Chapter Nine: Nile
"You guys are actually home?" Closing the door behind him Uncle Mike drops his keys on the table near the door courtesy of Manny. Something about needing a place to put mail and keys. Granted, if it weren't for her, we would have nothing but the brown couch and flat-screen hanging on the wall. I swear over the summer she snuck the most random items in. Now the coffee table had a bowl on it. Uncle Mike didn't object; he said the place already looked better than the two-bedroom apartment they had. He found a construction job almost immediately when he decided that moving to town would be the best decision. Kicking off his work boots and rolling his shoulders he jumps into the empty space on the couch. I continue to throw popcorn at Jake's head. He's either ignoring me or doesn't notice.
"Give me some." Pushing the bowl over to him I continue my game. "The first person to get one to stick makes dinner tonight." He whispers, eyeing the back of Jake's head.
"I'm game." Tossing a piece of popcorn at him, I watch as it bounces off of his head and rolls down his back.
"Watch and learn young one." Touching the popcorn to his tongue, he angles his head before launching it at him. It landed right on his shoulder and held its position.
"Wait, it may fall."
"I'm in the mood for Mediterranean." He says smugly. Staring at the piece of popcorn still sitting on Jake's shoulder. Aren't we supposed to have some kind of twin telepathy? Come on Jake, move your damn shoulder.
"Fine. I'll make dinner." Jumping off the couch he laughs making his way through the small house. All the bedrooms are upstairs while the kitchen and living room area flow into each other. It's further away from school than my old house, but if a little distance is the price I had to pay, I will pay it over and over again.
He is in for a surprise if he thinks we are having Mediterranean. The last time I cooked something, the entire house was smokey for at least two hours, and it was only box macaroni and cheese. Pulling out my phone, I ignore the texts from some of the guys. Not used to people wanting to talk to me. They're all just scared tomorrow we find out who made the team and who the captain and alternate captains were. I haven't been freaking out as much as I thought I would.
"Jake, what do you want on your pizza?"
"Anything but pepperoni." Standing up all of the popcorn falls off of him. Casting a questioning glare my way he throws some leftover popcorn at me before flipping me off. I wonder if we grew up together if we would have done things like this. Would we have fought or argued over little things? "You been checking the group chat?"
"Not much. What's up?"
"The guys don't think the coach is going to be fair?"
"Try out went as good as can be expected." Shrugging off the rest of the conversation, he disappears into the backyard. Jake has spent most of his time in the back practicing as much as he could. He tried out for the goalie position and was honestly the best one. Jake has spent every day since trying to perfect his skills.
Uncle Mike took us to the rink and ran some drills the day before the practice. We used to spend Saturday mornings at an ice rink when we were younger. Much to our mom's displeasure, we fell in love with the game and wanted to do nothing else. Mom would joke that we could skate better than we could walk. She hated hockey. She didn't like how dangerous it was and was certain that one of us would end up with a concussion.
"Yes the card on file." I confirm to the pizza guy. "Michael Hillscott." I still have a ton of homework to finish and the new coach's policy is that we all needed to maintain at least a B in order to even be considered for his team. While I thought it was fine some of the guys have think it's ridiculous. I need to find my backpack.
"They don't want to see you." Uncle Mike whisphered. Standing at the bottom of the step his back is turned to me. He continues to whisper into the phone incoherent words. His hand clenching the banister lets me know he's trying to keep his anger at bay. "Stop calling I'm serious."
"You okay?" "Uh yeah." Clearing his throat he let go of the banister. His face returned to its normal carefree expression. "Where's dinner?"
"Pizza guy should be here soon."
"Pizza isn't mediterranean." Shoving me he goes downstairs probably to go workout with Jake. They used to workout together in their old house all of the time and have kept up the routine. I hate working out at night. I'd never openly admit this to either of them but it's easy to feel like the odd man out with them. They have spent most of their lives with each other they're bound to have inside jokes and more things in common.
Looking through my room I try to find my bag. It has only been two weeks of school so far and I already have a paper due. Granted it's one of those 'what do you expect to learn' papers but a paper nevertheless. My homeschool grades finally came in and after taking the test I was able to get into advanced placement english. Darren's head would spin if he heard I'm actually taking an honors class.
Ur bag's in my car-Curly Sue. Of course it is. Messaging her back I check the time. It is only eight. If I left now I wouldn't make it back home in time.
How much hw do u have?- Curly Sue
Honest answer?
I'll drop it off.-Curly Sue
Nah I'll come get it
See you soon bye.-Curly Sue. Knowing better than to argue with her I decide it's best to just wait for her.
"Am I late ?" Jake asked standing in the doorway.
"Nope right on time. You ready?" Taking a seat at brown desk chair he took a sip of water. Every night between 8 and 8:15 Jake and I call Aria. It's her bedtime, and she would fill us in on her day and say her nighttime prayers with us. Lila moved about two towns over. She wanted to put distance between herself and Darren. I understood why. Truth be told, if I could, I would separate myself from the situation entirely, but that has proven to be impossible. Lila didn't want anything to do with the trial. Once I was out of the hospital, she moved herself and Aria out of town.
"Hi boys, she's almost done brushing her teeth." Lila answered before the phone even had a chance to ring fully.
"The phone didn't even ring, Lila." Jake said.
"Do you know what would happen if I miss your call?" Laughing because we're both positive, Aria would lose her mind if we didn't call her. Neither of us would admit it, but we probably enjoyed talking to her more than she did.
"Nile! Jake!" Screaming into the phone she starts talking a mile a minute. Even though we speak to her almost every night, Aria always had a new story. Her storytelling skills are unmatched. Luckily for us, she didn't ask many questions about Darren. Aria is resilient. She only occasionally mentioned Darren, but it was never about anything other than what his favorite things were. She wanted to know the basic things about him. "And please protect my brothers and let them get on the team, amen."
"Amen." Jake and I say in unison
"I love you." She yawns. "Night night."
"Night night Aria."
"Good night Aria."
"Talk to you tomorrow, boys." Lila says, taking the phone away from Aria.
"Later, Lila."
YOU ARE READING
Shaped Me
Romance"Is this always how it's going to be?" There it was the question we each longed to ask but refused to voice. In a moment's notice, we had gone from being carefree teenagers to being on high alert. Survival skills kicking in as we braced ourselves. I...
