Push - Chapter One (part two)
Because LJ is being evil - or I'm just a blabbermouth who can't keep things below the word limit - here's part two.
PART ONE: http://leftygirl02.livejournal.com/176103.html
The white two story house certainly didn’t give off the feel of being owned by anyone special. It was what the Gray brothers had banked on when they first bought the place a few years before. Although fairly secluded and protected by a black iron fence, it was almost perfectly sized for just the three of them, maybe a few guests… and a small recording studio in the basement.
In the comfort of his room, a nearly-seventeen year old brunette sat playing a keyboard. Considering no one else was in the house, save the family golden retriever who was currently perched on the nearby bed, he very well didn’t need the headphones over his ears. Yet wearing them while he played was natural for Nate Gray. A notebook sat balanced on his knee; occasionally he would scribble something he found worth noting, only to go back to playing again. There was a song in him somewhere, and he was determined to bring it out.
Humming to himself, Nate removed the headphones and began writing again. A flash of light invaded his bedroom window as the sound of gravel being crushed by wheels came up the driveway. Nate looked towards it but didn’t move. He calmly put away the sheets of music and turned off the keyboard he had been using. The door to the garage was opened and soon after, people talking in the lower portion of the house became audible.
“Nate! We’re home!” The voice of his older brother echoed in the otherwise quiet house. The dog ran out of room at the sound, barking as he went. Nate hesitated just a moment, giving himself time to put away his headphones. He could hear the television being turned on in the den, so made his way there.
“Jason,” Shane was saying to the other young man sitting on the opposite couch that was holding the remote and also petting the dog’s head. “Turn it off.”
“Aw, come on, man. My show’s about to start.” Jason returned his attention back to his fury companion and scratched behind his ear. “And how’s my best buddy, huh Elvis? Being a good boy for Nate I hope.”
“Tivo it like any other normal human being.” Shane was gritting his teeth now. Suddenly a familiar tune filled the room, causing him to sit up again. “Why in the world are you watching Phineas and Ferb?”
“It’s funny.”
“What are you, five?”
“It’s funny,” Jason repeated, clearly not phased. “And I like picking up on all the jokes.”
Shane groaned and lay back down, his eyes staring blankly at the white ceiling above him. Great, Nate thought. He should have known Shane would still be in a mood. He made his way into the room and took a seat next to his oldest brother.
“Hey, fro bro,” Jason called, ruffling Nate’s dark curls. “Feeling better?”
Nate responded to his brother’s teasing with a smile of his own. He waited a few moments before saying anything. “Saw the interview just now.”
“Oh?” Jason responded. “How’d we look?”
Nate hesitated, shooting a quick glance in Shane’s direction. “The same as always.”
Jason seemed satisfied by that answer. Shane just rubbed his eyes.
“Thanks for covering for me,” Nate continued.
“Again,” He heard Shane mutter from under his breath. Nate brought his hands together and bit his lip.
“Yeah…” Nate said quietly. “You know, I really appreciate it. All of it. But anything be-“
“We know little brother.” Shane interrupted. His eyes returned to the ceiling as he again put an arm over his face. “We’ve had this same conversation, like, a hundred times. I’m worried about you, man.”
Nate didn’t answer at first, but instead returned his gaze to the floor. They all knew where this conversation would go; as Shane had pointed out, they had participated in it many times. “Don’t be.”
That was all it took for Shane to sit up again. Staring at his younger brother directly, he said. “What do you mean, ‘Don’t be?’ You’re my brother. You can’t keep living like this.”
Nate didn’t talk, but his posture changed. Shane had hit a nerve. “I can’t help it, alright?”
“Of course you can; don’t give me that shi-“
“Shane, lay off.” Now it was Jason talking.
“Oh shut up, Jason.” Shane replied. He focused his attention back to Nate. “You can’t keep expecting us to cover for you all the time. You heard that reporter; people are getting suspicious. There’s more than one rumor going around that it’s not really you singing.”
“But it is me,” Nate responded weakly.
