Diet Mocha Cola
…not long after the events in Chapter 15
Dina didn't want to cry. It's been a long time since she was in her old bedroom the one that the
former Josh used to share with Drake. They only had a month before some other family moved in
and took over a house that never should have been theirs to begin with.
Drake put her pink suitcase on the bed. "Are you sure this is all right?"
"Drake, there's a marvelous room called down the hall called the bathroom."
"Sorry. It's still new to me."
"We can still share a room. There's a part of me that can't have it any other way. We just have to
remember our differences."
Drake smiled. "We certainly have had a lot of good times in this room." He went to the mini
refrigerator to get them something to drink.
"And bad times. You broke my Kindergarten diploma while golfing INSIDE the house."
Dina sat on the sofa. She missed being here so much.
"Dina, you do realize you could've just purchased a new frame?"
Drake handed her a can of diet Mocha Cola.
"Headaches."
"Do I really still give you headaches?" Drake opened up a diet can himself because that's all that
was left in the mini fridge.
"Not really. I'm just teasing you. You're drinking a diet soda?"
"Yeah. That's all that's left." Drake replied using the paper menu from the China Star restaurant as a
coaster.
"This is the same soda from a few years ago!"
"…yeah. Like wine."
That made Dina laugh. He was trying and she was more than happy.
"I didn't know I was so funny."
"You're hilarious, Drake."
"Do you want to play the Gamesphere?"
"Sure. When are you going to find a nice girl to settle down with?"
Even Josh had that concern about Drake so it was not going to change now that she was Dina.
"I'm not looking to settle down."
Rather than harp and make her brother uncomfortable about that subject. Dina just picked up the
joystick and would stick to the matter at hand of beating Drake's ass at Alien Invasion.
"Jump the planet." Drake advised when they got to level one.
"I'll jump the planet when it's planet jumping time!"
It was good to have it all back again even if it was only for a little while.
Elsewhere
Mindy was drained. She needed to take a long hot bath. She was going to reach for the lavender
bubbles but thought better of it. Instead she grabbed the small plastic faceted diamond shaped jar
and took out a few turquoise colored bath beads and gently tossed them in the water. She took off
her clothes and put them in a neat pile in the center of the room.
All she wore was her sweet sixteen pearl necklace. It was the only thing she never took off.
She wanted to think of how to handle things when she saw a shadow on the wall.
"What are you doing here?"
Both of them could've rightly said to each other.
"Megan!" She tried to cover up her naked body in a useless attempt.
"So, why are you here?"
"I could ask the same of you."
"I needed a quiet place to think. This isn't your home anymore."
"The spare key was still—this isn't your concern."
Megan took an eyeliner pen out of her pocket in a slow motion. She knew it would scare the heck
out of Mindy.
"Relax. Like, I'd ever go to jail because of you."
She drew a harsh black pentagram on the inside of her right palm. Megan knew Mindy's narrow
mind view would automatically view it as a Satanic cult symbol when a lot of White magic
philosophies also used a pentagram or pentacle for peaceful purposes.
"Okay, well you can go now."
"Dina has a heart of gold. And she will take you back—and I HATE
you for that."
"You think she'll take me back?"
"Drake was right about you all along. You are a bitch."
Megan stormed out of the room. Her friend B.W. from the metcom chat room was picking her up in
fifteen minutes. She debated calling Dina or Drake, but then she thought the better of it. Dina was
going to have to make this decision alone and Megan despised Mindy for it.
San Diego
They were on the last of the Diet Mocha cola and were halfway through the nacho chips and onto
the pretzels that nobody liked.
"You are the best." Drake threw playfully threw his joystick down in defeat.
"I try," Dina cupped her mouth to stop a yawn, "I think I'm going to take a bath and get changed for
bed. Do you mind?"
"No, of course not." Drake figured, since he took a shower this morning, he would change in the
guest room. Just in case.
He wanted to prove that he was putting his sister's needs above his own.
"What?" Dina asked opening up her suitcase to take out her small bag of toiletries and yellow silk
pajamas.
"Nothing," Drake smiled, "Nothing."
"Well instead of sitting there grinning could you run to the Zippy Mart to get more Diet Mocha
Cola?"
"No problem. Anything else?"
"No, just the soda."
"Sure."
"Thanks, Drake."
"No problem, SIS."
Now it was Dina Andrea Nichols' turn to smile.
Later:
There was something that Dina wanted to ask Drake, but she didn't want to ruin the moment of
them sitting on the floor in their pj's (her in a light yellow silk pj set and him in a worn Zero Gravity t-
shirt and gray checkered sleeping pants) playing gin rummy.
"You win AGAIN?" Drake threw his cards down in a mock frustration.
"Do you want to play another round?" She sipped the diet Mocha Cola through a purple bendy
straw.
"I suppose," Drake shuffled the cards, "Do you miss Dad?"
"Of course. I'd like to see him someday."
"I'm sorry that he didn't come around." And to run away from the situation too seemed very un-
Walter Nichols like.
"Me too," Dina bit her lip as she put her hand on top of Drake's, "But you came around—and I'm
grateful for that."
"I'm sorry, Dina. I really can't tell you enough."
"Don't worry about it. Leave the past where it belongs in the past."
"Did you learn that from Oprah?"
"Not the point. Drake?"
"Yeah?"
She decided against it.
"Um. I think I left my Blaine Darvey DVD in your car."
Drake knew she was changing the subject. He was an expert in that. He didn't see any DVD in
there when he left to go to the Zippy Mart a while ago. But then again his car was a pigsty.
"I'll check." Drake offered.
"You don't have to do it now."
"It's okay. I'll think I'll call for a pizza. I'm still starving. Do you want one?"
"You're going to eat a WHOLE pizza?"
"…want to share a tray?"
Junk food binging was no good for Dina or anyone else on the planet for that matter. She already
lost a ton of weight while she was in the Josh body and she wanted to be a svelte woman without
the aid of liposuction or other quick fixes.
"I'll have a slice or two. You can save the rest for Megan."
They wondered where she went off earlier? She was gone for a long time.
"Fine. I'll be back."
Dina really wished she was able to tell Drake exactly what was on her mind, but she didn't want to
ruin the moment.
She decided to take a little nap before Drake came back up with the pizza.
40 minutes later
Drake dropped the pizza box outside the bedroom door when he heard Dina crying. She stopped
short at her bed. She was crying in her sleep. He knew what he had to do.
"…Dina," Drake gently shook her awake, "Dina…wake up." He brushed the hair from her face.
"..drake?" She didn't want her brother to see her like this. "I-I'm okay."
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"I-I had—not-"
"Don't say nothing."
"I just had a dream about Dad."
"Is that what you wanted to talk about before?"
"no," She let Drake wipe her eyes with the sides of his hands, "I just want to know what happened
to your guitars but I was afraid to ask."
"You don't have to be afraid to talk to me. Although, I guess I deserve it on some level. I sold most
of them to help Mom out. No biggie."
"No biggie?" Dina sat up determined to wipe her own eyes. "How can you say that?"
"Because," Drake walked away to get the pizza box from outside their room, "Music doesn't
matter anymore."
Drake couldn't mean that. Dina knew that had to be tearing up her brother inside.
There had to be something that she could do.
Drake's music was a part of him. Giving that up would be like his soul literally dying. And Dina was
not about to have that.
It was her turn.
Author's Note: I'm not pleased with this chapter. I had another version of this already started
but it got erased. I hope you guys like it.