Big Brother.

They walked home again that afternoon, stopping at a 7-11 where Alison got a Rockstar, and Derek paid for two packs of Marlboro 100’s; one for him, and, as they walked out of the store, he gave the other pack to her. They both opened their packs, and lit up. “Do you have time to come in?” She asked, stubbing the cigarette butt out when they turned onto her street. Derek nodded, and blew smoke out of his mouth.

“Yeah, I guess I could swing that.” He replied, stubbing out his cigarette as well. Alison smiled, and fished her keys out of her bag, taking a swig of the Rockstar, then handing the can to Derek, so she could unlock both the dead bolt and the door knob. “I’m home!” She called, dropping her zipped up purse onto the hardwood floor of the living room, which was the first room you walked into when you come into the house through the front door.

“In the kitchen, attempting to cook!” Alex called back. Her eyes widened, and she ran off to the kitchen, Derek following casually behind her.

“You dumbass!” She shrieked, running to the microwave, which had a metal can of Campbell’s soup in it. “Are you trying to burn the whole fucking house down?”

“Well it says that we can microwave it…” Alex trailed off, looking at Alison with sheepish eyes, before glancing over at Derek.

“Dumb. Ass.” Alison mumbled, taking out the can, and burning her fingers. “Metal kills microwaves.”

“Oh,” He muttered. “I’m Alex, Alison’s brother, and you are?”

“Derek Bender, I’m a friend of Alison’s.”

Alex nodded. “Grade? Age? GPA?”

“Tenth, 3.8, sixteen.”

Alex nodded again, and Alison spoke up. “That’s it, I’m cooing dinner tonight. Derek, do you want to stay for dinner too? And Al, will Rian, Jack and Zack be joining us?”

“Yes.” Both boys answered at the same time.
-
“Damn Al, this looks good.” Zack said, looking at the food put out on the table. Alison had made chicken lo mien, and her homemade iced tea.

“Thanks.” Alison said, sitting next to Derek. “I used to make this for mom and dad once or twice a month.” She said, and the table went quite, before Derek sensed the tension and changed the subject, talking about something that had happened in the one class he and Alison had together, Biology.

After dinner, everybody retreated to the living room after dinner, with the exception of Derek and Alison, who were standing outside the front door.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your parents?” He asked quietly, stepping closer to her to try and ward off the cold.

She was silent for a long minute, before she opened her mouth to talk. “A couple months ago, they were out to dinner for their anniversary. I was at a boarding school in Tuscan, so, the weather were I was, was nice, but here, where they used to live, the weather was brutal. It was stormy, and there was thunder and lightning all over the place. The lightning struck down a power cord that dropped right as they drove under it. They lost control of the car, and,” She sucked in a breath. “The paramedics who called me said that they died on the scene.”

She had only known this boy for two days, but she felt like she knew him for a lifetime. “You should go; I don’t want you to get into any trouble.” He nodded. “Pick me up tomorrow?” Again, he nodded.

“Bye.” He said, and leaned down, brushing his lips against her forehead.