Instrumental

Chapter 3

Taylor: Dinner?

Gen: :) When?

Taylor: When you"re ready. I"m home.

I squelch a rising tide of panic as I climb onto my bike Wednesday after dance. I"m letting another opportunity go for practice, and if I audition for a ballet school, I"ll need to be in top form.

I pedal harder as I cross a busy intersection. Concentrate on spending time with Taylor. It’s not like I didn’t just do an entire afternoon of dance.

Twenty minutes later, we"re in her kitchen, and I"m on the bench, snacking on pretzels at their massive old wooden table. I love this table. I also love Taylor"s pink tank. Super cute.

She"s digging food out of the fridge.

Taylor"s dad sits across from me, still in dress clothes from work and engrossed in his tablet. "Are you good for dinner?"

"Yeah, there"s tons of lasagna," Taylor replies. "Gen"s eating with me."

"Good. I"m going upstairs to make phone calls." Taylor"s dad suddenly appears exhausted as he leaves the kitchen.

Door slams.

"Yo! What"s for dinner?"

"Figures he"d time that perfectly," Taylor remarks.

John enters the kitchen sweaty and dirty, like he"s been rolling around on the ground.

"Gen and I are having lasagna." Taylor sets a ceramic casserole dish on the counter. "If you ask nice, I might heat some up for you."

"Why is Gen eating my food?" He peers into the fridge. "There’s better eating at your house."

I scowl at him. "Taylor invited me over for dinner."

"Do you want lasagna or not?" asks Taylor.

"Please."

I get a whiff of something foul. "Is that you I smell?" I ask John. "What have you been doing?"

He shuts the fridge door and grins like a Cheshire cat as he saunters across the kitchen. "Pickup football game after work."

"Ugh. Go take a shower."

"I was about to after I give you a gift you"re dying to have." In the blink of an eye, smelly, wet John gives me a rocking bear hug. "We don"t get enough of these moments, Gen."

"John!" I screech. "You"re disgusting!"

Two can play at that game. I give him a slobbery kiss on the cheek and blow a raspberry for good measure.

"Aw gross, Gen." John jumps away, wiping his cheek.

"Not as gross as you." I shudder.

Taylor hurls a dishtowel at him. "Take a shower! When will you grow up?"

"Wait!" John yells.

Taylor and I freeze.

"Is Taylor yelling and showing emotion?" John asks in mock surprise. "Gen needs to work more of these miracles."

I bang the table, annoyed I froze over something that stupid.

"Get out of here, John!" Taylor hollers.

He points at me. "To be continued."

I stick my tongue at him.

John laughs and leaves the kitchen.

"I feel so gross." I cringe. "He was sweaty and stinky."

He"s such a boy. And not cute Seth boy. Well, John"s cute… more than cute… and not really a boy anymore, but that"s beside the point. If he were normal, that hug would’ve had a different effect on me. Instead, he"s... John.

"Sorry. I can"t believe he"s leaving for college. Got the maturity of a ten-year-old."

Mr. Vance walks in again. "Do you need anything for school?" he asks Taylor.

"Random question," she comments. "Yeah."

"Your grandmother mentioned it on the phone. Should I pick up supplies for you?"

Taylor puts three bowls on the counter. "No, I’ll choose my own stuff."

"Do you want me to take you?"

"Hard to get anywhere otherwise."

"Or I could hand you cash."

"That"s nice too."

"Do you need special equipment?"

"Equipment?"

"Girl stuff. Like conditioner or something?"

Taylor glances at me.

I shrug. He’s your Dad; don’t ask me to translate.

"Washing my hair isn"t a special back-to-school thing," Taylor says to him. "And guys also condition."

"Yeah, but..." Mr. Vance runs his hands through his hair.

"What did you do with John when he was my age? Or even last year?"

"Your Mom took care of this stuff when John was your age." He stares off.

"Dad?"

He shakes his head and clears his throat. "Last year, I ran John to the mall and Staples."

"Do the same for me."

"Great."

Taylor turns to me after her dad leaves the kitchen again. "Girl stuff like conditioner? Where did that come from?"

I chuckle. "He"s trying."

"I guess, but I"m not that different from my brother. I"m not an alien."

"That would be John."

Still chuckling about the earlier histrionics in the kitchen, I toss my nasty t-shirt in the hamper after my shower and throw on a blue shirt and shorts that might pass Gen’s approval. Good day today. Work went smoothly. The pickup game was fun. Taylor is heating dinner up for me.

And Gen is here.

I grinned from ear to ear when I saw her bike in the driveway. Harassing Gen is always a crowd-pleaser. If she stays, the evening could be lively for once.

