Flicker by Arreyn Grey Page B

that,” he said seriously.
                  “So what are we going to do for an entire day together, anyway?” She asked teasingly, mostly to try to erase the tiny spark of... disbelief? Uncertainty? Hurt?... that she saw in his eyes.
                  “Oh,” he smirked. “I'm sure we'll figure something out.”
     
                  Elise was grateful that Alex took her at her word after school and bid her goodbye outside the Latin room, rather than try to walk her home. She appreciated his concern for her, and generally enjoyed their friendship, but she couldn't deny that too often his rapid shifts of mood and disconcerting perceptiveness left her feeling off guard and vulnerable. When confronted with the prospect of arguing with her parents, something she tended to avoid, she was less willing than usual to sacrifice her composure.
                  She didn't go home right away, but instead spent more than half an hour browsing the school library. The librarian was used to seeing her, and gave her a friendly nod when Elise entered the large room. Elise loved everything about books-- the smell of old paper, the way the turn of every page brought something new, the way each little rectangle contained, compressed, an entire new world, and especially the way she could run away into those worlds for a while. She picked out three books that looked interesting, and was on the verge of settling down right in the library to start one. A glance at the clock, however, told her that her parents would be home in the next hour or so. With a sigh, she checked her books out at the counter, stopped by her locker to drop off unnecessary textbooks, and walked home.
                  Elise hadn't completely been lying to Alex about the brutal homework load from her AP classes; she was only halfway through her second assignment when she heard a car pull into the driveway. She didn't look up when she heard her father's heavy footsteps on the front porch, or when the door opened and his briefcase thumped onto the floor.
                  “Mom put something in the slow cooker this morning,” she called into the hallway, keeping her tone distracted and her nose buried in her history book. She didn't think she was likely to avoid a fight, but she was going to try.
                  Her father grunted, acknowledging her statement, as he walked past the doorway to the den and climbed the stairs to change out of his suit. Elise got the impression he was saving what he had to say until her mother got home, which made sense-- that way, her mom would know firsthand that he'd said something and he wouldn't have to recount it. Economy of words, that was her dad.
                  They didn't have to wait long: barely fifteen minutes later, Elise heard her mother's car pull up. She was just finishing the questions she had to answer for history class, but slowed the speed of her writing so her mother wouldn't catch her changing textbooks and accuse her of not starting her homework until the last minute. She felt a touch of her earlier fury as it was brought home once again just how little her parents trusted her.
                  The moment the front door opened, Elise knew at once that her mother had spent the last twenty-four hours stewing about their brief interaction yesterday. Her high heels clacked sharply on the hardwood floor of the foyer, and she hung her purse so hard on the clothes tree that Elise heard the top of it collide with the wall. Heaving a sigh, she leaned back on the couch, pulling her history book up in front of her face to hide her scowl. She'd tried to avoid this.
                  “Robert? Are you up there?” Elise's mother, Marie, sounded sugary sweet. Elise rolled her eyes at the affected tone.
                  “I'll be down in just a minute,” Robert called down the steps, and Elise heard him stumping