The Misspent Youth

Chapter Ten

 I jumped at the sound of someone knocking at the door. I had gotten off the phone less than ten minutes ago and was only expecting one person to stop by. It should've taken him way longer to get here though.

Peaking through the curtains by the front door, I say Kody typing away on his phone. Before he could knock again, I opened the door.

"You got here fast." I moved out of the way, allowing space for the boy to walk in.

"I wasn't at home." He set his backpack down by the stairs, continuing into the house. "You got any food?"

I followed shortly behind Kody, watching as he invited himself to look through the fridge. "You can have whatever. If you want anything other than water to drink, it'll be in the garage."

"I'm fine for now." He grabbed a container of blueberries, and taking a seat on the island. "So, what was it you needed help on?"

I passed him the paper I had laying on the table. It had been crinkled from being in the garbage, but still readable. "One of my brothers threw that away. I don't know what it really means-"

"I wrote this," Kody interrupted. "Your brother didn't give it to you?"

"They were supposed to? Is that why you stopped by earlier?" Kody plopped a couple of berries into his mouth, nodding his head. "Milo told me it was one of his friends. The only reason I knew it was you is cause I saw your car."

"Did you ask about the project? If they knew why you were excused?"

I explained the whole interaction between Dallas and me, glancing over at the broken glass still in the sink. I didn't want to clean it up, letting the other boys deal with it. I hadn't realized Dallas was even that upset.

"Have you looked over the papers, though?" Kody asked after I had finished explaining everything.

"A little. Some of it's too messy to read, but it's about my adoptive parents, right?"

"Charlotte helped me." That shocked me, but I tried not to let it show. He flattened the paper against the counter, dragging his finger along the words. "When was the last time you saw them?"

I thought about it, trying to remember the last time I saw them. I didn't really want to remember. "Six months? Definitely hasn't been a year."

"And how much do you know about the court case?"

"Court case?"

"So I'm guessing nothing." Kody gave me a sheepish smile, looking back at the paper. "The only information I could find about it was that your mom was declared mentally unstable." The confusion only worsened from there. "She was sent to a hospital, the name's right here."

"I'm still lost." I shook my head, not understanding any of this.

"I think someone's been lying to you about what happened to your parents," Kody declared, using the back of his hand to wipe his mouth.

"Why would they lie?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "I wish I could tell you."

I rubbed my hands over my face, resting my elbows on the counter. This was a lot of unexpected information and I didn't know how to process it. I stood, starting to gather some of my papers.

"Did you want anything to drink?" I asked, hoping to change the conversation for now. "I think we have a sprite or something in the garage."

"I'll take one."

I headed to the garage door, looking around for the drinks. Once I grabbed two, I stepped back inside. Turning the corner I spotted Caleb. He had Kody pinned to the wall by the collar of his shirt.