Short, but pivotal...

I could see the wheels turning in her head as she tried to break apart the confession I'd just made, not directly to her, but to someone else about her, about us. To the girl I cheated on her with. Well, I guess it wasn't really cheating, but it hurt her all the same...

Now I'd finally put a label on it, this whatever it was we had going. I admitted she was my girlfriend. What else would you call it?

The longer we sat there with her staring across the car at me and her mind going a million miles a minute, the look of wonder, of pure happiness, began to fade. She had been so mad at me minutes ago. Then she wasn't. Now it looked like she was heading that way again. Fast.

"Wait? Why were you talking to Rayanne Graff about me and why would you tell her, when you haven't even told ME, that I'm you're girlfriend?" Her face reddened and she huffed indignantly. "I mean, why would it even matter to her if we were together? Unless she didn't want us to be together?"

"I dunno," I muttered, bringing my thumb to my mouth, chewing on it nervously.

Why was I nervous? I hadn't done anything wrong. And why was she mad again? Because I wasn't even trying to talk to Graff. She walked up to me, no the other way around.

"You said you didn't even like her. But you were standing with her at your locker." She ran her hand over her face and let out a strangled laugh. "I bet you weren't even talking to her about us. That's just what you told me so I wouldn't get mad at you. And stupid me, here I am thinking that..."

As she rambled on and on about how she thought I wanted to be with her and how she thought I'd changed, I started blocking her out. I had just told her that she was my girlfriend. For me, that was huge. Me admitting that I wanted to be with her and only her was huge. I've never really had a girlfriend before.

Wasn't that enough for her? I was trying here and she was still yelling at me. None of it made sense.

She said something about how she was stupid for letting her feelings get in the way. She should have just stayed away from me instead of falling for me all over again. When would she ever learn? She should have just let me go.

I couldn't listen to her tell me that being with me was a mistake, so I did what I always did when she wouldn't shut up; I leaned across the seat and kissed her.

That effectively stopped the flow of words from her mouth. Her hands came up to twist in the fabric of my t shirt. She held on to me when I started pulling away. Her lips clung to mine. When her eyes came open, there was a definite haze to them.

Keeping my face close to hers, I said, "Ang, Graff is not a problem."

"But, Jordan, she..."

I covered her mouth again, drawing her bottom lip between my teeth and biting gently. She sighed into my mouth and relaxed against me. Maybe I didn't know that words to say to her, but I had no problem speaking to her this way. This was easy.

This time when I pulled back, I wrapped my fingers around hers. "Come on," I said, reaching behind me for the door handle.

She let me pull her from the car before she started to protest. "Jordan, your mom is home, isn't she?"

Holding her hand firmly in mine, I walked up the driveway. She had no choice but to follow. Her hesitation came from the fact that I'd never brought her here. Ever. She knew very little about my home life. I'd left it that way on purpose. Now I was thinking maybe she should know.

"Yeah. It's okay." I stopped outside the back door and smiled down at her. "Relax, Ang. Isn't that what you always tell me?"

"But, Jordan," she said, her eyes wide, "it's your MOM."

I kissed her cheek and squeezed her hand. "So? She doesn't bite."

I pushed the door open and tugged her inside with me. Ma froze when she caught sight of Angela, holding a mixing bowl in the air halfway to the open cabinet. Angela clung to my hand and moved closer to me.

When Ma got over her shock at seeing a girl standing in our kitchen, she put the bowl away and turned to face us. "Jordan, shouldn't you be at school?" she asked, glancing to Angela.

Instead of answering, I slid my free hand into my coat pocket and pulled out the test I'd put there earlier. "Here," I said, holding it out to her. "I don't have anything else today."

She took the test and scanned over it before folding it neatly and holding it in her hand. "I thought you had English?"

"We did, Ma, but we have a substitute." I glanced down at Angela who was standing as still as a statue. "This is Angela. We're going to hang out here until I have to go to work this afternoon."

"Okay," Ma turned back to the dishwasher and started pulling plates out to stack them on the counter. "Not in your bedroom, Jordan."

"Geez, Ma. I know." I moved across the room with Angela on my heels toward the den. I could hear Tom and Jerry on the TV as we got closer. "Joey," I called, as we entered the room. "Can we watch cartoons with you?"

"Joey?" Angela asked, speaking for the first time since we'd walked into the house. "Your friend is here?"

I chuckled, stopping in the middle of the floor as my Joey rounded the corner. I let go of Angela's hand as he launched himself at me. Hiking him up onto my hip, I turned him to face her.

Instead of the smile I expected to see on her face, her mouth was hanging open. Her porcelain skin was paler than normal. I frowned, looking from her to Joey and back.

"Jordan, is he..." she started, in a strangled whisper.

That's when it hit me. I didn't know whether to be hurt or amused. I mean, I know he looks like a miniature version of me, with the long hair and all, but I never expected her response.

"No!" I exclaimed, reaching for her hand again. "Angela, he's my little brother."