Lighting a Match in the Rain

Chapter Fifteen

When I woke up Saturday morning and remembered what happened the night before I almost vomited.

I had let Sebastian hug and hold me. I sat with him. Laughed with him. Remembered old times. The thought made me sick.

I stepped back and lowered my hand after knocking on the Brewer's front door. Gripping paperclipped papers tightly in my hand, I crossed my arms and waited. Mrs. Lemon had given everyone in our class an extension because a few groups were struggling with their conclusions and last-minute add-ins. I wasn't complaining. Julian and I both took the opportunity to add a few more things. Now, I just had to get his final approval of the final draft I finished.

A young teenager opened the door. If he hadn't looked more like Julian than Reed looks like Julian, I would've asked myself if I had the right house. "Uh, is Julian here?"

The blue-eyed boy furrowed his thick brown eyebrows and leaned against the doorframe, not quite opening the door fully. A green and white state championship baseball tee hung over his shoulders. "Are you his girlfriend?" he finally questioned me.

I huffed, not amused. "No."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you Reed's girlfriend?" That thought was even funnier. Never in a million dreams would I ever be Reed's girlfriend.

I narrowed my stare. Who the hell was this kid? "If I was Reed's girlfriend, would I be here asking for Julian?"

He shrugged. "Maybe." Oh, the problems I was going to have with this kid.

"Is Julian here or not?"

"No."

The door slammed in my face, leaving me staring at the strip of wood. Man. Whoever this kid was, even though he wore the face of Julian, he had Reed's attitude. An unmentioned brother for sure. Unless he's a con artist or a wanna-be actor. Anything was a possibility in this town at this point.

Being the lady I am, I started banging my fist on the door, knowing the kid was still right on the other side. If I was lucky, he was leaning his head against the wood. "Listen, kid, Julian said he'd be here, and that I could come over!"

"I don't care!" his voice carried through the barrier.

"Just open the door!"

Shouting erupted inside the house. A long moment later, the door opened again, but this time I was facing a woman. She held the eyes of Reed and had highlighted blonde hair that reached her waist. Oh, the number of people that would kill to have hair like her. I wondered if it was real. "Hello," the lady greeted me with a sugary smile. "Can I help you?"

"Hi." I dropped my shoulders and mimicked her kind expression, relieved to be talking to someone other than the arrogant kid. "I'm Ella Fallon, a friend of Julian's."

Her eyes brightened before she stepped back and pulled the door open wider. "Ella!" She gestured me inside before I could argue and then closed the door behind me. "Oh, they've talked so much about you! I'm the boys' mother. You can call me Anne." I almost dropped all the papers in my hand as she quickly led me into the kitchen. "What brings you here?"

Taking a breath, I followed her hand gesture and sat down at the kitchen island. "Julian invited me over. We are supposed to go over the last-minute changes I made to our class project."

Without asking, she placed a glass of water in front of me which I happily began sipping from. "Oh, well I'm afraid he isn't home," she let me know.

Confusion filled me and I found myself scrunching my forehead. "Oh. He said he'd be here," I explained quickly. "I'm so sorry to intrude."

She waved her hand, very clearly not bothered by my presence. "Nonsense. Would you like some lunch while we wait?"