I decided to change the subject. “Did your dad leave this morning?”
“Uh, about an hour ago, I think,” Brandon said, now looking uncomfortable himself. I know he didn’t want his dad to go talk to his mom, but I had a feeling things would turn out for the better because of it. “I’m not sure what he’s going to do all day since my mom won’t be home until 5:30 or so, depending upon the line at the liquor store, but I’m sure he’ll figure something out.”
He’d just slipped that shot at his mom in there. I couldn’t blame him for it, though. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to notice it or not, so I didn’t go back to it. “Knowing Elliott, he’ll stop at a few truck stops along the way.” We both chuckled because Elliott has always been an eater, but ever since he came back from the dead, he seemed to be eating for two or three people. It was unbelievable.
“Speaking of food, are you hungry? Do you want me to fix you some lunch while you take your algebra quiz?”
I just stared at him with my mouth hanging open for so long I nearly forgot to breathe. “Quiz?” I finally asked.
He had a smirk on his face that was a huge reminder why those other girls in the locker room were talking about how cute he is. “Yeah. It’s only six questions, though. But it’s timed. Once you start, you have thirty minutes to complete it.”
“Dang it,” I muttered, eyeing my laptop like it was the enemy. “Is it hard?”
“Nah, it’s not too bad.” He was so much better at algebra than I was, though. “Just don’t forget to simplify any fractions. That’s all I missed.”
“What did you get?” I asked as he stood, heading toward the kitchen, I imagined.
“Ninety-six,” he replied. That wasn’t bad. I was considering asking him to take it for me when he said, “Cass, you’ll do fine.”
“Right,” I said with a nod. I knew he was right—I could at least pull out a B--but I hated math, and I hated quizzes. I looked around the room for a second as he started banging pots and pans in the kitchen, which isn’t super close to the living room, but apparently cooking sounds carry. “Hey,” I said, grabbing my laptop and shouting down the hallway, thinking I should’ve just used my IAC if I wanted to make sure he heard over the racket.
He heard me, though. He stepped back into the long hall that runs through the dining room into the kitchen, an inquisitive expression on his face. “Yes, dear?”
I laughed. It sort of was like we were an old married couple, and I would be the lucky wife to have her man cooking while she went off to do some work. “I’m going to go into Aaron’s office where it’s quiet.”
“Are you saying I’m too loud?” He made his hurt puppy dog face, and I laughed again.
“No, but it’s a lot less distracting in there where everything is straight and orderly. And I swear he put two layers of sound proofing in the walls.
“Won’t he get mad if he knows you’re in there?” Brandon asked. It was a legitimate question.
“He doesn’t mind as long as nothing gets moved.” I had asked him before, and while he seemed reluctant at first, he just reminded me he would notice if anything was displaced even a fraction of centimeter, and I knew that was true.
“Do you think his X-ray vision detects fingerprints?” Brandon shouted over his shoulder as he headed back into the kitchen.
I knew he wasn’t really looking for an answer or else he wouldn’t have asked while he was walking away, but that got me wondering. I’d have to ask Aaron when he got home. He had a lot of powers the rest of us didn’t have thanks to a situation with a serum Christian was working on that was supposed to turn Guardians back into humans. They already had one for Hunters, which my grandmother had used right after my grandfather passed away. But this one wasn’t quite ready yet, and if my sister hadn’t showed up in time, Aaron would probably be dead. As I sat down at his desk, I thought it sure was strange how many members of our team had saved someone else’s life, but I thought that was probably one of the reasons why everyone got along so well.
Well, not everyone. I still had to wonder sometimes what Christian was doing here. Sure, he was decent as tech guys go, but I know that Emma could replace him in a heartbeat and probably do a better job than him. He was such an odd character. Sometimes, I wished my sister would just get rid of him. And he and Elliott butted heads all the time.
I realized I needed to concentrate if I was going to do well on my quiz. Aaron’s desk only had one stack of papers on it, so I knew I wouldn’t be disturbing anything. I grabbed a scrap piece of paper from where he keeps that and a pencil and opened up my laptop. Hopefully, I’d be able to do every calculation within the program our algebra teacher uses to torture us, I mean teach us, but just in case, I wanted to be ready.
I finished the last problem with twenty-seven seconds left on the timer and closed my laptop with a loud exhale, proud of myself for getting it all done. I knew the program would grade the quiz immediately, but I wanted to wait a few minutes to check my score and just relish in the thought that I was finished. Besides, I figured Brandon would be done with lunch since he knew it would take me thirty minutes to do the quiz. It had probably only taken him half as long to complete it.