Chasing Shadows

05 Dreams

R E A G A N 

Alec dropped me off at my house close to midnight. Past my curfew. Even at eighteen, even during the summer, my parents wanted me home by eleven. With my mom's newfound kindness towards me, I wondered if I could negotiate something new, but I probably shouldn't push my luck. I peered into the driveway. My dad's car was still gone. My mom was probably already asleep. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do you want to stay over tonight?" Alec asked, watching as I looked at the darkened windows of my house. I shook my head.

"Thanks, but I think I'll be ok." I sighed and got out of the car. "Thanks for the distraction." I had had a good time despite myself. I danced, soaked my feet in the pool, drank enough mocktails that I was due for an epic sugar crash soon. It wasn't a terrible night all in all, considering how the day started.

"Hey, it was fun." He smiled back. I stopped my heart from doing a backflip. "And be ready, because you're going on a date this Friday."

I stuck out my tongue. "Sure. With this imaginary perfect guy you created?"

"Hey, this guy is very real!" he said, pretending to be offended. "Anyway, you're going to set me up, too, right?"

I wanted to tell him no. That I didn't want to see him dating another girl. I held my tongue. I couldn't hold him back anymore.

"I'll see what I can do," I said, before climbing up the trellis to my own window. It was kind of uncomfortable to do in a dress, but it was better than going through the front door and waking my mother. She was the last person I wanted to talk to right now.

"Where've you been?" A voice snapped from the entrance to my room. Scratch that, my mom was the second-to-last person I wanted to talk to.

I groaned to myself as I closed the window behind me. Nate was standing in my bedroom doorway, watching me.

"Can you not, dude?" I said, closing my curtains. "I just want to be left alone."

"Look, I didn't come in here to fight," he said. I scoffed. "I've been waiting for you to get home."

All the warnings bells in my head rang. Nate never talked to me unless it was to pick some sort of fight. I couldn't believe him now. "If you didn't come here to fight, then what do you want?"

"I want to make sure you're ok."

I looked up at my brother in shock. What alien had possessed him? Nate was usually the one who wanted to make my life a living hell. Maybe I needed to check his forehead for a fever.

"I'm fine..." I said, giving him a weird look. He nodded.

"Good. Look, I know what mom asked you to do."

"You do?"

"Yeah. She wants me to testify against Dad, too."

I frowned. "Well, are you going to?" Nate shrugged.

"I don't know. I just think it's messed up that she would even ask us to do that." He shook his head. "Anyway, I just wanted to make sure that you were good. This...this sucks." He rubbed his arm and was more vulnerable than I had ever seen him.

"It does." I agreed. "It really does." I looked at him for a minute. "You aren't going to tell Mom and Dad I came back past curfew, are you?"

He smirked, and I saw the old Nate in his expression. "You know, I totally should. But I won't. Not tonight, anyway." He lifted his middle finger up at me. "Night."

"Night." I returned the gesture and I never felt closer to him.

He left, closing the door. I sat on my bed, cocking my head to the side. Had Nate just been nice to me? Like, actually decent? I wondered how many drugs he must have been on to change his demeanor like that. Either way, it was weird. It almost creeped me out. Sighing, I changed into my pajamas and looked out the window towards Alec's house. His bedroom light was still on. Smiling, I pulled out my phone to text him.