BROOKS HOME
"Okay. Talk to you later."
Lauren
clicks off the portable phone and sets it down on the coffee table.
She leans back on the couch and sighs.
Alex
takes that as his sign.
"Who was that?" he asks.
"Courtney.
She was wondering if we'd
seen Jason."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"He was supposed to pick her up,
but he hasn't shown up." She pushes back her dark blonde hair with her
right hand. "I've hardly spent any time with him lately, but he's been
... quiet, you know? Not like himself at all."
"I know," Alex agrees with a nod.
"But I guess people react weirdly to things like that. I mean, having his
brother die -- and so suddenly ... It must be messing with his head pretty
badly."
"Yeah. I hope he's okay ... I can't
even imagine what it would be like to just lose my brother like that. Even
though I hardly see him these days -- it would be completely different
for him to just be gone. At least now I know I can pick up the phone and
talk to him if I need to."
"Yeah, what's he up to? Why hasn't
he been home at all?"
"He was home for a couple of days
around Christmas," she says. "But he took off again before New Year's.
I don't even know where he is ... L.A. right now, I think."
Alex silently waits, seeing that
she is not through yet.
After what seems like a lengthy pause,
she continues. "We were really close when we were little. We pretty much
did everything together. We even had some of the same friends in school.
Maybe it's because we were so close in age -- he's only a little bit older
than you -- but it was the type of relationship that I thought we'd hang
onto forever."
"Did something happen?"
"Not that I know of," she shrugs.
"But things changed. When he went off to college, everything was just different
all of a sudden. That was like six years ago, and it's never been the same.
We don't talk anymore, we never do stuff together, even when he's home."
She falls quiet and her eyes drop
to her lap. "I miss him a lot."
Unsure how to respond, Alex places
an arm around her shoulders and pulls her a little bit closer.
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