Another pleasant summer evening spent at home. Chel had just had a long soak in the bathtub, complete with bubble bath and loofa sponges. Then she slipped into a comfortable shirt and jogging pants. The rest of the evening would be spent playing video games with her brother,… and beating him. It had been a long day,… and now it was winding down.
Andrea had been moping around for most of the day. Chel wasn't about to let her out of the house and get a lecture from her parents about being a responsible adult. She had been trusted to watch her sister and since her sister's judgment wasn't proving to be that good, Chel wasn't taking a chance.
She had let Andrea talk her out of telling her parents about the night before. They could get the window fixed and just tell them that it had been broken by accidentally, exactly the way it had happened but without mentioning the alcohol. Maybe that was a bad idea,… but it was better than the alternative.
There was a problem with having secrets that you didn't want others to know about and that was,… they could be used against you. It was the curse of having siblings who knew things you wouldn't tell your parents. They could use it against you. Andrea brought up how Chel had been gone with Lexx when they had discussed the window problem earlier in the afternoon.
Chel wasn't sure how Mom and Dad would react to statements like that… it was something she did not want to have to deal with yet. She didn't want them to think she was crazy and her sister was making it up and she didn't want to lie to them, even for Lexx's sake. She would if she had to, but only if she felt Lexx's life might be in danger.
She had gone over the scenario repeatedly and her Dad? Chel loved her father, but she suspected he was in the CIA or the FBI. Maybe he was a spy somewhere. What kind of a father didn't tell their kids where he worked? And Mother? It was the same way. Only her mother talked a lot about being a scientist and working on this or that project. She had secrets too.
"Chel, when's Lexx coming back?" Kalvin's question broke into Chel's concentration.
"I don't know." Chel shrugged. She jerked the controller aside, as though it'd help her maneuver her plane around falling debris from the sky ship they had just caused to explode.
"Hey, Chel," Andrea chose that moment to speak to her sister. "Mind if I spend the night at Katie's?" She had been waiting for the last couple of hours to ask. Now seemed like a good time.
"Andrea,… you're not allowed to leave until Mom and Dad get back,… remember?" replied Chel, trying to keep her attention on the game.
"Ahhhh,…" Andrea whined.
