Sarah Madison looked up as she saw her older brother come in. He sat down opposite her, and just looked at her. "What?" She asked.
"Nothing...just...ummm..how are you doing?"
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Mom said if I don't get my math grade up she's going to make me spend weekends getting tutored. It isn't my fault I have a social life to keep up...and when am I going to use this stuff anyway? I bet she isn't sitting around at work all night doing algebra."
"Look, I'm not a big fan of math either, but...it's just something you have to get through," he said. "Like going to the dentist."
She looked at him sincerely. "Thanks. Doesn't help, but thanks." Jon found it easy to slip into the role of older brother...Sarah as his younger sister and Zoe had something in common...they were both bratty at times. But...Sarah seemed to have a lot more affection for him than Zoe showed...at least most of the time. "Mom left something in the fridge for us to warm up for dinner. She said pizza too many nights isn't good for us."
He sighed. "Do you ever...wish you were someone else?"
"I wish I had a less dorky big brother all the same," Sarah said. "But, as long as I'm stuck with you... "
"I meant...you...."
"Yeah...someone who already passed algebra," she said.
"I'm serious...if you could trade places with anyone you've met...who would it be?" Jon asked, curious.
"Weird, but..." she thought about it.
"Not the Head Cheerleader?" He asked.
"Adele McMillan? Yuck...I mean...I'd like to be rich...but...cheerleading?" Sarah said. "If I were trying out for anything, it would be like a real sport...or even the school play..."
"Since when did you get interested in theater?" He remembered Sarah before making fun of the drama geeks...and she definitely liked cheerleading.
"I'm already a great actress...I fool Mom all the time," she said.
"I think I'm going to do my own homework and go to bed early," Jon said.
"Again? Are you sick or something?"
"No..."
"Are you sneaking out? Because...if you are, then why did you tell Mom when I snuck out last month?"
"I'm not sneaking out. I just have been waking up early..." he said. Speaking of which, he needed to meet Tina before 4AM.
Sarah looked at him suspiciously, deciding she would have to find out what he was hiding. She knew it was something. She wasn't going to sell him out to their mother...but it would be good having a little leverage on her big brother, who never broke any rules. Something their mother reminded her of all the time. As if Jon was perfect.
