Casting - Volume 1.1: Drained

  *

  I came in through the kitchen because I knew that my parents were in the living room and I really wasn’t in the state of mind to interact with them. However, the moment I entered the house, I regretted the decision.

  My older brother, Corey, was sat at the kitchen table, eating something that was stinking up the entire room. I hated Corey. I know that’s a shitty thing to say about your own brother, but it was the truth. He was an entitled douchebag who had no consideration for anyone but himself… and a college dropout, to boot.

  ‘Where the fuck were you?’ was his greeting to me.

  Where I was was none of his goddamned business and, ordinarily, I would have told him just that. But I was too exhausted to pick a fight, so I just answered drily, ‘At Grant’s.’

  I gritted my teeth when I saw Corey pull a face at my answer. Did I mention that he was a homophobic asshole also? I've lost track of the number of punches I've thrown at him after hearing him call Grant a “faggot”.

  Luckily for us both, our mom walked in before he could make any comments.

  ‘Ryder, it’s after midnight,’ she said sternly. ‘Do you realize how late past curfew you are?’

  This was a fight I didn’t want to have. Had it been my dad, I was pretty sure it would have gone on, but it was super easy to pacify my mom – look at Corey, for crying out loud.

  ‘I know, Mom. I'm sorry,’ I said, planting a firm kiss on her cheek. ‘It won’t happen again.’

  Of course it would but, like I said, it was super easy to win her over, and her beaming smile confirmed it.

  ‘Well, off to bed now,’ she admonished, though her voice had lost its earlier sternness. ‘And you’d better cover up that hickey for school tomorrow. I'd rather not be called in to the Principal’s office for any reason.’

  At that, I saw Corey do a double-take, and then frown deeply at the hickey. It didn’t take me long to realize that we was trying to reconcile the tell-tale mark on my neck with my declaration that I'd been over at Grant’s house. I almost laughed out loud at the thought of how worked up Corey would get at the idea that his own flesh and blood might be gay. Hmm, I could actually have a lot of fun with that. I wondered if Grant had any gay magazines that I could borrow and leave lying around the house.

  I pulled out my phone to text him about it at once, but only a blank screen greeted me. The stupid battery had died completely. It was just as well, I figured. Grant had enough on his plate, taking care of Ness tonight. I also had more important stuff to deal with at the moment.

  After a really long, too-hot shower, I sat myself at my desk in my room, powered up my laptop, and grudgingly got to work on my Geography report.