3

                                    

                                          
“I’m only getting in this car because we’re taking Ava home,” I told David as I put my rucksack on the backseat of his Beetle and climbed in next to it.
                          
“Tristan, I-”
                          
“I’m not talking about it,” I snapped. “Shut up.”
                          
I put my headphones in and turned the volume up.
                          
I’d barely heard three bars, however, when the headphones were yanked from of my ears, and my iPod pulled out of my hands.
                          
“Stop behaving like a child,” David barked.
                          
“I behave like a child because I am a child!” I growled. “I’m eighteen, for Christ’s sake.”
                          
“And I’m married. You have to understand that comes with responsibilities.”
                          
“You started all of this. You kissed me, remember! It’s not my fault you changed our relationship.”
                          
“Our relation-” He began, scoffing.
                          
“Yes, our relationship,” I snapped.
                          
“We didn’t have a relationship before.”
                          
“Yes, we did. You were my big brother. I loved you like I love Matt. I could always come to you about anything.”
                          
I felt tears come to my eyes and brushed them away angrily.
                          
“And now you’ve messed everything up. It’s not like I can talk to Matt about this. He’d be furious if he found out.”
                          
“I seem to be messing things up a lot, lately,” David said quietly, after a stagnant pause. “I’m sorry, Triss. I didn’t even think about how this would affect you.”
                          
He handed back my iPod, and I put the headphones back into my ears.
                          
We waited ten minutes before Ava finally appeared.
                          
She slid into the front seat and threw her rucksack back to me.
                          
“Sorry I’m late. Mr Gellert kept me back after Spanish. Your CD’s are in my bag, Triss, in the front pocket. I put the songs on my laptop this lunchtime, so I don’t need them anymore.”
                          
“Right.”
                          
I fished in her bag and took out my CD’s, putting them back into my bag.
                          
“How much do we have to do tonight?”
                          
“Just finish typing up that research we did. And make the volcano.”
                          
I nodded.
                          
“I’ve saved the Sunday paper from the past three weeks, so we can do papier-mâché, and there’s an old coke bottle we can use for the funnel.”
                          
Ava nodded happily.
                          
“I’ll let you do the papier-mâché. I hate wet paper. I’ll type up the research.”
                          
“Ok. David can help me.” Ava grinned at him.
                          
“Oh, goody,” David said dryly, rolling his eyes.
                          
I almost smiled, but caught myself just in time.
                          
“I do have some work to be getting on with, actually,” David said, motioning the heavy satchel on the seat beside me.
                          
David pulled up outside my house and turned the engine off. He grabbed his satchel while Ava and I went inside.
                          
I put the kettle on and fetched my laptop from my room.
                          
“Which volcano are we doing?” I asked Ava as we settled in the living room with a mug of tea each.
                          
I had my laptop on my knee, she was busy laying down old bed sheets and shredding newspaper for papier-mâché.