Page 19 of As the Rain Falls
“That’s really not ideal.” I shrug, dropping my arm against the side of my body. “I don’t want to bother him.”
Nathaniel makes a grim face, starting to get annoyed.
“And why not?” he snaps, quickly losing patience with me. “Stop being difficult. He drives you to school all the time, doesn’t he? Why can’t he do it now?”
Maybe because I asked you to do it.
I was told that a few months before my third birthday, back when I still believed in Santa and felt oddly scared of the dark, my father got promoted and became a private school principal. Financially, everything had been a bit touch-and-go for a while. His new job really turned things around for our family, and my mother insisted on us moving to a house built in Port des Ondes.
The Evans moved into the four-bedroom house next to ours a couple of months after we did. Gregory and Susan were strangers to Le Port, much like my parents were, and my father took a special liking to Beckett Evans, their all-boxy-smiles-and-curious-glances oldest son.
The five-year-old boy grew up to become Sainte Madeleine’s certified golden boy who could do no wrong in my father’s eyes. Things have changed a lot since his graduation two years ago. Beckett got a job at Old Well’s farm further away from the city instead of going straight to college. Dad got really mad about it.
I like Beckett.I like that he works at a farm instead of doing what’s expected of him. It’s far from easy work, but it’s admirable, really. The kind of job I’d never be able to do, not even in a million years.
In fact, Beckett Evans is just so cool, I wouldn’t dare go against him about anything. He smells of chocolate candy bars, masculine cologne, and mint gum. And of course, he drives me to school whenever my brother can’t.
I don’t know.I’ve just always liked him.How could I not?
Beckett just has the kind of quality that’s very… manly.Something that screamsI know what to do, what to say, and who to call.
Nathaniel must have forgotten about Lucia dying, or that she was a year older than me, for that matter. We wouldn’t have been going to school together anymore if she’d been alive.
“I…” I trail off, my hand still lingering against the corner of his desk.
Ideally, I really don’t want to bother a grieving brother.I want Nathaniel to be nice enough to take me to school, but I know he’ll get angrier if I press the issue.
“I guess I’ll see if he can take me.”
“Good.” Nathaniel’s eyes drift lower, eyeing my uniform with newfound interest as if he’s checking for something.
I blink hard, trying to not let him unsettle me. It’s always worse when I do show him that I’m scared. Nathaniel gets the most satisfaction out of terrifying me; by now I know every single one of his tricks.
“Is Dad coming home tonight or not?” I ask, swallowing hard. “I really need to talk to him.”
I don’t.
I just need him to come home.
Each day spent with my brother inside the house is another day of anxiety and another sleepless night. I get restless when I’m alone with him, forcing myself to watch his every move just so I don’t manage to piss him off.It gets to the point where coming back to the house after school is the last thing I want to do.
Nathan doesn’t answer. He takes a step forward, then another, and crosses his arm over his chest, frowning at how my skirt rests right above my knee.
I press my hands to my sides, not liking the inspection.
He needs to stop.
My uniform is just fine.
Everything is fine.
I clear my throat and say, “So?”
He shakes his head and yawns again, looking more bored than anything now. “Not yet. The academy must be beating his ass over the budget again. Dad wants the new project to work, but it won’t be easy.”
I nod in understanding.
My father is working tirelessly to introduce more optional classes in our program. Better options also mean higher college acceptance rates, and that’s what the academy ultimately wants.Of course, money is always the lingering issue.
