Chapter Two
Parker’s POV
I eased open the front door, stepping tentatively inside. “PARKER!” I sighed, bracing myself. I pushed the door shut behind me, leaning against it and waited. Three… Two… One… Abby burst from the living room, followed a heartbeat later by Gabby.
Abby and Gabby were identical twins, both seniors like me. They were nineteen, having repeated freshman year. They had long, flowing blond hair—Gabby’s was cut short—and light blue eyes flecked with freckles. They were unnervingly thin; my brother Nathan and I joked they resembled twigs.
“Parker! I have an English project due in a week! Read this book and write an analysis!” Abby demanded, tossing a book and a stack of papers at me. I barely caught them before Gabby chimed in.
“Clean my room. I’m having friends over, and it’s a disaster.” She crossed her arms, flashing a saccharine smile.
They turned and pranced upstairs, leaving me alone with a book, a pile of papers, and the looming task of cleaning Gabby’s room.
“Don’t do it.”
I turned to see Nathan emerging from the basement. “Nate!” I cried, dropping everything and rushing into his arms.
Nathan was my older brother. The twins were nineteen, seniors like me, but Nate was twenty-two and already in college. “Why are you home?” I blurted out, pulling away from him. He was supposed to be at school. What was he doing here?
“I decided to work online this year,” he said with a smile, bending down to gather the book and papers I’d dropped. “Don’t ask, just know I’m here for a while.”
Nathan stood a solid six feet tall, powerfully built. Like me, he had brown, tightly curled hair. We shared the same green eyes and deep dimples.
Mom always said we could be mistaken for twins.
“But seriously,” he continued, placing the book and papers on my desk, “don’t do their chores. They need to learn to handle things on their own.”
I sighed. He’d been gone for so long. “Nate,” I said, walking toward my room, “they’ve changed since you’ve been away. They boss me around constantly. If I don’t do what they want, they pull the ‘Mom likes us better’ card.”
We sat on my bed, and I tossed my bag next to my chipped purple desk. “Still, Park, don’t fall for it. They need to learn to take care of themselves. Abby needs to do her own homework. Gabby needs to clean up her own messes. They need to navigate life without leaning on you for everything.”
“I don’t know, Nat—” “Look at you, Park! You’re such an independent woman. You didn’t take shortcuts, you worked hard, and you had the courage to try new things. You’re my little sister. Be your own person.” He finished, his voice soft.
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I threw my arms around him. “That’s—the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me!” I sobbed into his chest.
“I love you, Park,” he said, squeezing me gently. “Don’t ever forget that.” “Love you too,” I whispered.
We broke apart, and I ran a hand through my unruly curls. Nate’s hair was just as curly as mine, but he managed to tame it better.
A thought suddenly struck me, and I hesitated to ask Nate about it. “Hey Nate?” I questioned after a moment. He was examining pictures scattered around my room.
“Sup?” he replied, looking at a photo of me and my old friend, Amanda—I’d always called her Mandy. She’d died from a heroin overdose three years ago.
“Do you know who moved in at the corner? Two houses down?” I asked, trying to sound casual. He put the picture down and stared intently at me.
“Stay away from those boys, Park. I heard from our neighbors they’ve been smoking.” “What’s so bad about that? Plenty of adults—” “They’re teenagers.”
I stopped talking, closing my mouth.
Damn.
I’d hoped to maybe make some actual friends, instead of being that loner girl who always sits alone at lunch, gets picked last in gym, and never gets partnered with anyone in classes. I always worked alone.
“I won’t hang out with them,” I said, crossing my fingers behind my back. “I promise.”
Hell yeah I’m going to check them out!