Chris was sitting in his room when there was a soft knock on his door.

"Come in," he said. His sister poked her head in the door, and Chris smiled at the sight of her. Her blonde hair was in a long ponytail, and her glasses made her look even smarter than she was. "What's up Jane?" Their identical blue eyes searched each other's for a moment before she spoke.

"He's...I saw his car...and I want to be with you," she smiled nervously.

"Okay. You can help me with this stupid summer placement work. If I don't get it all done, I can't do honors classes next year," Chris explained.

"Oh, right. Well, what is it?" Jane sat down next to him.

"Physics," Chris pushed the book over so she could see it, "Now, how do I find the final velocity?"

"Vf squared equals Vi squared plus two A D," Jane rattled off automatically. Chris scribbled it down furiously, and she smiled softly. "Chris, I'm so proud of you. After Dad, Frank and Rich, there is a lot of negative pressure on you. I don't have to tell you what everyone thinks of us, you already know. I had to work so hard to be taken seriously, and I'm sorry to say that you will have to work even harder because you're a guy-" her voice faltered as she heard the front door slam, "And I know you'll show them all-"

Heavy footsteps thumped up the stairs, "Louise!"

"Where's mom?" Chris whispered.

"She took Jenny to Aunt Cathy's," Jane told him.

"Where the hell are those damn kids?"

Jane put her arm around Chris and winked at him.

"What the hell are you doing?" their father burst in, crazy drunk.

"Just helping Chris with his placement work," Jane said calmly. Their father stared blankly at her. "...Because Chris is going into honors next year..."

"Great, now I'm gonna have two wise asses," he took a swig from the bottle still in his hand.

"Three, if you count you," Jane informed him, "Oh, that's right...you're not wise, you're just an ass!" Chris groaned, he knew she was bringing it upon herself, but that was just her nature. She was always like that.

"Shut your mouth!" Mr. Chambers backhanded his daughter and she fell back. Her hand went to her mouth, which was bleeding. He went to kick her when Chris spoke up.

"Leave her alone." It was quiet and calm, but his eyes were incredibly intense.

"You stay quiet or you'll get it too!" He punched Chris right in the face, which caused his nose to start bleeding. Their father took his belt off and whipped Chris with it. He kicked Jane, who was still on the floor, and then walked out of the house.

"You okay?" Jane crawled over to her brother.

"My nose is bleeding," Chris said, gently moving his hands away from his face.

Jane ran into the bathroom and got toilet paper. "Here," she handed it to him.

"Your lip is bleeding," Chris mumbled through the toilet paper. Jane shrugged and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

She smiled, "Did I ever tell you that you're my favorite brother?"

"Does this mean you'll help me do my summer placement work?"

"You bet."