. “Sorry. No can do. It’s game night.”
“But—”
“You and your friends can just hang with us. I mean, I definitely don’t have a problem with Zoey staying.” He offers me a smug grin, trailing to the sink to wash his dishes and sort them away.
Fuming, I consider my options. A, stay holed up in my room with the girls all night, or B, watch a football game with my ex-boyfriend and my brother’s brain-dead friends.
I’d rather die, thanks.
Kendrick’s locked himself into the bathroom before I can argue.
“This isn’t over.” I belt.
I get a text from Morgan seconds before I go apeshit on the bathroom door.
Morgan: Be there in five.
Stomping toward my house with Morgan on my heels, I reprimand myself for not listening to my mom when she said you can never go wrong working retail. Unimpressed managers’ faces burn in the back of my mind. Turns out summer camps and babysitting aren’t worth much to the employers I met today.
Overall, this has been a long and, I’m sure of it, useless day. Looks like the check engine light will have to stay on my dashboard a little longer.
“I’m sure you’ll get it.” Morgan nudges me with her elbow as we walk. “They looked interested. They’ll call you.”
I smile at her weak attempt at making me feel better. “No, they won’t. They weren’t taking me seriously, I could tell.”
Unlocking and opening the door, I lob my keys onto the kitchen table. Winter and my mom are still out and probably will be until later tonight. My mom texted me they went to the movies.
It comes back to me.
Kendrick invited the guys over tonight.
But his car isn’t in the driveway.
Victory expands in my chest.
First come, first served.
Better to watch a show on a flat-screen TV than a crappy laptop if you ask me. Shit, I really hope Blake won’t be there. I haven’t even looked at him since we broke up. Truth be told, I didn’t feel the same way about him either, and I’d be lying if I said his dumping me came as a surprise, but it still stung. It’s not that I love him.
I think it’s mostly that he doesn’t love me.
Having someone ditch you overnight results in wondering what changed for them to lose interest. It bruised my self-esteem, pushed me to question myself. I once heard my dad say to Uncle Harry he thought relationships were basically watching someone slowly lose interest in you.
And he was right, wasn’t he?
That’s what happened between him and Mom.