If Only I Knew

When I finally got home and threw my book bag on the floor in front of the kitchen I still couldn't shake how weird Dustin was being to me in Science class. As I walked down the hallway to detention, I had this really creepy feeling in my chest. It was that same creepy feeling I used to get about Dirk when we first started liking each other. But I could never feel that way about Dustin Broke. The poor kid whose mom can barely afford for them to live in that tiny house so he has to steal and sell car parts to help with mortgage? Yea, right. That whole bad boy gone good thing is just an act. He's only doing it so my dad will let him date Angela. Straight A's? Please! He copies Angela's homework every night! And the only reason he's captain of the football team is because his mom is dating the coach. He's such a phony loser! I don't see how Angela can stand to be around him, much less date him. Just as I proceeded to stuff five cookies in my mouth at once, Angela ran in house looking very confused and lost. Normally, I don't really care about what's happening in my sister's life, but after the day I had, I just hoped that whatever she did, she'd get in trouble for it.

"Did Dustin break up with you, again?" I stuffed more cookies im my mouth. Angela just looked around the room in a panic. Then she ran into mom and dad's room and ran back to the kitchen.

"Earth to Angela," I said as she stumbled around the kitchen looking through random drawers. "Do you need help?" She finally stopped to take a breath.

"Do you know where mom and dad are?"

"Mom went grocery shopping and dad's still at work. What's up?"

"Why won't either of them answer their phones?" She started fishing through the drawer again. "Where's a marker and some paper?"

"The third drawer. Are you running away or something?" I was getting tired of being ignored.

"Or something. Look, I need to go Dustin's house for a minute, okay? If mom and dad come home, tell them I went to the library." She shut the drawers and started texting on her phone.

"I knew it! You are running away."

"Just tell mom and dad, please. I'll explain when I get back."

"Sure." There wasn't anything else I could do.

Whe mom walked in at about seven o clock that evening and saw me sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of macaroni and cheese, the first thing she asked was,

"Where's your sister?" She didn't even seem to mind that I was eating the last box of mac n cheeese or explain why it took her three hours to go grocery shopping and not bring any groceries.

"At the library."

"It's closing soon. How is she getting home?"

"She has a ride." I took another spoonful of mac n cheese.

"From who?"

"How should I know? Maybe you should check your voicemail. Angela said she called you and you never answered."

Mom checked her phone and surely enough she had seven missed calls from Angela and a voicemail.

"Why would she..." Mom stopped mid-sentence to listen to her voicemail. After that, she sat down and started calling my dad.

"What's going on?"

"Dustin got into a fight with Brandi's boyfriend and got kicked out of the house. She's at the train station with him."

"Why are they...?" I started to ask but then mom was talking to dad already.

"Daniel, can you please pick up Angela and Dustin from the train station? No, bring them both here. I'll explain when you get home. Okay, bye."

I asked my question again. "Why were they at a train station?"

"Dustin's aunt lives in Veronaville." I nodded, then I asked my real question.

"Is Angela gonna get in trouble for this?" Mom stood up from the couch and started walking to the kitchen. "We'll see."

What kind of answer was that? We'll see? It's not like I asked her if we could get a puppy or if I could get a tattoo. If I had done the same thing, There would be no question as to whether I'd be in trouble or not. I'd be grounded before I even got home.

After dad brought Angela and Dustin back, they made me go upstairs. But it's not like I couldn't hear through the air vent in the bathroom, anyways.

From what I could hear, Dustin got into an argument with coach Smith after he hit his mom on the butt right in front of him and Beau. Dustin told him to leave his mom alone. The coach told him to lay off or he'd extra push ups tomorrow. Dustin pointed out that he couldn't make him do anything. Coach said, "If I become your new father, I will." That's what sent Dustin off the handle. He jumped up and got in the coach's face. Brandi sent Beau to his room. Then Dustin asked his mom if she would marry this scumbag. And the coach punched Dustin in the mouth for it. They then wrestled for about six minutes before Brandi could get to a phone and call the police. Dustin snatched the phone and hung it up after he got out of a headlock with Coach Smith. When the dust settled, coach told Brandi that Dustin is bad blood and needs to be taught some manners. Then he threatened to press charges against him. Brandi almost went crazy from how Dustin tells it. She told coach if he ever tried to do anything she'd press charges against him first. Coach got angry and left through the back door, slamming it as loudly as possible. She tried to send Dustin to his room but then he asked her if she was pregnant. She turned around and didn't face him. This made him so angry that he went up to his mom, lifted her off the ground, and asked her was she out of her mind to sleep with the coach. She immediatley slapped him and kicked him out of the house with not so much as a toothbrush. That's when he called Angela.

All my parents wanted to know was why she couldn't stop by dad's office at Lakeview High and ask for him. Her excuse: a bunch of tears followed by and, 'I thought you would be mad.' And they actually bought it. Maybe I should try that sometime. My parents agreed to let him spend the night, on the couch, until they can call his aunt and make arrangements. He was only permitted to use downstairs bathrooms and could only ask Angela or me if he needed something from upstairs. I didn't hear anything else after a minute, but before I could get up I heard a very loud male voice behind me.

"Is this where the towels are?" Dustin, of course. I stayed frozen and silent for a moment, trying to think of a reason to have my face so close to the ground.

"Yea, as soon as I find my...there it is!" I stumbled off the floor and brushed off my jeans. "I had to find my earring."

"It took you two hours to look for it over top of the air vent above the living room?" I was astonished.

"How did...?"

"I saw you, Lilith." For the second time in one day my face turned tomato red. I needed get him out of there. I grabbed a towel from the shelf and threw it at him.

"You better get downstairs. No boys allowed, remember?"

"Right," he said fumbling the towel in his fingers. Then he looked up at me. "I guess I'll see you at breakfast."

"I guess you will." Finally he left and my face turned back to normal.

I had never been so embarrassed about eavesdropping in my life. It was the only way I could get information about what was happening with my parents. For most of my life, it was no big deal. But after what had happened I felt too ashamed to ever do it again. I was so embarrassed, I want to crawl into a whole. Who was this boy sleeping on my couch? Thought I knew him as that egotistic, troublemaking, con artist my sister was in love with. But at that moment I really didn't know him at all. The thought of him being persuasive enough to embarrass me, Lilith Pleasant, who has put fear in the eyes of nerdy teachers and football players alike with a simple glance, was horrifying. I didn't want to feel like this, but I did. I don't even remember sleeping that night. I couldn't stop trying to figure this guy out. If only I knew who he really was.