Second Chance (Cruiser & Lex, Book 2) (3 page)

Cruiser

I call in sick for work. Juice Me is one of the hottest joints in all of Miami Beach, Florida. Yeah, I’m exaggerating because my paycheck is crap, but it is a pretty cool place. But I need to be home, for Rey. Twin telepathy tells me he’s not on some vacation or break.

Mom and Dad aren’t home yet. I find Rey in the living room, watching CNN. I plop down next to him on the couch. “Sup, Rey?”

“Hey.”

He’s acting normal now. Eyes are glued to the screen like the lady is about to call out the lottery numbers. He’s got a few cans of soda on the coffee table with a bag of pretzels and an apple.

I grab some pretzels. “Whatup?”

He shrugs. “Nothing much.”

“Hmm.” I munch.

“I needed a break, okay?”

I sit up. “What do you mean?”

He doesn’t say anything, gaze still on the screen. I know he’s trying to keep his expression cool, but his jaw twitches.

“Rey, Mom and Dad will come home soon. You in trouble?”

“
No
.”

“Okay.” I hold out my hands. “Was just asking.” I grab more pretzels. “So what’s up, bro?”

He sighs and reaches for the remote to mute the TV. He still doesn’t look at me. “I…just needed a break.”

“Rey, you can’t just leave school because you need a break.”

He presses his lips together.

“Did you just hop on a plane without telling anyone?”

He clenches his jaw.

“Shit, Rey.”

His eyes jet to mine. “I didn’t come home to have you be all in my face.” He turns off the TV, gets up, and tosses the remote on the couch. “Going out.”

“Wait.” I get up, too, and go after him. “I didn’t mean to be all up in your business.”

He grabs his car keys off the table in the hall. “Is my car still in the garage?”

“Yeah.”

He reaches for the door handle.

“Rey, don’t run. Talk to me.”

He shakes his head. “I’m done talking. I need some air.”

The door slams after him. I go back to the living room and drop down on the couch. Rey’s his own person. I’m not his keeper and don’t need to look after him or worry about him. He knows how to take care of himself.

But hell. I
am
worried.

***

My parents are talking about how their day was. I dig my fork into my mashed potatoes. Rey’s been out for a few hours. He’s got places to visit, friends to see. But he’s never been out for too long. He usually spent his time studying, or practicing the violin, or at his clubs and after school activities.

His violin. He didn’t bring it home. I doubt he stuffed it into his bag. My eyes travel up the stairs and toward his room, as if searching the area. Rey’s violin is gold to him. Mom and Dad bought it for him when he was thirteen and nailed his piece at a concert. I’d say he loves his violin more than I love my cruiser ship, but no one can love anything more than I love my ship. He left it in L.A. That ain’t like him at all.

My parents are laughing at some lame joke when the door opens. Mom’s mouth drops. Dad presses a napkin to his lips, eyes wide. “Reagan?” Mom asks.

Rey sways a bit at the door. Smiles. He stands there like he’s not sure if he should come in. Like he’s an uninvited guest.

Mom jumps to her feet. She runs to Rey and throws her arms around him. She kisses him more times than any guy would admit. Dad presses the napkin to his lips again. Clearly, he’s stunned. Confused. After a second or two, he gets up and hugs Rey, too.

“What a surprise,” Mom says. She pulls him inside, shutting the door and telling him to sit as she grabs some dinner for him. Rey starts to chomp down the chicken and mashed potatoes like he hasn’t eaten anything worth crap in a long time.

“What are you doing home, Reagan?” Dad asks.

Rey stares at his half-empty plate. He scoops up some more mashed potatoes and stuffs his face. Mom and Dad wait patiently. Rey probably figures he won’t get out of this, so he mumbles, “I miss…everything.”

Mom places her hand on top of his. “What do you mean, honey?”

Rey’s lower lip quivers, a sign he’s really upset. “I don’t know. I don’t think I want to attend Kelman’s anymore.”

I fall back in my seat and stare at him. I didn’t expect this. I’ve spoken to him on the phone nearly every day. He seemed so happy. But now I get it. He wasn’t really happy. If he was, he wouldn’t have called so much.

“I don’t understand,” Mom says, eyebrows scrunched. “Why didn’t you talk to us? I know it must have been hard, but you haven’t been there a month. Adjusting to a new school, a new state, without knowing any—”

Rey drops his fork onto the table. “I miss my life here.”

Everyone gets quiet. Rey’s lip quivers again. Man, he’s really upset. He’s my twin and I get him in ways even I don’t understand. I know he’s not just having cold feet or whatever. He’s serious about this.

“Does the school know you’re here?” Dad asks

Rey twitches his mouth and lowers his gaze to his plate again.

“Reagan.” Dad’s got a warning tone.

“There’s a message for you on the machine,” Rey mumbles.

Mom goes to the kitchen. Dad follows. I keep my eyes on Rey, waiting for him to look at me. He doesn’t. “Rey.”

“No, Cruise.”

“I didn’t know you were homesick.”

He mutters something.

“What?”

His eyes flash to mine. “Look, I thought going away for school would be great. Hell, I needed to get away. But I miss everything like crazy. Why do I need to go to a music school so far away? I’ll go there for college.”

“Like they’ll take you back for college when you just quit.”

He clenches his jaw. “Whatever. I’ll go to a different music school.”

“Hey, don’t get pissed at me. I get how you feel. I felt the same way when I was in New York. But it was good for me.”

“Don’t try to lecture me, Cruise. I’m not going back. I’m finishing high school here.”

He’s got the right to do what makes him happy. And I want him to be happy. Except, that’s not so easy. Not when Lex and I are a couple. I doubt he’ll feel good when he sees us together. I don’t want to be selfish, but my relationship with Lex has been going well. Being with her in front of Rey will make me feel like a dick. The fact that I’m thinking about me instead of him makes me feel like a dick already.

