The Elemental Circle

Chapter Nine

  When I sit down Sara is putting down plates of sandwiches and chips. She has already put a pitcher of Kool-Aid in the middle for us. Arik is at the head of the table with Sara sitting beside him. Nick is upstairs talking to Parker about what happened with Ash so that Parker can cover for him. I clear my throat.

"Did you know that it's actually rare for siblings to have the same element? Parker is a fire elemental right?" I say trying to break the crushing silence between the three of us.

"Yes, he is a fire elemental and we actually did know that. The doctors are fascinated with how our boys both took after me," Sara says with a laugh.

"Are they close?" I ask them shake my head. "Josh and I are close but that's probably because we are so close in age."

"They seem to be close but they do like to push each other's buttons. What's the age difference?" Arik asks with a grin on his face. The two parents seem very proud of their sons. What I do know about Nick he's a great caring guy.

"There's about a nine to ten month difference between us. It drives him insane because I'm still older and I'm always in charge when our parents go on research trips," I explain watching how they looks at each other. They seem too really love each other.

"That's really close in age," she says with a nervous laugh, "I couldn't imagine having two babies that close in age."

"I think of it as a good thing because we get put in the same grade and we tend to hang out with the same people. Josh tends to get himself in trouble and at my old school they thought I had a different element, maybe fire or water?" A smile start to spread on my lips as I think back to all the things Josh has gotten himself into and I've saved him from. He's a mess, he truly is.

"Yes, Nick did say something about that," Arik mutters lowly. I try to gather my thoughts as no one says anything. There were only two cars in the drive way and non of them were Nicks.

"What happened to Nicks car?" I blurt out. They looks at me in surprise so I let out a nervous chuckle. "There were only two but none were his."

  At this point I'm just grasping at straws to keep a conversation going. I don't like sitting in uncomfortable silence, especially with peoples parents. Nick sure is taking his dear sweet time talking to Parker. "Parker crashed his car yesterday, nothing too serious but Nick is letting him use his," Sara explains looking back to the door way.

"That's sweet of him. Nick seems to be a really nice guy," I say and they only nod their heads. We fall into that weird uncomfortable silence again. Soon enough though the loud laughter of Nick and Parker travel down from the stairs. I turn my radio to catch sight of Nicks slightly tan and lean stomach. I force myself to look at his face which is full of laughter. Why isn't he wearing a shirt?

"Dude, I'm telling you the truth, she's scary as hell. She almost made him pee himself!" Nick yells in amusement. He has to be talking about me though.

"He doesn't like to wear shirts at home, no matter how much we ask him too," Sara whispers noticing my flushed face. I guess she caught me staring which makes me blush. Parker sits beside me while Nick sits beside his mom, across from me. We then decide to pass the food around and fill our glasses with the Kool-Aid. There's some chatter among the family but nothing is really directed at me, which I'm thankful for.

"Riley," Sara says making me turn my gaze to her. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

  I catch Nicks eyes widen as he chokes on his drink. His mom just nonchalantly gives him a napkin and pay his back while Parker chuckles at him. "Oh, no but I have a stalker if that counts," I say trying to joke but feel the distaste in my mouth as I think of Chase.