THE SUN WASÂ shining so my AC was blasting. The birds were chirping so my music was playing at the maximum volume. The insects were buzzing so I had a can of bug spray on standby. Needless to say, I hated everything about summer. From the excess heat to the gross bugs, the endless sweat, frizzy hairy, humidity, and the blackouts that were no stranger to Stone Creek, summer wasn't exactly my favourite season.
Summer vacation, however? Totally different story.
Wrapping up my third year at Cortland University was the only reason I was excited about summer. I got to ditch the textbooks and all-nighters studying for no books and partying, leave my stuffy dorm for my spacious old bedroom, and finally enjoy myself for the next few months.
Thinking about school formed a sinking feeling in my chest, but I tried to shake the thoughts out of my head. This summer was all about relaxing, and I'd deal with my problems when I got there.
I turned into the familiar plaza I hadn't seen since the last time I visited, which was the winter break. Let's just say Mom's extended family planned a surprise visit the same week my brothers and I were visiting which turned into a bit of a disaster, and I made a point to not come home since. I parked my jeep before hopping out and stepping inside Stone Creek Café.
It didn't take me long to spot the familiar mop of hair I hadn't seen in so long. I walked right over and threw my arms around him from behind, mussing his hair in the process.
"Dani!" he whined, swatting my hands away. "I'm thirteen, stop treating me like a baby!"
"I can't help it, you're so big now!" I cooed, pinching his cheeks. I hopped in the seat across from him in the booth he was sitting in, a grin on my face. "Damn, kid, you sure did grow up."
My baby brother had certainly matured over the years. Even seated I could tell he was at least my height. He had a few zits on his face, a fresh set of braces that he must have gotten after Christmas, and he looked like a miniature replica of a young Niko. Thank God he followed in the footsteps of the better brother. Speaking of which...
"Where's Brenton?"
Alex shrugged his shoulders. "He was flirting with a waitress."
Typical Brent... Wait!
"What about Amber?" I cried.
As if on cue, our whore of a brother arrived at our booth. "Hey, sis, interesting hair!"
Alex grimaced at me. "What did you do to it?"
I twirled my fingers around my mid-back-length hair, now getting insecure. "It's a caramel balayage. Does it look bad?"
My little brother cocked his head to the side as he examined my new hair. "It looks...different."
That was good enough for me.
Brenton slid in the seat beside me, pushing me against the wall as he took up most of the space. "I haven't seen you guys in six months and it feels like so much has changed." He pretended to wipe a stray tear from his eye. "Alex is a man, and little Dan isn't so little anymore."
I wrapped my arm around his bicep and rested my head against it. "I've missed you too." Before he could get too comfortable, I pulled my head back and narrowed my eyes at him. "Now please tell me why the hell you're flirting with waitresses when you have a girlfriend?"
Brenton's eyes widened from my harsh gaze. "Can we get our orders taken?" he called out, hoping anyone would save him from this confrontation.
When a waitress nodded and started walking over, Alex shook his head. "Not you, lady."
I presumed she was the one Brenton was flirting with. I was so proud of my baby brother because as he got older the more I realized he was nothing like Brenton, and that made my heart content.
My twin blew out a puff of air and fidgeted with the salt shaker on our table. "We broke up, okay?"
My gasp was so loud, everyone in the café turned to look at us. "What do you mean you broke up?" I whisper-shouted.
"It just wasn't working out." He put down the salt shaker. "It wasn't working for a while."
"Can we order?" Alex whined. "I'm starving."
I fished my wallet out of my pocket and chucked it at him without turning away from Brenton. When the realization sunk in, I reached over to retrieve my wallet and gave him a ten-dollar bill from inside instead. "When did this happen?"
"I don't know, Valentine's Day?"
My jaw dropped. "You dumped your girlfriend on Valentine's Day?" I paused as I let his words sink in. "And you waited until now to tell me?"
"We weren't going to tell anyone until the summer," he said with a sigh.
"Well, why the hell not?" I shrieked.
Brenton gave me a flat look, proving his point by my reaction. "That's why. Now, can we just drop it?"
I really wanted to prod more, but I knew my twin, and he would only open up if he wanted to. The more I pestered him then the less likely he was to tell me anything, so I obliged.
"How's your love life?" Brenton asked, in an attempt to change the subject. "Weren't you lovebirds supposed to come back together?"
I ran a hand through my flat ironed hair - though it didn't matter, the humidity was already turning my straight hair into waves. "Something came up, so he said he'd meet me at the party tonight."
Brenton raised an eyebrow. "Something or someone?"
I grabbed a sugar packet from the table and threw it at his head. "Shut up, James would never cheat."
If only I could have remained that trusting the whole summer...
