Chasing the Browns

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

My reflection bled nothing but pure awfulness. I looked like a total wreck.

You’ve only got yourself to blame! I guess a week of no sleep does that to you.

Well, it wasn’t completely no sleep, but every time I drifted off, I would wake soon after with images of fireballs and red caps and shadows and large explosions pounding in my head.

Mum was out filling in at the business office for Dad. Dad was in the hospital because of me. That left me home alone.

And the thought of sleeping alone wasn’t exactly coming very welcoming to me.

School was out for forensic investigation of yesterday’s “incident” – at least, that what the school described it as.

Nina wasn’t talking to me. Marie…

Well, Marie wasn’t even looking at me.

Poppy was busy with the school council, talking about plans for the play and how to raise money for costumes. Turns out, even though school was off for the day, the students on the council still had to go in.

Well, that’s some commitment.

That left Jack. And Nick. More importantly Jack. I’d been horrible to him when all he’d tried to do was the right thing. I grabbed my coat and made for the door.

Lea, even though he called you beautiful or whatever, you can’t go out looking like that!

I didn’t look too bad…just my hair and my eyes. My eyes had huge bags beneath them and my hair…

Well, I wasn’t going to even bother with the hair.

I left the house. A feeling of relief rushed through me when I knew – somehow I just knew – that I wasn’t being watched.

*

‘Hi,’ I said quietly.

It took me a while to place who the twin was. I’d been so caught up in everything, I hadn’t taken the time to realise that Nick didn’t wear glasses anymore.

Lea, Nick only wore glasses once, and that was his first day at school.

Oh. Oops. Just went to show how unobservant I was.

Jack smiled a little. ‘Hey.’

There was a short silence as we stared at each other. I wondered what to say.

What about: Hi, I’m really sorry about how I’ve been treating you. Are we cool now? By the way, I kissed your brother yesterday; I hope you don’t mind.

That would not go down very well.

Jack was blocking the doorway, so I knew something was wrong because he wasn’t letting me in.

Did Nick tell him? Did he tell his brother about what happened by the lake?

My shoulders sagged. No point hiding it from him. He’d promised to protect me; the least I could do was tell the truth.

‘He told you about yesterday, didn’t he?’

Jack looked away. ‘No.’

Oh.

‘I was there,’ he said.

My eyes widened. ‘You were there? Yesterday, at the lake?’