Project Coffee

xii

"Why are you home so late?"I hear just as I finish closing my front door.

"Because it's Thursday."I inform Freddie.He comes out of the living room and stands in the hallway."I stay till closing on Thursdays.Remember?"I ask him.

"Dad called."He huffs out,and suddenly all the pieces begin to click.

" Is that why you've been acting so strange?"My coat begins to feel tight around me,restricting me from moving as I wrap my arms over my chest.

"What do you mean?"he flashes a confused look my way before walking across the hall and into the kitchen.I take this time before I respond to undo the buttons on my coat and drop my bag by the door.

"You always get all over protective and pissed off whenever he calls."I theorize.It was true every time our father called Freddie,Freddie became this whole other person he would become super protective and guarded and I hated that.

"You're bluffing."He states as I walk into the he kitchen.

"You're in denial"I state grabbing the apple he had in his hands before he could get a bite.

"That was my apple."He states reaching for it but instead I outstretch my arms to keep the fruit away from him.

"It was my phone you took this morning."I fire back keeping my arm a good distance away from him.I hear him let out a frustrated growl before reaching up the apple.

"My phone for your apple."I offer a fair trade raising my eyebrows while smiling deviously.Yes,Freddie still had yet to return my phone.Honestly having to go an entire day without my phone has been hell on its own.how did people before the twenty first century even do it?

I was prepared to grab my phone and make a break for it.But instead I felt the apple grasped out of my hands.

"I don't think so."Freddie gleams with joy taking a giant ass bite out of his fruit and suddenly I'm caught wishing I was the evil queen from Snow White and had magically opined the damn apple.

"Hey-"I cry out as he walks away closing the fridge door as he head back towards the living room.

"You've gotta be more clever"He calls out from the living room while I just stand there still dumbfounded.How the hell am I supposed to get my phone back from the devil?

I grab a packet of chocolate covered pretzels and walk into the living room.I sit down on the sofa next to Freddie who seemed un-amused by my appearance and continued to watch the sports channel.

"This is so boring."I nag throwing my head back.

"Almost as boring as the stuff on you phone."Freddie fires back at me.

"You went through my phone?"I cock my head in his direction my nerves tingling in both anger and disapproval.

"Don't worry,your phone is probably the most uninteresting thing on Earth."He retorts."I'd rather watch paint dry."He adds.

"Maybe you should give it back."I tell him waiting for him to pull out my phone from his pocket and place it in my hands.

"I don't think so."He shakes his head"Why does Emily text you like every three seconds?"He asks just as my text alert goes off.And then it goes off again.And again.And then theirs a pause before it states ringing again.

"What does she want?"I ask him.To which he just shrugs.

"How am I supposed to know?"He asks as if me asking him was the stupidest move I've ever made.

"You just said you went through my phone."I recall.

"I did."I says before turning his head back to the television.