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"Are you serious?!" I half-yell, half-scoff in disbelief at the idiotic thing my brother just said, earning myself a bunch of irritated looks from the other students sitting nearby in the library. "Hold up," I mutter down the phone to Lee, standing to gather my books and shoving them into my open backpack. "I need to go somewhere I can talk."

It comes as no surprise that he doesn't wait for me to get outside, instead using the open line to plead his (and Elle's) case for why I should let them rent a car in my name to drive from New York to Boston when they come to visit over spring break.

"Come on, Noah, the rental car companies won't rent to a seventeen-year-old," he whines.

"Yeah," I snort, pushing through the front doors to exit the building. "With good reason."

"Are you really not going to help me out? Elle and I planned this whole trip so we could visit you."

I can't help shaking my head, even though I know Lee can't see me, and rub the back of my neck in exasperation. If they had actually spent any time at all planning this trip, they wouldn't be in this mess only a few weeks out from the break. That's pretty standard for my brother, but Elle's usually better prepared. My guess is that booking the rental car was probably Lee's only responsibility, and now he's begging me to fix his fuck up.

"Firstly," I tell him, "don't pretend like you're coming all this way just for me. You're coming so you can spend time with Elle and see your girlfriend since she's going to visit Brown over the break."

Lee makes a huffing noise, but wisely chooses not to argue for once.

"And second, you could actually just fly into Boston, you know? You don't have to go to New York first. Or, if it's that important to go see the city, then fly there and catch the damn train down to Boston. I could even come meet you guys there," I add.

"But the whole point was for me and Elle to do a road trip, like we've wanted to for ages," he complains. "If we don't do it now, who knows when we'll get the chance again."

"Lee," I sigh. "You're going to have plenty of chances to go on road trips with Elle. We've got months off over summer."

"It won't be the same," he mutters, and I can tell he's pouting from here.

Yeah, the unspoken reason it wouldn't be the same is that it wouldn't be just him and Elle going, it'd probably me and Rachel, too. He's really bugging me right now, because he gets to see Elle every fucking day, while I have to wait for the break, and this stupid road trip idea will eat into my already limited time with her.

"Well, that's just too bad, bro. I'm not helping you commit a crime just so you can rent a car to drive five hours."

"Ugh! Noah! You used to be cool. What happened to you out there?"

"I grew up, Lee," I reply stonily. "Maybe you should try it."

Stabbing the end call button with my finger, I shove my phone in the pocket of my jeans and stare up at the overcast sky for a few seconds. As much as I love my brother, he has an uncanny ability to piss me off like nobody else. I suck in a breath and let it out slowly, just as a wry chuckle breaks into my moment of frustration.

"Who got your goat?" Chloe grins, handing me a coffee and taking a sip of her own.

"Who do you think?"

"Hmm, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say... Lee."

"Bingo," I half-smile.

"Oh, no, what's he done now?"

I swig back some coffee before replying, praying the caffeine hits my blood stream in record time.

"Oh, you know, just failed to get his shit together for the trip he and Elle are planning to take over the break. And now, of course, he wants me to help him commit fraud so he can rent a car for them to drive from NYC to here."

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