You’re starting to believe karma has it against you. Sean bumps into you from behind as you stop cold at the sight of your brother.
He's wandering around the middle of the basement with a smug look on his face, and he turns even more smug as he looks up at you. The moment hangs as no one—you, Sean, Robert, or Lucy, who is standing in the back with her mouth hanging open—says anything.
Finally, you find your voice. "What the hell are you doing here?" you demand.
"Trying to figure out what you've been up to," he retorts. "Who's this?" he asks, turning to Lucy.
She gasps. "Do you know this little prick?" she asks.
"Know him?" you and Robert exclaim in unison. He snickers as you flush. "He's my little pest of a brother," you mutter.
Everyone starts talking at once, except Sean, who cuts everyone off with a hard, shrill whistle between his teeth. "Will," he says when everyone shuts up. "What the hell is all this?"
"This is Lucy Vredenburg," you say, pointing at the girl. "Cindy Vredenburg's sister. Lucy, this is Sean Mitchell. Uh, Taylor's brother?"
Her eyes widen. Behind you, Sean asks, "You knew Taylor?"
"Um—"
"Yes," you answer for her. "She's one of the reasons I wanted you to come out. And that's my little brother, Robert, over there," you grind out through clenched teeth. "Come on, Robert," you say, "this is a private thing. You need to get out of here."
"Not without my stuff," he says.
"What stuff?"
"The stuff you stole from me!" He crosses over to your "Arts and Crafts" bin.
"Don't touch that! It's not yours!"
"Yes it is! Dad threw it away, and I grabbed it, so it’s mine!"
"Let him take it, Will," Lucy says. "I don't want it near me anyway!"
Robert smirks at you as he picks the bin up. You should let him go—you need to get him out of here before Taylor shows up—but as he saunters up with his prize you can't resist pointing out the obvious. "Where are you gonna put it? Dad thinks he threw it away."
Robert's face falls. He hesitates. Then he retorts, "That's for me to know and you not to find out!"
"Look, just leave it here, go home, and we'll talk about it later."
"No way! How dumb do you think I am?"
"Well, you can't—"
You break off when you see Sean rolling his eyes.
"Time's up, Will," he says as he turns back to the stairs. "I’ll see you tomorrow in school, and make sure you tell Scott—"
"Tell me what?" says Scott Bickelmeir, who has stepped through the doorway while you weren't looking. He and Sean glare at each other.
"I was going to tell Will to tell you go fuck yourself, asshole," Sean replies. "But since you're here, I can tell you now to your face."
To your face. Sean's words pierce you like a spear. You didn't know how you were going to explain things, you just tried bringing the brothers together on a hunch that you could find the words. Now you see that there's only one way to show them.
So as Scott advances down the stairs with a hot glare on his pale face, you brush past Sean to put a restraining hand on his shoulder.
"Calm down, man," you tell him. "You trust me? 'Cos—"
"You should be trying to calm me down," Sean interrupts you from behind. "Oh, this was a bad idea. You know you got my mom scared to leave the house?"
"What?" You look back, but Sean is glowering past you at Scott. His face is as pale as Scott's, his eyes are hot, and red spots blaze in the center of his cheeks.
"I'm talking about this fucker," Sean snarls. "He's been stalking me and my mom. Parking outside our house, like a fucking psycho! He—"
"Take the mask off, Taylor," you interrupt him. "Come on, man", you repeat as Scott falters. "It's the only way. Just show him. Sit down and take the mask off."
Scott turns wondering eyes on you. You grip his shoulder. Sean cusses. "Go fuck yourself," he says. "Get the fuck outta my life, away from my house, away from my mom!"
Scott starts, as though touched by a hot match. He blinks a sudden wetness from his eyes.
Then he falls backward onto the stairs, his face downcast.
"Keep him here," he mutters at you. "Keep him here long enough for me to—"
He puts a hand to his temple and mutters to himself. You step backward, to give him room. Too late—only as you bump into him—do you remember that Robert, still holding the bin of supplies, is standing nearby, watching, as Scott Bickelmeir tears his face off, revealing the face of Taylor Mitchell beneath.
