Unravelling

Chapter 25 - Agitation

The past week has gone by in a blur.

After mine and Noah's discovery, I struggled to keep my game face on around my brothers. The weekend was the worst, since I couldn't just escape to school but I actually had to be around them all day long. The only good thing was that both Sam and Ben were out of town, so at least I didn't have to endure their endless prodding about what was up with me.

Alex was pretty much absent all weekend, too, much to my relief. While I am generally not the most talented liar, with him, it is almost impossible. He has this way of making you spill the beans by simply looking at you. We call it his cop instinct. In a situation like mine, the only way to avoid being interrogated is to keep out of his way. His being at work all weekend did help a lot.

I don't think Noah is faring much better. He has been acting withdrawn all week and he is quieter than usual, too. Now, if it were Aidan, it would immediately put everybody on high alert, since it is unknown for him to keep to himself and not ruffle any feathers left, right and centre. But with Noah, it took until Sunday at breakfast for anyone to even notice that something was amiss.

It was an innocent remark from Luke, who was just joking around as usual, that put the spotlight on Noah's unusual reluctance to be part of their brotherly teasing. I have to say, I was impressed by how easily my youngest brother made them all believe that he was still not feeling 100%, since he had been ill on Friday. They immediately bought that and left him in peace afterwards.

I wasn't quite so lucky and mainly Jordan tried to bring me out of my funk several times throughout the weekend. He apparently made it his mission to cheer me up and at some point, he actually managed to make me forget about all the disturbing things that were – and still are – clogging my mind.

Gracie and I had asked him weeks ago if he could show us some self-defence moves. We discussed that topic in school and decided that it could not hurt to learn some of it in order to feel safer when we are out and about. And since Jordan is not working at the moment, we thought that he would be the perfect teacher. Also, it helps that he is quite the pro when it comes to fighting techniques and martial arts. At least that is what he claims, since I am not exactly an expert on these kinds of things and have to rely on what I am being told.

Anyway, on Sunday afternoon, he suggested that we should give it a try, so we picked up Gracie and he took us to a place that looked to be an abandoned commercial site. If he hadn't been with us, I think I would have turned around immediately because the placed was pretty creepy.

Jordan told us on the way there that he made plans on Friday night to start his own business together with his friend from the military, Tyler, who he met that evening. They want to open a martial arts studio and start to teach courses and train people. This place apparently belongs to Tyler's uncle and since it is no longer in use, the guy is willing to let it to them for a really good price. All they have to do is refurbish it to fit their needs. So Jordan decided that it would be a good opportunity to take us there for our first lesson and to check out the place at the same time.

Once we got inside one of the many big, commercial looking buildings, I had to admit that the location was actually pretty cool. My brother explained to us that it was used as a warehouse until about three years ago and had been empty ever since. The place was massive, with very high ceilings and one side was lined with tall windows. Although they were rather dirty, none of them looked broken, so I guess that was a plus. I don't envy the person who has to clean them though.

Jordan got really excited the closer he inspected everything and Gracie and I were pretty entertained, seeing him act like a little kid in a candy shop. Although he has been pretty occupied with the conversion of the space above the garage, I think he misses having a proper job. And I have to admit, when I heard that he plans to open his own business in town, it was a load off my mind, because that means that he is serious about sticking around and he is not going back on a tour.