Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5

Chapter Thirteen: Do You Believe In Anything?

Just so we're clear, I had no intentions of calling Joshua to tell him what happened. But because I'm dumb, I went ahead and did it anyway against my better judgement.

"You sound nasally. Are you sick?" He asked.

"Not exactly. Can you come pick us up?" I glanced at Nora. She was chewing the strand of her necklace as she sat beside me in the school parking lot.

"Us? Who's with you?"

I groaned. "Josh, I don't have time for Twenty Questions right now. Can you pick us up or not?"

I heard him sigh from his end of the phone. "I'll be there in five. Just got to gather Jesse up."

"Thanks," I said before hanging up. "Okay. So when he gets here he's obviously going to ask about my face."

As I stared hard at her, Nora shrugged. "So....you want me to make up a cover story or something?"

"A literary genius and a mind reader? You're a woman of many talents, Nora Lovegood."

She frowned. "I don't feel comfortable lying to your brother, Laney. Regardless of the fact that I've never met him before. Which come to think of it, that makes the whole situation ten times more uncomfortable than it was to begin with...."

I rubbed my aching jaw. It had swelled twice its size since it was hit. "Don't think of it as lying. Think of it as.....writing fanfiction. Telling a different version of the story entirely."

"Wha-" She snorted. "This is a completely different situation! Fanfiction isn't a lie-"

"Is it? You're basically twisting how the story really happened. So just do the same when my brother asks questions." I quickly pat her on the shoulder. "Please. For me."

Nora took a deep breath and smiled. "I hope you're klutzy because that's the story I'm going with."

A smirk found its way to my face. "Works for me. My sneakers have awful grip anyway."

Five minutes later, Josh pulled up into the parking lot. I could see that Jesse was in the backseat waving his toy around in the air. Anya wasn't with them so I just assumed she was at work.

"What happened to your face?!" Josh gasped as I got in the car.

"She fell," Nora quickly responded as she crawled into the backseat. "The stairs were slippery and she didn't see the Wet Floor sign at the bottom. The nurse suggested she go home to put some ice on it. I'm ahead in all my courses anyway so I wanted to go with her and make sure she was well taken care of."

Wow. I was impressed by her lying skills. If I hadn't been the victim I would've totally believed this story myself.

Josh, on the other hand, looked my bruised face over skeptically. "Jesus, Lane. It's swelled right up. Why didn't you put ice on it in there and go to class?"

"Because maybe I didn't want to go around looking like a giant pimple for the rest of the day? Embarrassment in high school sticks with you forever. Not that you'd know. Mr. Perfect over here. Never experienced a single zit in his life," I grumbled. "Now can we go? My face is starting to throb."

Josh just shook his head but did what he was told anyway. That's what I loved about my brother. When you put your foot down, he didn't overstep his boundaries. He respected them and didn't push you.

"Hi aunt Lane!" Jesse cried from the backseat.

I looked over my shoulder at him. "Hey booger. You having daddy time today?"

"Mmhm," he nodded. "You got owie on your face?"

He was so cute that I couldn't use my usual sarcastic tone with him. "Yeah. I fell and bumped my face. Daddy's gonna give me some medicine when we get home."

Jesse nodded. "You okay?"

"I'm okay."

His attention was then changed to Nora, who had no other choice but to sit next to him and interact in the backseat. "Hi!" He waved to her with a chubby hand.

Nora giggled. "Hello, tiny human. Are you Laney's nephew?"

Josh laughed. "Yup. That's my boy back there. I'm Joshua but you can call me Josh. You must be Nora?"

"Yes sir," Nora said. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Laney speaks very highly of you."

That was a lie because I've barely spoken to her about my family.

"That's good to hear. I've heard nice things about you too," he smiled at her through the rearview mirror. "How's the English project going? Laney told me about that too."

Nora shrugged. "Then you mustn't be hearing much then. The English project is going well I guess. We haven't really come up with a clear idea of how we're going to approach it but I'm sure we'll think of something soon."

Josh smirks at me and winks as he drives. "What book was it that you guys chose again? I can't remember what one Laney mentioned."

How dare you Joshua

I only knew that Nora beamed because I shot a look back at her though my side view mirror. But she didn't notice as she started rambling on about the books and movies (quite possibly spoiling both for me but I didn't care).

"....and that's why I love the books so much, you know? I think every kid and adult should experience them at least once. It's a very powerful story," Nora finished her speech with a sigh. "I might sit down with Laney this weekend and work on some more project ideas. Maybe get her to read some more too."

