The Key Chased the Blade

John kind of interrogated me when I got inside, but I ignored him. He knew I wasn't at school. He actually followed me into my room, he was that desperate and pissed off to get answers out of me. I tried to shake him off as well as I could, I even yelled at him and threw a fit, but he still cornered me and threatened to tell Dad if I didn't give him an answer.

"Dad's not going to do anything!" I shouted. "I don't have anything of importance to take away!"

"He can ground you to the house." John glowered at me. "Now spit it out. What were you doing? I noticed Simon wasn't at school either."

God, he got me now. If I didn't tell him now, he'd tell Dad we were doing drugs or something. "Simon and I walked around," I spat.

"All day?"

I glared at him. "Actually, we heard a lady wailing and we followed the sound to see dead birds with nooses around their necks hanging from a roof. Then we went downtown to go report animal abuse. Then I got hypothermia and went over to Simon's."

"Noah, don't lie!" my brother said angrily. I could've laughed if I wasn't so mad at him. He was practically the spitting image of me; he had the same brown eyes and lanky frame, his hair was just a tad bit longer and he was taller. When I looked at him, I saw the same stubborn face looking back at me as he was probably looking at himself. "Do you really expect me to believe that?" he demanded.

I didn't say anything. I just kind of grinned.

"Noah, I'm going to beat you up if you don't tell me the truth," John growled. He actually looked really panicked for some reason. "I really will."

"I did tell you the truth," I said. "It's your fault you don't believe me."

John lunged at me and threw me to the ground. It knocked the wind right out of me. I let out a strangled battle-cry and kicked at him as he tried to hold me down. Sure, he was bigger, but he definitely was no football player, and I also fought dirty. I chomped down on his arm when it got in my way. John howled in pain and leaped off of me, and I cuffed him in the shoulder with my foot as he went. Then I quickly scrambled to my feet, ready to defend myself.

"Damn it, Noah, I'm bleeding!" I swear if John had laser-vision I would've been burnt to a crisp. He flung his arm in front of him and displayed the teeth-marks in his skin. I admired my handiwork proudly.

"Oh God, I think I might have your skin stuck in my mouth." I cackled.

John lunged at me again, but as we tussled, Rico ran into my room and broke us up. He was the last person I wanted to get into this though. He'd probably give me a worse punishment than Dad would.

"What's going on?" Rico asked. John was going through a testosterone-rage and he stormed out of the room without answering. Jesus. Now I was a goner.

"Nothing really happened. I told John the truth, but he didn't believe me," I said.

"The truth about what?" Rico asked. He got suspicious, but Rico wasn't really the suspicious type, so it looked more like worry. God, his stupid caring face better not show up, that would break me.

"About what I did today," I huffed.

"And what did you do today?"

I relayed what I had told John. Rico just stared at me. He and Logan were the brothers that looked nothing like John and I. He had super dark hair, almost black, and thick, intense eyebrows over sea-green eyes. And he was big. He had muscles and was really tall.

"That's pretty hard to believe," Rico said softly. "Are you really telling me the truth? Because I think you need to go to the hospital if you got hypothermia."

"Well, Simon thinks I got hypothermia," I explained. I wasn't entirely sure if he believed my story or not, but for now I figured I was off the hook. "I feel fine, so there's no need to worry about that."

Rico's caring face came up. God, it killed me. "Okay, Noah. Just don't skip again, alright?"

With his face right there, the only thing I could do was agree. Jesus, Rico was definitely a ninja with feelings. With his stupid caring face, it made me feel super guilty about what I'd done. But he was legitimately worried about me, so it made it worse.

"Okay. I promise I won't skip again," I said, but for some reason had a nagging feeling that I'd break that promise.