Your brother is mean

Norah awoke from the sound of her phone going off. She looked at the clock. It was already 11:43. She groaned, and looked for her phone. She finally found it under her bed.

“Hello?” she asked, in a groggy voice.

“Norah? You sound weird. Did you just wake up?” the voice on the other end asked her.

“Yes. I did. You got a problem with that?” she asked.

“No. I wish I could still be in bed right now.”

“Nick, why are you whispering?” Norah asked.

“I’m hiding in the bathroom. Things are bad.” He replied.

“How bad?” Norah asked.

“Well, you know I told you Kevin was coming?” He said. “And that he was bringing Sky?”

“Yes, I remember.” Norah said.

“Well, Sky was supposed to stay at her house. But now it turns out that her parents left for an unexpected trip to Europe. And Sky doesn’t have a key. So now Kevin wants her to stay here.” Nick said.

“Oh, no.” Norah answered.

“It gets worse. Natalie is coming home tomorrow too. And since she’s Sky’s sister…” Nick trailed off.

“What? He’s seriously expecting you guys to be okay with Sky and Natalie staying at your house?” Norah asked, disbelieving.

“Yeah. Mom had already told him it was okay. I guess she still doesn’t really know what happened.”

Norah sighed. “Well, I never thought I’d say this, but I feel sorry for Joe.”

“Yeah, he’s downstairs now fighting with Kevin. There’s a lot of yelling going on. Which is why I’m in the bathroom.” Nick said.

“Well, like I said yesterday, feel free to hide out here. It might be a little more comfortable than your bathroom.” Norah told him.

“I might just take you up on the offer, Norah.” Nick said. “I’ll see you in ten?”

“Okay. Bye.” Norah said, before hanging up.

--

By the time the doorbell rang, Norah had just finished getting dressed. She went downstairs and opened the door. She was surprised to not only find Nick, but also Joe standing there.

“Oh.” She said. “Come in.” Norah said, opening the door further, so the Jonas’ boys could walk into her house.

“Thanks for letting me come here, Norah.” Nick said. “I hope you don’t mind that I brought Joe?” he continued, while Joe disappeared into the living room. “I couldn’t leave him alone with Kevin. He needed to get out of that house as much as I did.”

“Yeah, it’s no problem. Eli should be home soon anyway.” Norah said. And no sooner had she said that, or he walked through the door.

“Hi, sis.” He said. “And Curly.”

Eli was Norah’s older brother. He was two years older than her and good friends with Nick and Joe.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Joe’s here. Kevin’s in town with Sky, and she and Natalie are staying at the Jonas’ house.” As Norah said this, she saw her brother’s eyes go wide.

“I’ll go talk to him.” He said.

Nick and Norah went up to Norah’s bedroom.

“Hey, Nick?” she said. He looked at her expectantly. “What exactly happened? You know, with Sky and Natalie?”

Nick sighed. “Well, you know Joe and Natalie dated right?”

“Yeah. I know that much.” Norah said.

“Well, they were together for like six months. And Joe thought he was in love with her. For their six month anniversary, Joe decided it was time to.. you know.. take their relationship to the next level.” Nick said. “And they did. The next day, Joe found Natalie in bed with this guy, Gabe or something. He was crushed. He found out that Natalie had been seeing this guy, for the entire time she was with Joe. She really broke his heart. And then, Kevin started dating Sky. Joe was mad, obviously. I mean, Kevin knew what Natalie had done to Joe. And Sky knew what was going on the whole time. But Kevin said he really liked Sky, so he continued going out with her. It wasn’t easy on Joe, but he decided he just had to live with it. But, you know, Sky and Natalie are twins. They hang out together all the time. So, Kevin started hanging out with Natalie too, and he became friends with her. And that’s what got to Joe. His own brother was best friends with the girl that took his virginity and then broke his heart.” Nick finished his story.

Norah didn’t know what to say. “Wow.”

Nick chuckled. “Yeah. I know. I just can’t believe Kevin would choose a girl over his brother, you know?”

“Yeah.” Norah said, softly. “I’ll tell Eli that Joe can stay here while the evil twins are staying at your house.”

“Really? But you hate Joe?” Nick said.

“Well, yeah. But, I do have a heart, you know. As long as he doesn’t get on my case, it’s fine.” She answered.

“Can I stay here too?” Nick asked, pouting.

“Of course, Nicky!” Norah said. “How would I be able to survive your brother when you’re not here to save me?”

Nick laughed at this.

Eli walked in the room. “Hey, Norah, don’t get mad, but, um.. I told Joe he could stay here when Natalie is over at their house.” He said, uncomfortable.

“Okay.” Norah said. “But, can Nick stay here too?” she asked.

“Yeah, I guess. But he’s not staying in your room. He can share with Jay.” Eli answered, before he walked out the door.

Jay was Norah’s little brother. He was Nick’s age. Eli was in charge of them when their mom was away on business, which was practically all the time. Their dad left the family after Jay was born, Norah couldn’t even remember him.

“Hey, Nick?” Norah said.

“What?” he answered.

“I miss my friends.” She said, sighing.

“What? I’m your friend. And I’m here.” He said.

“No, not you, silly! My other friends.” She replied.

“Which friends are you talking about?” Nick asked her.

“Well, this guy named Ben and this other guy named Jerry.” Norah told him.

“We don’t know anyone named Ben and… oh!”

Norah chuckled. “Boy, you sure do catch on quickly!” she said.

“Well, why can’t you just say you want ice cream?” he asked her.

“Because, then I wouldn’t be me!” She said.

“You are so weird.” Nick told her.