"That's good. Laney could use the extra help in English. It's her lowest mark-" Josh winced as I drove my knuckles into his arm. "Ow! Jesus Lane, can't you see I'm driving?!"

"Yeah well I didn't need you telling everyone that I'm practically failing English either!" I said angrily.

"Geez. Sorry. And Jesse please don't tell mommy that daddy swore, okay?" Josh said to my nephew in the backseat.

"Okay!" Jesse laughed. He was so going to squeal on my brother later. The little booger was the type of kid to squeal on everyone.

If I didn't mention before that Josh was staying at his friend's house while they were away on vacation, then I'm saying it now. They were housesitting while Josh was in town for "business". What this business was exactly I'll never know. He hasn't spoken a word of it to me. But whatever it was I'm sure he'll approach me about it soon enough.

Maybe.

As we pulled up into the driveway, my seatbelt was off in a flash and I was inside the house before anyone else even had a chance to move. My face was on fire and I needed to put some ice on it. But when I looked into the freezer, there was no ice.

"Josh! Where's the ice?" I sang out.

"No ice! Use the bag of frozen peas!"

Ew. I hated peas, to eat or to put on my bare skin but it was better than nothing I guess.

I reached in the cold freezer and grabbed the peas for my face. The island was right next to the fridge so I perched myself up on a stool and pressed the bag to my skin. "Anya working today?"

Josh plopped Jesse down in his high chair. "She should be getting off soon actually. She took a night shift at the hospital last night. I mean who calls at 2 in the morning to say they have a woman going into labor?"

"Hospitals? Women who are in labor? I'm just taking a wild guess here," sarcasm oozed from my response, earning myself a glare from my brother. "I'm kidding. Chill, dude. I just haven't seen my sister-in-law in a long time. It'd just be nice to see her again."

Nora shyly sat beside me on a stool. "Anya? Is she your wife?"

"That she is. My beautiful, intelligent, successful lady of the house. What she says, goes." Josh took down a packet of oatmeal and tore it open as he continued to speak. "We met in high school. I'll never forget the moment we made eye contact...."

"Oh crap. Here we go again," I grumbled. "Prepare yourself, Nora. This is going to be a long, sappy story."

"I don't mind!" Nora beamed. "I love a good love story. Your brother married his high school sweetheart. I think that's the sweetest thing ever!"

Josh chuckled. "Thank you, Nora. I'm glad someone finds my story cute," he said as he looked at me. I stuck out my tongue in response. "As I was saying, we first laid eyes on each other in Spanish class. She was top of our grade. Had colleges and universities left and right itching to have her as their alumni and yet she turned them all down."

"That's because I only had one school in mind."

We turned and saw Anya standing in the doorway of the kitchen, her purse slung over her shoulder and short dark hair pinned back with a pink clip. My sister-in-law was stunning; petite, short dark hair with sparkling brown eyes. She was always smiling. For some reason that I can't seem to figure out, she always had a smile on her face. Josh could be talking about some stupid sports thing and her eyes would light up and she'd smile at him with such love on her face even if she did hate sports as much as I did. She was an incredible woman. My brother was a lucky man.

"Hey! You're home early," Josh went over and kissed her, his mood suddenly even better than it was seconds before when he was talking about her. It was like her presence alone amplified everything.

"I am! My shift is over and it was a slow morning so I decided to just mosey on home. How's my baby boy?" She cooed at Jesse.

"I'm good," Josh snickered as she smacked his shoulder playfully. "I'm kidding! He's good. I'm making him some oatmeal for lunch-oh and Laney and Nora will be joining us this evening for dinner."

Anya saw that I had a bag of peas on my face and her smile dropped. "Laney? What happened to you?"

I glanced at the bag of peas. "What, this? Don't you enjoy a good nuzzle with a bag of frozen peas every now and then?"

"Laney," Anya scorned. "Let me see your face."

Sighing, I removed the bag from my face. Almost immediately, Anya reacted.

"Laney! My god, what happened? It's swelled right up!" She gently cupped my face to examine it. She was gone full nurse mode now.

"I'm fine, Anya. Just had an accident in gym class. Dodgeball is brutal sometimes."

Josh paused from feeding Jesse to look at me. "I thought Nora said it was slipping down the stairs?"

Nora and I glanced at each other. I could see the panic in her eyes and there was no doubt she could see the panic in mine too. It didn't even occur to me to keep the story consistent.

"Yeah," I chuckled. "It was on my way to gym class. We were going to play dodgeball but I missed out on the festivities."

