Suddenly the door opened and Rehan ran inside.

"CODE RED. I REPEAT CODE RED." He yelled dropping bags of groceries on the ground. "Where is Ace?"

Ace came running down the stairs. "Did I just hear code red?"

Both me and Kai were up on our feet. CODE RED was..well.. the worst of all situations.

"Because you all three idiots cut classes today, they called mom! The school called mom!" Rehan yelled.

And just like that I was back to reality.

"Shiiiit." Ace brushed his hair back. "Shit. Shit. Wait Francy cut school today as well?"

"Long story. I 'll explain later." I told him and nudged Kai.

"What do we do? What is our excuse?" I asked.

Rehan grabbed the bags and spoke really fast. "I already have it figured out. Justtellthemyouthreesnuckouttogetmeabirthdaypresent."

"Kids, we're home." Mom yelled from the door.

Ace ran and threw himself on the couch over us. We each covered ourselves with the blanket.

When mom walked in Ace was in my lap and Kai was changing the tv while I seemed to be relaxing.

"Oh hey mom." Ace said.

"Hi." I smiled.

She seemed a bit confused and then Rehan slowly disappeared with the groceries in the kitchen.

Dad showed up behind her. "What is this? Don't you have homework to do?"

"daad." we all complained.

"Take this to the kitchen honey." She passed dad the bags and then her lovely face changed and she went and turned off the tv from the plug.

I grabbed Kai's hand under the blanket. Keep a natural face. natural face. Just like we have practiced in the past.

"Why is it that I got a call today that you three skipped school? Rehan said he swore seeing you all there, but I'm sure he's covering for you."

AND START.

"Shhh." Ace got up and shushed mom. Yes that's right. He shushed her.

"Mom you will ruin the plan." Kai spoke in his usual cold tone. "Have some common sense."

Perfect. Her face is confused. She will turn to me in three.two.one.

and there it was. The look.

"We are making a surprise present for Rehan. His birthday is coming up." I whispered.

She crossed her arms. "And this couldn't be done after classes or on the weekend?"

I shook my head. "If we went on a weekend someone would have seen us and Rehan will find out that we went somewhere without him. He will be hurt and lonely or will totally ruin the surprise."

"And we can't go after school because I have after school activities." Ace added.

"And my biology competition is always a priority, but this is my brother we are talking about." Kai added.

"We were going to tell you as soon as you got home, but we got held up so we ended up telling you now."

She uncrossed her hands. Yes ! A WIN.

And then she smiled. "So what did you get him?"

Kai and Ace froze up.

"A rainbow laser." I answered on a whim.

"A rainbow laser?" She leaned her head on the side. "What's that?"

"Oh it's a Rehan thing."

She nodded as if she understood. "Well then, since it was a good cause and all for your brother I can't be mad. I'll make up a lie or something. But don't skip any more classes."

"Yes mom." We answered in union.

When she disappeared in the kitchen we could finally breathe.

"That was a nice save." Kai sighed.

"I heard Rehan talking about it today over the phone." I laughed. "I can't believe i thought of that."

"Guys we really owe Rehan a giant birthday present after this." Ace chuckled. "Cause this could have been a disaster without him."

***

After dinner, mom and dad went straight to bed and everyone disappeared in their rooms. I on the other hand am on the couch with the lights off and the tv on, watching "Unsolved murder cases with Debra House".

Ace came down the stairs and minutes later he walked out the kitchen with a pulled-up shirt, full of snacks. He passed me and went for the stairs and then came back and leaned over my shoulder.

"What the hell are you watching?" He asked looking at the gruesome pictures of a slaughtered woman.

"It's an episode where 20 years ago three women were slaughtered with a string, however, they found one dead guy killed in the same way and they were totally confused because the pattern didn't fit. So they tried to solve it as a separate homicide, but it turns out it might have been deliberate to throw off the cops and now Debra House goes to talk to all these detectives to figure out who the killer is."

