A Pretender's Game [ON HOLD]

Chapter 4 || A Fish Out Of Water

"Jackson!" I yell, running up the staircase leading to Jackson and my Parent's bedrooms.

"Give it back!" I huff. Jackson stops quickly,

"Give it back!" He says, mocking me, and then he is off, running in the other direction, down the hall, just as I had made it to my parents bedroom.

I was never really a runner.

"If you don't give me my phone back, I swear to god, I will hurt you!"

Jackson turns and faces me just as he is running back down the stairs.

"Oh, Cody, you're so funny,"

Jackson mocks, making kissing noises in the air.

"Oh, Cody, you're the best," Jackson mocks, yet again.
He stops in his tracks as he is on one side of the dining table and I'm on the other.

Remind me never to leave the door to my room open again.

I go in for the good cop approach.
"Give it back now, or I promise you won't find a spider in your bed tonight."

The only thing my little brother hates more than vegetables, are spiders.

"No! I'm gonna tell mom!" He retorts back.
Just then, my mom comes downstairs in her suit, ready for work. My mother is one of the top lawyers in the state.

"What is going on here? And what did you want to tell me?" She says giving us both a harsh look.

I give Jackson a death glare.

"Ugh, he stole my phone."
My mother shoots him a look.

"Why?" She asks, "why would you steal your sister's phone?"

She looks at her watch.

"Lucy has a boyfriend!" Now my mother gives me a look.

"He's not my boyfriend! Oh my god, you are such a tattle tail!"

I fold my arms across my chest and look at the wall, trying not to kill my brother.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why would you keep that a secret?"

My mom looks at her watch again.

"I can't deal with this right now. We will all be late if you two don't stop this! Now go, get ready! I'll drop you both off."

I trudge down to my room,

"And give your sister her phone back!" I hear my mother call from the kitchen.

~*~

As lunch begins I head to the cafeteria to see my group of friends. I pick myself a lunch of a ceaser salad, a turkey sandwich and a bottle of water. As I start walking towards my usual table, I see Deb sitting alone at a table by herself, near the back. I decide to go see what's up.

"Hi Deb," she looks sad.

"Uh, hi...Lucy"
I set my tray down beside her.

"What's up?" I ask

Silence.

"What's wrong?"

Silence.

Deb would normally tell me anything. Something tells me, this is something she doesn't want to talk about, but I have to make her open up. I've learned it's not good to leave all your emotions bottled up.

"Deb, seriously, are you okay?"
She looks down at her lap,

"Yeah, I'm fine."

I catch a glimpse of her face. Her eyes tense and dark. Mascara stains her cheek and her skin is red, probably from crying.