Free Live Through This by Mindi Scott

just . . . can’t.”
    “Because . . . ?”
    “Ummmm,” she says, dragging it out for about five seconds. “Because maybe they gave me Mountain Dew instead of Seven Up at the restaurant?”
    I make a growling sound in my throat. The triplets are so not allowed to have caffeine. “You should have said something.”
    “But I never get to drink Mountain Dew.”
    “And there’s a good reason for that. Remember when you and Jacob drank all that Dr Pepper and ended up running into each other and getting bloody noses?”
    “That was a long time ago!”
    “Not that long.” My phone’s on silent mode—not even vibrate—so I won’t know when Reece texts back until I check the screen. “I’m going to sleep. So that means, don’t talk to me anymore.”
    “Fine.” She flips over so that her back is to me.
    Pulling out my phone again, I tent the blankets over my head to hide the backlight while I check for messages. Nothing yet. I wait in text purgatory, keeping my head under the covers. Two minutes. Three minutes. Four.
    Maybe Reece went to bed. I mean, he’s leaving Kenburn to drive here in less than six hours so he does need to be asleep. But did he think my text was weird? I can’t believe that I told him I was “ready to aim.” It sounds way better in the song.
    Five minutes. The red light flashes. Finally.
Reece: My song is by Ash, and yes, I meant it. I think you might have stumped me with your quote. :)
    I smile at the little face.
Me: Yay! First time ever! It’s “See You Again” by Miley Cyrus and I meant it too . . . only in a nice way instead of an assassin way. :)
Reece: Awesome! I wondered. Good night, Coley. See you soon.
Me: Good night Reece. <3
    Feeling around on the wall for my charger, I accidentally knock a magazine off the nightstand, and it hits the floor. Emma’s body jolts and she takes a loud inhale like I’ve startled her awake. Such a faker. “Now you’re waking me up!” she says. “Who were you texting? Your boyfriend?”
    I lean over the edge of the bed and plug in my phone. “That was Reece. A boy who’s my friend.”
    “But he wants to be your boyfriend instead. And you want him to be, right?”
    It’s perfectly normal that a boy might drive to Canada to stay the night with a girl and her family simply because they’re friends. I know it. But I’m sure that that is not what’s happening here. I want something more with Reece. I’m almost positive that he does too.
    I don’t answer Emma’s question. I close my eyes and take super-slow, loud breaths in and out through my nose to try to trick her into thinking I’ve drifted off.
    She doesn’t fall for it. “At dinner when Jacob called Zach a ‘pussy fart’ and Zach threw a piece of sweet-and-sour chicken at him and Mom made us all trade chairs, how come Bryan said, ‘It’s like living with chipmunks’?”
    “He said ‘ The Chipmunks,’ ” I say. “Like from the cartoon and those dumb movies.”
    “I don’t get it.”
    “You know how on Alvin and the Chipmunks , everyone is always yelling Alvin’s name like we’re always yelling Jacob’s? I think that’s what he meant. Plus, Jacob’s loud and gets all the attention just like Alvin, right?”
    “But Bryan didn’t say it was like living with Alvin. Doesthat mean he thinks Zach and me are Chipmunks, too?”
    “I don’t know, Emma. I don’t think he put a lot of thought into it. But Zach’s sarcastic and brainy, so he’s like Simon, right? And you’re like Theodore, the cute, sweet one. So it fits.”
    “I guess so. But I don’t want to be a Chipmunk with Jacob and Zach. I have to do karate and soccer because of them. And every year at school, I never get to be in my own class because they can’t get along and there’s only two teachers for every grade. I’m always stuck with one of them.”
    She switches back and forth between being Jacob’s sidekick and nemesis so much that I never realized she feels this way. “Forget I