It was a hot, boiling summer day. That's mostly what I remember. It was hot. Even so, Jupiter and I were down at the part of the lake that jutted inland, a finger-like strip of water that remained cool and full even when every well in the city had run dry. Perkin was sick. He was always sick for the first few weeks of summer, his allergies forcing him to stay in per his grandmother's instruction. School had been out for about a month, and Jupiter was already bored. He was twelve then, a year younger than me.

The first time we met was when we were placed in the same class. Well, it wasn't the first time we'd met, but it was the first time we ever spent any amount of time together unsupervised. I was six, he was five. When recess came after lunch, everyone was surprised to find Jupiter and Perkin, one a prince and another high-born, perched up in a tree, munching away on sandwiches like the universe depended on it. Jupiter fell out. I don't remember how, only that he did.

"It doesn't hurt." He'd said, hand pressed to his elbow, where a jagged scrape had formed. "Honest." I knew he was lying, but everyone else moved on.

"You should go to the nurse." I told him.

"No!" He balked at the idea. Even then, I knew that going to the doctor and getting pricked was better then letting a cut get infected. My mind flashed to the time my younger brother, Whittel, had tripped and fallen when he was still learning to walk. The skinned knee he'd gotten at the time hadn't seemed serious, but when I'd woken one morning to find it oozing pus, that's when I figured out that hiding injuries was a bad idea.

"Yes." I said, asserting all my authority as a six-year-old. "It won't hurt." He eyed me warily.

"Promise?" He asked.

"Promise." From that point on, Jupiter counted me as a friend. I don't know why. Maybe it was just because I was the first one willing to approach him, the first one who talked to him. He'd already known Perkin when they started school. He was a prince, and even then, most people looked at him with either awe, distrust, or disgust. I guess it wasn't very fair, him being a kid and all, but he was used to it. And he'd always been good with people.

.

Anyways. We were down at the dock that day because neither of us had anything better to do. I was half-asleep, hands folded behind my head, watching a lazy dragonfly flit around on the still water. Jupiter was lying on his stomach, scribbling in a sketch book, and periodically ripping pages out, evidently not having much success in creative ventures.

"What do you want to do, Wilfred?" He asked at length.

"Nothing, it's too hot." I replied. I was hoping he wouldn't pursue the subject, but with Jupiter that wasn't a highly likely outcome.

"Surely you don't want to sit here all day," He protested.

"Why not? Do you have anything better to do?" His silence answered my question.

"No, but-"

"I mean, you can go over to Perk's if you want to." This had the desired effect. Jupiter flushed scarlet, and I was tempted to laugh at him but restrained the impulse.

"He's sick, Wilfred." Jupiter objected quickly.

"You're just afraid Glen'll be there." Jupiter opened his mouth to respond, closed it, then opened it again.

"That isn't true!"

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"You're lying." Jupiter ignored that last statement and returned to his sketching. I sat up. "Think about it. Glen is more likely to be out somewhere then there, when was the last time you actually wanted to stay home when one of your brothers was sick?" Jupiter considered this,

"Never but-"

"So why in Natalia would Glen want to stay home with Perkin, who only grows more annoying the higher his temperature goes?"

"I guess." Jupiter deflated. I could see he really didn't want to discuss it, so I closed my eyes again and didn't say any more. After a while, I opened my eyes to see my older brother, Garten, looking down at me. Jupiter had fallen asleep on his sketchbook.

"Why're you here?" I muttered. I thought he'd been with Whittel and Lucy, our younger siblings. Garten shrugged.

"Bored."

"Find a book." I suggested.

"Want to play baseball?" He countered. I sighed, and sat up.

"Where'd you stash Whittel?"

"He's at home."

"Alone?!"

"No, Lucy's there with him."

"And that's so much better."

"What? He's old enough to be home alone for a few hours."

"I don't have an issue with you leaving him, but at home? Just because you can do something doesn't mean he can. And what about Lucy?"

"It's just a couple hours. You worry too much Wilfred."

"I have to worry because you don't think."

"Harsh."

"True."

"What's going on?" Jupiter mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Was I asleep? Oh. Hi Garten." He glanced up at the sky, squinting at the sun's placement. "What time is it?" He asked, apparently to no one.

"An hour before noon." Garten responded. "Want to play baseball?"

"Sure." Jupiter agreed. I debated the options for a moment. What I really wanted to do was go and play baseball with Garten and Jupiter and whoever else we managed to round up, but leaving Whittel and Lucy at home, alone, for an extended period of time, was not something I was envisioning turning out well.

"Okay." I said, "But only if Garten goes and gets Whittel and Lucy." Garten scowled for a moment, and we had a stare-off until he finally gave in.

"Fine." He stomped off.

"He's in a good mood." Jupiter remarked. "Should we follow him?"

"Probably."

.

.

.

Even though Jupiter was my friend, that didn't mean I told him everything. I couldn't. I couldn't, for instance, explain why Whittel's spectacles were constantly bent odd or tapped together. I couldn't explain Garten's strange mood swings or seemingly random bruises and scrapes. I couldn't explain, even, why I jumped every time a door slammed or cringed whenever someone shouted. Jupiter was my friend, maybe even my best friend, but I couldn't tell him everything.

We paced after Garten, who had gotten quite a head start, Jupiter jabbering the entire way. He was always talking in some form, sometimes speaking so quickly it was difficult to understand what he was trying to say. He usually got this way whenever sports were brought up. It was why I'd been avoiding the topic since the start of summer. The big-time sports games weren't starting for another couple weeks, and I was hoping that maybe we could avoid any discussion or debate about which teams would do well and which teams wouldn't that year. But with Jupiter it was generally difficult to avoid certain subjects. I liked sports as well as any other twelve-year-old buck in the city, but Jupiter and I were on opposite sides when it came to teams.

"Let's just wait for them to meet us at the field." Jupiter finally said, as we stood outside the gate to my house. We were peering through the barred fence, up the walk and into the windows. Most were dark.

"They'll be out in a minute." I responded, certain that they would. And they were. A shout echoed across the yard, and Garten bolted across the lawn, skidding to a halt half-way to us, spitting a curse at our grandfather, and then hurrying the rest of the way. Whittel and Lucy appeared from the other side of the house. Jupiter glanced at me, but didn't ask any questions. He never did. He probably had the idea by then that something was off, not quite right.

Whittel dashed quickly across to us, but Lucy took longer. Her twisted leg impaired her and the crutch slowed her down.

"What happened?" I muttered to Garten.

"Nothing." He grumbled.

"He ran his mouth at Grandfather." Whittel replied, shoving his glasses higher up on his face. I glanced at him, a shocked look on my face.

"Last time-"

"I know what happened last time!" Garten snapped. Fear ran across his face, but disappeared a moment later. I sighed.

"Fine." Jupiter, in his impatience to get to the game, had run up the path. I followed, more than willing to leave my siblings in the dust for the time being.