I will now be using gifs in the middle of chapters because I LOVE GIFS.

Chapter 13

       Another Saturday, another brunch, another chance for my parents to grill Kenny and I about our personal lives.

       It was normal. I mean, they were our parents and wanted to know what we were up to, especially when Mom and Dad had a feeling Kenny was hiding something. I heard them talk about it once when Kenny was 'running lines'.

      I honestly tried getting him to come out to Mom and Dad, but he kept saying he wasn't ready for the reaction. He knew they were going to disagree and probably try to convince him that it was a choice.

       As soon as we were sitting at the table and eating, that was when the grilling began. "So, Kenny," Mom said. "Where have you been going to almost every day, if not every day? You're rarely home and you keep showing up right at your curfew."

       "Isn't that a good thing?" Kenny asked. "That I'm not missing curfew? I have it for a reason, and I'm not breaking it."

       And here we have Kenny who always knew how to divert the topic.

       Too bad it never worked on Mom.

       "Yes, it is a good thing," Mom said. "But I still would like to know where you're spending most of your time, because I got a call from one of your teachers telling me that you haven't been handing in your homework. I'm guessing it's because you aren't giving yourself enough time to do it. So, where have you been?"

       "Rehearsing for the play," Kenny said. 

       "You have rehearsals every single day?" Mom asked.

       "Well, no," Kenny admitted. "But my role is a big one, so I want to make sure I have it down as soon as possible. I have a cast mate helping me out. I promise I'll start doing my homework."

       "Yes, you will," Mom said. "Because from now on, you will be coming home right away after school unless you have actual rehearsals and you won't be able to go out anywhere for two weeks."

       "What?" Kenny asked. "Mom, that's not fa--"

       "I know what's fair, Kenny," Mom said. "You haven't done any homework since you started at the school, and I know you haven't just been running lines. You come home at ten-thirty, so there's no way you're doing that for hours."

       Kenny didn't say anything. He just took a bite out of his pancakes.

       "Oh, and don't forget about that hickey," Dad said.

       "It was a bug bite," Kenny said.

       "Kenny, like we've said, we're not idiots," Dad said. "We know the difference between the two."

       "Okay, fine, it was one, but that was only because of the traffic light party," Kenny said.

       "Were you drunk?" Dad asked.

       "What? No," Kenny said. "I came home sober and there's no way it could have worn off that fast. I'm a teenager. I met someone, we kissed, no big deal."

       "No big deal?" Mom asked. "You lied about it saying it was a bug bite when you could have told the truth the whole time."

       "You weren't going to react positively, Mom," I said. As much as I loved drama, I hated it when Kenny was the center of it. He was too precious to have drama come to him. "You would have just went into a long rant on how kissing will lead to someone getting pregnant and heaven forbid that happens."

       "I still don't get why he lied about it," Mom said, ignoring what I just said.

       "Mom, I just said why," I said.

       Again, she ignored what I just said. This was what happened during parental grilling. She completely ignored the other child.

       "Was it the person who you kissed?" Mom asked. "Is that why you lied about it?"

       Kenny made a stupid move and ended up hesitating. "No. No, definitely not. It was a one time thing because of the traffic light party. That's it, and I don't see why it's such a big deal."

       "Because your mother and I know you're hiding something," Dad said. "Were you....were you involved with the murders?"

       "Dad!" Kenny said. "How could you even think that?"

       "Well, I don't know what to think," Dad said. "You're out all the time, you lied about the hickey, you--"

       "So because I lied about that, I'm suddenly a murderer?" Kenny asked. "I'm not hiding anything."

       The doorbell rang through the house, thankfully for Kenny. "Why don't we go answer the door together?" Mom asked Dad before the two of them got up and walked to the door. Kenny sighed as soon as they were out of earshot.

       I leaned over so I could use a quiet voice without Mom and Dad hearing. "Just tell them," I said.

       "And risk them getting even more mad?" Kenny asked, his voice as quiet. "No way. I'm not ready yet."

       "Then you better make up an excuse as to why you've been out all day," I said. "And it better be before they keep grilling you and the truth comes out."

       "Not when I'm good at keeping secrets," Kenny said.

       "You sure about that?" I asked. "Because I talked to Grandpa yesterday. You know how he found out about you? He saw you and Calvin kiss in the village. So, you're going to want to be more careful before someone else sees, like Mom and Dad."

       "Help me think of an excuse," Kenny said.

       "I suck at thinking of excuses," I said. "You're the theater geek, the best liars in town. Think of it was acting."

       Mom and Dad soon returned to the table. "Who was that?" Kenny asked.

       "One of my co-workers," Dad said. "So, you ready to tell us what you've been doing?"

       "I, uh....I've been....Helping Horatio with the case," Kenny said.

       Sure, bring me into this.

       "Is that true?" Dad asked me.

       "Yeah," I said.

       "Kenny, why didn't you just say that?" Dad asked.

       "Because I thought you would have told me to leave it to the professionals," Kenny said. "And that it was too dangerous for a sixteen year old. I just....want to know who did it."

       Mom sighed. "Kenny, I know you do, but that is no reason to not do your homework. You still have to come home every day after school and you're not allowed to go out, but only for a week now. Not two. No more secrets, okay?"

       "Okay," Kenny said.

_______________

Woo, another update before I call it a night. :D (i just want to get to a certain chapter cx)

Annnnnnd two more chapters for the next murder....

Bruh, so next week is spring break for my siblings but eight-year-old sister has a sort of camp at the school starting at nine in the morning, so she asked my twelve-year-old sister if she could walk her there. You know what he said? "Ask Laeti. I want to sleep in during spring break."

UH, NO. I couldn't sleep in during my reading break because I still had to take them to school, and I'll still have school when they have spring break. SO YOU DO IT AND DEAL WITH IT. smh.

I HAVE SO MANY GIFS NOW. I LOVE GIFS. I have one for Horatio, a lot for Kenny, and even more for my child Calvin. :D