Josh didn't question me any further but the look on his face told me he didn't believe a word I said. "Anya will give you some pain medicine and some proper ice for the swelling. For now, I'm going to prep dinner for later. Nora? Would you like to stay and join us?"

"Me?" Nora chirped. "Oh no. I couldn't. I don't want to be a bother-"

"Nonsense. We'd love to have you join us," Anya said a soft voice. "I'd love to hear more about you. Laney doesn't really talk about school and I want to hear about your English project."

That's all the motivation Nora needed to be convinced to stay. The girl could honestly talk about Harry Potter all day nonstop and wouldn't even pop a gasket. The weird thing was that Anya listened intently, chiming in with her opinion every now and then. Nora even laughed at some of the things she was saying.

"Anya's read the books. She knows what she's talking about," Josh told me as he prepped the barbecue later that afternoon. "She's damn near an expert witch herself. Best of her generation."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm trying to read the first book for school but it's not going too well. Nora even got me listening to her reading it on tape-like a legit cassette tape. I had to get dad's old tape player down from the attic."

"Yikes. That thing is ancient. Almost as old as he is."

"It was nearly fossilized."

We both smirked at each other for making fun of our old man. It had been a while since we cracked jokes about him behind his back. What wonderful children he had, right?

"So are you ever going to tell me what's going on between the two of you?" I asked my brother as I helped him with the hamburger meat.

Josh shrugged. "Between dad and I? Nothing's going on. Why do you ask?"

"I'm not stupid, Joshua. I can hear you arguing with him on the phone when he's home. He practically has a hernia because of you."

My brother sighed heavily, skillfully chopping onions like the aspiring chef that he was. "The firm is having trouble lately. I'm trying to convince him to sell it and retire. You're in your last year of high school. He needs to spend time with you."

I barked a laugh. "Yeah. Sure. Maybe when pigs fly. The old fart hasn't acknowledged my existence since I was 12. The only time he ever speaks to me is when he's hungry or drunk. Spending time with his daughter is foreign to him."

"Laney," Josh said in a soft voice. "I know he was never really there for you growing up. Hell, I can say the same for myself with the 13 year age difference and all. But....he's not going to be around for much longer-"

"What?" I cut him off, nearly slicing off my finger with the knife. "He's sick? Since when?"

Josh glanced towards the living room where Nora and Anya were still talking. "I haven't told Anya yet. But he's been sick for a while now. Three months or so."

".....what does he have?"

"Liver cancer."

I snorted. "I'd say I'm shocked but I'm not. I knew all that drinking was going to come back and bite him in the ass."

We both went out to the patio and geared up the barbecue. This brought up old memories of when Josh used to come home from college and host a big barbecue party every summer in the backyard. He'd invite some of his college buddies and I'd have my own friends over (when I used to have friends that is) and it was the best thing about my summer vacation.

"I wonder if he plans on telling me," I pondered out loud. "Or maybe he just plans on dying in his sleep and I'll be forced to be put in a foster home until I'm 18."

"If that happens, you definitely won't be going into a foster home, little sister. You'd be staying with me," Josh told me, "and Anya would never let you step one foot into the system. She would know all about that."

I shrugged. "Still. He'd die just to probably spite me. His last words to me would be 'hah' and then he'd die with an asshole smile."

This made Josh laugh when he threw the hamburgers on the grill. "You make him out to be a supervillain or something. He's really not that bad."

"Not that bad?" I snorted. "I don't know how he was with you growing up but he basically pretended I didn't exist. Especially after my mom left. She should've took me with her....."

Josh sensed my discomfort and draped a protective arm over my shoulders. "And make me miss out on having an incredible little sister? I'm glad she didn't. I'd miss you every second for the rest of my life."

I had to glance away to hide the fact I had tears in my eyes.

Thankfully I heard Nora squeak with laughter so this granted me an opportunity to look away. She was holding something in her hands and had a look of shock on her face. Anya said something, nodded and hugged Nora. Nora looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"They seem to be bonding pretty quickly," Josh chuckled. "Nora's a nice girl." He caught me staring and smirked. "I have to ask-"

"I'd rather you didn't."

"I'm going to ask anyway. I know you don't like talking about it but...do you like her?"

Did I like her? I couldn't say I did. It wasn't like meeting a dog for the first time and deciding right then and there that you loved it. Nora was human. I barely even knew her. But admittedly, there was something festering just under the surface of my cold, black heart. It would skip a beat every time I looked at her or when I heard her laugh. She was like a bright light in the darkness.

"You like her. I can see it in your eyes," Josh whispered. He took my hand and squeezed it gently. "It's okay to admit it, Lane. She's a great girl. Just ask her out."

