I have three basic rules to live by
Don't draw attention to myself.
Make it through another year.
My brother's friends are off limits.
My junior year, each and every single one of those rules will be broken.
**~~**
Blaine has always been the type to...
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The hottest electronics. The lowest prices. Stores packed with chaos. Elbows being thrown for a talking baby doll. Pallets fresh from storage in the back. Saran wrap being torn away by the hungry wolves. Joseph and I blocking the crazies while Shane and Finn dove in for the big prize at the end of the mob. That is how black Friday should be spent.
Instead, I'm guiding my truck through the sketchiest town I'd ever been to. Blaine fidgeted in the passenger seat as she read off the directions from her phone. I didn't complete any stops that I could get away with. She mentioned wanting to go out to a warehouse or something, but Finn had family stuff to deal with. I told her no at first. Then she rattled off all the other possible sitters. Each name was followed by an excuse, disguised as an afterthought, as to why they wouldn't be able to take her.
Keegan and Cam were supposed to be headed out of town. Heather was spending her day at the mall with her mom and aunts. Shane roped Joseph into helping get tonight's festivities at the Russel's. My sister's eyes got bigger the more drawn out her guilt trip got. The puppy dog pout was etched so deep into her face that I wasn't sure it would ever return to normal. Giving in to her request did the trick.
Now, I'm sitting in front of a massive security gate accented with lovely barbed wire. Blaine was leaning across the cab of the truck as an irritated voice barked through the speaker. I did a double take when my sister gave the voice a name. There was only one girl named Zoey, and that was Finn's cousin Zoey Stewart. Last time I had seen her she was sharing her stash with me and Shane during a semi formal affair at the James' house.
The figure holding open the door as we pulled up wasn't the same girl I had seen three years ago. She had more curves and a genuine smile stretching across her face. The light escaping the open door hinted that her hair wasn't a normal shade. I don't think it ever has been. My sister slipped out of the passenger seat and was embraced by the woman I couldn't stop staring at. They were talking softly then looked back at me through the windshield. Turning back to each other, I watched their shoulders move as they entered the building.
I could hear the laughter that started outside as I walked through the door that had been propped open. Although the outside of the building looked like shit, the inside was the complete opposite. Once you got past the organized chaos. The chatter and giggles echoed from over my head as I ventured deeper into this strange world. A clay sculpture still being worked on towered over my monstrous form as I approached it. A ladder was opened on the side that she must have left off on when we showed up.
"That lone brain cell must be working overtime," a voice teased. Most girls had this chirpy, melodic tune to it. Not Zoey. She was all her own person down to the raspy, warm tone of her voice.
"Funny," I threw back weakly as I dared a glance at her. The corner of Blaine's mouth was higher than I'd ever seen it as she slipped away from Zoey's side. I tilted my head to the mountain of clay. "What's this supposed to be?"
