Stay With Me (Come Back to Me #2)

Chapter 3

"I'm still your little girl, Dad," I reply, suddenly feeling teary-eyed.

"No," Alex calls out from behind. "You're a total suck."

I glance over my shoulder and roll my eyes. He's in nothing but his jeans and rubbing a towel against his wet hair. "Would it kill you to put a shirt on?" I retort.

Alex snorts. "Least I'm not letting everything air-dry."

"Ew," I say, my nose wrinkling. "You're disgusting."

"No," Mom sighs as she finishes cleaning up the last pan. "He's just been hanging around Uncle Hart and Dad too long."

"He's your son, too," Dad says, cocking an eyebrow.

Mom gives him that look.

"Speaking of son," Dad continues. "Where's Jake?"

Alex rolls his eyes and sits down beside me. "Probably styling his hair for his girlfriend."

All of us laugh. Jake's been in love with Camilla since grade two, when he had a Disney princess-themed party just to impress her. Her favourite princess has been Ariel, so he dressed as Prince Eric, hairstyle, boots, shirt – everything. They've been together since then – they're now fifteen. I find it adorable, as do Mom and Dad. But Alex thinks it's stupid.

I elbow my brother in the ribs. "Somebody's jealous."

"Am not," Alex mutters, elbowing me back. There's a visible look of hurt in his eyes.

"You two," Mom warns.

I bite my lip. I know Alex resents Camilla a little. Since the day they were born, it's been Alex and Jake. But they're growing up and beginning to do things on their own with other people, and while Jake seems to be comfortable with it all, I get the vibe that Alex feels a little lost without his older brother constantly beside him.

I look over at Dad. Our eyes connect and I make a small gesture toward Alex with the jerk of my head. He nods as if to say, I'll talk to him later. If anyone knows what it's like to have a twin sibling, Dad does. The gender might be swapped, but it's still the same in the end. Whenever Aunty Elle comes over, Uncle Hart almost has to drag her out of the house to get her away from Dad.

Sure enough, Jake comes bounding down the stairs, his black hair styled to perfection. I cover my laugh by shoving a forkful of pancake into my mouth. Through the laughter, however, I do feel a twinge of jealousy. How is it that my brother, that's two years younger than me, has a lover before me? I don't understand.

But before I can think deeply about the fact that no matter who I find at school or in the Okanagan, for that matter, I hear a horn honk outside.

Sophia's here.

I slide off my chair, ready to take my plate to the sink, but Dad grabs it from me. "I've got it, Ads," he says. "It's your first day as a senior. Embrace it with style with your cousin."

I roll my eyes. "Don't ever refer to style ever again, Dad."

He frowns at me. "What are you talking about? I'm the most stylish person you know."

"Okay, yeah, whatever," I laugh, walking over to Mom for a hug.

"Have a good day, honey." She squeezes me tightly.

"Love you too, Mom." Dad's next. "See you later, Dad."

He kisses my forehead. "See you after school, Ads."

I say goodbye to my brothers, which only earns me a couple of nods, and then gather up my backpack and binder. Today's a half day, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to need the essentials. A lot of these teachers still make you take notes even though they only have half an hour to do so. I think it's ridiculous, but I'm not a teacher, so I guess that's that.

"Hey, cousin!" Sophia smiles when I open the passenger door.

"What's up, cousin?" I reply.

Sophia is her usual bubbly, stylish self today. Her long chestnut-coloured hair is up in a neat bun and she's wearing black tights, a black skirt that reaches mid-thigh, and a burgundy knitted crop top. Two black studs reside in her earlobes.

"Aren't you so excited to be starting our final year of high school?" she squeals.

That's a difficult question for me to answer. Yes, I'm excited that after this I'll be attending school elsewhere. No, I'm not looking forward to having to find a date for the Winter Formal and Grad and all the other events us seniors get. Yes, I am excited to continue on with Chemistry. No, I hate Calculus. Yes, I am excited to keep playing basketball.

"Yeah," I nod, putting on my best game face. "I'm excited."

Sophia reaches over and squeezes my shoulder. "This year is gonna be AH-MAY-ZING!"

As she drives to WKSS, the butterflies in my stomach dance around, making me feel slightly sick.

Things should feel the same as they have since grade ten, but they don't. I'm struggling to grasp the concept of graduating from high school and heading to college next year. I'm scared of how things are going to change in my family. I'm scared of how things are going to change in general.

But I take a deep breath, expelling those thoughts. It's the first day of my senior year – I have plenty of time to worry out of school.

So I turn up the volume of the radio and sing along to one of my favourite songs with Sophia.