Slammed

with the camera, the boys are still admiring the murder scene as I snap a couple of pictures.
     
    “ Kel, let’s kill a snowman with Will’s car now,” Caulder says before they dart across the street.
     
    The tension is thick as Will and I stare excessively at the snowman in front of us, not knowing what else to look at. He eventually glances toward his house at our brothers.
     
    “ They’re lucky to have each other you know,” he says quietly.
     
    I analyze this sentence and wonder if it has a deeper meaning, or if he was simply just making an observation.
     
    “ Yeah, they are,” I agree.
     
    We both stand there watching them gather more snow when he takes a deep breath and stretches his arms out above his head.
     
    “ Well, I better get back inside,” he says. He turns away.
     
    “ Will, wait.” He swings back around and puts his hands in his pockets, but doesn’t say anything.
     
    “ I’m sorry about yesterday. About my mom,” I say as I stare at the ground between us. I can't look him in the eye for two reasons. One, the snow is still blinding me; two, it hurts for me to look at him.
     
    “ It’s fine, Layken.”
     
    And we’re back to the official first name.
     
    He stares at the ground where the ‘blood’ has tinted the snow and he kicks at it with his shoe. “She’s just doing her job as a mom, you know.” Sadness spreads across his face as he speaks. “Don’t be so mad at her. You’re lucky to have her.”
     
    He spins and walks back to his house. Guilt overcomes me as I think of what it's like for them to just have each other, and here I sit complaining about the only parent left between the four of us. I feel ashamed for bringing it up. I feel more ashamed having even been mad at my mother for what she did. It was my fault for not talking to her about it sooner. Will is right, as usual. I am lucky to have her.
     
    ***
     
    The shower in my mother’s bedroom is running after lunch, so I heat up some leftovers and make her a glass of tea. I place them at her usual seat at the bar and wait for her. When she finally emerges from the hallway and sees the food, she gives me a slight smile and takes her seat.
     
    “ Is this a peace offering or did you poison my food?” she asks as she unfolds a napkin into her lap.
     
    “ I guess you’ll have to eat it first to find out.”
     
    She eyes me cautiously and takes a bite of her food. She chews for a minute and takes another bite after she fails to keel over.
     
    “ I’m sorry, Mom. I should have talked to you about it sooner. I was just really upset.”
     
    She looks at me with pity in her eyes so I turn away from her and busy my hands with the dishes.
     
    “ Lake, I know how much you like him, I do. I like him too. But like I said yesterday, this can’t happen. You have to promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”
     
    “ I swear, Mom. He’s made it clear he wants nothing to do with me, so you don’t have anything to worry about.”
     
    “ I hope not,” she says as she continues to eat.
     
    I finish up the dishes and return to the living room to continue my affair with Johnny.
     

6.
     
    “ Your heart says not again
What kind of mess have you got me in?
But when the feeling's there
It can lift you up and take you anywhere.”
     
    - The Avett Brothers, Living of Love
     
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Six
     
     
     
    The next three weeks fly by as my homework gets more intense, along with the isolation in Will’s classroom. We haven’t spoken since the day the snowman was murdered. We haven’t had eye contact since then either. He avoids me like the plague.
     
    I haven't been adjusting very well to Michigan. Maybe everything that happened with Will ended up making the move even harder. All I ever feel like doing is sleeping. I guess because it doesn't hurt as bad when you're asleep.
     
    Eddie keeps bringing up possible fillers for the obvious hole in my boyfriend department, but I’ve rejected them all. She has finally resorted to switching places in Will’s class with Nick in the hopes that something will bloom there.
     
    It won’t.
     
    “ Hey, Layken,” Nick smiles as he sits in his new spot nearest me. “Got another one for ya. Wanna hear it?”
     
    In the past week alone, I’ve had to endure at least three Chuck Norris jokes a day from Nick. He incorrectly assumes that since I’m from Texas, I must be obsessed with "Walker, Texas Ranger."
     
    “ Sure.” I don’t try to deny him