Thicker Than Water

CHAPTER FOUR

One week after Macy went missing, I woke up alone.

Sitting up, I ran my hand over my face, frozen from sleep, and tried not to flinch when I noticed my reflection in the mirror on my closet door. It was probably a good thing Lucca hadn't spent the night like he'd asked yesterday. I looked like someone had taken a baseball bat to my soul. My eyes were deep-set, sunken, bleary and red. My cheeks were still wet, and my lips were chapped.

I could only vaguely remember my dream, one that starred Macy Stinson, a massive body of water and the soft whistling of my best friend. I must've been harboring some serious resentment toward Lucca if I was having nightmares where he was involved in Macy's disappearance.

My phone beeped from my nightstand and I picked it up. It was a text from my mother, informing me that breakfast was ready if I wanted to get my butt out of bed.

Knowing I couldn't hide in my room all morning, I rolled off my bed and trudged into the bathroom. After washing my face, I pulled a sweatshirt on and left my room.

Still not totally awake, I padded down the stairs. I ran my hands through my hair in hopes of making it a little more presentable. Lucca said my morning hair was sexy, but I disagreed. Personally, I felt like I looked as if I had just gone through a wind storm.

In the dining room, I found what I'd been expecting—Mom carrying food in while Lucca set the table. I wasn't surprised to see him; my best friend hadn't missed a Saturday morning breakfast since we were fourteen. What I hadn't been expecting, of course, was Lucca's younger brother to show up as well.

"Nicky," I said, surprised.

Even though I'd grown up with both Nicky and Lucca, it was just surprising to have the younger Davenport in my kitchen again. Nicky used to enjoy hanging out with Lucca and me, but for the past few months, he'd been distant.

In the week since Macy had disappeared, I'd seen Nicky even less than usual. I only caught the rarest of glimpses of him as he went around a corner, avoiding any form of human interaction.

He was almost like the Yeti, but tanner and blonder and not as hairy.

Despite all this, it was a pleasant surprise to see Nicky's adorable face. He was pretty much a carbon copy of Lucca; the only things different were his startlingly green eyes and his Mohawk.

While they might've looked alike, the Davenport brothers couldn't have been any different when it came to their personalities. Where Lucca was a party-boy with an aversion to school, Nicky was practically a genius, taking college level classes in his sophomore year.

Lucca cleared his throat as I sat next to his brother. "We were just talking about Nicky's obsession with Mrs. Stinson."

I looked at Nicky in surprise as I drew my legs up to my chest. "What?"

"It's not like that," Nicky said, glaring at his brother. "I've been helping her around the house since Macy disappeared. I wouldn't call that obsessive. I'd call that polite."

Lucca gave me a pointed look.

Nicky liked to pretend that because we weren't as smart as he was, we hadn't figured out his little "secret." Nicky was brilliant in a lot of ways, but when it came to hiding secrets about his love life, he was pretty dense.

We all knew that Nicky and Macy had something going on. Nicky had begun "tutoring" Macy in the middle of our junior year—which made no sense for a myriad of reasons. While Macy wasn't a genius, she was on the honor roll. I'd also never actually seen them studying. And who needed a tutor during summer?