I couldn't ask her out. The whole school would probably stone me to death if they ever saw us kissing or holding hands. "I don't like her. At least not like that. So please stop bothering me about it."

He didn't push it any further.

When the burgers and salad were done, we were all sat at the kitchen table laughing at a story Anya was telling about her high school years. Before that, Nora had showed me what Anya passed on to her: it was a scarf that was worn by one of the actors on the Harry Potter films. It was from the Gryffindor house apparently. Anya had been away for a year for school and was an extra on set for one of the films. She travels a lot, my sister-in-law.

"And then Josh sat on the chair and the ketchup packet exploded!" Anya giggled so hard that she began to wheeze. Her son just gave her a look from his high chair, probably wondering what the hell was happening to his mom.

"That must have made an awful mess!" Nora gasped. "Who cleaned it up?"

"No one," Josh laughed. "Anya and I made a run for it before the teachers could see who did it."

I glanced between my brother and his wife's expressions. Their eyes were filled with such love as they looked at each other with the brightest smiles on their faces. I could practically see the love in the air as Josh reached across the table and took his wife's hand, rubbing her skin with his thumb.

Jesse dropped his spoon on the floor to grab our attention. "Uh oh!"

Nora giggled. "Someone enjoys getting the attention, I see. You're like my brother Charlie!"

"You have siblings too?" Josh asked. "Just the one?"

Nora beamed. "Goodness, no. There's eight of us in total. I have seven siblings."

Josh nearly choked on his salad. "Your parents had eight kids?" He whistled. "I admire their dedication. It mustn't be easy living with seven other kids."

"Oh I don't mind. The house is always alive at least. I can't even imagine being an only child at this point in my life," Nora smile broadly as she wiped off Jesse's spoon. "What about you? Do you two plan on having any more children?"

Anya looked at Josh with a smile. "I guess now is a good time to announce it?"

Like my brother, I choked on my food. "Fuck off. You're pregnant?!"

"Language," Josh warned me. "But yes. Anya and I are going to be parents for a second time."

I don't normally scream in excitement but when I do, it's for good reason. I jumped from my chair and embraced my brother in a tight hug. "I'm going to be an aunt again!"

Anya laughed as I hugged her. "We were actually thinking of naming you the baby's godmother. If that's okay with you, that is."

I had to hold back my tears as I nodded. "I'd be honored. Oh my god. How far along are you?"

"Two months," Josh said. There was such pride in his voice that I couldn't help but smile at him. He was such an amazing dad. Jesse was lucky to have him.

"Congratulations to you both!" Nora sighed happily. "I envy you guys. You're happily married. You have a beautiful little boy. I wish I could find love like you did."

Anya held Nora's hand. "You will one day, sweetie. You're still young. You have your whole life ahead of you."

"Sometimes the person you'll spend the rest of your life with is often sitting right there in front of you," Josh winked. He knew I was sitting right in front her.

Smooth.

"I'm actually perfectly fine with being single," Nora said after a sip of lemonade. "I want to focus on school right now. Love would only be a distraction from my long term goal which is to get into a good college and get a good job."

"And that's perfectly fine," Anya nodded. "It's good to have goals. Look at me. My goal was to become a nurse and that's exactly what I did. Just don't forget to put some time away for short term goals too. They're just as important."

We finished eating and cleaned the dishes as Anya put Jesse down for a nap. Nora and I sat at the kitchen table, looking through a book of iconic landmarks around the world. We stopped on Easter Island when Nora sighed.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Don't you ever wonder who put those statues there?"

I shrugged. "Not really. Primative man, maybe? I don't really believe the theory that aliens put them there. That's a bit of a stretch."

Nora's blue eyes scrutinized me. "Do you believe in anything?"

For some reason, this made me a little angry. "I believe in a lot of things. Science. CGI. Tangible things."

"So you don't believe in God? Or magic?" Nora closed the book on me halfway through a paragraph. "There has to be something bigger than us that you believe in."

She was asking me questions even I didn't know the answer to and this made me feel stupid. I didn't freaking know what I believed in. I believed in good grades. Getting into a decent college or university. A bright future. Something I knew that I could control and not something dumb like magic. Magic was a child's belief.

"I don't know. Okay? I don't know what to believe in. I was never one for believing in childish stuff. I like science. I can count on science-"

"Whew. Jesse is finally down for his nap," Anya came downstairs, now dressed in a loose t-shirt belonging to my brother and a pair of pajama pants. "What's wrong? The tension down here is so thick you can cut it with a knife."

