Okay, maybe not love, but you get the idea. Let’s just say I smiled a lot when he walked by. And I kind of watched him play some sort of fantasy card game with his two friends, Paul and Steve, at afternoon recess. And I wanted to marry him.
Anyway, I thought I was being secretive, but before the end of the day Mia and Shal had already nicknamed me Laura Lovesick, giving me yet another name to add to my collection. I didn’t mind this one.
You might be thinking I’m a terrible sister by now, but I did keep a distant eye on my brother in the yard too. He mostly had to walk around with an Educational Assistant, but I did see him talking to a few classmates. I certainly wasn’t going to go over there. The last thing he needed was an overprotective, pudgy sister following him around the schoolyard.
When we were driving home that afternoon, I asked him how his day went.
“Not bad,” he said. “They already asked me about football. I told them I’d have to see how my schedule plays out.”
My mom looked in the rear-view mirror, clearly confused. “They want you to play football?” she asked, hesitating just a little. “Like…on the team?”
I smiled. Not a bad day overall.
—
That night we went to dinner at my uncle’s house. He lived in a smaller place on the north end of town, tucked onto a little suburban road. I noticed his house was a little rundown, and the normally tidy front yard was overgrown and wild. That was surprising, since my uncle always seemed so full of energy. Clearly he wasn’t doing yard work.
When we climbed out of the car their dog, a beautiful golden retriever named Stella, ran out to meet us. I had always wanted a dog, but my mom was allergic to them. The only pet we’d ever had was Muffin, and after she died, I didn’t really want another one. It was too sad saying goodbye. I’d had enough of that with my grandparents.
Aunt Sandra met us at the door, and after a flurry of joyous hugs, she led us right to the dinner table. She was a very pretty woman who seemed a bit tired herself. Her long russet hair was frayed and her normally cheerful blue eyes looked worn and cloudy. I could tell that the factory closing down was having a big impact on both of them.
“How are you?” she asked, heading to the kitchen to get dinner.
Uncle Laine walked in, trailed by my cousins, Emma and Peter. They were only five and nine years old, and they were really cute with their jet-black hair and big blue eyes. I had seen Emma running around at school earlier but hadn’t gotten the chance to say hi. I smiled at them and turned to the kitchen.
“Pretty good,” I said. “Getting used to everything, I guess.”
Aunt Sandra smiled as she walked back in with a ham. “It always takes some time. Can you help me with the vegetables, dear?” she asked my uncle.
There was noticeable tension in her voice.
He gave me a lopsided grin and went to help her, and I turned to my cousins.
“Hey, guys,” I said. “How’s school going?”
“Good,” Emma said immediately. “I like my new teacher. Peter doesn’t. He said his teacher is mean.”
Peter nodded. “She is.”
“It happens,” I said. “Everything else okay?”
Peter shrugged. “I guess. Mom and Dad have been fighting—”
“Okay then,” Uncle Laine said, coming in with two big plates of steaming vegetables. “That’s not happy dinner talk.” He put the plates down. “Everyone dig in! I’m starving. Got to work a night shift tonight.”
“Really?” my mom asked. “I didn’t know you had to do nights.”
“Oh yeah,” he said. “Have been for awhile now. Tom, what do you want?”
“A bit of everything,” Tom replied.
“That’s my boy,” Laine said, dumping some food on his plate.
Aunt Sandra gingerly sat down beside Laine at the table, still looking slightly agitated. I wondered what was wrong as I filled my plate up and dug into the ham.
“It’s delicious,” I said.
“Thanks, sweetie,” she replied, pouring some red wine. A little rivulet spilled over the lip of the glass, she poured so much. “How’s the house coming along, Pat?”
“It’s coming,” my dad said, already digging into the roasted potatoes. “Gonna take a lot of work, but it’ll be worth it. Laine was right: it has a lot of potential.”
“And a lot of spiders,” I added distastefully.
Laine snorted. “I knew you’d like it. Anything else of interest in there?”
“Well, I’ve already heard mysterious rattling, found a warning carved into the wall, seen yellow eyes watching me from the woods—”
“She has a vivid imagination,” my mother cut in, glaring at me.
When I’d shown her the warning, she told me that clearly the person living in my room before me had been equally “creative,” as she called it. I had just scowled and left it alone—clearly my mother was going to be no help. She wasn’t one for conspiracies.
“Rattling?” Laine asked, glancing at me. “What bedroom are you in? I took a walk through there a few months ago—didn’t mess with the spiders, of course.”
“The one with the walk-in,” I replied. “Facing the backyard.”
I saw him glance at Tom, as if surprised, and then back at me. “You didn’t want the bigger one at the back of the house? I figured Tom would take the one with the closet.”
I shrugged. “Mom said I should have the walk-in. Not that I use it.”
“Yeah, I guess it makes sense,” he said slowly. “What’s the rattling coming from?”
“I don’t know yet. Probably a ghost trying to escape my closet.”
Laine was silent for a moment, and then he just laughed and shook his head. “Nothing would
