Chapter Two
Twelve years ago…
August answered the phone. “Hello.”
“Donovan?” a female voice responded. “Wait. No, this isn’t Donovan. Who is this? And what have you done with my brother?”
August found himself smiling. Donovan had often talked of his outspoken baby sister, Sloane. “This is August, his roommate, and as far as I know, I’ve done nothing with him.”
Her sniff came through the phone. “Then why are you answering his phone?”
“You’ve been blowing up his phone.”
“No, I haven’t. I only called three times.”
“And texted three times.”
“Whatever. Why doesn’t my brother have a lock on his phone like normal people?”
His smile spread. “Can’t answer that, sorry.”
“Hmmph. Some help you are. Where is my brother, by the way? Why do you have his phone, anyway?”
“Your brother was running late to class and ran out without it. I answered in case something had happened to you or your mom.”
August didn’t know all the details about Donovan and Sloane’s parents’ relationship, but Donovan was still apprehensive about leaving them in Oakland, although he was only a few hours away in Los Angeles.
“Oh. Well, I guess that was nice of you, Month of the Year.”
She didn’t sound thrilled to be making that admission. His grin widened. “August means impressive and respected, and not just the month of the year.”
“Hmm. I’ll try to remember that,” she said, still clearly unimpressed and not willing to offer him any respect just yet. “Why aren’t you in class?”
“Because your brother and I don’t have the same class schedule. He’s a business major.”
“What are you?”
He hesitated before answering. He often saw people’s confusion when they learned his major. But he couldn’t see her, could he? “English.”
“Oh, that’s cool, but not really helpful to me in the moment.”
“How come?” August settled against his bed’s headboard.
“My brother is good in math. He likes numbers and stuff. My older sister, too, but she’s busy. I’m the family weirdo.”
“Anything I can help with?”
August blinked. He stared at the phone before bringing it back to his ear. Why the hell had he said that? Maybe because talking to her on the phone was easier and less pressure-filled than trying to carry on a conversation in person. Also, because she didn’t expect anything from him. There was no pressure to impress someone who didn’t seem to get impressed as a rule.
She sighed. “Only if you know something about quadratic equations and AP Calculus.”
“I muddled my way through that class. Let’s see if I remember anything.”
She groaned. “You’re an English major. What do you know about AP Calculus?”
“I know I passed the class, which is more than you can say at this point.”
Sloane laughed, a light musical sound that flowed through the phone and straight into his soul. “Touché, sir, touché. Then I accept your help, but if I end up failing this test, I’m going to come down to campus and kick your butt somehow. I don’t care that you play football. I’ll watch some YouTube videos first or something.”
He laughed harder than he had in a long time.