~*~
The three of us were on our second round of milkshakes as we caught up, not realizing how much had changed in the six months that we hadn't seen each other.
"How's Mom?" I asked Alex since he was the only one of us who lived with her.
He shrugged his shoulders as he took a sip from his milkshake. "She doesn't yell as much, but she's been really busy with work."
That was understandable. I had to admit, Alex was the least troublesome Parker kid.
"I thought she reduced her hours," I mused. "Switch." I passed my milkshake to Alex, who slid his across the table to Brenton, who handed me his. I took a sip from the orange creamsicle milkshake and exhaled in satisfaction.
My little brother snorted. "And you really believed that?"
Fair enough. If there was one thing I knew about Melinda Parker, she was a workaholic. Despite her endless schedule and lists of tasks to complete, she really did start to change over the years. Mom never missed Brenton's state lacrosse championships, or Alex's science fairs, Niko's award galas, or my... Well, I wasn't a star athlete or golden student, but she was there when we needed her, and for that I was happy.
To welcome us back after six months, Mom was throwing a huge party in the backyard tonight. She had invited the neighbours and our old friends, and although I was excited, I was also a little scared.
"Switch," Alex said. We swapped milkshakes and I took a sip from the drink Brenton handed me, my face puckering up in disgust from the mint chocolate chip. Mint and chocolate did not mix. It was practically chocolate flavoured toothpaste.
"So," Brenton fidgeted with the salt shaker again, a newfound twitch I discovered that meant he was nervous. "Who's excited about the party?"
I was about to say something, but my gaze shifted to Alex. He sunk in his seat, completely abandoning his drink - which was a first for him. I eyed him strangely. "You're awfully quiet. What's wrong?"
He swallowed hard. "I'm dead when we get home."
"Makes two of us," Brenton murmured.
I raised my eyebrows at my brothers. "What did you guys do?"
Alex looked down ashamedly. "I got sent to the principal's office."
Brenton and I looked at each other before bursting into laughter.
"Oh, man, that was too good," my twin cried, wiping a real tear from his eye.
I smiled at Alex. "Trust me, that's nothing. What'd you get called in for?"
He nervously played with the straw of his milkshake. "I was looking at pictures of naked chicks on the school computer."
Brenton choked on his banana shake while my eyes widened. "You did what?" I screeched, ignoring the looks customers were giving us. This behaviour I expected from Brenton, but never from my sweet and innocent Alex.
His brown eyes were filled with shame, and at this moment he looked like the ten-year-old baby brother I left when I moved to college.
"I'm the only one out of my friends who hasn't kissed a girl!" His mouth curved into a frown. "I wish I didn't look at that. I don't think I could ever kiss a girl again, they're so scary!"
I breathed a mental sigh of relief. Yup, my little brother was still there.
"Trust me, dude, you have no idea what you'reâ ow!" Brenton winced, rubbing his forehead where I flicked him. He had no reason corrupting our impressionable brother just yet.
"Ignore him." I shot my twin a dirty look before smiling at Alex. "When you're mature enough to kiss a girl, you'll know. And you won't need to search up explicit pictures either."
He broke eye contact and blushed, his whole face turning crimson. I wanted to coo at how cute he looked, but I figured the kid was embarrassed enough for one day.
"Reverse switch," Brenton called out. "I want my mint choco back."
Instead of ridiculing him for his questionable preferences, I was more curious about why Brenton was nervous about seeing Mom.
"I know what you're thinking," he grumbled, snatching my drink from me.
"What did you do?" Alex piped in.
With Brenton being a star lacrosse player and ranking high in the college charts, there was very little he could do to actually upset Mom. If he tanked a midterm because he had a game the next day, it wasn't a big deal as long as he won, hence I couldn't help but wonder what had him so worked up.
He placed his head in his hands. "Remember how Mom sends us a cheque every semester to pay for tuition, groceries, my lacrosse stuff, and rent?" When neither of us spoke, he continued. "I may or may not have used my cheques for this year on buying a new car."
Both, Alex and I, had our jaws dropped as we looked at our idiotic brother in disbelief.
"That's nearly ninety grand!" I cried. How was it that I was still driving the same old jeep Wrangler I had since high school while my brother treated himself to a luxury car?
"I know," he groaned, still covering his face. "Mom's going to slaughter me when she sees it."
While I was fuming, Alex, on the other hand, had a different reaction to Brenton's revelation. "Can I see the car?"
"Alex!"
He gave me an innocent look. "What? I'm just curious."
"You know what?" I slapped a few bills on the table. "Let's go see what this idiot spent Mom's money on."
Alex scampered off while Brenton trudged outside dejectedly. I followed in suit, my eyes widening when I saw his new ride.
