A raven's secret

Another one

"Looks good," Mom said impressed. "You two did a great job." She was inspecting the new wallpaper that covered our bedroom walls. She had only been in the house for 30 seconds before she peered around the door to see our new wallpaper.

"Vallerie helped too, remember," I reminded Mom.

"Oh, that's right." She looked at Scott with a smile on her thin lips. She must know about his little crush on my knew best friend, because she winked at me. "You should invite her over for dinner tomorrow," Mom told me.

"That's a great idea," Scott said immediately. "You should invite Ashton as well," Scott added.

"Ashton?" Mom asked with a frown.

"He's Vallerie's brother," I explained. "Why do I need to invite him?" I asked Scott.

"I just thought maybe you'd enjoy his company," Scott answered slyly.

"Well, you are welcome to invite him along," Mom said. "The more the merrier."

"Why don't we just invite their parents too?" I muttered. "Maybe even the neighbours..."

"Will Dad be okay with us doing dinner?" Scott asked.

"He's off on Sundays, so a dinner won't be a problem." Mom left the room and walked down the stairs.

"How's the investigation going?" I asked and followed her down the stairs and into the kitchen for dinner.

"It's going terrible," a voice from the door said. Dad was standing in the entryway and was shrugging out of his coat. "She's been gone for more than 48 hours, and hope is getting lost."

I saw Scott bite his lip with so much force I was surprised not to see any blood.

Mom placed her hand on Dad's shoulder. "You'll find her eventually." She turned to me and Scott. "Go and set the table."

Scott and I did as we were told in silence, not even looking at each other. Dinner itself was a quiet event. Dad agreed on the dinner tomorrow night, and with a teasing look at Scott said he couldn't wait to meet Vallerie. I didn't even bother to mention Scott wasn't Vallerie's friend; she was mine.

"So, you're inviting her brother too?" Dad asked with raised eyebrows.

"It was Scott's idea."

Dad nodded slowly. "So, this Austin, is he a good guy? He doesn't have a criminal record, does he?"

"It's Ashton, not Austin, and yes, he's a good guy." I rolled my eyes and took a hugh bite of the lasagne, which I immediately regretted, since Mom made it.

Dad threw both his hands up in the air. "I'm just checking. Don't want you hanging out with some trouble maker."

"Yeah, we don't want the Big Bad Wolf hurting our Little Red, now do we?" Scott said slyly.

"How is it that you all just agree to Scott dating Vallerie, who is actually my best friend, but the moment a guy walks into my life the police badge is flashed in his face?" I was getting angry, and i wasn't being careful on hiding it.

"We're not dating," Scott said, his face as red as the skirt that had gotten me my nickname.

"Not yet," I mumbled.

"Scott is a big boy, he can look after himself. We still worry about you," Mom explained.

My mouth fell open in disbelief. "Excuse me? There isn't that much of an age difference between us." Then it hit me. "It's because I'm a girl."

"Sweetie..."

"That's why! Just because I have different body parts then him, I'm not allowed to do the things he can."