Justin sighed as he sat outside the next afternoon. He had slept all morning, woken up still tired with his whole body stiff and a pounding headache. His room was too hot and stuffy to stay in so he had gone outside where he had fallen asleep in a lounge chair. At two thirty he had woken up and forced himself to move to a less comfortable chair where he knew he wouldn’t be able to easily fall asleep. He was sick of sleeping and sleeping and never feeling rested. And he was bored. He hadn’t realized how boring Shelby Forest could be when you had no energy to go anywhere.

“Mom!” he yelled, hoping she was still in the kitchen. He waited for a second and then called again. “Mom!”

The screen door slid open. “What do you need?”

“Can you get me some more orange juice?”

“Sure, hun.”

He smiled as she grabbed his empty glass and went back into the house. He really enjoyed having someone do everything for him. Maybe mono did have its benefits.

Lynn reappeared with a glass of orange juice a minute later and set it down in front of him.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I forgot to tell you, Trace called while you were sleeping.”

“What’d he say?”

“Just called to see how you were doing. I asked if he was coming down here and he said he wasn’t sure. Said he might come in a few weeks.”

Justin groaned. “I wish he was here so I’d have someone to talk to.”

“I know, hun. Brenna can help keep you company though.”

“Yeah, but do you know how hard it is to talk to her? She answers everything with like tiny little answers that leave nothing to build on.”

“You just have to get to know her better Justin.”

“I thought I did know her.”

“That was ten years ago. You can’t expect a person to not change at all in ten years.”

“So how’d she get those bruises on her arm?’

Lynn sighed. “Justin…”

“What? What’s the big deal? I just want to know.”

“It’s her own private business. If she wanted it to be your business, she’d tell you.”

“But you know.”

“I’m not going to tell you her personal business, Justin.”

He sighed. “Fine.”

“I was going to go into Memphis to do some errands. Did you need anything?”

“No.”

“Alright.” She came over and kissed the top of his head. “I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

“Okay.” He watched her leave and then went back to staring at the yard. For the next five minutes, he alternated in between drinking orange juice and picking at his fingers. When he saw Brenna coming into the kitchen, he let out a breath of air.

Finally something to do…

He stared at her until she noticed him and then slowly came through the screen door.

“You missed her by like five minutes,” he said, sitting up a little in his chair. “She went into the city.”

“Oh.”

“What’d you bring?” he asked, eyeing the bakery box she had in her hands.

“Huh? Oh, uh, just some leftovers from work.”

“Any muffins?”

“Uh huh.”

“Blueberry?”

“Yeah.” She opened the box and slid it across the table to him. “Help yourself.”

He pulled out a muffin from the box. “You gonna sit down or what?”

She sat down in the chair across the patio table from him and pulled one leg under her.

“Did you work today?”

“Mm hmm.”

“What time?”

“Six till two.”

Seriously, it’s like pulling teeth. He took a long drink of orange juice, trying to decide how he’d get her talking. “Hey, I have an idea. Let’s play a game.”

She looked him over cautiously. “What kind of game?”

“Twenty questions. You can ask me twenty questions about whatever you want and I’ll ask you twenty questions about whatever I want.”

“Isn’t twenty questions that game where you answer yes and no questions about something?”

“Kay, well that’s boring. My way’s better and more interesting.” He watched her as she sat there silently. “Come on. I won’t ask anything really hard. And you get to ask me stuff too.”

“Fine,” she relented. “But I’m not promising that I’ll answer everything.”

“Yeah, yeah. Do you want to ask me questions first?”

“I don’t know what to ask.”

“Then I’ll go first.” He took a drink of juice as he thought about what he’d ask her first. He almost laughed when he saw her face. She looked truly concerned that he was going to ask her something horrible. “What’s your most embarrassing moment?”

She blinked a couple times at his question. “Oh. Um…probably when I threw up in the middle of an assembly in grade three.”

He wrinkled his nose. “I remember that. And everyone started calling you Brenna the Barfer.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah.”

“Favorite song?”

“Probably Fear by Sarah McLachlan.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard that one.”

She shrugged. “It’s a good song.

“Favorite movie?”

“Usual Suspects.”

“That’s mine too!”

She smiled a bit. “I know. You used to force me to watch it over and over with you.”

“Oh yeah…well if it’s your favorite movie, you must not have minded it that much.”

“I guess.”

“Okay…what’s your best memory of high school?”

“Uhh…probably skipping classes with Annie and going to the general store to get ice cream.”

“Ooh, you REBEL!” he said sarcastically.

“Like there’s much else to do around here.”

“True. Best present you’ve ever gotten?”

“A laptop computer for Christmas.”

“Worst subject in school?”

“Science.”

“Best subject?”

“Math.”

