Reservations

“I’m not trying to start any problems. I just wanted to reach out to you.”

Levi’s brows slid together as he tried to understand the message. He was even more confused now. What problem would Nathaniel start? He stared at the cell phone, willing himself to remember a Nathaniel connected to Johns Hopkins. In the furthest recesses of his mind, he might have known a Nate. Maybe he worked with him for a few weeks as Dr. Hofstede’s teacher’s aide. The guy wouldn’t be alum though. He’d be classified as a student.

Unsure what to do, Levi decided just to go with it. Professors didn’t always have the best social skills. They also tended to like themselves a lot. Well, some of them did… Wait, if Nathaniel worked at the school, he’d then be classified as faculty, not alumni. This got more confusing by the second. Levi started typing, hoping he could give enough information to satisfy the question then get Nathaniel talking to help fill in the blanks.

“We’re as good as can be expected. I’m not sure I remember a Nathaniel, that’s all I was implying. I appreciate the offer.”

He pushed send, and on instinct, he immediately typed another message.

“I look forward to being back at school. I hope leaving like I did hasn’t messed with my scholarship. I’ll be back as soon as I settle things here. Thank you again.”

With that, Levi placed his phone on the coffee table and went to wake his brother.

“Luke, let’s get you to bed,” Levi said loudly. Luke blinked, looked up, and gave a small smile before closing his eyelids again. “Come on. You’ll be more comfortable in bed,” he coaxed, standing over his sleeping brother.

“Hmmm,” Luke muttered.

His brother was always hard to wake unless there was food in the mix. Levi reached for his arm, lifting a wobbly Luke to his feet.

“Let’s get up and go jogging in the morning,” Levi said as Luke finally woke enough to head toward his room.

“Okay.” That was all he got before Luke disappeared behind the bedroom door.

“I’m going to bed,” Levi said to Logan, who’d taken Luke’s space on the sofa.

“Hey, I need to tell you something.” Logan seemed to always have more energy than anyone. He bounded up to his feet, trailing after Levi who stopped at the hall entrance and anchored an arm against the wall as he stifled his yawn. He hadn’t slept well since waking up in Thane’s bed, and then, he’d only gotten in a few hours’ sleep. He was exhausted and needed some serious rest.

“I can be home every night.”

Levi had to think about that one. Logan was already home every night anyway. Levi took a closer look at his brother, trying to figure out what that statement was code for. Logan stood there, crossing his arms over his chest, giving nothing away. Levi had no idea what he tried to convey in that moment, so he waited for more.

“I don’t know how much you know, but I did early registration, and University of Virginia accepted me for the winter semester next year with full scholarship money. Did dad tell you?”

“I knew they accepted you, and I’m real proud of you. Can we talk about that tomorrow? My goal this week is to sit down with everything and see where we are. We can call the university and see what they think about you switching districts to finish your last semester,” Levi said and changed his position, crossing his arms over his chest as he stifled another longer yawn. “Maybe we could do that during the canceled appointment if you want. I bet someone at your school could help us figure it all out.”

Levi reached out to pat his brother on the shoulder and started to turn away, feeling like they’d set their plan. Logan trailed a few feet behind him until Levi stopped just inside his bedroom, turning back to Logan as his brother rested a shoulder on the doorframe. He was so tired; why was Logan choosing then to talk? Levi turned on the lamp then sat on the edge of the bed before reaching down to untie his tennis shoes.

“Yeah, that’s good idea, because I was thinking that I’ve already got all my credits I need to graduate. Well, except for half an English and a history, and I could take those in summer school, or maybe a night class at SDC. Then I could graduate another semester early—like at the end of summer. Then maybe I could get a full-time job in Maryland until I go to school in January. That would help pay for all of us,” Logan offered, showing he’d been really thinking about solutions for their family. Levi tossed the shoes toward his closet, nodding his approval.

“It sounds like a good idea. Let’s go talk to your guidance counselor first thing Monday morning. Then we’ll call the college. I gotta call social security too and find out where those checks are,” Levi said. Normally the list of things he needed to do became daunting, but not this time. Instead, they were finally getting on the same page, looking toward the future. When Levi started to remove his T-shirt, he saw Logan still standing there, staring at him. He squashed the sigh and the new yawn forming and finally said, “I gotta sleep. This has been the longest day of my life in a string of really long days.”