LOVELORN

8|Sleepover & mall

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

UPON HEARING them enter the house, I scrambled up from my position on the sofa. Knowing my brother, I'd sort of expected he would have gone to some girl's place. Then again, he didn't even have a date to homecoming this year, which was out of character for him.

I yawned and sluggishly went to say hi to them. The closer I got, the more I could hear them laughing and joking around. Either they were drunk, or it was just a really good night.

"Hey, how was homecoming?"

"It was a lot of fun," Avi said.

"Would have been better with you, though," Zora added, smiling. "I desperately need a shower and a change of clothes now, though. I feel gross."

"Let's go upstairs. I'll get you a towel along with some clothes."

"Don't need to tell me twice."

She set down her purse and took off her heels, then followed me to the bathroom. I got her a pair of sweats and a shirt with some other things she would need, then left her to shower. On the way out of the bathroom, I bumped into Avi, who was on the way to his room.

"What was up with the whole 'no date' thing?" I asked, having been curious about it since I found out he was going with his friends.

He shrugged. "Guess I just wanted to go alone this year."

Narrowing my eyes at him, I cocked a suspicious eyebrow. We didn't have twin telepathy or anything, but I could still tell that there was something he was keeping from me.

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"You don't need to spill your guts if you don't want to, I was just curious."

He smiled tightly. "Okay, bye. Have fun."

I watched as he walked away, now even more dubious. Something was definitely up. His love life wasn't my business, though, so I let it go and waited for Zora in my bedroom. She came out twenty minutes later with wet hair and holding her dress. I couldn't deny that I liked seeing her in my clothes.

"Was everything okay, with you know, being here by yourself and all?"

"Yeah, everything was fine," I assured her.

She nodded, seating herself on my bed. I could tell there was something bothering her, so I sat down next to her and bumped my shoulder against her. She returned it, smiling.

"You okay?" I asked, reversing the question onto her.

"Yeah. I just missed you."

My chest warmed. "I missed you too."

Her mouth opened and closed, like she wanted to say something but her words were failing her. Instead of saying anything, Zora hugged me. Real tight. Similarly to that day she came over after I'd skipped school.

"I love you."

That did things to my heart. Holy crap.