Page 74 of The Other Brother

Plus, I’ve got to put in some serious work to dig myself out of the hole I’m in with my friends. I know it was bad to blow off Harvey and Oz for hanging out with Cody. The good thing is Harvey’s not very good at giving someone the cold shoulder. He likes to talk too much. And Oz is so laid back that nothing ruffles his feathers for long.

So, after a concentrated effort of charm and humor from me, halfway through homeroom things are back to normal.

And I think it’s over.

Until lunch.

I’m sitting with Harvey, Oz, Grace, and Mia at the picnic table, because summer this year has definitely decided it wants to stick around at the party past its usual curfew. Harvey’s carving into the picnic table with the end of a Bic pen. Like everything at our school, the picnic table is ancient. It’s littered with graffiti, layer upon layer, generation upon generation. It probably goes back to Noah’s ark. I’m sure if I looked hard enough, I’d find a heart inscribed withSheep One loves Sheep Two.

“Shit.” I throw my phone on the table in frustration.

“What’s wrong?” Mia asks.

“My phone is just taking ages to upgrade.”

“Don’t worry. You’re the king of the upgraders,” Harvey sneers.

My shoulders stiffen. “What the hell do you mean by that?”

“You know.” He doesn’t look up from his carving.

“Actually, I don’t. Are you going to explain your cryptic words or just give me a crossword to solve?”

“You’ve ditched us to hang out with the private school crowd. All those Appleton idiots.” He finally looks up, his lips curling over his words.

Shit. I glance over at Oz and Grace, who are both following our conversation like it’s the next Marvel installment.

I can’t tell my friends that Cody and I are together. It would kind of defeat the whole "secret" part of secret relationship. But it sucks not to be honest with Oz and Harvey and have them think I’m ditching them to hang out with another group of friends.

“Why don’t we do the PlayStation thing this afternoon instead?” I suggest.

“Too late. Oz and I did it without you.”

“I’m hanging out with ‘those Appleton idiots’ at the moment too.” Grace arches an eyebrow. “Do you have a problem with that, Harvey?”

Shit. Grace normally never engages in this kind of thing. She must really like Marco if she’s prepared to defend him.

“That’s different. You’re going out with one of them,” Harvey backpedals.

I scratch at my knee, not making eye contact with anyone.

When the conversation has finally moved on, I look up to find Grace watching me from across the table. She gives me one of her enigmatic smiles, and paranoia shoots through me.

Does she suspect about me and Cody? Does Marco? Are people at Appleton gossiping behind Cody’s back? Will it get back to his parents?

I know I’m doing some flying leaps in the logic world, but it’s hard to tame my imagination. Keeping this whole thing a secret might be harder than I’ve realized.

That night,I’m reminded about the main reason Cody and I need to be on the down low. Mel and Kate are around for dinner, and it demonstrates how our family is messed up enough without throwing the dynamite stick that I’m hooking up with their other brother into the inferno.

“This is so nice to have everyone together,” Mum says with a smile as she dishes up lasagna to Mel and Kate that night. Mum’s not that great of a cook overall, but her lasagna is a cheesy, meaty, crispy-topped slice of perfection.

I shovel the first forkful into my mouth.

“It’s so great to be back,” Kate says.

“How’s Chris finding the new job?” Dad asks.

Chris is working support for a tech company, which is why he’s not here tonight, as he’s on the night shift.