Taylor had left my food on the counter. I grab the bowl and join them in the living room, plopping on the couch. "What we watching?"

Taylor glares at me. "We didn’t pick yet."

"How about an action flick?" I suggest.

"No way," Gen says. "You can’t come in here and play couch commando."

"Couch commando? I don’t even have the remote."

Gen squeals and spouts off the title of a musical she must have seen in the queue.

I groan. Gen’s love for musicals is nauseating. I rather sit through one of her corny rom-coms.

She glares at me. "You don’t have to be here."

"I’m backing him up on that one, Gen," says Taylor.

Thank you, sister.

Gen pouts and then names a popular teen rom-com.

I groan again. "If we’re doing a rom-com, could it be one with adults?"

"You might learn a thing or two," says Taylor. "Like how to get a girl."

"I can get a girl. I don’t need this lame rom-com to pretend to show me how."

Gen gives me side-eye and then turns towards Taylor. "The guy is so sweet."

I laugh hard.

"What?" Gen’s eyes flash.

"That’s why these movies are ridiculous," I answer. "Sweet?"

"There is nothing wrong with sweet."

"Except that the girl never goes for the sweet guy."

Believe me. Been there. I don’t view myself as sweet, but I’m nowhere near the level of jerk a lot of guys in my class were, and they always had plenty of girls to choose from.

"Typical clueless guy," retorts Gen.

"Your current crush’s top quality is sweet?"

"Who says I have a crush?" Gen asks.

"There’s no way you’re not crushing on some dork right now."

Gen peeks at Taylor.

"I revealed nothing."

"Is he sweet, Taylor?" I ask.

"I’m not getting in the middle of this," she replies. "Movie is starting."

"Let me guess. What kind of guy would Gen like?" Ordinarily, I’d be teasing, but right now a sharp desire for the answer takes over.

She goes pink. "Shut up."

"John." Taylor is trying to admonish me, but I catch the beginnings of a grin.

"Got it," I say. "Bet your boy is quiet, and you’ll go for the handsome type instead of muscle-bound. That’s Taylor’s thing."

"Why are you here, John?" Taylor exclaims.

"You’d go for a Matt type instead of a Will," I go on. "It’s not Matt because you’d want confidence, but you’re young, and you’re Gen, so you’ll miss the mark on that too."

Gen gives me a withering look.

"A quiet cockiness." I snicker. "I bet you like that Seth guy."

Gen’s jaw drops, and she looks at Taylor.

"I did not say a word."

I double over. "Wait, I’m right? You’re actually into that guy?"

"Shut up!" Gen yells. "And he’s not cocky."

"They don’t come much cockier than him. He’s quiet, so it"s harder to notice and less annoying."

"You dislike him?" Taylor asks.

I shrug. "I don’t know him."

Yeah, I’m a little jealous. Gen should go for someone unique like her. Not that I consider myself original or anything, it just seems like Seth is the stereotypical good-looking, popular guy.

"You don’t know Matt that well either, and you’re not negative on him," Taylor says.

"Why are you in such a hurry to defend Seth?" I retort. "You girls going to fight over him?"

"It’s weird you’re so down on him," says Taylor.

Yeah, I’m not delving deep into that. It’s one matter to look at Gen, even have a little thing for her. But if I’m hating on the guys she likes, that’s a whole new arena. "Cocky doesn’t do anything for me."

"He’s not cocky!" Gen whines.

"You’re so young." Remind yourself of that, John. "And he’s not sweet."

Gen holds her chin up. "He stood up for me when you were on my case last week."

"True. You may get your man."

Gen flushes. "Didn’t I tell you to shut up?"

"Downright mean."

"Yeah, you bring out the best in me," Gen grumbles.

That would be special if I could actually do that. Return to reality. I’m annoying, older brother John. "I"ll give you a break. I"ll even award a bonus."

She raises an eyebrow.

That did something to me. She is gorgeous. Shake it off. "I"ll be quiet and watch this poor excuse of a movie with you. You can brag to your friends you saw a flick with a real man."

Pathetic. Gen is turning me into a loser.

She rolls her eyes. "Tell me when he shows up."

I chuckle. "Don"t be a stranger, Gen. The last hour is the liveliest this house has been in a while." I shove a forkful of lasagna in my mouth.

Taylor gives Gen a tiny smile. The first genuine, sweet smile I’ve seen on Taylor for ages.

I could kiss you, Gen.

"I won"t," Gen says. "I promise."

At least for now, Gen is with Taylor and me. It feels a little like they were, like the before.