“No.” Elliot responded far too quickly, and I laughed. He was probably terrified. We always tried to outdo each other on April Fools’ Day, and Elliot usually got the raw end of the deal. Admittedly, the kid was an evil mastermind, so it was only a matter of time before he got his revenge.
“Just think, we could combine our prank powers and come up with the best prank ever.”
“Maybe,” I replied.
“And I’m sure she’d like to be included in our annual tradition.”
“Perhaps,” I said. “I’ll have to think about it.”
Elliot grinned as though he knew I was going to agree. I honestly wanted to think about it though. I was trying to get Clary to like me, and I didn’t want to upset her. Perhaps she’d be offended if she wasn’t included though. Why did girls have to be so complicated? If it were the other way around, and she was trying to get me to fall in love with her, a good prank would be a great way to impress me.
“Have you seen her today?”
“Not since breakfast.”
I nodded. “Yeah, me neither.” I didn’t like that Clary seemed to feel uncomfortable leaving her room during the day. She was welcome to make herself at home wherever she wanted in the house.
Elliot’s lips lifted in a knowing smirk. “Why? Do you miss her?”
I rolled my eyes. “No.”
“You totally do,” he replied. “You love her.”
“No, I—”
“Clary and Aiden sitting in a tree…”
I threw the ball at him a little harder than normal, and he laughed as he pulled it into his chest with a thud.
“You’re dead,” I shouted as I started running toward him.
Elliot let out a dramatic scream and turned to run away from me. My brother wasn’t quick at the best of times, but his laughter seemed to be slowing him down. I easily tackled him to the ground and started tickling him. Tears leaked from Elliot’s eyes as he laughed and squealed for me to stop.
“Okay, okay, I yield,” he shouted. “You and Clary aren’t in the tree.”
I laughed and rolled onto my back to stare up at the sky. We were both panting for breath and had matching smiles on our lips. It had been a while since we’d messed around like that. I’d gotten so busy with school and football this year everything else had taken a back seat. Had it really taken a pandemic for me to realize I didn’t spend enough time with my brother?
A raindrop splashed onto my face as I lay on the grass, and I realized it was probably time to head back inside. I rolled over and got to my feet before helping Elliot up. “We should do that again soon.”
“Yeah?”
I tousled his hair and nodded. “Yeah.”
Elliot grinned as he turned to walk inside. I went to follow him, but as I looked up at the house, I noticed Clary in the window of her bedroom. She was curled up on the seat that overlooked the garden with a book clutched to her chest and a smile on her face as she looked down at us. The moment I caught her watching she immediately turned away. She focused on her book, pretending like she hadn’t seen us at all.
My chest swelled with a feeling of warmth though. Clary had definitely been watching us, and it had made her smile. I may have chickened out when it came to having a real conversation with her today, but that smile felt like an opening. Maybe my chances with her weren’t as slim as I thought.
9
Clary
It was surprising how quickly time passed while I was stuck in lockdown in the Moore household. Days passed without any news about my parents’ return, and before I knew it, a whole week had gone by. Mom and Dad contacted me frequently to talk, but it seemed that getting home was going to take slightly longer than they first expected. I worried about them terribly, but at least I didn’t completely hate my existence here.
Yes, I was living with the world’s most persistent flirt, but his mom was so nice and his little brother cracked me up. I was also starting to notice some moments when Aiden didn’t seem all that bad. I’d caught him playing catch with his little brother outside the other day. The way they had both smiled as Aiden tackled Elliot to the ground to tickle him was one of the cutest things I’d ever seen.
I was also growing used to Aiden’s constant flirtations,