Mom and Dad return to the table. Mom’s all pale, like someone died. Dad’s eyebrows are creased. “The principal called,” Mom says. “She said to call her back ASAP. Reagan?”

Rey puffs out some air. “I just…left.”

“What?” Mom and Dad say.

Rey swallows a few times. “I thought…I thought if I told you guys, you’d talk me out of it.”

“Kelman’s Music Academy is a prestigious school, Reagan,” Dad says. “We’re paying good money—”

“It’s not about the money, Gerry,” Mom says. “Reagan, you can’t just drop out of school and run home.”

Rey shrugs.

“Do you want to go back to Kelman’s?” Dad asks.

Rey shakes his head.

“Okay,” Dad says. “Let’s enroll him back into South Beach High.”

“You can’t let him quit school like that. Kelman’s is an excellent school. It can open so many doors for Reagan.”

Rey mutters something Mom and Dad don’t hear. I do, because of the twin telepathy. He said, “Now you can’t show me off to your friends.”

Mom puffs up her light brown hair. “I’m going to call Mrs. Newberry tomorrow morning and we’re going to get this all straightened out. You’ll be back there in no time.”

“Mom, did you not hear anything I said? I don’t want to go back there.”

“We’re not allowing you to quit Kelman’s.”

Rey’s cheeks blow up, his face all red. He narrows his eyes at Mom. Rey’s the good kid. Always has been. He hardly ever talked back to Mom and Dad. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s acting a lot like me.

He pushes back his chair and stomps up the stairs. The door to his room slams.

“What has gotten into him?” Mom asks.

Dad shrugs helplessly.

“Elvis.” Mom turns to me. “Do you know what’s bothering him? He needs to snap out of it and return to school. I still have time to convince them to take him back.”

“I don’t think he wants to go back to that school, Mom.”

“Of course he does. What nonsense. He was talking nonstop about it ever since he got in.” She gets up and starts collecting the plates.

“Give him a chance to cool down, Shirley,” Dad says. “It’s his first time away from home. You remember what happened when we tried to send him to summer camp.”

I remember that. We must have been around eight years old. All of Rey’s friends were going and Rey begged Mom and Dad to go, too. After only one night, he called to bring him home.

He begged me to go, too, but Lex and I planned to build a fort that summer. One made of things we found around the neighborhood. I remember how glad we were when he came back. We spent weeks working on the fort until one of the neighbors made us stop because it was too dangerous.

Rey gets homesick. He can’t be away for more than a few weeks.

“I’ll speak to him,” I tell my parents. They nod, seeming thankful.

Rey’s door’s locked. I knock. “It’s me.”

No answer.

“C’mon, Rey.”

After a few seconds, I hear movement. The door opens. For a minute, I think he might slam it in my face. But he heads back inside. I follow and sit down next to him on the bed.

I don’t say anything. Neither does he. We don’t look at each other. I reach for his stress ball, squeeze it, then toss it to him. It hits him on the thigh. “I get it,” I tell him.

“Whatever, Cruise.”

“Ever since you left, I wanted you to come home.”

He raises his head. “You did?”

“Yeah. Missed you like hell, bro.”

His lips lift in a small smile. Then he frowns. “You have Lex.”

I shake my head. “No one can replace my twin brother.”

Rey picks up the stress ball from the bed and squeezes it until his knuckles get white. “I feel so much better at home.”

I nod. “Can imagine. But you were making friends there. After some time—”

“Nah, Cruise. The kids are cool, I guess. But they’re not Derek and Jared.”

“Yeah. Sucks to miss the last year and a half of high school just to go to a prestigious school.”

His eyes light up. “Right? I didn’t get that at first. When I told Derek, he was happy for me, but also sad. I didn’t get it. But now I do. You go to a different school, and you think you’ll be tight with all your friends. But then you call them and they tell you some joke you don’t get. Because you had to be there.”

I nod.

Rey shrugs. “Seems stupid.”

“Nothing’s stupid. If you’re happier here, stay here. There will be other opportunities in the future. You are one helluva violin player. That won’t go unnoticed.”

Rey’s face looks so much more relaxed now. “See, Cruise? That’s why I need to stay here. You always know the right thing to say.”

I wave my hand.

He laughs and claps my shoulder. “Mom’s pissed, though. I mean, she’s right in a way. I didn’t give Kelman’s a real chance. But if you know something’s not right for you, why stick with it?”

“You’re having second thoughts?”

If he shakes his head any faster it’ll snap right off. “Hell no.”

I softly punch his arm. “Just be honest with Mom and Dad and tell them how you feel. I know that’s not easy with Mom, but she’s been working on listening to me. Maybe she’ll do the same with you.”

He nods. “Thanks for everything, Cruise. You’re not the jerk everyone makes you out to be,” he jokes.

I grab his head and bury it in my armpit. “It’s been years since I’ve done this, but the occasion calls for it.”

“Quit bullying me just because you’re two minutes older!” he yells, just like he did when we were kids.

I chuckle. “I got homework. We’ll talk later?”

He gapes at me. “You’re doing
homework
?”

“Yeah. Didn’t know kids actually do that shit.” I shrug.

“Oh, get out of here already.”

***

Lex opens her window and smiles at me. I moved back into this room only a month ago, but the memories fly into my head like I’ve been in here all my life. Having a room across from hers made me feel good when I first started crushing on her. I didn’t spy on her or anything, but we’d sometimes sneak out of bed late at night and shine flashlights on each other’s windows. We’d play some games like holding out objects in the dark and the other one had to guess what it was. Or whisper words the other one had to guess. Rey found out one night and demanded he be part of it. He snuck into my room. It wasn’t the same. Didn’t feel as special.