Playing with Fire by Emily Blake

hanging out with someone.
    Kicking off his shoes, a habit picked up when Debbie #2 (the second in a long line of narrowly avoided stepmother candidates) was in power a couple of years ago, Tom followed the voices into the kitchen. His sister and Alison Rose were sitting across from each other at the counter, laughing. The sound was foreign. It didn’t really go with the house, and it took a second for Tom to realize why. Zoey never laughed anymore. So why was she laughing with Alison? Had she forgotten what her “best friend” did to her back in fifth grade?
    â€œWhat’s up?” Tom asked, giving Alison a littlewave. If they had been at school, he wouldn’t even have made eye contact—being nice to Alison had become social suicide. But Tom couldn’t exactly ignore her when she was sitting right there in his kitchen. Besides, she looked kind of cute with her hair pulled back in low ponytails. Good looks ran in the family.
    â€œNot much,” Zoey replied. It was probably the longest conversation they’d had since Zoey’s latest expulsion. Tom found it hard to believe they were even related, let alone that they had once been totally tight. Oh, well. His sister’s return to Silver Spring hadn’t exactly made Tom’s life easier. Their dad was so worked up over whatever it was Zoey had done that now both of them were under extra-intense scrutiny. Thanks to Zoey, Tom was under even more pressure than normal to never screw up.
    Tom opened the cupboard and pulled out a giant bowl and a box of Cap’n Crunch. “Want some?” he offered as he began to pour.
    Alison shook her head and smiled. “Some things never change,” she said.
    Tom topped off the bowl. “More for me,” he said as he added some milk. He was spooningup the sweet crunchies before he had even put the milk away. He and the Cap’n went way back. Sugary cereal was the thing that got him through elementary school.
    â€œRemember the time we put shredded wheat in the Crunch Berries box?” Alison said, her eyes bright.
    Zoey laughed. “Oh, man. That was perfect.” She eyed her munching brother. “When you realized what was in your bowl you looked like someone ran over your dog.”
    â€œIt wasn’t funny,” Tom said gravely, remembering the prank. It had actually been a little devastating. “But that was a long time ago. Forgive and forget, right?” he said pointedly, looking right at Zoey. He had no idea what was up between these girls, but he hoped it was all cool. For both of them.
    Just then the front door slammed and their district attorney dad walked into the kitchen, talking loudly on his cell phone.
    â€œI need it done today,” he bellowed, waving his hand wildly. “No excuses.”
    â€œHow was your day, kids?” Tom whispered to the girls with a roll of his eyes. His dadcouldn’t care less about his own kids, and it burned Tom up.
    â€œGreat, Dad, how about yours?” Zoey answered quietly. Not that it mattered. Mr. Ramirez was talking so loudly he wouldn’t have heard them if they shouted.
    â€œAll right, fine. Call me when it’s done.” Mr. Ramirez flipped his phone closed and stood in the kitchen with a smug expression on his chiseled face. “I have great news,” he said, clearly bursting to tell someone. He looked at the three kids sitting in front of him, then past them in search of somebody better to tell. There was nobody there, of course. “Do you know who you’re looking at?” He held his arms wide and waited for an answer.
    A lousy dad, a jerk, a slimeball? Tom thought. Any of those would be accurate.
    â€œMaryland’s next congressional candidate!” he blurted.
    Tom stared at his father. “You’re running for Congress?” he asked incredulously. “Don’t you have to be an honest person to do that?” he added. He regretted it