Chapter 1
"Megan…" Josh growled. He was standing in his driveway, soaking wet from head to toe.
A second-story window opened above Josh's head. His eleven-year-old step-sister, Megan, stuck her head out the window. "Ha…ha!" she said, pausing between the two syllables.
"Megan…" Josh growled again. He stared up at his sister, who stared back. Out of the corner of his eye, Josh spotted a rock that could easily fit inside his hand. Still looking up at Megan, he bent over and picked up the rock. Josh drew back his arm, and released the rock.
Megan let out a gasp, and slammed the window shut. It was really very lucky for her, because just at that moment, the rock hit the window. It was really very unlucky for Josh, because when the rock hit the window, it cracked.
A moment later, Josh's father and stepmother ran out of the house. "What happened?" asked his father.
"We heard a noise!" his mother exclaimed.
They both looked up at the broken window. As if being controlled by some invisible force, they turned to Josh at almost the exact same time.
"Josh…did you break the window?" asked his father.
"It was only because Megan threw water balloons at me!" said Josh.
Megan walked out of the house and stood next to her parents. She stared up at the window, wide-eyed. "What happened here?" she inquired.
"You know what happened here," Josh said, through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" asked Megan.
"Megan," said her mother, turning on her. "Did you throw water balloons at Josh?"
"Of course not!" Megan said, looking as innocent as she sounded.
"Megan?" said her mother.
Megan began to cry. "I only did it because he tried to throw a rock at me," she said between fake tears.
Yet again, Josh's parents turned to him, under the control of that invisible force.
"You actually believe her?" Josh asked, unable to believe that his parents were siding with Megan.
"Well, you did throw the rock at her," said his mother, as if that settled the matter.
"But why would I throw a rock at her in the first place?" Everybody's eyes turned to Megan.
"How am I supposed to know why he threw a rock at me?" She turned around and walked back into the house.
Josh's parents focused their attention back to Josh.
"Aw, come on!" he said.
"So you have to pay for it?" Drake asked, picking up his guitar off his bed.
"Yeah," Josh said, "And it costs five hundred bucks, too."
"Ew," said Drake. "Well, at least you aren't saving up for anything." Drake knew what he was saving up for. It was a giant amplifier for his guitar and it cost more than twice as much as he even had.
"Yeah, but still…Stomach aches…She gives me stomach aches!"
"Josh…everything gives you stomach aches," Drake pointed out. He sat down on the couch in the room the boys shared, with his guitar.
Midway through his song, he stopped and stood up.
"What's the matter?" Josh asked his brother.
Drake reached under the cushion with one hand, still holding his guitar by the neck with the other one. He pulled out a can of something, and smelled it. "Air freshener?" he asked, looking questionably at Josh.
"I was wondering where that went," Josh said, looking up from his trigonometry homework. He set his textbook, calculator, and pencil down on his bed where he was doing his homework and walked over to the couch.
Drake took a deep breath. "Ew," he muttered. He pressed the nozzle of the can forward and sprayed air freshener in circles around Josh's head.
"Give me that!" said Josh firmly, and snatched the can away from Josh.
"Well at least you smell spring fresh," said Drake, making a point.
"Stomach aches…You give me stomach aches!" He stormed back to his trigonometry homework.
"I swear," said Drake, "Everything gives you stomach aches." He picked his guitar up again and began to play.
"Drake, did you remember to do your homework?" asked Mrs. Lawson, Drake and Josh's trigonometry teacher, the next day in school.
"Yeah, I got it right—" Drake replied, reaching into his back pocket. "—Here," he finished, handing Mrs. Lawson a crumpled up piece of paper.
"Thank…you…" Mrs. Lawson replied, flattening out the piece of paper.
At the end of class, after the bell rang, as Drake was leaving the room, Mrs. Lawson said, "Drake, may I have a word?"
"Sure," Drake replied, stepping out of the line to the door and walking up to Mrs. Lawson's desk.
"Drake," she began, "I am very impressed. You got every problem on last night's homework correct. Actually, just the fact that you did your homework impresses me. You're smart, you really are. You just need to try harder."
For a moment, neither teacher nor student said anything.
"Well, that's it," said Mrs. Lawson. "You may go to class now."
"Hey Josh," said Drake as he passed his brother in the hall on the way to his locker. "Thanks for the homework!" Before Josh could tell him off for copying his homework at all, with his permission or not, Drake had rounded the corner and was out of sight.
Sometimes Josh could get really annoying when it came to schoolwork. He was so obsessed with getting good grades, it was like he didn't care about the things that really mattered, like video games, or music.
It was in English class that Josh began to give Drake a lecture on schoolwork. He was interrupted around the "The point is, Drake, that it's wrong."
The classroom door opened and the principal walked up to where Drake and Josh were standing. At first, Drake thought that he had gotten caught copying Josh's homework, but then, to his surprise, the principal walked up to Josh instead.
"Josh," he said, "Come with me."
"Sir, did I do something wrong?" asked Josh, his voice slightly shaky.
The two left the room, but Drake, unable to come up with any other reason for the principal coming to personally take someone away, assumed that he was in trouble.
About time, too, Drake thought, smiling.
