Fifteen Seconds

Chapter One: Less Than a Second

"Not as good as the eyebrow," he situated the ring, "But I like it."

"Thanks."

"Got any plans this summer?"

She shrugged. Summer hadn't felt like summer since she got her first job. "Just working."

"Yeah, me too."

"How's Eli's startup going?" Eli was Joe's husband, and the two couldn't be more different.

Joe laughed. "He's still looking for investors. He's persistent, though."

"Has to be if he put up with you this long." She smiled, slipping her Yankees cap over her head.

"You'll get jumped wearing that thing."

"Probably. Later Joe." She picked up her skateboard and waved on her way out the door.

"Stay out of trouble!" he called after her.

She couldn't help the smile on her face as she rode home. Small towns were just caricatures of big cities—not that she would know. There was still a lower, middle, and upper class, except in Raybrooke you could visit all of it in a single afternoon. With two working parents, she lived in a modest three-bedroom in an aggressively middle-class neighborhood. Aggressive because everyone who lived there was either complacent, jaded, or too enamored with the upper class to realize they were outsiders. There was nothing worse than a bunch of soccer moms pretending to be Posh.

Her brother, Cooper, sat at the island when she walked in, playing a game on his phone.

"Hey, Coop."

"That's my hat." He didn't look up from his game. At thirteen, he oscillated between worship and contempt when it came to his sister. Dad, along with the rest of the state, worshipped the Red Sox. So, naturally, when Cooper was six or so he became a die-hard Yankees fan. It pissed their dad off to have a traitorous son, but he liked Coop so much it had become somewhat of a loving rivalry.

Emily plucked an apple from the bowl on the counter and took a bite. "Mom call to cancel dinner yet?" she asked through her chewing.

"Dang it!" He tapped his thumbs furiously at the screen, dropping his phone on the counter when he lost.

"Hello?" She raised her eyebrows.

He looked up at her, his green eyes bright and unhindered by the brown that muddied her own hazel eyes. Their older brother, Hyrum, shared the same intense green irises as Cooper, but she had taken after her father in that department.

Cooper drummed his fingers on the counter. "She hasn't called. But I think they'll make it tonight."

She crossed her ankles and leaned against the counter. "I give it an hour."

"Have a little faith."

"Five bucks."

"Ten." He raised the bet, narrowing his eyes at her.

She finished her apple, dropping the core in the trash can. "You're on."

By seven-thirty, there was still no word. Emily busied herself in the kitchen, throwing together a quick meal of stir-fry for the two of them. Hyrum was in California—as far away as he could possibly get in the continental United States—and they hadn't had regular dinners with their parents going on two years, but each night they played the same game. Each night they found the same result.

Emily was becoming quite the cook with all the practice. When macaroni and cheese became too repetitive, she set to learning how to make real dishes. If it weren't for the constant reminder of their parents' absence, she might even enjoy it.

"Dinner!" she called when the food was ready. Cooper set out plates for them and took his place beside her at the island. They chewed in silence for a while, each caught in their own thoughts.

When his plate was empty, he gulped his glass of water and sighed. "Thanks. It was good."

"Sure."

Her phone buzzed on the counter, and she turned it over to find a text from her mother.

"You owe me ten bucks." She cleared her plate from the table, and he followed. He wouldn't pay it. And she wouldn't ask.

After her shower she plopped onto her bed, dreading the thought of work the next day. It would be her second summer at the Smoothie Shack, and she was still adjusting to the responsibility. She had the last week of school off, a fake vacation while she studied half-heartedly for exams, but the days of long summer vacations with nothing important to do were far behind her.

"You can come in." She kept her eyes on the ceiling, sensing Cooper in her doorway. He entered silently, perching on the bed where he looked down at her, his gaze zeroing in on the fresh swelling in her ear.

"Mom's gonna hate it." He shook his head.

"Mm-hm."

"Want to play Super Mario Brothers?"

She sat up on her elbows. "You looking to get beat?"

He rolled his eyes. "There's no winner in a co-op."

"Oh. There's a winner." She smirked, hopping off the bed.

He chased her out of the room, squeezing past her down the stairs. "Dibs on Mario!"

"Not a chance!" She pushed out from behind him and leaped over the couch, but he grabbed her legs before she could reach the controller. Army crawling over her, he grabbed the controller and switched on the system.

"You're getting better at that," he breathed, still sitting on her back.

"Get off me," she groaned through half-inflated lungs. He slid off her onto the couch. She punched his shoulder on the way up, smoothing back her damp hair as she sat beside him.

She hid her smile while she watched him play. He was beginning to lose the roundness in his face, fast on his way to acne and girls, but he still had some of the markers of a child. She thought back to a time when they would play cowboys with Hyrum in the backyard, shooting toy guns and burying each other alive. Life was simpler with Hyrum around. Without him, no one in her family knew how to function.

"Hey. Remember that time we made the mud pit in the backyard?" She nudged Cooper's shoulder.

He was focused on the game, but he still managed to answer. "Mom and dad were so pissed."

"Till Hyrum threw that mud ball."

Cooper's body shook with laughter. "Oh yeah! Hit dad square in the chest."

"You and I never would have gotten away with that."

"Only Hyrum," he nodded. It had always been that way. Her dad used to say that Hyrum could see through people, right down to what they needed. He had a talent for diffusing tension.

"You talked to him lately?" Cooper gave her a sideways glance.

She shook her head. "No."

"I wish he would visit more."

"Yeah. Me too." She sighed. Next year she would leave for college, and there was no telling what would happen to them. Despite modern technology, she'd had only a handful of conversations with Hyrum in the two years since he left. Maybe someday Cooper would be another brother she hardly saw.

"Crap. Your turn." He passed her the controller when Mario died. She smirked and took it from him, shaking out her shoulders as if preparing for a fight.

"Watch the master."