Ace circled the couch and sat next to me passing me a snack. "Were all the three women blonde?"

"Yes. All blonde, all in their thirties and all great students except for Annie-Marie who dropped out of university but still worked a good job."

"Oh he had a thing for blondes."

Kai passed by and went to the kitchen. Few seconds later he showed up in the living room and approached the couch. "Do you have to hog all the snacks? What in the name are you watching?"

"Debra House just went to prison to talk to the guy who was blamed for the crimes, but went to jail for something else. She wants to see if the suspicions were correct that he slaughtered three women." Ace answered.

Kai pushed us along the couch and grabbed a snack tugging the blanket. "How were they slaughtered?"

"String." I answered.

"Ugh that must have been messy." Kai shook his head.

"Wait till they replay the pictures," I said.

And then Rehan came for the snacks.

"Oh Debra House. Yes! Make room for me." He jumped on the couch between me and Ace.

"Have you seen these episodes?" I asked.

"Oh I've watched the whole season." Rehan said, digging his hand into the chips bag.

"Have you seen the one with the hanged sisters? That creeped me out." I went for the sweet stuff and nagged a cookie.

Rehan cuddled up next to me. "That was one of the best episodes."

I hugged him. "Ah my weird brother. Why is it that when we have something in common is dead bodies and murderers."

"Shhh." Kai stared at the TV munching on a cheese stick.

We watched the remaining part of the episode together.

And when they finally had what seemed like the answers to the case, the man they thought did it, ended up in jail for another crime. Was it really him, or some other killer that still roams the dark streets, we'll never know. Good night and see you soon on the next episode with Debra House"

"are you fucking with me?" Ace mumbled. "So who did it?"

"It's called unsolved crimes Ace. They are unsolved." I complained.

"She came pretty close on this one though," Rehan said getting up. "Goodnight guys. I'm too tired for this shit. And remember you owe me for today."

"Yes yes. We promise to make it up to you." I said and sent him off with a kiss.

"I'm going as well." Kai got up and grabbed the rest of the snacks.

He was a picky eater, but a snacker without reserve.

"You?" I asked looking at Ace. He seemed to be in thought.

"No.." Ace mumbled and then turned his head towards me. "Kai said that he borrowed the car from Remi. That HE borrowed it."

I knew he would start interrogating me somehow. Ah...Okay. Here goes nothing.

"If your question is has their relationship somehow evolved from hey and hi to hey Remi can i borrow your car, then no. I asked Remi to give me the car so I can give it to Kai."

Come on..take the lie..

"And you went shopping today? Without Remi and skipped school? It's hard to believe you would do something like that."

I stared him right in the eye. "I met this stranger and he asked me to spend the day with him and we walked around town all day and when the sunset we each went our own way."

He stared back at me. "Francy, I know you've seen "Before sunrise" million times. I know how the plot goes. Just tell me where you went. Were you with Kai?"

"I wasn't with Kai. I went to see a projector movie. And it was "Before Sunrise"." I smiled. Take that.

He had accepted the half-truth. Perfect.

"What about you? Why are you hanging out with this Lucy? Is he a criminal?" I asked.

"That's not your business." He rose up avoiding the subject.

"So he is a criminal," I said. "I knew it."

"He's not a criminal Francy." Ace rubbed his forehead and I knew he was irritated, but I was just worried.

"Tell me Ace. I want to be able to sleep at night."

He sighed. "Lucy is a genius. If my tech skills are here.." he drew a tall line at the throat. "Then his skills are here. "he drew a line over his head". "He might be a little unsocial and threatening and scares the shit out of everyone, but I like him. I picked up stuff from him much easier than the computer software course I took last year."

"So he's your tutor?" I asked. I knew Ace wanted to study computer science and programming and had spent every summer learning, but I didn't think that's why he went to the devil's den every day.

"He is complicated but smart and I'm taking advantage of it. Goodnight sis." Avoiding this subject he disappeared up the stairs.