FOURTEEN

“All right, pause!” cried Drake, holding out a hand towards the television set.

There was a loud, exasperated sigh. “Drake!” Brielle snapped. “Can’t you let me play in peace? This is the sixth time. I’ve only got two more days with the system and I wanna finish this game before I have to return it to the library.”

“Oh, come on,” protested Drake in a passionate tone, his spiky blond hair brushing the carpet. He twirled the pencil in his outstretched hand with a flourish. “It’s the perfect time to get a snack. I’ll get this scene real quick.”

“Will you really be done by the time I get back? How can you even draw like that?” asked Brielle, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. Drake gave her a lopsided grin, gesturing elaborately – which just happened to be upside down, since the older teen had taken to sitting on the couch with his legs dangling over the back.

“Is this the face that would lie to you?”

There was a small snort from Sevati as she adjusted herself next to Drake. She didn’t look up from the notebook in her lap. She continued writing, her attention focused; though, she was perfectly aware of her surroundings.

“What?” said Drake in a mocked tone of innocence. Brielle scoffed, handing the controller to Jacob, and marched off to the bathroom, slamming the door shut. “What’d I say?” he asked with more sincerity.

Zach sighed to himself. It was difficult to get any work done with so many other people around and not enough places to be alone. There was no office and that meant distractions were a guarantee.

He hunched over the small desk, staring at the spreadsheet listing all of their expenses. It wasn’t a pretty number. He tried to block out the other voices. His leg bounced. His fingers tapped against the wireless mouse of his government issued laptop.

It’s gonna be a tight month. We’ll be able to afford a small Thanksgiving meal, but not much after that.

Time passed. He wasn’t sure how much. A frantic voice tore him away from his work again. He looked up towards the source.

“Hurry, Bri,” cried Jacob, pounding on the door with a fist. He bounced in such a way that suggested his situation was quite urgent. “I gotta use the bathroom!”

“Just give me a minute.”

“Hey, that minute is longer on this side of the door!” cried Jacob. He whimpered. His legs crossed in an awkward position; his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. He threw Zach a desperate look.

“Can’t you get her out of there? I gotta go bad!”

“I can see that,” said Zach, his mouth twitching. It took a great deal of effort to hold back the snorting chuckle.

“Zach!“

“All right, chill, kiddo. She won’t be in there for long.”

“She’s been in there for an hour!” cried Jacob in agony.

Wait, what? An hour?

Zach checked the clock. Huh. He glanced over at the couch. Drake and Sevati were still sitting there. Drake paused his drawing, looking back at them.

I wonder if she’s okay.

“Sev, what’s up with Brielle?” asked Zach.

The girl looked up from her notebook and shrugged. “She’s in the bathroom.”

“Brilliant. I had no idea,” drawled Zach. He glanced over at the closed door. “Seriously, though, an hour? Is she okay? She’s not sick, is she?”

“She’s thirteen now. She has issues,” said Sevati, as if talking about the weather.

Zach raised an eyebrow, frowning. What did age have to do with needing the bathroom for an entire hour? Was it something she ate? With an exasperated sigh, he spun in his chair slightly, before standing up. He came to Jacob’s side – who was growing more desperate by the minute – and knocked on the bathroom door.

“Can you come out now? Jacob has to pee.”

“I said just a minute! Geez.”

There was another sigh, more annoyed this time. “Yeah, I don’t think we’ve got a minute. We got a potty dance on aisle twelve, so hurry up!” Zach said, rapping his knuckles against the wooden door. “He’s not gonna make it.”

“Hey!” squeaked Jacob, sounding thoroughly indignant – and all the while, he bounced in that decidedly questionable way.

“I hate my life!”

Well, yeah. I’d hate mine, too, if I locked myself in the bathroom, thought Zach wryly.

Jacob looked tormented. He bit his lip so hard, his eyes began to water. Well, this wasn’t good. The kid was about to blow at any minute.

“Brielle, you have two seconds to open this door and let this poor kid pee or I’m sending Drake in. You can kiss future privacy goodbye.”

There was an anguished scream; the door burst open. Brielle marched out with arms folded and amber eyes alight with fury. She glared at Zach with such fire, it could’ve burnt half the city. Jacob rushed by, slamming the door shut behind himself.

There was an audible sigh of relief.

