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"I FEEL LIKE I NEVER SEE YOU ANYMORE," Kaelyn sighed at her brother, tossing her backpack on the couch as she walked over the threshold, closing and locking the door behind her. "I mean, every time I get home you're asleep and when I wake up, you're gone. What's going on?"
Caden shook his head, "It's nothing. Just work's been kind of kicking my ass lately. This dinner should make a few leftover meals for you, so you might be good for the week while I'm working late."
"You don't have to do that, I can make my own meals," she argued, walking over and leaning against the peninsula counter they had while her brother cooked.
"And have you burn down the kitchen? Yeah, no," the boy laughed as he placed freshly chopped vegetables into what looked like a pasta sauce, "We can't afford to have you order in every night, so for a couple weeks I'm gonna prepare meals for you in case I have to work late."
"I think buying ingredients for home-cooked meals is more expensive than a pizza," she scoffed, hopping up so she was sitting on the counter, "Come on, let's catch up, it's been a while. How's life?"
The boy chuckled, shaking his head at his sister's antics, "You know the reason I'm not home is the reason we have any money at all right? Yeah, working a few jobs sucks, but it pays the bills and puts food in your stomach."
"Why don't you let me get a job? I can help!"
"Kae, we've had this conversation a million times and the answer will always be no. I want you to enjoy your teen years, okay? It's not your responsibility. I'm the guardian, I take care of you. Not the other way around," he sighed, avoiding her eyes as he cooked, "How's your life been? Do you like being a big bad sophomore?"
"The upperclassmen still hate me, but it's better than being a freshman," she shrugged, "It's pretty boring, but Homecoming's coming up in like... a month or so. I don't know. I don't think I'm gonna go, though."
Caden looked at her with his brows furrowed, "Why not? Don't you have to? Being a cheerleader and all."
"Nah. I'm not gonna go unless like... someone asks me," the redhead sighed, knowing no one was planning on doing that any time soon. Maybe Beth would ask her, they usually went to dances as friends, but Kaelyn wasn't feeling it this year. Besides, Kaelyn had a feeling Beth was going to woman up and ask Liz to Homecoming this year. "Which is... highly unlikely."
"Why don't you ask someone? Any boys you got your eye on?" As much as she hated it, Kaelyn's mind automatically flashed to Peter. Most likely because that was the only boy she was currently kind-of friends with. There was no way she would ever ask him to the dance or vice versa. Besides, she would rather go alone than with him by her side.
She scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Nice try. I am not going to talk about boys with you."
"So there is a boy?"
"No! There's no boy!" she argued, crossing her arms. She was well aware of the fact that her denying it so passionately was going to do the exact opposite of making her brother drop it, but it was a split-second reaction and she couldn't take it back now.
Caden sighed, "I mean, it sure does sound like there's a boy. What's his name? Is he in your grade? How did you guys meet?"
Giving in, she just shrugged and said, "His name is Peter, but I do not like him like that, okay? We're just friends. He's too nerdy and weird for me, I'd be better off dating a football player."
"You better not be dating a football player," Caden instructed, his stupid brotherly instincts kicking in, "I was on that team, I know all the messed up shit they did to girls, you better not be getting tangled up in that. I know you're a cheerleader and it's a cliche to date a football player but —"
"—I'm not!" Kaelyn interrupted, raising her hands in surrender, "They're all douchebags anyway and they know that if one of them even thinks about touching me you'll beat their ass. Are we done here? I have homework to do."
With a small laugh and a shake of his head, he dismissed her, "Yeah, yeah, go do your homework. Hey, how'd that geometry test go? I know you and Beth were stressing about it."
"I got an A," she shrugged as if that wasn't a rarity and miracle in and of itself. Apparently, Peter's studying methods had actually worked for her because not only had he tutored her, but he gave her a new way to study that would help her brain concentrate and remember things easily. It was a pain in the ass system, basically copying class notes two or even three times and reading it out loud, but according to the test score, it helped jog her memory. No matter how much she didn't like hanging out with Peter, she might have to in order to pass her classes this semester.
"An A? What happened? Invasion of the body snatchers?" Caden joked, snorting at his own joke. She scoffed, ready to argue when he said, "Nah, I'm just kidding around. I'm proud of you, kid."
She rolled her eyes, fighting back the smile beginning to protrude, "I'm not a kid."
"Legally, you're still a minor, therefore, I will call you 'kid' up until the day you turn eighteen," he shrugged, "Now, go do your homework. One A isn't gonna keep you from failing!"
The redhead just shook her head as she grabbed her backpack off of the couch and retreated to her room. She felt bad lying to her brother; her homework for the day was finished during lunch and in the library after school, but she had another kind of homework to take care of. You see, Kaelyn had always had a knack for the mysteries. She spent her childhood reading stuff from Nancy Drew to Agatha Christie and Stephen King and she could always figure out the answer before any characters did. However, the one mystery she still couldn't solve was one from her very own life. That didn't stop her from trying, though. As she opened her closet doors and pushed her hanging clothes to the side, revealing what she deemed her "murder board." It contained newspaper clips of the days after their parents were murdered, police sketches of the suspect, her printed statement she had stolen from the police department and made copies of when she was younger. It had been years and the closest thing she had to a suspect was a man who was already dead. However, she was determined to solve her parents' murder and she was going to work on it until the day she joined them in the grave. She had a feeling, a twisting, sick feeling in her stomach, that pieces were going to fit together soon and soon, everything would fall right into place — all thanks to Peter Parker.
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the reason she needs Peter to solve her parents' murder will be explained throughout the book, she didn't befriend him solely because of this it just kinda worked out and I don't wanna give it all away now because that would ruin things, so instead have this vague explanation. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
