Wake Up Δ Walker

chapter twenty

Stella parks at school, Todd sitting outside and he waves when he spots them. Stella smiles and waves back at him.

"Wearing mom's necklace again?" August notices Stella fiddling with the piece of jewelry.

"Yeah, um... Colton found it." Stella says, smiling. The twins share a look at her big grin.

"You got to tell Todd." They declare.

"What?" Stella asks.

"Come on, you said Colton's name, and you did that thing you do with your-your face, your cheeks or whatever." August says.

"Smile?" Stella chuckles.

"You don't smile like that with Todd." Janie states.

"I smile how I smile.. This is just the way my face moves." Stella argues.

"No, you have different smiles. You have the giddy smile, the sad smile, the, uh, hiding your pain smile, uncertain smile, little siblings are annoying smile, "I'm about to kill you" smile. You have a lot of smiles." Janie states.

"What's this one?" Stella asks before smiling.

"That would be the "I'm about to kill you" one." Janie states.

"Look, it's not fair -- to either of you." August says.

"I know. It's just... it's not that easy." Stella says.

"Just rip it off, like a Band-Aid." August says. Todd walks up and stands in front of the car. August gets out. Janie leans forward and kisses Stella on the cheek.

"You got this. If we need it later, there's two pints of ice cream in the freezer." Janie whispers before getting out.

+++

Janie and Peter get out of the back of the truck, staying away from Stella and Colton.

"Stel." August calls from the backseat. "You seriously only brought SPF 15? It's like zero coverage." He gets out of the truck. "All right, with this I'm either bronzing or I'm burning. You know, it's a fast ride to burn."

"You know, if you're so worried about how much SPF you have, maybe you should task yourself with bringing it. I mean, you are fifteen, you're old enough, right?" Janie asks.

"I agree with her." Stella says.

"She's the one with the license." August grumbles.

"Hey, Augie, you said you were meeting a friend here, right?" Stella asks.

"Oh, God, please, say yes. I don't want him either." Janie comments.

"You know, you're really mean." August tells her, Janie grinning.

"Do you think maybe you should go meet her?" Stella asks.

"All right, all right, I'm leaving. Whatever." August says.

"Hey, Augie!" They hear Rieger call out, making her way over to them. August slides the hat off his head.

"Uh-huh. Go be with your friend." Stella smirks. "And I'll see you guys at the trail cutoff at 4:00." She tells her siblings.

"Trail cutoff -- 4:00. Bye." Janie grabs Peter's hand, dragging him off.

"So, do you really like hiking?" Peter asks.

"It's not my favorite thing. Or even in the top ten. But... I don't know, my mom liked to do it. Would drag me kicking and screaming." Janie laughs a little. "I ended up not always completely hating it. Do hate the heat, though."