Dev Dreams, Volume One by Ruth Madison Page B

house?”
Sophie said.
    Alex shrugged. “As long as it isn't Jake,
what do they care?”
    “Do you think your parents are happy?” Paul
asked suddenly. He had fished out the bottle of Brandy again and
took a little more.
    “I never thought about it,” Alex said.
    “I know mine aren't,” Paul said. “Don't know
how they got this way, I mean, they were like us once. Full of
ideas and plans to change the world. Now they're just our parents.
Living such small lives.”
    “Our parents are still living grand lives,”
Alex said, “They didn't let having kids slow them down. They didn't
even want kids. Just did it because it was expected of them.” He
paused, dragged on the cigarette, then added, “And they only wanted
one.”
    No one said anything for a while. There was
no denying that Jake got all their parents' attention.
    “Sometimes I wonder,” Sophie said quietly,
“If it's my destiny to become a drunk like my dad.”
    “How did they all get like this?” Paul
said.
    “Did they give up on their ideals? Give up on
their dreams?” Sophie said.
    “Maybe.” Paul and Sophie continued
discussing, both leaning forward towards the coffee table, ignoring
Alex and Jake.
    “It's scary to go after what you really want.
Takes a lot of guts.”
    “Well I don't want to end up like they
are.”
    “I have an idea,” Sophie said, grinning.
    “What's that?”
    “Well,” she continued, “If our parents ended
up disappointed in life because they didn't go for something they
really wanted because of fear, we shouldn't let that happen to
us.”
    “I'm with you.”
    “I propose a pact. We all promise to do
something we're afraid of. Before we graduate in June.”

    “Yeah, yeah,” Paul agreed and Alex perked
up.
    “It's got to be something really big, though.
Something life changing.”
    “Right. I'm in,” Paul announced.
    “Me too,” Alex said.
    “How are you going to pull this off, Sophie?”
Jake laughed. “You've got more fears than all of us combined. Which
will you pick?”
    “None of your business,” she said. She
wondered how Jake knew about her many phobias. Did Alex talk about
her? What else did Jake know about her? What did he think?
    “I'm part of this too,” Jake said.
    “Oh yeah? You're going to join the geek gang
on something?” Paul said.
    “Don't breathe a word of this at school,
that's all I ask,” Jake said.
    ***
    “So the twins are turning 19? How did that
happen?” Sophie asked Paul while they waited at the movie theater
for Alex to buy his popcorn. Alex had asked them to come to
celebrate his birthday.
    “Well,” Paul said, “Jake was held back in
fourth grade because they said he didn't know how to
socialize.”
    “Jake? This is the same Jake we're talking
about?”
    “Yes, our Mr. Popular. He was as charming at
ten as he is now, but he got involved in a fight with Derek and
they held him back to punish him.”
    “That kid who thinks he's some hot shot
criminal?”
    “That's the one.”
    “Okay, but what about Alex? How come they're
still in the same grade?”
    “This is the interesting part. Just a year
later Alex failed all of his classes. I mean, it was elementary
school, so they don't call it failing, but he didn't do any of the
work and he didn't pass any tests. So they held him back too. It
was pretty clear to me that he did on purpose because he had to be
with his brother. He's that way.”
    “Yeah, I noticed.”
    “So that's when I met them, when I was eight
and they had just turned ten.”
    Sophie thought about the relationship between
the two brothers while they watched the movie. She was an only
child and didn't even have any cousins. She didn't know what this
bond was between Alex and Jake, but it was strong. It almost seemed
visible. Were all brothers like that? Were all twins like that? How
had they formed this team where Jake accomplished and Alex
supported?
    After the movie, Alex drove first Paul home
and then Sophie. In the car, when they were alone,