--
He's passed out for several minutes, during which you awkwardly try to explain to the dumbfounded Sean Mitchell what exactly has happened. Fortunately, he has the evidence of his own eyes to back up your wild stories about magic masks and mistaken identities, and after he's woken Taylor by poking and prodding at his brother's face (to reassure himself that it is real) he's got Taylor there too to explain things. An awkward minute passes between them before they embrace each other. Both are weeping openly when they release each other. You offer to leave (taking Lucy and Robert with you) so they can have private time together to talk, but instead they go up and outside to reconnect. You let out a huge sigh of relief when the door closes on them.
You tense up all over again when you realize they've left you alone with Lucy and Robert. "What?", you growl at Lucy, for she's folded her arms and is giving you a narrow, speculative look.
Her eyebrows go up. "I was just thinking that was a very nice thing you did for Taylor."
You shrug. "It was his idea. That was the whole point of what we've been trying to do, anyway."
"I mean, it was nice that you pushed him into it. Jesus, you have no idea how he's been going on about it when we've been out together. 'I've got to talk to Sean, I've got to tell Sean what's been going on.' So go talk to Sean, I kept telling him, but he kept saying that he didn't know how to, or that it was too early." She gives you a direct look. "Good for you for finally taking the bull by the horns and getting it done with."
It gives you a warm glow—a little bit of one—to have Lucy finally say something nice to you. But then she follows it up by nodding at your "Arts and Crafts" bin. "And now we can finally get rid of that stuff", she says.
You feel your face fall.
"No we can't!" you protest. "We still got the professor to deal with! Or do you want to spend the rest of your life down here?"
Robert would pick that exact moment to jump back into the conversation. He's been mercifully quiet (but watchful) all through the drama with Taylor and Sean, but now he says, "What the fuck is going on here?"
"Nothing, Robert", you snap at him. "Just go home. And don't tell Dad anything about this!"
He thrusts his lower lip at you.
"You're in this secret club", he exclaims, "with, like, magic stuff." He leaps back from the bin, which he's been standing near. "Is that what this stuff is?"
"No," you lie.
His eyes narrow. "Then you won't mind if I take it. Since it's mine."
"Alright," you confess. "That's all part of this magical stuff. That's how come I don't want you playing with it. It's too dangerous. Because this isn't a 'secret club'. There's this university professor, he's like a black magician. He kidnapped Lucy over there and he—" You take a deep breath. "He replaced her with a magical robot clone, or something."
Robert's eyes widen. Then his lip curls. "No way!" he jeers. "Really!?"
"You're doing it all wrong, Will," Lucy says, "if you're trying to get rid of him. You're just making it sound cool. Here, watch this."
She marches over to glower at Robert with her hands on her hips.
"Robert," she says in a firm voice. "Your brother's trying to score with me." Your jaw drops, as does Robert's, but Lucy just continues. "He's trying to impress me with all this magical shit, and he thinks that if he can help with this problem I've got at home, then he'll have a chance with me and I'll want to make out with him. Do you want to stick around and watch?"
You feel yourself blushing a bright red as Robert falls back and starts howling with laughter. "Nice job," you growl at her. "Now he'll never leave."
--
Robert is still there, and you've explained to him the outlines of everything that's been going on, when Sean and Taylor return. They look wan and a little worn out, but happy.
They've also got other plans laid out. "You can't move in with Sean," Taylor tells Lucy, "but our mom's gone most of the day, and you can stay over at our house while she's at work. You'll still have to sleep here." He also goes on to say that he wants all of the supplies moved out to Sean's as well. When you protest, he says it will be safer there because there will be less danger of the center's maintenance staff stumbling over it. You quickly accede when you see Robert frowning at the decision. Taylor further adds, when you ask about them, that you'll be free to go over to look at the notes Sean saved from Taylor's papers.
Your brother gets his revenge on you, though, as you drive back to your house. "You, trying to score with that girl," he replies when you ask what he's snickering at.
It pisses you off that Lucy said that. And yet, she's right, isn't she? For what other reason would you have for thinking, now, that maybe you could impress her by capturing her doppelganger, clearing the way for her to go back home?
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