~Joey~
"Can you believe that guy?" Kevin hisses as we get to the car. I hand him my keys and head over to the passenger side. "I mean, can someone actually be so stupid to try and blame me for this? He's the one going around, getting girls drugged."
"And why was I at the party in the first place?" I ask, meeting his eyes with mine. I don't entirely blame Kevin, but he has to know that I'm in no way impressed by his behavior these past few days. He's an asshole, just like the others.
"Wait. You agree with Keenan?"
"Did he lie?" I retort, opening my door to get in and rest my back before I blow it out again.
He follows suit, blowing out air as he settles behind the wheel. "Alright, I'm sorry."
"I know," I reply, fastening my seatbelt. "Just drive."
"I didn't -"
"I don't want to talk about it, Kev, just drive."
Kevin sighs and throws his head back. I won't hold the grudge because I basically lack the ability to stay angry for very long, but I know it frustrates him anytime someone refuses to talk things out, so I'm doing exactly that, to punish him while I can.
"Just...what happened?"
"I woke up," I deadpan.
"Joey, seriously." His voice is stern, like he's getting annoyed at my responses. "You weren't answering any of my calls or Heather's, you didn't reply any of our texts, and I was starting to get worried you'd died or something."
"Yeah, well I was unconscious in some drug dealers' apartment because you ditched me at a party. Happy?"
His face falls and his expression moves from annoyed to remorse, complete with his eyes getting a slight dim to them. "You know I'm sorry."
"Then stop yelling at me."
He looks away from the road to nod at me, then resumes driving us home. He wants to give the space I want, but I know he'll start talking again soon. "I...just...I was worried, you know? And then I found out you were with Reid of all people. Keenan Reid, Joey. Fuck!"
Apart from being a drug dealer I didn't know about until ten minutes ago, "What's wrong with Keenan helping, was it out of character or something?" The Keenan I met was kind and caring, even though he lied to me.
Kevin barks a laugh. "Way out of character."
"You're not friends, though."
"Seriously? You're defending him?"
"I'm arguing a point that says you don't know him enough to conclude. They're two different things."
He rolls his eyes and leans across the console to dig his phone out of the glove compartment. I clutch the bottom of my seat for the duration he's bent over with no vision whatsoever of the road ahead of us. "Will you look where you're driving?"
"I know what I'm doing." He sits up and dumps his phone on my lap. "Call mom and tell her you lost your phone. She's been on my ass all morning about you. She wants to ask you something"
"Gee, thanks. I didn't realise I was so important."
"I was worried too."
"That's what I said." I mumble and begin dialing the number.
"Hey, Juanito!" My mother's voice rings through the phone as she finally answers. "How are you, love?"
"It's not Kevin," I say, letting her know it's me.
"Nita?"
"Hey, mom."
"Don't 'hey mom' me." Whatever warmth in her voice just vanished, replaced by stone cold harshness. "You never call, and when I do, you don't answer. Do you have any idea how worried I was? Why weren't you answering my calls?"
"I lost my phone."
"Lost your phone how?"
"I don't know, I had it one second and then...poof." I press my lips together in hopes that she buys it because I honestly have no other ideas for what will fool a criminal defense lawyer, who already had a lie detector implanted in her by her Hispanic mom instincts.
"Why won't you lose your phone when you're out to parties every night?"
"I wasn't out."
"No?" Her voice goes high pitched. "Well were you home last night?" I don't say anything because I know she'll just turn it around and give me more crap if I deny being out. She never reams Kevin out like this when it comes to parties, probably because he's always lucky enough to not pass out or lose his phone during them. "Thought so."
"It's not what you think."
She scoffs. "I know, I know. It never is. Keep doing whatever it is you're doing and you'll be in for way bigger problems."
"Just say you're sorry," Kevin whispers.
"I'm sorry," I say. "Won't happen again."
She hums, which is Carla Alvarez talk for 'I accept your apology'. "Be careful, alright?"
"I will," I agree. "Kevin said you wanted to ask me something?"
"Right, yes. Do you have plans this spring? Your dad and I want you both over."
"Sorry I didn't hear that. What?" I ask, then turn to Kevin. "Are we free this break?" I mouth. He vehemently shakes his head, so I roll my eyes and return to the phone. "Uh, no, I don't think so. We have plans."
"Plans." she sighs. I hear the clank of either a pot or pan wherever she is. "What plans?"
"What plans?" I whisper to Kevin.
"Vince invited us and some of the guys out to his lake house. I assumed he texted you about it, so I talked Heather into coming. It'll be fun."
The new information makes my eyes go wide. "Seriously? Heather said yes?"
He shrugs. "Yep. And mom's still on the phone."
Oh, crap!
"Uh we are going to a lake house. With friends."
"You two will wish you came here this break."
"It's two weeks."
"It's two weeks," She mimics my voice. "I know it's two weeks, but I'm your mother. I deserve to see you at least once a semester."
"You'll see us in June."
"Yes, if you don't jet off to Egypt without telling me. Your cousin's wedding is at the end of this week. We won't make the wedding, but I was hoping we could pay them a visit as a family. I get time off work in a few days, so I was thinking we leave as soon as I end my latest case."
Kevin rolls his eyes. "Act like you can't hear her."
"What?" I respond, feigning bad connection by moving the phone against my hair. "I can't hear you, I'll call back later. Love you, mom."
I end the call and set Kevin's phone down on my lap, heaving a big sigh.
"At least you're good at something," he says.
"What?" What is he talking about? I did great for someone who didn't even know they had plans. "You didn't even tell me we had plans until I was already talking to her."
"You shouldn't have let her bring up the wedding, she'll try to guilt us into going."
"I don't fair well under pressure, Juanito."
He grimaces at his own name, making me laugh. As kids, Kev and I did our best to annoy my mother's side of the family by being nothing like them. We know Spanish but don't speak it out loud around them, and we switched to blondes in ninth grade because nobody on her side had blonde hair. We also started switching out our glasses for contacts in our senior year of highschool to annoy our Dad, but he didn't care as much because he's way more laidback than mom, despite also being a pain in the ass sometimes. While mom is a lawyer who takes her job way too seriously, Dad is a real estate broker, so he was never really home growing up. I love my family...most times, anyway.
I scroll through my brother's Instagram for a bit, watching stories of people I don't even follow, but he does, because he's 'cool'. Don't get me wrong, I have a social life. I have friends and I've dated a few times between highschool and college. I just don't care enough to want to fit into any spaces. I only dyed my hair because I thought it'd be cool, not because I was afraid I wouldn't look like a model if I didn't. And I still occasionally wear my glasses, just not all the time because I can see fine without them.
Unfortunately, my attitude is so unlike Kevin, who does his absolute best to blend in and not get fingers pointed at him for standing out. It's pitiful at times, the number of parties he's been pressured to and that I end up having to come bail him out of. He's a party guy, he likes the fun of it, but he and I both know what his limits are. Does he push those limits anyway? Yes, because that's my brother. And as the amazing, older twin sister that I am, I'm supportive of whatever he does.
Yes, he can lose his temper and turn into an angry bitch sometimes, but Kevin is my best friend first, and to be honest I'd take a bullet for him any day...in my leg or something, that is.