Disclaimer: (I forgot one of these) I don't own any of the characters.
Chapter 2
"Congratulations!" was what Drake entered the house hearing. He had just come back from practice with his band, and hadn't come home yet since school.
Josh hadn't been in History that day so he had still been in the principal's office. Drake figured he must have gotten in a lot of trouble to be kept there for so long. Even Drake hadn't been there for that long, and he got in a lot of trouble.
The "congratulations!" from his parents hadn't been for Drake, however. It had been for Josh, as Drake soon figured out, based on the way his father were beaming at Josh and the hug his mother was giving him. Drake couldn't quite figure out why his parents would be praising his brother for getting in trouble, even if Josh was so good and they had paid him to get in trouble, but no one in their right mind would do that.
"What happened here?" asked Drake, setting his backpack and guitar case on the floor next to the kitchen.
"Josh has just been accepted to North Star Academy!" said his mother, sounding excited.
"Oh," said Drake. He turned around and started back to his guitar and backpack.
"Well aren't you going to conratulate me?" Josh asked, causing Drake to turn around.
"No," said Drake, and went upstairs. He set his guitar on his bed gently and threw his backpack into a corner.
Drake had just sat down on the couch with a bag of chips when Josh opened the door, right on queue.
"Drake, what's wrong?" asked Josh.
"Nothing," Drake replied. "I'm just playing video games."
"I thought you'd be proud of me," Josh continued. His voice was soft.
"I am," said Drake, but he sounded like he didn't mean it one bit.
Josh walked over to the couch and stood in front of Drake, who sat up and leaned around his stepbrother in order to still see the television. Josh stepped in front of him again, so Drake just turned the other way.
"Did I mention it's a boarding school?" Josh asked, hoping this would get Drake's attention.
It did. Drake stood up, practically dropped his game controller, and shouted, "Hug me brother!"
The two jumped at each other, quickly hugged, and then stood there for a moment.
"So you're going to be staying at school all the time?" Drake asked, hopeful.
"Well, I'm coming home for Christmas and over the summer," Josh responded. "But only if I decide to go," he added quickly.
"What?" Drake said suddenly. "No, Josh, you worked hard to get accepted. You should go."
"You really think I should?" Josh inquired.
"Yeah. Totally." Drake patted him on the back as they walked to the door.
Josh walked downstairs to tell his parents his decision. Drake closed the door behind him and punched the air in a victorious way. He inhaled deeply. He was going to enjoy having his own room, he felt certain. Sure, there were downsides to not having Josh around; for one thing, he couldn't copy Josh's homework. Drake was popular, though, and he felt as if he would have no trouble finding someone else's homework to copy. Also on the plus side, Josh wouldn't be around to lecture Drake on everything he did wrong. Yup, Drake was starting to like this North Star Place.