“I know that, Nate. But truth is we haven’t given them proof one way or another. And a few shadowy pictures will only keep them happy for so long.” Shane could see his brother tensing up as he spoke, yet this was important. “This has gone on long enough. Time to face-“
“No!” Nate stopped biting his lip long enough to retort.
“Oh, stop being such a baby!”
“Shane…” Jason started again. This time Shane listened, albeit hesitantly. “Now, let’s all watch some tv and get some grub or something. I’m starved.”
Nate got up, grateful for his oldest brother having provided some distraction. “I’ll go see what’s in the fridge.”
Shane simply scoffed. Rising from the sofa, he headed outside, muttering to himself and slamming the door behind him. Nate shifted uncomfortably a moment, his eyes wandering over to the television. On screen a green platypus was pulling on a fedora and opening a passageway to his secret agent lair. “Guess I’ll go get it started.”
Sensing one of his owners was headed towards the kitchen, Elvis followed at Nate’s heels. As he left, Nate heard the sound of the Indiana Jones theme song playing from the direction of the kitchen. Sure enough, he found his brother’s cell phone sitting on the counter ringing. “Jason; phone!”
In less than a minute, Jason was there to answer the ringing box. “Hello? Oh, hey Big Man.”
Nate paused midway from pulling open the freezer door. Robert Feggans, known as “Big Man” to just about everyone in the music business, was the brothers’ agent. He listened for a minute as Jason exchanged pleasantries then moved into what seemed to be the meat of the conversation.
“Yeah… Oh, you did…. What’d you think?.... Oh…Uh huh…”
From next to Nate’s leg, Elvis let out a pitiful whine. Nate snapped back to attention.
“Sorry, boy.” He made his way over to where the dog food was stored and poured some into Elvis’s bowl. He no sooner did then Elvis was greedily eating it. “Hey; slow down. I don’t want to clean up another mess today.”
Elvis simply snorted and continued munching. Nate sighed and returned his attention to making dinner. Jason had made his way out to the back patio, still on the phone. Nate opened the freezer again and examined the contents. There wasn’t much left; Nate made a mental note that he would need to start a grocery list as he dug around the shelves of frozen food. Finding a box of corn dogs and a bag of fries, he pulled them out and set the oven.
From outside came Shane’s angry voice. Nate paused from his work to look towards it. By the sound he could tell Shane had gone from merely annoyed to one of his moods. ‘His moods’, Nate thought bitterly. Shane wasn’t just in a mood. If anything, the angry, bitter side was Shane’s normal face anymore, while happiness was his ‘in the mood’ moments.
“Well, that was the Big Man,” Jason announced as he returned from outside.
“Heard that part.” Nate pulled a couple of cookie sheets from the cupboard and got to work readying the food.
“Oh cool; corn dogs.” Jason’s face became serious. “Morningstar, right?”
Nate nodded and lifted the green box as proof.
“Right on.”
“So what did he want?”
“Who?”
“Big Man. On the phone.”
“Oh right.” Jason watched Nate dump the fries onto the other cookie sheet. “I can’t tell you.”
“Jase-“
“I’m serious. Big Man wanted to talk to Shane, not me. He just figured I’d be more likely to answer my phone.”
“Oh.” Nate stole a quick glance towards the patio. “He’s pissed again.”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
Jason shrugged. Outside Shane was still angrily yelling, raising Nate’s thankfulness that they lived in enough seclusion that no one else could hear his rant. He placed both cookie sheets into the oven and set the timer. Shane huffed into the kitchen, a rather dejected look across his face. Forcefully he set down the cell phone from his hand.
“Well, what is it?” Nate asked, fighting the urge to add a ‘this time’ to the end of the question.
Shane looked up at his brothers, both still standing on the steps. His face softened just a bit, which would have given Nate relief if he hadn’t seen the look in his eyes before. An idea had just come into his head, and based on the way he eyed his brothers, it didn’t look good.
“Boys,” he announced. “We’re going to camp.”
.