Before the Morning [BEING EDITED]

16 | Two Players

"Nolan!"

Nolan sighed and tugged out his headphones. "I already told you," he said. "We can't."

For the past hour, Caleb had been begging to play Twister. It didn't seem to matter how many times Nolan told him that they couldn't play with two players and that, most importantly, he didn't want to play. He'd thought he'd halted the topic when he got out his laptop, put in his headphones, and ignored Caleb completely—choosing to edit footage instead of listening to the incessant whining. But Caleb just got louder.

"There is no can't," Caleb said, his hands dramatically reaching for his hips. "There is only do!"

Nolan rolled his eyes. "That's not even how the saying goes."

"Come on," Caleb said. He grabbed Nolan's arm and shook. "Can't we invite someone over to play?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because, and let me make this very clear, I don't want to."

Caleb let out an elongated sigh and dropped to the floor. Nolan cocked an eyebrow as Caleb shimmied across the carpet like he was a melting snake.

"In what way do you think that's going to get you what you want?" he asked.

"I don't." Caleb sat up. "I'm just letting out my emotions in my unique way."

He dropped back to the floor and continued melting and groaning. Dammit. Now Nolan was amused.

He turned back to his laptop. A clip of Nora strumming her guitar on her bed stared back at him.

She could play Twister.

He blinked. No. He wasn't going to drag her from her house to appease Caleb and ultimately reward his behavior.

But...

Invite her.

"Fine," he said. Caleb instantly stopped melting. Maybe if someone had said the word to the Wicked Witch, they would have had much less mopping to do.

"Really?" Caleb gasped.

"Hold on." Nolan grabbed his cell phone from the floor and pulled up Nora's contact. The picture of her grinned at him as he pressed on her number. He brought the phone to his ear.

It rang once.

This is so stupid.

Twice.

Why are you doing this?

Three times.

You should just hang up—

"Hey, Nol," Nora said softly. "What's up?"

He frowned. "Are you crying?"

"No."

Her tone was cheerful on the surface, but her voice, stuffy and thick, shook as she spoke. His grip tightened on the phone. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," she said. Her voice cracked over the word nothing. "I just—I just got in a little fight with my dad, that's all."

He sat up. Little fight. Why did he feel like it hadn't been little at all?

"Caleb wants to play Twister," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Greg isn't here, and it's too late to call Sam." He hesitated. "Did you want to come over and play?"

A pause. Nolan's leg bounced. "Sure," she said. "It might take me a bit to walk there, though. That okay?"

"He can wait."

She laughed, and relief splashed across his face. That was real. "I'll see you soon?" she said.

"Yeah," he said. He stood, then. "Will you be okay walking?"

"'Course!" she said, sounding a little more like herself. "Gives me a chance to exercise. You know, get those steps in. Make up for the fact that I haven't properly exercised since gym...last year."

He chuckled.

"Okay, I need to go now, but I'll text you updates on the way."

"Okay."

She hung up. Nolan pressed his phone to his chin. She wouldn't have any trouble getting there, and her "updates" would be as consistent as they would be uninformative. But...

He glanced at the photo of him, Caleb, and Greg. Any photos of his parents had been set in photo albums and stored in Greg's room. He thought they wouldn't have trouble getting home, either.

"Grab your shoes," he said.

"What?" Caleb asked. "Isn't she coming here?"

"Yeah," Nolan replied. "Grab your shoes."

"Are you scared of her walking in the dark?" Caleb asked as they stuffed their sneakers onto their feet.

Nolan grabbed his house key from the counter. "No."

Caleb narrowed his eyes at him. "You're a bad liar," he said.

"Shut up."