Sarah got up around seven-thirty, had a quick shower, put on some make-up and – wrapped in a towel – returned to her bedroom where she cracked the shades open to have a look at the weather outside. Her eyes widened as she glanced up and down the street. Joe’s car wasn’t there – again!?! She almost d
“I’m sorry, okay?” he grumbled. “It’s not what it looks like!” He let out a little, surprised laugh. “I never thought I’d actually ever say that to my sister!” Sarah shrugged, giving him a dark look. “Well, you don’t have to tell your sister anything at all. It’s your life. Totally your business. J
“I see,” Sarah said, eyeing him cautiously. “I can’t say I find it very delightful, though. More disturbing.” Joe glanced up from his plate, mainly to see if she was mocking him. But when that didn’t seem to be the case, he ate some more of his breakfast and then continued. “Anyway”, he told her, “
When Joe put down his fork, his food all gone, Sarah looked up at him again. “You know, to me it’s still hard to understand how you ended up with her in the first place,” she said. “She really didn’t seem like your type. More like the type that you’d always joked about.” Picking up his coffee cup,
Sarah took this as a confirmation. “You’re such an id–” she stopped herself before she said it. “Why the hell did you fill out all the forms for the exchange year application and make plans and act as if you were really into it?” She was getting louder now. Avoiding eye contact, Joe shrugged again
“Let’s blame it on the timing then!” she said with sarcastic generosity. “The timing and Dad and D for being oh-so-pushy and – oh, I almost forgot – probably some incredible sex on the side. Right? I mean, you didn’t explicitly mention it, but judging from the woman involved, I assume sex played a r
Sarah shrugged. “Where else?” Joe still looked baffled. “I was at home that morning,” he said. “I definitely was at home. By myself. And I tried to call Danny from Mom and Dad’s landline because I couldn’t find my phone.” Suddenly he turned pale and looked like he had just had a very scary vision.
In the café’s parking lot, Joe told Sarah that he needed to go by an electronics store on the way home to buy a charger for his phone. That was only half the truth, of course. Even though he hadn’t brought his charger, he still had the one for the car. And with his phone currently being turned off