Dissolving

Chapter 13 - Suspicious Behavior

The last time I felt so confused, worried and uncertain was half a year ago.

That was when we had our family meeting and found out about Sienna. I will never forget the tense atmosphere in the car after I had confronted Josh with my findings in the attic and he had briefed Jordan before we rushed home.

Today feels kind of similar.

I am currently sitting in the twins' bedroom musing over what happened since we left the school.

Jordan drove like a maniac on the way home and I literally feared for my life a couple of times. Hadn't it been for Noah, who kept my hand in his, squeezing it at regular intervals, I would probably have lost it. I don't even know why Jordan was suddenly in such a rush to get us home. It was not like he could catch that weird guy in the dark blue sedan, because he was nowhere to be seen when we pulled out into the road.

He also didn't say a word, other than uttering the odd expletive when people drove in his way and hindered him from making progress. I don't remember ever having seen Jordan so beside himself and I wonder if it really has to do with the stranger who talked to me at Noah's game or if there is something else going on. I mean, surely, the question the guy asked me about Jack and Sean was super random. But other than that, nothing happened and I don't understand Jordan's overreaction.

The moment he had parked the car in front of our house, Jordan rushed out and disappeared in the house, leaving a stunned Jack, Noah and me behind. I asked Jack if he had any idea what was going on and he said he had no clue.

When we got inside, I was more than surprised to find both Alex and Josh there, gathered in the kitchen. They were speaking in hushed tones with Jordan, but the moment we joined them, they tried to act nonchalant and started to make small-talk.

Before we could even ask them what they were doing here, since they were both supposed to work late, Josh almost manhandled us out of the kitchen, ordering Jack and me in no uncertain terms to do our homework and Noah to take a shower and then start on his homework, too, while he and the guys would take care of dinner.

If their behavior wasn't highly suspicious before, this was like the ultimate red flag. My three eldest brothers organizing dinner together is unheard of. Usually, it is Ben who does the cooking. And although he is still away with Aidan because of his football game, he should be home in time to take care of it. Alex is useless in the kitchen, anyway, and Jordan is not much better. So, unless Josh specifically came home to treat us to a surprise dinner, something certainly is fishy about this.

Realizing that we were not going to get anything useful out of our brothers, we trudged upstairs. I tried and failed to do my homework, too occupied was my mind with all kinds of thoughts and theories. That is why I was highly grateful when Noah finally showed up and told me to come to their room. Aidan had come back from his game and we needed to have an "emergency meeting", as Noah called it.

Aidan initially was not very amused when we rushed him into the shower – I had refused to be in a enclosed room with yet another stinky teenager for a prolonged amount of time – but he was done in record time and returned in less than ten minutes.

It looked like he was curious to be filled in on what was happening. Apparently, according to him, Ben had been acting rather suspicious on the way home, too. He had muttered something about having received a call and that they needed to get back but when Aidan tried to find out what was behind it, Ben shot him down and refused to elaborate, coming up with some pretty unconvincing reasons.

Noah started to explain to Aidan what had happened but soon had to defer to me, since he hadn't been there and hadn't even seen the stranger. Once I finished my account of the encounter with the weirdo, Aidan remained silent for a while, probably processing it, before he came to the same conclusion Noah and I had come to as well: our older brothers' harsh reaction to the incident is completely over-the-top and highly suspicious.