"Please don't tell me that gorgeous red sports car is yours."
When Brenton didn't confirm or deny, I slapped him upside the head.
"You're so freaking dead."
I swiped the keys out of his hand before running to the car, simultaneously admiring and envying it. I eyed the car all over, running my hands on the shiny, buffered exterior, admiring the black rims on the wheel, and the black stripe that ran across the outside. Brenton was definitely a dead man.
Alex was already inside, pretending like he was a NASCAR driver as he turned the steering wheel and swerved imaginary traffic. As I watched Alex, Brenton came up beside me pressing his forehead into my shoulder. "What am I going to do, Dan?"
"Can't you return it?" I asked.
"No," he said, his voice coming out muffled. "I didn't get the car at a dealership. I got it through some connections."
That didn't sound entirely legal.
"Brenton!"
He lifted his head and looked at me with a mix of regret and fear. "I know, I'm so screwed!" He paused. "And I don't know what I'm going to do about my actual tuition."
"Did they tell Mom yet?" I asked.
He shook his head. "They're going to mail her an invoice soon."
"It'll be fine," I promised.
"Why have you been the poster child lately?" he grumbled. "Mess up once in a while and make the rest of us look better."
We stood in silence as we watched Alex. Brenton had no idea just how badly I screwed up.
~*~
After much convincing, Brenton was able to hide his car in the Rollins' garage, and he filled up my jeep with his luggage. The car was so crammed, poor Alex was sitting on top of a suitcase in the back. I was careful to stay under the speed limit because the last thing I wanted was to get pulled over and for the cops to find a teenage boy in the trunk.
Of course, my luck didn't work that way.
We were only a few blocks away from the house when we heard sirens.
"Shit!" Brenton peered through the right-wing mirror. "Do you think you can gas it?"
"I'm sorry, what?" There wasn't a chance in hell I was going to even attempt to drive away from the cops.
"Come on, trust me." Brenton grabbed my steering wheel and tried to maneuver it, which soon turned into a fight for control. My jeep was swaying from side to side as we fought over the steering wheel.
"Guys, can you slow down?" Alex called from the back. "I think I'm going to puke."
"Let go," I hissed.
"You could get your licence suspended," Brenton argued.
"If I drive away from a cop, yeah!" I shoved his hands away and regained control. Slowly, I pulled over and stopped the car. I tried to fix my unruly hair before the officer came to the jeep. "Get off the suitcase," I hissed at Alex.
"And go where?" he said incredulously.
"Just vamoose!"
"What the hell does that even mean? Now is not the time to switch up languages!" Brenton yelled exasperatedly.
Before I could make any remarks about my twin being the stupidest person alive, there was a tap at my window. I slowly lowered it and plastered a fake smile on my face. "Hi, Officer..."
"Shaw," he filled in.
"What can I do for you?"
"Ma'am, are you aware your right indicator has been on for the last half mile?"
I shot Brenton a dirty look, who raised his hands in mock surrender. "Don't look at me, you're the driver."
"I apologize, Officer Shaw," I continued. "It was a long drive back from Cortland, andâ"
"You don't say? I was a part of the graduating class of '94."
My fake smile widened. "Would you look at that? What are the odds?"
"Just this once, I'll let you off with a warning," he said. "Got to look out for fellow cougars."
Brenton snorted. "Fellow what?"
"Cortland Cougars," I corrected. Ignoring my brother, I turned to the officer. "Thank you, sir, I really appâ"
I was interrupted by a very loud sneeze. The only problem was that sneeze wasn't from Brenton.
Officer Shaw peered through my open window to the back of the car. "Is there someone else in the car?"
"N-no," I stammered, mentally plotting several different ways to kill Alex.
"I'm going to have to ask you both to step outside of the vehicle."
I cursed under my breath as Brenton and I got out. Officer Shaw opened the trunk to reveal Alex on the floor of the car.
He waved awkwardly, a sheepish smile on his face. "So I hear there's a heatwave coming in a few weeks."
"Hey, buddy?" I called out.
"Yeah, Dani?"
"Shut up."
We had only been in Stone Creek for a couple of hours, and we were already screwed.
~*~
Kiss My Sass is officially back! This was my most favourite book to write and I'm so excited to be working on the sequel! The planning will be going at turtle pace so bear with me - I really want to make sure the sequel surpasses the first book.
As I can't think of a title for the sequel I think I'm going to continue it in this same book so if it's already added to your library you'll be the first to know when it's updated!
Thanks so much to everyone who's supported Kiss My Sass, this sequel is a very small token of my appreciation to you all!!!
PS. fear not, most characters from book one will make a comeback