Page 25 of The Summer of ’98

“What’s becoming a bad habit?” Cass dismissed. She stumbled a little and grabbed on to me before she could end up face-first in the concrete.

“Driving your plastered ass around,” he answered.

She ignored the jeer and slid into the backseat of the car without further discussion. She could hold her liquor far better than I could, that was for sure. Leroy started the car and put his hand on the passenger seat headrest as he reversed out of the space. The music didn’t allow for a lot of conversation as we drove home, but a few minutes in, Cass appeared between us. She flicked the volume button down and leaned on the center console.

“Are your parents home?”

“No,” Leroy said. “Work. Dad’s spending the day with Joe.”

“Who’s Joe?” I asked, casually curious.

“Cool, I’ll come to your place. My mom is in,” Cass said.

“Joe is an old friend of his. Lives just out of town, so Dad makes a day of it when he visits,” Leroy said.

Cass blabbered on about this, that, and the next thing as we all got out of the car and headed toward the house. The windows were wide open, the curtains blowing in the light breeze. As we stepped inside, I could hear Weezer floating from the living room speakers. Cass walked ahead of us, kicking her flip-flops off with ease before she stumbled down the step into the living room.

I had barely toed off my first sandal when Cass’s hostile shouting could be heard. Leroy and I exchanged a quick glance and sped up our movements. He was a step ahead of me when we found the cause of her pissed-off shouting; I felt a pang of heartache for her.

Noah was half-naked on the sofa, a beautiful brunet in her bra pinned beneath him.

“You are a sack of shit,” Cass shouted, emphasizing each word. The girl pushed at his chest, forcing him off her. He looked like a deer caught in headlights as he glanced between the three of us. “I mean, shit. Did you even have time to shower between the two of us?!”

The girl glowered as she pulled a shirt over her head. “Screw you, Noah.” She looked at Cass, apologetic. “I didn’t realize—”

“You’re fine, Holly,” Cass waved the girl off. “He’s the asshole.”

“Noah, go upstairs,” Leroy ordered, intervening before the situation could unravel further. Noah seemed more than willing to follow his big brother’s orders.

“Excuse me, you little sack,” Cass shouted. “We’re not done here.” She stormed after Noah, following him upstairs despite our warning that it was best if she left him alone. The advice fell on deaf ears and their shouting could be heard from where we stood in the living room.

Holly didn’t stick around for long. As soon as she had herself in order, she bolted out of the house.

“This entire situation is fucked,” Leroy said as I followed him upstairs. His footsteps were heavy, and he seemed exhausted. I wondered if that was because of practice, or because of his brother and the drama that followed him. “I need to—”

His sentence dropped off as loud moaning and the unmistakable squeak of a bedframe could be heard coming from the end of the upstairs corridor.

Leroy sighed with further frustration, but all I felt was sadness. Cass couldn’t see that their situation was so unstable. Or perhaps she could but she didn’t want to admit it. Whatever it was, it was clear that some sort of insecurity came into place. And whatever it was, Noah played on it. I mean, seriously. Cass, then Natalie, then Holly, now Cass, it made my head spin, and I had to wonder what was going through his head. Was this a sick game to him? Or was it more? Did he have his own insecurities? Maybe. It didn’t make it okay, though.

“It’s sad.” I wandered into the spare bedroom and sat down. Leroy leaned against the doorframe. “She obviously has some issues over her dad leaving. She told me about that, by the way. Your brother shouldn’t take advantage of her like that.”

“Trust me, I know,” he said remorsefully. “But whenever I try to intervene, both of them tell me to butt out.”

I supposed there wasn’t a lot that he could do if she didn’t want to listen. Leroy let me know that he needed to take a quick shower and he wouldn’t be long. I used the spare fifteen minutes to go through luggage and choose tomorrow’s outfits, noting that I’d need to do laundry soon. I was watching the street from the bedroom window, not focusing on much in particular, just daydreaming about the beautiful homes and gorgeous lawns outside, when the sound of a door slammed behind me, and Cass screamed and cursed her way down the hallway.

“You just wait, Noah,” she threatened with a slurred voice. “I’m telling your mom that I found a girl half-naked on the couch!”

“Fucking hell, Cass, would you shut up for a minute and let me talk?”

Noah’s footsteps thudded closer and closer, and when he came into view, he was stark naked. I squealed and averted my gaze.

“What the fu—NOAH! Put some fucking clothes on!”

“Shut up, Leroy!”

“Do what you’re told, Noah,” Cass shouted from downstairs. “No one wants to see that little piece of flesh flopping around.”

“Little? That’s not how you usually refer to it.”

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