“Yeah, you always beat me on math tests when we were in elementary.”

“You also never tried in math.”

“Eh. Craziest thing you’ve ever done?”

“Uh…I once hitchhiked to Memphis.”

He laughed. “Are you serious? When?”

“It was when I was like fifteen and I was pissed off at my parents so I left and got all the way to Memphis with this trucker and then I realized that I had no money to do anything there so I had to walk home.”

“Your parents must have been pissed.”

“They were. I got grounded for like a month.”

He laughed again. “That’s too funny. I can’t see you ever hitchhiking.”

She smiled. “It was actually pretty scary. The trucker that picked me up was all greasy and missing his front teeth.”

“Did he have a hook?”

“No.”

“Too bad. That would have made it even better.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Okay, next question. Um…have you ever gotten so drunk you passed out and didn’t remember anything the next morning?”

“No.”

“Are you serious?”

“Uh huh.”

“Okay…have you ever gotten so drunk you were sick the entire next day?”

“No.”

“Man. Have you ever gotten drunk at all?”

“A couple times. Not usually though.”

He pondered that for a moment. “So have you ever done any kind of drugs?”

“I’ve done some pretty hardcore Tylenol.”

He laughed. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“Good idea.”

“Have you ever broken the law?”

“No.” She paused. “Well…”

“You have to tell me. I promise I’ll try to refrain from calling the police on you.”

“Well…when I was in grade eleven Annie decided she wanted to teach me how to drive so we took her parents car and drove to the city and she let me drive around a parking lot but I got messed up and hit the gas instead of the brake and hit a parked car.”

He laughed. “Ouch.”

“Yeah. We were both freaked out so we drove away.”

“Was there damage?”

“Not to Annie’s parent’s car. The other car was kind of dented I guess…”

“You’re such a bad ass.”

“Oh yeah,” she said sarcastically.

“I think I’ll have to report you for that. I won’t be held responsible for harboring a criminal.”

“You’re just so funny.”

“I know. How many questions am I at?”

“You’ve asked thirteen.”

“Really? I guess I gotta make my last seven good then. Okay…who was your first kiss and when?”

She was silent for a long moment as he watched her. “Um…when I was twelve with Craig Schneider.”

“The one with the braises and freckles?”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, I was still living here when you were twelve. Why didn’t you tell me?”

She shrugged. “I dunno. Cause I thought you would make fun of me.”

“I would have. I mean, Craig Schneider?”

“What’s wrong with him?” she asked defensively.

“He was such a nerd.”

“He was nice. It’s not like we dated or anything. It was just a kiss.”

“Okay, next questions then. Did the kiss taste all metallic cause of his braces?”

“No!” she laughed.

“I don’t believe you,” he said, finishing the last of his juice and pushing the glass away form him. “How much money do you have in the bank right now?”

“What?”

“That’s my next question. How much money do you have in the bank right now?”

“How much do you have in the bank?” she shot back.

“It’s not your turn to ask questions,” he replied, staring at her expectantly.

She let out a breath of air. “I dunno. A couple thousand maybe. I’m not a quadrillionaire like you.”

“Is that even a word?”

She shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Okay. How much of that money is the money you scammed off me and Trace when we did your business projects?”

She started to smile. “All of it.”

He laughed. “I knew it. I should sue.”

“Go for it. I’m sure a judge would have so much pity on you.”

“You never know. Um…what’s your favorite thing to do?”

“Bake.”

“Who’s your best friend?”

She was quiet for a moment. “Your mom,” she finally said.

Her answer surprised him. “Really? That’s cool. Oh, here’s a good question. Who do you hate?”

She wrinkled her nose a bit. “I don’t want to answer that.”

“Why not? Unless the answer’s me…”

She smiled. “It’s not.”

“Then who?”

She sighed and stared at her fingers. “I don’t know. Probably…I don’t know.”

“Come on,” he pressed. “Tell me who you hate.”

“Jake Murphy,” she said quietly.

Her answer shocked him. He never even knew that she knew Jake Murphy. She sure hadn’t when he had lived in Shelby Forest. “Jake Murphy,” he repeated. “Why do you hate him?”

A tiny smile came to her lips. “Sorry, but you’ve already asked your twenty questions.”

“Oh, come on!” he protested. “You have to answer.”

She shook her head.

“You hate Jake Murphy. Since when do you guys even know each other? What’d he do to you?”

She simply shook her head again.

“Well that sucks,” he declared, pushing back his chair and getting up.

“Where are you going? I still get to ask my twenty questions.”

“I’m so tired. I don’t have the energy to answer any questions right now.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s cheap.”

A smile came to his face and he moved past her chair on the way to the door. “Come again tomorrow and I’ll let you ask me your questions,” he said and then went into the house, leaving her outside.