Looking Beyond

Chapter 9: Afternoon Plans

     Dan once again sent Erik to get Jacob. He'd do it himself, but he was finishing up his notes for confronting Trevor. "Why is Dan having me do this again? My head is killing me!"

     "Because Dan has a one track mind, that's why."

     "Vannah-Girl, I can do this by myself." Erik stopped at the door that opened to the stairs in Jacob's room. "I'll get him Vannah-Girl. You just need to back off and cool down."

     "I'm FINE! Now get out of my way and let me talk to them!"

     "Vannah-Girl, Brea said that he let her stay the night because we locked the door on her."

     "I want to know if he..." Savannah lowered her voice. "I want to know if something happened between them. Brea came downstairs wearing his shirt."

     "Maybe she got hair on hers after getting her hair cut."

     "You didn't notice that she didn't have a bra on?" Savannah's mouth fell open in shock.

     "She wasn't?" Erik seemed shocked that he didn't notice either. Then again, he hadn't been paying that much attention to other girls as of late.

     "And I want to know if..." She thought over her next words. "I want to make sure she wasn't making another mistake. She's my little sister, after all."

     Erik shook his head in confusion. "Little sister? She's older than you!"

     "My little-big sister." She smirked at Erik. "Because she's short."

     "Now I get it." He rubbed Savannah's arm. "Now why don't you let me go get Jacob? You can get all of the details from Brea later."

     "Fine. But I'm only doing this because you asked so nicely." Savannah turned and went into her and Brea's bedroom.

     Erik dragged himself up the stairs. He stopped dead in his tracks when his face was able to see past the floor. In front of him stood Brea and Jacob, wearing only their underwear and t-shirts, kissing. He took a few steps down and waited a moment before he knocked on the wall and yelled, "Yo! Jacob! You ready?" He waited a beat before he continued up the stairs. This time, by the time he neared the top, Brea was zipping her pants and Jacob was searching for his pants in the closet.

     "Hey Erik." Brea gave him a small wave.

     "Hey." He tried to keep a straight face as he caught a whiff of something. "Your brother called Dan's work phone to ask if you were going to show up today."

     "Shit." Jacob fumbled with the buckle to his belt. "What time is it?"

     "It's almost one. You were supposed to be there a half-hour ago." Erik reprimanded him. "You should probably call him back. I'm going to go and see if Savannah's cooled off. She's still pretty pissed at Trevor."

     Brea rolled her eyes. "She's my over-protective big sister."

     Jacob raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you older?"

     "She's my 'big-little sister,' because she's so damned tall. She gets a little too worried at times." Brea sighed. "I'm not in the mood to talk yet."

     "I'll keep her distracted for a few Brea."

     Brea bent over by the side of the bed to retrieve her shoes. "You're a lifesaver Erik."

     Erik plastered his trademark smile on his face. "I'd do anything for a lady." He wiggled his eyebrows and left, but not before he noticed the uneaten breakfast still on the coffee table.

     Jacob grabbed his shoes by the top of the stairs and put them on. "How fast can you get ready?"

     "It depends. What am I getting ready for?"

     "If you didn't want to talk to Savannah, you could come with me." A blush crept up his neck. "Every so often my family gets together for a cook out. There will be a bunch of people there who will talk about anything besides your birthday."

     Brea didn't hesitate. "I'd love to. Let me go get dressed. Give me less than ten minutes." She kissed his cheek and raced down the stairs.

     Jacob looked back at the bed. 'I hope Erik didn't notice anything.' He thought to himself.