"It was nice of you to take me out to dinner," she said. "It was like our first real date."
He smiled. "Sorry. We should have gone on a date sooner, huh?"
"That would have been nice." She fastened her seat belt and gazed at him. "I'd never been to that restaurant. Thanks for taking me."
"My mom suggested it."
"Tell her that she made a good choice."
"I will." He pressed the ignition. "So, what should we do now?"
"I don't know. Just drive, I guess."
Departing the downtown area of Newman, Conner steered the car toward their neighborhood of Gramercy Heights. Aimlessly cruising the streets, they didn't speak much, only stole sly glances at each other. Following a few minutes of driving, Conner said, "We can park somewhere if you want."
She giggled. "Like Lovers' Lane or something?"
Of course she would think that. He should have known that his words would immediately evoke the memory of the awkward moment at Adam's house. At school, he had a solid reputation as a Casanova. Tonight, he'd wanted to diminish any thoughts Hailey might entertain of him as a player. But the suggestion of parking had instantly generated the assumption he'd wanted to avoid. Now it was his duty to prove he wasn't only interested in Hailey to satisfy a sexual need.
"I meant, we could talk. Or hang out at my house if you want."
"Are your parents home?"
Grinning, he said, "Yes. So you don't have to worry that we're going to get caught doing something."
Again, she giggled. "That was so embarrassing. I was mortified."
He laughed. "I know."
"You weren't embarrassed, though."
He shrugged. "Not really."
"Did that ever happen to you before?"
He released a hearty chuckle. "No!"
Several seconds passed as their laughter subsided, then he asked, "Do you want to hang out at my house? Or I can take you home."
"Um. Yeah. Okay. Let's go to your house."
He looked out the driver's window, hoping she didn't see the wide smile on his face. "Good."
* * *
Trevor and his sister cleaned the kitchen and put away the dishes. When they were nearly finished, he sat down with his second slice of lemon meringue pie.
"Hey!" Kinsley dropped a folded dish towel next to the sink. "We still gotta wipe down the stove and table."
"I know. You do the stove. I'll do the table after I eat this."
Her shoulders sagged as though her entire evening was ruined because her brother decided to take a break.
"Oh, calm down," he said. "Eat another piece of pie with me."
"Are you kidding? You know how much fat and sugar is in that? You should be eating fruit or something healthy."
He playfully waved a forkful of lemon tart filling from side to side. "Ah, c'mon. You know it's really, really good."
She plopped onto the bench next to him. "Fine."
Laughing, he slid the pie tin to her. "It's not like you have to eat a huge piece or anything. I mean, jeez, sit and enjoy some time with your big brother for once."
She flashed her braces and then flicked the pink-tinted braids from her shoulders. "Just one or two bites."
"Ooh. Living on the edge."
"Shut up."
He handed her a fork. "Dig in."
She finally savored the sweet, tart dessert and then smiled.
Trevor nudged his arm against hers. "You know how much fat and sugar is in that?"
She rolled her eyes. When the two settled into silence once again, she seemed to ponder a thought before asking, "Is it true? You know, what people are saying about Jared."
At that moment, Jared's alleged exorcism and resulting death took on a whole new significance. Trevor wasn't trying to convince his doubtful parents. He wasn't arguing with friends and classmates about a rumor. His twelve-year-old sister was initiating a conversation that he could either ignore or take the lead on. For some reason, her young, innocent face made him feel like he needed to protect her from wild stories and eerie details. In his mind, telling her the truth was the best way to accomplish that.
"Yeah, it's true."
"That's scary."
"Yeah."
She set her fork down and slid the pie tin toward Trevor. "I don't understand all that kinda stuff. But it's scary to think about."
"Yeah, it is."
"I bet is was really scary for Jared."
The impact of her words hit Trevor like a punch to the gut. For the past week, he'd been more concerned with dismissing rumors and his own investigation to discover the truth, and then his refusal to accept his possible role in the whole phenomenon. Now, his little sister forced him to consider someone other than himself. Jared.
He took a deep breath and then clenched his jaw as the warm tears rolled down his cheeks. He wanted to respond to her statement, but his throat burned and tightened, strangling the words he wanted to say. Instead, he murmured "uh, huh."
Kinsley didn't move. She appeared frozen in the moment, unsure of what she should do or say. And then she rested her head against his shoulder.
Neither said a word as Trevor unleashed his pent-up emotions.
* * *
Adam, sprawled out on the sofa, intending to spend a lazy evening in front of the television, possibly even to fall asleep where he lay. After he'd found something mildly interesting to watch, his mother strolled into the living room.
"What are you doing?"
"Watching something about an asteroid hitting Earth, and then this guy in Australia has twelve hours left until the end of the world. But he finds this little girl and tries to help her get back to her family."
"Instead of doing what?"
"I don't know. Doing whatever he wants for the last twelve hours of his life, I guess."
"So, he made a sacrifice, then."
"Um yeah, I guess so."
She sat on the light-gray loveseat across from the dark-gray sofa, a contrast of colors that Adam never understood. Reclining, she curled her legs on the seat and draped a pastel-blue throw blanket over her feet. "Pause the movie, please. I want to say something to
