A Reason to Breathe

A Reason to Breathe, Chapter 4

The bowls were backwards in the dishwasher. It was his dad who could never put anything in the right way. He fixed the order of the bowls, lining them up so they were straight, and then closed the dishwasher, taking in the counter, seeing nothing else to load. He was done. Time to hit the video games.

"Trevor, who was that girl again at the bank, Janice...?" Steven allowed the name to linger as he leaned against the counter, and he had an odd tilt to his lip. Trevor wasn't sure, from the way he was looking at him, what he wanted.

"Jasmine. I told you already what her name was."

Steven didn't look away, and Trevor had to take a step back, because he was too close, in his space. The table was cleared, everything was put away, and it was time to slip into the den and play some video games. Steven was messing with his routine.

"Right, sorry. Jasmine was her name. Cute name, cute girl. What did she say to you about horses again?" Steven reached over and tapped his shoulder, and now he thought he was smiling oddly at him. Why?

He didn't want to talk about horses. He was going to play his video game—and of course she was cute. She was really nice, too, and she liked the same things he did, mostly. She liked horses, and she preferred Minecraft over his favorite video game, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm. He didn't know about that, because it should've been the other way around.

"Didn't she invite you over? I'm sure that's what I heard. I think she likes you," Steven said.

He could feel his face heat and took in his dad, who hung up the phone and walked over, really looking at him with that intense gaze he hated. Of course he'd been listening, and Trevor had figured out now that Steven was teasing him, maybe. Steven liked doing that, pushing his buttons.

"Nope, uh-uh." He shook his finger in the air as he went to walk around Steven and his dad to leave the kitchen, but he bumped into his dad. "Fools," he muttered under his breath.

"Hey, don't walk away, and don't call us that. Are you kidding me?" His dad was laughing, but Trevor didn't think it was a funny laugh, and the expression on his face had him hesitating.

"Uh, sorry," he said as he took in his dad's disapproval. His face had that look that made Trevor think he could be in trouble. He'd said it under his breath. How had they heard him?

"So tomorrow Neil is going to pick you up, since everything got kind of messed up from that robbery," Brad said and looked over to Steven, and Trevor waited for whatever plans were to be set for him. He frowned.

"Tomorrow's Thursday," he said. "I can't go. I have to look after the horses and cows, feed them..." And fix the tack, the mess in the tack room. Move the hay.

"Since you missed work, I talked to your boss at the bakery, and they said you can make up the day on Friday. Did you still want to go to Uncle Neil's tonight?" Brad asked.

"No, thanks. I'm good here," Trevor said. His uncle would make him talk, and then there was the woodworking. He liked it, but he wanted to play his video game.

"So this girl Jasmine at the bank...I understand that between the two of you, you gave a really great description of the robbers, and they'll likely catch them because of you," his dad said, and he just stared. Was he supposed to reply?

"Actually, Dad," Katy said, appearing in the kitchen, "Trevor and Jasmine gave such in-depth descriptions that I wouldn't be surprised if they found those two guys by the end of the day. What Trevor lacks in chatty detail, Jasmine made up for. Isn't that right, Trevor? She just had a way of stating details that Trevor doesn't, and she noticed...wow! He would add something to what she said, and now I'm convinced..."

Katy was beside him. At least she had changed into a blue shirt now, and he knew she was still talking, but he found himself looking into the living room and spotting the flat-screen TV, which was facing the wrong way. He stepped away from Katy and over to the TV to straighten it.

"That's better," he said.

"Earth to Trevor."

He turned to Katy.

"Well, does that sound like a plan?" Katy was beside him and rested her hand on his shoulder. What was she talking about?

"What?"

She merely shook her head, and he took in his dad and Steven talking about something, and he was sure he'd been forgotten. He needed to slip away, go into the den and see if Jack was still playing that video game, and Fletcher too. He'd wait and then take it over.

"Trevor, seriously, you're not listening," Katy said.

He took in her face, stopped, and frowned. "I am listening," he said. Great, now he could go. He started to walk to the back of the house, but his dad and Steven were in the way.

"Hey, hey, hey, come on back here," Katy said.

"Trevor, stop walking away," Brad said, glancing to Steven. "We're talking about this girl..."

"Jasmine," Steven said. "She's cute."

Okay, so Jasmine was nice, but why were they talking about her? It wasn't something that was good to think about.

"Would you like to see Jasmine again?" Katy said. Why was she looking at him that way?

He shrugged. "Sure. Okay, gotta go. That's enough talking."

He went to take another step, but his dad moved toward him. His hair was white and dark. Just then, his mom stepped into the room, and she looked from him to his dad.

"It's not enough," Brad said. "This Jasmine sounds interesting. She likes horses?"

Okay, now his mom was staring at him.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"She said she did, Trevor," Katy said. "She has horses. In fact, I don't think they live that far from here. Invite her over to see our horses."

"Who is this?" Emily asked, but Trevor didn't answer, because his dad already had. They'd tell his mom, talk for him, and he could slip away, play that video game, because it was already ten after eight. He could see the clock. Until nine, he could play, then read a book, then get ready for bed.

A hand slid around his shoulder. Katy. "Change of plans, big guy. You've been getting too stuck in your routine. It will do you good to shake it up." She patted his shoulder again. "Come sit. Let's talk, and let's make some plans."

"What? No!" he said, but he found himself somehow turned and in the living room with everyone, which pulled him from the one thing he did this time of night: play his video game.

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