Before I could answer, Josh cut in by turning on a song on his phone. He stepped out from behind the counter with a graceful twirl, moonwalking over to Anya and extending his hand. Anya giggled and joined in on the dance by twirling and doing this move that definitely wasn't rated PG.

Watching them, I suddenly remembered that they both used to be on the dance team in high school. Josh had been dancing his whole life, from the moment he could walk to even now so this was second nature to him. His moves were so graceful and controlled; something I could never accomplish even if I tried. I dance like an awkward noodle.

Nora was watching too with a broad smile on her face. I felt her feet tapping under the table with the beat of the music, bumping into mine every now and then. It was obvious that she wanted to get up and dance but she wouldn't budge.

"Go dance," I nudged her. "If you feel the urge, don't suppress it."

"Oh," Nora chuckled. "I couldn't. I want to watch your brother serenade his wife. It's so beautiful to watch."

While she watched them, I watched her instead. Her black rimmed glasses were slowly slipping off her nose so I did what I never thought I'd ever do in a million years.

I reached up and with a finger, fixed them back onto her nose.

She froze in place. I froze too because I was so freaking scared she was going to say something to me but surprisingly she didn't. Or at least something that I didn't expect her to say.

"Thank you," her tiny voice said in my ear. She reached up to make sure her glasses were adjusted properly before tucking her hands down between her legs and staring intently at the book on the table.

I couldn't bring myself to say you're welcome. I was permanently frozen in shock or surprise, either one would've suit me just fine. The silence that followed afterward actually eased some of the awkwardness of the situation.

"I think I should be going now. My parents are probably wondering where I am." Nora got up from the table and picked up her backpack that lay just outside the living room door. "Thank you so much for inviting me to dinner, Mr. Lee. It was delicious."

"Mr. Lee? You make me sound so old," Josh laughed as he twirled Anya. "Just call me Josh. Mr. Lee is my father. And you're more than welcome to come join us anytime. You don't even have to ask."

"There's always an extra spot for you at the table," Anya smiled. She hugged Nora tightly. "It was so nice to meet someone who appreciates Harry Potter as much as I do. Take good care of the scarf."

"Thank you," Nora nodded, "and I will. I most definitely will." She turned to me with an awkward smile. "I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

Without thinking, I reached up and touched the swelling on my face as if I just remembered it was there. "Yeah. All depends on how my face feels tomorrow."

She nodded. "Okay. Thanks again for having me. Bye bye."

I left too not long after Nora did. Unfortunately, my dad was home by the time I got there so I couldn't completely avoid him. I didn't want to avoid him this time; especially not after learning that he was sick.

I stepped through the front door, expecting to be barked at. But the tv was too loud and he was too busy watching a football game.

"Hey dad," I grumbled. "What's up?"

My dad was a beefy man with thinning hair and a beard covered in gray. His eyes were brown like mine but completely lacked any sign of a soul within them. He wasn't an overly terrible father. He just....wasn't the greatest.

Robert glanced at me for a millisecond before looking back at the tv. "Where were you this evening?"

I rolled my eyes. "Josh had me over for dinner. We had barbecue. Brought some home for you if you want it." I placed the container with some leftover salad and hamburger patties on the table beside him. "So....whatcha doing?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he sipped his beer and pretended I didn't say anything.

The beer in his hand made me angry. It wasn't right considering that he had liver cancer but yet here he was drinking away like it wasn't a huge issue. "Should you be drinking that?" I blurted.

That's when Robert Lee looked at me. "What's it to you? Was it your beer I was drinking?"

"No," I tried to say in a neutral tone. "I'm just-Josh told me about your cancer, dad. I'm just a little concerned-"

"I don't need your concern. And I told your brother not to tell anyone but clearly neither of my children listen to me very well."

That's when I snapped. "I'm your daughter! I have a right to be concerned!"

Before he could yell at me back, I stomped upstairs and slammed my bedroom door, making sure to lock it behind me so he couldn't get in. Collapsing into my bed, I pulled out my book for the English project while jamming my headphones over my ears and let Nora's voice read two more chapters to me.
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Yikes. Robert didn't seem too pleased with josh telling Laney about his cancer. But Laney makes a good point. She's his daughter. She has a right to know.

ALSO I wanted to incorporate Harry's (Shum Jr whom I've cast as Josh) dancing into the story because the man is so damn slick and graceful when he moves. It's unreal.

You know the drill: drop a comment and let me know what you think so far as well as leave a vote too. Both are greatly appreciated!