Zach chuckled. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to curb Brielle’s poor mood. She slammed another door and commenced brooding in the girls’ bedroom. Muffled complaining indicated the girl had begun venting her spleen onto the other occupant of the room. Zach sighed, pitying Hikaru’s ears. It was probably best not to bother Brielle; it’d be like poking a grouchy mother bear.

“Hey, Sevati,” began Zach, coming to stand behind the couch. He leaned against the back. “Brielle has been acting weird lately – more moody, I guess. Is she all right?”

“I told you, she’s thirteen.”

“That doesn’t explain anything. I don’t remember having this much angst at thirteen – and Jacob’s twelve.”

“Mmm…” Sevati paused, before looking up at him. “Girls do have a harder time as teenagers. She’s come into her womanhood.”

Drake froze, while Zach frowned. He tried to make sense of the comment, but was only confused further. “You know I don’t speak girl code,” he said, somewhat frustrated. “Can’t you spell it out for me?”

Drake frantically shook his head. He made a slicing motion across his throat over and over again, his action growing more intense with each movement.

“Are you really prepared for that answer?” asked Sevati, a wry smirk lifting her face. Drake’s actions became more frantic. Finally, he was waving both his hands in front, bouncing up and down on the couch.

“Sev, just tell me, already.”

He regretted his curiosity.

Sevati let out a low, almost sinister chuckle. “She got her period a month ago.” Zach went bright red, his stomach swooping upward. Those brown eyes flashed with satisfaction. “This means she is currently experiencing the horrors and the mood swings that come with it. Please do not be alarmed by possible blood on her pants. You’ll need to budget extra money for pads – or tampons. I dunno which she’s picking. Be gentle with her. She’ll hate the world and probably you. She’s going to be in pain and agony for a week. Each and every month.”

Sevati grinned.

“There. Now you’re educated. Yay you.”

Drake slapped a hand over his face.

“Whoa!” gasped Zach; his face burned with mortification. “TMI, too much information!“

There was a dry laugh. “Well, you asked. You should know better than to open Pandora’s Box. You practically invited—” Sevati almost purred her words. “—me to open it.” Her eyebrows lifted in a double smile. “That was fun. Let’s do this again. I dare you to ask me why Brielle needs to go shopping for a special, yet demonic item in a few months – called a bra.”

Sevati turned back to her writing, leaving a sputtering, blushing Zach behind her. Drake gave him a pitying look, before clapping a supportive hand onto his arm.

“Hey, can’t say I didn’t warn ya.”

“Yeah, but…” Zach flushed. “Why aren’t you embarrassed?”

“I’m immune. The last time I asked, Sev was in one of those moods,” said Drake. He shuddered. Sevati snorted smugly. “Ever since then, I can handle anything she dishes out. You got off lucky, man.”

That must’ve been some answer.

Fortunately, he didn’t have more time to consider it.

The bathroom door opened and a happy voice cried, “Zach!” A second later, Jacob leapt onto his back. Arms curled around his neck while legs wrapped around his waist. Zach leaned forward to support the weight. “Let’s get pizza!”

“What? No. No pizza.”

The younger boy slid off and pouted, tugging on his arms. “Please!” Jacob begged, his green eyes blinking behind his glasses. “At least think about it for a minute.”

Zach sighed, shaking his head. “You know we can’t afford it, especially this month,” he said. The young boy gave his best pout to date. Zach let out another sigh. “No, that’s not going to work. Don’t you want a Thanksgiving dinner?”

“Please,” said Jacob, drawing out the word for a long thirty seconds. The pout became ridiculous. Zach’s eyebrow twitched. He glanced at the other two, hoping for a smidgen of support. Drake and Sevati had reserved, yet hopeful expressions. Dang, no support. He let out one final sigh, lifting his hands into the air.

“Fine. All right, but only the cheapest pizza in the city. No toppings, no extras, okay?”

The boy whooped with delight, jumping into the air and dancing around the room, exclaiming, “Pizza! We get pizza!” He rushed to the girls’ bedroom and pounded on the door. “Bri, we’re gonna get pizza!”

If we get take out, it’ll be under twenty bucks.

It’s doable.

It was only money, after all. Who cared if they couldn’t afford something as frivolous as pizza? It would be good for all of them. A fun outing would do them a world of good.

And it was worth it, if the bright expression on Brielle’s face was anything to go by.

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