Don't Tell My Brother

Chapter 28 - Broken Hand and a Change of Plan

Saturday morning rolled around, and so far everything was going smoothly. Lucas was nervous, the kind of nervous anticipation that only kept building as Saturday drew closer, laying low in the pit of his stomach. Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, but Lucas didn't feel very comforted by it. He went through his usual motions: fumbling around for his glasses on the nightstand, washing his face, taking his Accutane and moisturising (it dried out his skin horribly) and padding downstairs to get breakfast.

Mark was already in the kitchen, blending one of his protein shakes. He woke even earlier than Lucas did, sometimes as early as five-thirty in the morning, and by the looks of the dirt tracked into the kitchen, he'd already been for a run. Lucas eyed the tracks with distaste.

"Take your shoes off in the house." Lucas said, for what felt like the hundredth time.

Mark didn't seem to hear him over the sound of the blender. "What?"

"I said," Lucas raised his voice, "take your shoes off in the house."

Mark rolled his eyes, turning back to whatever greenish-brown mixture he was concocting. "Yeah, yeah."

Lucas just left it, pulling a box of cereal out of the cupboard and pouring it into a bowl. Just as he was getting the milk, Mark spoke again.

"Hey, are you going to be, like, here tonight?"

Lucas looked up. "What? Like in the house?"

"Yeah." Mark nodded. "Because Mom and Dad are going out tonight, and I'm having Mallory over, so maybe you could just...get out of the way?"

Lucas snorted a laugh, pouring the milk into his bowl and starting to eat. "You and Mallory, then? Is this a thing?"

"No!" Mark hurried to correct him, looking abashed. "No, no, we're just friends." He sounded resigned to the fact, and Lucas made the generous choice not to tease him about it.

"Lucky for you, I'm going out tonight."

He tried not to be offended by the obvious look of surprise that crossed Mark's face. "Really? I was just thinking you could, like, stay in your room or something. But you're actually going out?"

"Yes, Mark. I am."

Mark watched him, gaze turning suspicious. "Who with, exactly? Because I'm pretty sure Mallory said Damien and a couple of their friends were doing something tonight..."

Lucas ate a spoonful of cereal so he wouldn't have to meet Mark's eyes. "I'm just hanging out with Mona."

Technically it wasn't a lie. Mark eyed him for a moment longer, then shrugged and returned to his smoothie. "Okay."

And thankfully, the conversation ended there. Lucas didn't like lying, and had never been very good at it. His phone rang, saving him from more questions about exactly what he was doing with Mona. The sound startled Lucas, and he hurried to answer it, fumbling with his phone a little before he managed to flip it over and read the caller ID. It was Alex, which was a relief. He answered.

"Hello?"

"I've got great news!" Alex said, not bothering to greet him back. Her excitement was so palpable Lucas could hear it through the phone.

"Okay, what—"

But apparently the news was so good she couldn't even wait for Lucas to ask, because Alex was already talking again. "So we had a rehearsal last night and we had to set up these new lights Mountbank is lending us. The director and this guy from Mountbank, one of the makeup girls' boyfriend I think, were carrying this big spotlight backstage, and I didn't see what happened but Lee said that when they were lowering it onto a table, they dropped it. They must've had a hand underneath to support it or something, because they dropped this super heavy spotlight on their hands. Anyway, thank god Lee's good in a crisis, because they ran to get one of the teachers who could drive them both to hospital."