Page 9 of When the Stars Fall
But I wasn’t supposed to know any of that, and I wasn’t about to tell Brody that I knew stuff that he didn’t. He missed his mom, I guess, and I couldn’t blame him for it. I’d miss my mom something fierce if she just up and left me like that. It wasn’t something I could ever imagine my mom doing. She loved us too much and said so all the time.
My mom hugged us and kissed us goodnight and Brody climbed into the top bunk which used to be mine. Mom made me give it to him because she could tell he wanted it. Not gonna lie, that had pissed me off. We had a spare bedroom that he could have moved into but Mom thought he’d be scared to be on his own so now I had to share.
After making sure the nightlight was on for Brody who claimed he wasn’t scared of the dark but really was, Mom turned off the lights. “Sweet dreams,” she said like she always did before the door closed softly behind her.
“Jude?” Brody said a few minutes later.
“Yeah?”
“You don’t think my mom’s coming back, do ya?”
I tucked my arms under my head and stared up at the bunk above me even though I couldn’t see him. My mom and dad were always saying that you should never lie. And usually, I prided myself on telling the truth. But something about his tone of voice stopped me from being honest. “Sure I do. She just needed a vacation is all.”
“Yeah,” he said, letting out a breath as if he’d been holding it, waiting for my answer. “That’s what I think too.”
We were quiet for a few minutes and I was just drifting off to sleep when he said, “You think Lila’s pretty?”
I snorted. “No.”
It was the second time that night I’d lied and I had no idea why I’d done it. I just didn’t want to admit it to Brody, I guess. Lila Turner was a whole lot prettier than Ashleigh Monroe, and all the boys thought Ashleigh was the prettiest girl in our class. But Lila was our friend, she was one of us, and she was mine to protect.
I’d decided from the day I met her, scared to death that she was going to drown in that creek, that I’d always be there to rescue her and keep her safe. So I didn’t want to think about if she was pretty or not.
The next day we started school and Lila showed up at the bus stop in a dress. I could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t happy about wearing it. All summer, except for that first day, she’d been wearing shorts and T-shirts. So it was strange to see her in a light blue dress with white butterflies all over it. Her hair had been brushed which was a big change from the way it usually looked and she was wearing a headband to keep it off her face.
She looked like… a girl. I was staring, my mouth gaping open.
“Trying to catch flies?” she asked.
My mouth snapped shut but I was still staring. No idea why.
“Stop looking at me,” she snapped, elbowing me in the ribs. The girl had the sharpest elbows. “I look stupid,” she muttered.
I guess she was waiting for me to say she didn’t but the school bus pulled to a stop in front of us and I didn’t say a word. I climbed onto the bus in front of Brody who tried to shove me out of the way to get on first. Not happening.
“Jude!” Reese called, his hands cupping his mouth as he shouted to me. “Saved you a seat.”
I took my seat next to Reese and pretended I didn’t notice that Lila sat at the front by herself. Brody sprawled out on a seat in the back, his feet hanging in the aisle which earned him a smackdown from a few of the older boys. He didn’t back down, so I waded in to help him out and got told off by the bus driver for causing trouble. That was just the beginning of the day, and things went downhill from there, thanks to Brody.
By lunchtime, all the boys in the fourth grade were talking about Lila’s days of the week underwear and saying she never changed them. I tackled Brody in the playground and he was kicking and punching, laughing like a hyena. He punched me in the face and I punched him back. We both got sent to the principal’s office.
That night we got lectured at the dinner table.
“Fighting is not the way to solve problems,” my mom said, looking to my dad for backup. “Isn’t that right, Patrick?”
My dad looked up from his bowl of chili. “That all depends on the reason for fighting.”
I smirked. Brody grinned. He was an idiot. He had a black eye and a split lip but he didn’t seem to care. Brody loved to fight and in the short time he’d been here, he’d already picked plenty of fights with me. Now he grabbed another piece of cornbread, slathered it with butter and stuffed half of it in his mouth.
“Patrick. You’re supposed to be backing me up here.”
“I seem to remember a time when I got in a fight over you at that bar—”
“Patrick,” my mom hissed, giving him the eye. “We can’t allow them to fight.”
My dad nodded and murmured that she was right before he focused on Brody who was always watching my parents like they were an alien species. He didn’t know who his dad was and hadn’t grown up with one so I guess this was all new to him.
“Brody. No more spreading gossip, you hear? In this house, we treat the ladies with respect. And that goes for anything you say and do outside this house. Understood?” my dad questioned, his voice stern.
