“Like I’d dare walk around this house like you do!” I said, grabbing a piece of paper from my desk, crumpling it and throwing it at him. He snagged the missile easily.
“You should be buying us all brain bleach after yesterday!” I exclaimed.
“Well, if you had a body like mine, you’d want to show it off, too!” he preened.
“Ass!” I laughed, closing the laptop.
“You coming downstairs for D&D? Lee should be here soon,” he said.
I nodded. I had gotten so involved in my paper I’d lost all track of time. I had re-read some of what I had written and was pretty pleased with it. I certainly thought Dr. Tate would like it.
I stood and stretched, my muscles aching at the extended writing session. I rarely got so lost in my schoolwork, unless it involved photography. I loved bringing my photos into everything I did.
“Yeah, I’ll be down in a minute. I just finished the rough draft for my paper for Dr. Tate’s class,” I told him.
“That was fast. You just started that today, right? I thought you sucked at differential equations?” he questioned, his honey-brown eyes looking at me in confusion.
“I do. She let me write my paper on a different topic,” I answered. I didn’t really want to explain the topic to him. Bishop always seemed to see through everyone’s bullshit. If I explained the topic to him, he might start questioning why I was struggling with choosing engineering as my major. Bishop paused, a divot appearing between his eyebrows.
“How did that come about, exactly? Isn’t that… I don’t know, kind of weird?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” I responded defensively.
“Well, the whole class is on differential equations,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “How can she let you do a paper on a different topic? How does that show you’ve mastered the material?”
“She’s the head of the department, I guess she can do whatever the hell she wants,” I shrugged.
I followed Bishop out the door to the hallway where he paused at the top of the stairs.
“It just smacks of favoritism, bro,” he said softly, his eyes searching my face in concern.
I felt an uncomfortable knot in my middle. I knew he was right, but it still kind of pissed me off he was calling me on it.
“I didn’taskher to do it!” I exclaimed, anger simmering in my chest.
“I know,” he said placidly. “…because I know you. You make Clark Kent look like a hellion. Bet you didn’t have to ask for anything… She just offered.”
“Yeah, and?” I demanded. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He shrugged again. “Just… be careful, bro. Dr. Tate has a… a reputation.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I asked. Now he was really starting to piss me off. Natalie Tate was just being nice about my overwhelming schedule. Why did he have to turn it into something negative?
He held his hands up in defense. “Nothing, Kaine! I know you’d never do anything on the shady side,” he said. “I just don’t want you to get into any kind of trouble. Our moms wouldkillyou if they ever felt you were taking advantage of their friendship.”
I felt a little better when he said that. He was right, our momswouldkill me if they thought I was imposing on Dr. Tate.
We made our way downstairs. Mama K and Mama D were already in the dining room clearing off the table for D&D. A fire had already been started in the hearth, and Mama D was getting the table set up.
“I’ll get that, Mama,” I said, reaching past Mama D to grab a pile of textbooks off the table.
“Such a sweet boy!” Mama D said, smiling at me as she headed to the kitchen to help Mama K. Her hair was pulled back into a long braid, the honey-gold color glinting under the light.
“Sweet, my ass!” Bishop yelled as he walked in from the kitchen, a box of D&D Player Manuals in his arms. “He’s just trying to get in your good graces in the hopes you don’t kill him tonight!”
We laughed and started setting the table with a dry erase mat and dice. I heard the front door open and had just turned to see which of my siblings arrive when I heard Lee call out in his best drill sergeant voice.
“Hey guys! This is Mason!” he yelled.
