Beckoning Light (The Afterglow Trilogy #1)(4)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

Chapter Two

Kevin

It felt good to be home. It wasn’t like I didn’t like Alaska. I had met some cool people and had a good time there but, even after four years, it still felt like an extended vacation. I hoped that Charlotte felt the way I did about being back, but I sensed she was too nervous to enjoy it. As hard as I tried, I didn’t always understand my sister. When I tried to help her, she acted like I was being a jerk. I knew that I was being tough on her, but usually the best thing you could do for someone was to challenge them to step up to the plate.

Monty gave me a hard time about it, too, as we sat at the table with Liam. “Kevin, could you please give your sister a break?” He unexpectedly picked a basketball up off the floor and threw it at me.

“Hey!” I caught the ball before it hit me. “It’s for her own good. I only have a few more months to help her out.”

“I realize you’re trying to help, but maybe tone it down a little.”

“Sure, but just realize that you’re the one who is going to have to deal with it once I leave,” I warned.

“I’ll take the risk. You just need to give her some time to get used to being here; she really didn’t have much warning about the move.”

We all turned to look toward the front hallway when we heard the front door slam. Charlotte could be so dramatic.

“Do you think she’s figured it out yet?” Liam asked, looking down the hall to make sure she hadn’t come back inside.

“That we knew about this move months ago? Or that it was my idea for us to move back to Charleston?”

“Both.”

“No way. I doubt she’ll ever catch on.”

“Let’s hope not,” Monty said. “I really don’t want her worrying that we deceived her.”

“Well, we did it for her own good. You know how stressed she got about moving, no reason to give her six months to obsess. When Dad told me he had to move his research, I knew that the best thing for Charlotte was to move back here, and you know I was right.”

“I’m not disagreeing.” Monty ran his hands through his hair, a clear sign that he was stressed. “I just wish we could have prepared her better, that’s all.”

“No use worrying about it now. She was always happy here before we left, so I’m sure she’ll get used to it.”

I understood Monty’s concern, but I also knew that I wouldn’t have changed the way we had handled it. I was going away to college soon, and I didn’t want to leave her alone on some crazy research base with Dad. What kind of life was that for a teenage girl? Even Alaska had been too much for her. She had been so antisocial that I questioned whether she was suffering from depression. Charlotte had always been close to Monty, so I figured she’d rather just come home.

Liam jumped back into the conversation. “Well, she seems okay. She’s just ticked at you.”

“Yeah, but I’m still worried about her first day. Will you do me a favor and look out for her when you can?”

“Yeah, of course.” I wasn’t surprised by his response. Liam had always been a great friend, and he had known Charlotte almost as long as I had.

I finished my third slice of pizza, and the three of us headed out to shoot some hoops. Playing ball on the old driveway brought back a lot of good memories. The same weathered hoop hung from the frame, and I could still make out my name scrawled in the cement at the base. It was nice to know that some things never changed. It was fun to shoot hoops with Monty and Liam but, man, had Liam improved. Monty had told me that Liam was pretty awesome, but the guy didn’t miss a shot. I watched as he landed four three-pointers in a row.

“Whoa, Liam. Someone’s been practicing.” I didn’t try to hide the surprise in my voice.

“Yeah, well it helps when you spend all of your time hanging out with the coach. There hasn’t been all that much else to do around here, you know?” Liam paused for a moment before passing the ball to Monty.

“Speaking of practicing, have you looked over the plays, Kevin?” Monty asked.

“Yeah, and I’m not too worried. You do remember that you were my coach for eight years, right, Monty?” He laughed.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Charlotte walking toward the front of the house. It kind of looked like she had been crying, but I knew that the last thing she would want was for me to call attention to it.

After saying goodnight to Liam and Monty, I headed back upstairs to my bedroom which, much like the old hoop, hadn’t changed at all. I looked at the line of trophies on my dresser and picked up an old photo of me at one of Monty’s UNC-Chapel Hill games back in the day. I had to laugh; there I was, scrawny as anything, wearing a Tar Heels jersey. Even back then, I knew I would wear Carolina blue for real one day. As I went to sleep that night, I felt relaxed.

Sunday morning went by quickly. By the time I woke up, Charlotte was already practicing her cello. Although I’d never admit it, I didn’t mind listening because she was really good.

After a quick breakfast, I went for a run. One day away from practice and I already felt out of it. It felt good to stretch my muscles and get some exercise. I stayed out longer than I planned, and it was already lunchtime when I got home.

Charlotte and Monty were in the den watching the pre-game football commentary when I came downstairs after my shower. I could tell that Charlotte wasn’t really paying attention to the show, so I decided to ask her to walk over to Liam’s house with me.

“I told Liam we would come by today to see his mom,” I said casually. “You want to head over?”

“Oh, I’ll stop by and see Debbie while you’re at practice.”

“Why don’t we just go together?” I didn’t understand her hesitation. “Let’s go.”

Charlotte nodded, maybe realizing her plan made no sense, so we said goodbye to Monty and headed next door.

Debbie Anders opened the door on the first knock and pulled me into a big hug.

“Kevin, you are so grown up,” she said, looking up at me; Debbie wasn’t a tall woman. Then she let me pass and took in Charlotte.

“Charlotte! Wow!” Debbie gushed. “Liam told me you were gorgeous, but I can’t believe this.”

Charlotte blushed and looked down quickly. I looked over at Liam and could tell he was embarrassed. Leaving Debbie and Charlotte in the front room, I followed him back to the den.

“So you think Charlotte is gorgeous?” I joked, because it was just too good an opportunity to miss. He glared at me, so I dropped it. I figured that she probably did look really different from the last time he saw her. We sat around watching some football for a while, talking about sports mostly.