Brother's Best Friend (Book 2)

47

Finals week. The week every student dreaded. The week every student would punch in the face if it were a person. The week every student would probably murder if it were a person. I sat in front  my lap top with textbooks scattered, studying. I groaned in frustration and ran my hands through my hair, tempted to yank and pull it out.

  "Calm down angel. It's only a math problem," Dean said.

  "Yes but I suck at math. You know this," I whined.

  "You have an A in the class," he said in bewilderment.

  "Ya, one of the lowest A's in the class."

"If you're so bad at math, how do you fix a car?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen you practically rebuild an entire car. You can't be that bad at math if you could rebuild a car yourself."

I shrug, "I guess. I don't know."

"Just think of it like you're building a car. It'll be easier."

"Maybe," I give it a try anyway. It works, "it works!"

"I knew it would. You just gotta look at it differently."

"Thanks Dean," I smile.

"Anything for you angel," he smiles back.

A knock on the door resonates throughout the apartment. "I'll get it," I say as I stand up and head for the door.

He nods and goes back to his laptop. I open the door to see Brendon standing there. I stopped. Last time didn't go so well. How did he even get my address?

"Hey," he says.

"Hey," I breath.

"Who is it?" Dean calls.

I hesitate before answering, "Brendon."

"Who?"

"Brendon. From the restaurant a couple weeks ago."

It takes him a minute to remember, "oh ya! Well don't just stand at the door, let him in."

I look at Brendon to see if he wants to come in. He nods and I open the door a little more for him. He strolls in and looks around.

"Nice place," Brendon says.

"Thanks," Dean and I say.

"Wow. You two aren't synchronized or anything," he mutters.

I laugh, "only sometimes."

"Ya, her and her brother, Seth, are worse," Dean throws in.

"We are twins Dean," I point out.

"That's no excuse. They way you two move, speak, work, I'd actually think you were the same person if you weren't different genders."

I laugh, "whatever," I turn to Brendon, "make yourself at home. Can I get you anything?"

He shakes his head and sits on the winged back chair, "no thanks."

I shrug, "alright."

A moment of silence passes before anyone speaks. All of us in our heads, paying more attention to our thoughts than each other.

"So how'd you get our address?" Dean finally asks.

Brendon answers, "I asked a friend."

"Who?" I ask.

"Carly. She lives with her boyfriend, Sam, in-"

"His apartment down the street from campus. We know," I say.

He shrugs, not surprised.

"So what're you doing here?" I ask.

Brendon sits up a little straighter as if remembering his reason of being here, "oh ya. I'm here to first apologize to Dean for interrupting your guys date. I shouldn't have done that and it was rude. I'm sorry."

"It's cool. I was just having a hard day. Normally I would've been a lot nicer. So I apologize for me being an asshole to you," Dean replies.

  "Aw look at you two," I say sarcastically, "playing nice with each other."

  They both send playful glares my way and I laugh in response. Brendon shakes his head slightly and looks at me again, "anyway. I also came to see when the next race is. I heard about your last race, against the top racer dude."

"Ethan," I told him, "and I dunno about the race. The manager, Danielle, who said she'd call me, hasn't yet."

Just then my phone started to ring, vibrating the table it was sat on. I picked up and jumped a little.

"It's Danielle," I answered the call, "hello."

"Hello Mrs. Carter," Danielle spoke.

"Just call me Zerena please."

"Alright Zerena. We've got a race for you. There's this gang kid who can't keep his mouth shut and has pushed my team into a race. Since you beat Ethan, my best driver, I figured I'd call you."

"That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I really feel like I'm a part of the team," I said sarcastically.

"The team's anxious to meet you. I'm just weary, sure you beat Ethan, but how do I know that it wasn't luck or anything?" Danielle asked.

"Danielle! I'm a part of your team now. I'd appreciate it if you treated me as such. Wether you like it or not, I beat Ethan. Fair and square," I held my ground.

"Ya whatever kid. Either way, I need you at the tracks tomorrow night at ten."

"I'll be there," I nodded and hung up the phone, "weary," I muttered, "luck. As if."

"What'd she say?" Dean asked.

"She told me I have a race. Tomorrow at ten at the tracks," I answered.

"Nice. Brendon I hate to kick you out, but we have to get back to studying. We still have school," Dean said. Trying so hard to now sound mean or anything.

  "No I get it. I did come unannounced," Brendon gets up and head for the door. I follow him to the door and say goodbye before locking the door.

  I head back to the couch and pick up my laptop. Dean and I studied for hours. Up until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. We finally put our books and computers away and headed to bed. 

  I fell asleep thinking about tomorrow and the race. I was excited, that's for sure. But I was also nervous. This would be my first race on a team. A real team. I didn't want to let them down. I didn't want to lose the race.

  I wouldn't lose the race.