The Outsider-Chapter 7

The first thing I heard as I walked in the door was, "So who's the dude in the car?"
I knew this voice very well, and just hearing him made me smile.
"Derek! Oh my goodness it's so good to see you!" I said as I ran to give him a big bear hug. He and I got along very well. Sometimes it felt like we were more friends rather than brother and sister.
"Hey, Suz, it's good to see you too!" he said.
"What are you doing home?" I asked.
He laughed and said, "Oh, and I thought you were happy to see me."
"You know I'm always happy to see you."
"Not always," he muttered underneath his breath.
"What?...You know what I mean." I stood there waiting for an explanation.
After a few seconds of him staring at me with a grin on his face he spoke. "Well I got a job working on the college campus and it gave me some extra cash, so I decided to come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year."
I stood there and he could see my eyes widening in disbelief. After some more awkward silences, he simply asked, "What?"
It was enough to wake me from my trance that I had seemed to have fallen into and replied, "Oh nothing I'm just surprised you got a job." I winked as I spoke.
"Hey, hey now, I've kind of matured since the last time you saw me," he said.
I kinda laughed to myself and said, "Yeah okay, whatever. You're still my big brother who wrestles and has burping contests with me." We both laughed together.
"Wait, where's mom and dad? Do they know you're here?" I said with sudden curiosity. They were usually home at this time.
"Yeah they know I'm here. They were going to do some grocery shopping and see a movie, but since I came home they said they weren't going out. I told them I'd be here all week and back at Christmas, so I told them to go ahead."
"Oh okay, that makes sense I guess."
"So what's with the funeral look?" he asked, unaware of where I had just been. He obviously could tell by my now serious look that what he said was a little inappropriate.
"Suz, what happened? Is everything okay?" he said with a tad bit of panic rising in his voice.
"It's okay, Der."
"Oh okay. That's why when I said 'funeral look' you nearly started crying, right?"
"Come on, it's not like that..." I stopped short, trying to hold my emotions in.
"Suz, whatever it is, it's bothering you. Talk to me. Come on, I haven't seen you in months. What's up?" I couldn't resist him when he was being so nice and like he said: mature.
"It's this girl from school. She was fairly new around here, just a freshman at Confederate High. Her name was Kelly Davison." I said with memories flooding my brain.
"And....?" he said with anticipation.
"And she was kidnapped and murdered...no, not just murdered, tortured is more like it. Der, they tied her to a truck and dragged her behind it!" I spoke with such bitterness that I no longer cared about holding back the tears.
Der reached for me and gave me another hug. "Suz, I'm so sorry. Were you two good friends?"
"I helped her get settled into school. She was a really nice girl. Her funeral was today, and I went. I don't know why I'm so upset about this, we weren't real close, but obviously close enough." I said trying to calm myself down.
"Hey it's okay," he said as he wiped the tears away from my cheeks,"it's alright. I wouldn't have made the funeral comment in the first place, had I known. I'll watch what I say from now on."
"No, it's okay, it's not your fault. You didn't know." I sniffled.
I went to the bathroom to change clothes and clean myself up a bit. When I came out Derek was sitting on the couch watching some sitcom.
"Say what are you doin tomorrow?" I asked casually.
"Er..um, nothing I guess, why?"
"I thought maybe you, me, and that 'dude in the car' could catch a movie."
"Oh okay. Yeah sure, whatever." It was a genuine answer, not one with sarcasm. Did college do this to all high school boys?
"His name's Cale, by the way."
"Who?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen to get a soda out of the refrigerator.
"That 'dude in the car'...his name's Cale...Caleb, actually." I said.
"Oh yeah, him. Where'd he come from anyways? I haven't seen him before." Brothers are so adorable when they act so protective, I thought to myself as he asked all these questions.
"He just moved a couple months ago with his mom, Bethany, after his dad died. His grandparents have lived here a long time though. You probably remember the Mason's." I said, hoping he'd approve of Cale, even though he was technically an "outsider". Derek didn't necessarily LIKE the outsiders, but he didn't hate them either.
"Oh, yeah...so he's Old Man Mason's grandson? Eh, he's probably a good kid then. Old Man Mason's pretty strict. Good solid morals. I'm sure he's perfect for you."
Wait a second,I'm sure he's perfect for you. Where did that come from?
"What do you mean he's perfect for me?" I asked, a little uneasy and embarrassed.
"Oh come on Suz, I'm not stupid! I can tell you're crazy about him. And quite honestly, I think he likes you too. I saw they way you too looked at each other."
Why hadn't I thought of this before?! I always thought of Cale as a great friend, why did I not think it could be something more than friendship? That explains why I get those crazy emotions around him! I'm so ignorant sometimes!
"He's just a friend," I blurted out trying to keep my cool.
"Yeah okay..." There was that sarcastic tone I'd missed for the past 6 months. I knew my real brother was still there somewhere.
After the show went on a commercial break he called from the family room, "Hey Suz, I'd love to go see a movie tomorrow."
"Okay...hey, Der?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad your home," I said as I settled down on the couch next to him.
"Me too, Suz, me too."