Dead Girl's Fate (discontinued)

Chapter 8

School is over, and I'm currently sitting on my front porch with my brother, throwing a tennis ball back and forth. It's a simple thing, we used to do it when we were kids. When he was little, he had dark hair just like mine that curled under at the ends, but now as he's older, it's become a light brown, just like Dad's.

"You seem distracted," Brendan says. It might be obvious, considering I keep looking over to the house across the street, causing me to miss the ball half the time, "Is it that boy you have a crush on?"

"Boy? There is no boy and there is no crush. I have no idea what you're talking about," I tell him. I stood up, ready to leave, refusing to have this conversation. He stood up right after me.

"I know you're lying. First of all, your voice gets high-pitched when you lie, and second, I saw you sneak out your window last night. Were you going to meet up with, oh what's his name...?" He smirked and I shoved him, causing him to step off the porch. I should've known he would hear me talking on the phone or opening the window. Brendan is such a light sleeper he could probably be classified as an insomniac; The slightest noise or motion wakes him up.

"Don't tell Mom, please?" I meant to sound demanding, but my words came out as a weak question.

"Fine," I sigh with relief, "But under one condition," I roll my eyes.

"What could you possibly want?" I ask. Brendan and I always seem to be getting ourselves stuck in this situation. One does something, the other threatens to tell, and then we do whatever the other one wants so we don't get ratted out. It's an endless cycle.

"Get your friend to go to homecoming with me," the smile on his face does not falter.

"Madilyn? Are you insane?" I couldn't help it, I started busting out laughing.

"But, but she's seventeen," I say between fits of giggles, "And you're-"

"Sixteen, so? It's only a years difference," he didn't find it funny. Suddenly, I stopped laughing.

"Oh, oh my god you're serious," I say, my wide eyes looking up at him. It's easy to forget he's taller than me, since he's younger, but like he said, only by a year.

"What if she doesn't want to? Or she already has a date?" I ask, suddenly aware of the flaws of his request.

"Just try, please. I mean really try, that's all I'm asking for. She's in my biology class and I really like her," a blush creeps up his face.

"Fine," I say, agreeing to his terms.

Awe, how cute, Brendan's got a little crush.

"Thank you," he says, pulling me into a hug. It's a rare thing, us hugging. So much that when my mom opens the front door she bursts with excitement.

"Awe, how cute," she says with a big grin on her face. We pull apart, smiling at her.

"Dad's making dinner," she says, "Why don't you come inside?" she asks. Looking at her makes me realize how she has aged so gracefully. There are little gray hairs peeking out of her scalp, but she wears them proud. Her face seems barely worn down by the hands of time.

Unexpectedly, I got an idea.

"Oh no, I totally forgot," I said, resting my hand on my forehead, "I was going to eat at Madi's house tonight. Do you mind?" I ask through lying teeth.

"Sure, honey," she says after debating it for a while, "Just be back soon, it's a school night,"

"Of course, thank you," I tell her. Before I left, I walked in my room and grabbed the old book from my drawer. I said my goodbyes to my family and hopped out the door. As soon as it shut, I drove off in my car.