Just About Anything

1 - Lemons and Life

It's morning again...Great and soon my brother will be up and about as usual. I, on the other hand will cling onto my sheets tighter or try to. My brother is the most active out of us two and that's good, very good. I am the lazy brother or at least that's how I portray myself to others. The truth is...I'm very, very smart, but I tend to dumb it down because being smart is something I no longer have the energy for. I use to do a lot of things, a lot of important things I rather not go into. My room is a mess, clothes everywhere on the floor, shoes too. My bare, white walls are comforting...

"BROTHER!"

Ah, here we go. Arial is up and full of energy, it won't be long until he comes ban-

BAM! BAM!

"WINTERS! TIME TO GET UP!" Arial yelled through the door as he continued to bang on it.

I slowly sit up or slouch rather and gazed at the door. "Just give me ten minutes, Arial!"

The door slowly opens, my tall brother slips inside. He always been taller than me, slim too. We don't even look alike at all! Sure we're both tanned and got the same brown eyes, but there's a lot of differences. Arial always kept his brown hair nice and a bit shaggy, he always brushed it before ruffling it up a little every morning. Me? My black hair is slowly falling out and I'm on the verge of shaving it all off. I don't even bother with it now despite some of the small bald spots on the back of my head. Male pattern baldness did me a favor actually. I watched my brother turn on the light, never taking his eyes off of me.

"I'm going to meet up with Gwen and Haruka later tonight, want to come?" Arial asked with a hint of hope in his soft voice.

I shrugged my shoulders and slowly slip off the bed and onto my feet. "Eh, I might."

Arial tugged on his white t-shirt, he looked disappointed. "Winters, you been cooped up in your room for over a week now." He started walking toward me, eyes trying to read me, but couldn't. "You're a mess and I want you to come and hang out with me again."

The puppy eyes...

"Please?"

I sigh and nodded. Arial quickly roped me into a hug and lifted me off my feet. He has always been pretty strong, but he's been training with Gwen for the past few weeks so that's probably why. He's been training for a job as a top notch security guard. His current job as a cook at a decent Italian restaurant is starting to play out and Gwen wanted him to work with her.

"Thanks, Winters. Everyone's been wanting to see you for a while now, but we live so far out," Arial said, sitting me back down. "We should look into moving into the city to be closer."

"Maybe, Arial. I like where we are now and it's not that long of a drive," I said, smiling a bit. "An hour drive ain't too bad!" I patted him on the back as he scowled at me.

Arial headed back over to the door, stepping over clothes and shoes that's scattered all over the floor. I got the usual message about breakfast being ready soon and that I should go wash up before leaving. I collapsed back on my bed, lying on my back, and staring up at the ceiling. Everyone we knew lived in the city while Arial and I laid back in a nearby small town. This is how I wanted this arrangement to be before we met our small friend group. Our town has the basics: a few stores, clothing shops, law enforcement, and whatever else that's necessary. Arial never had much of a problem with staying here until he started getting older. The mountains and the fields are fine and all, but he wants to be with everyone else, he wants more. If only he knew why I chose to move us here those years ago.

Eventually, I got up and got dressed for the day. A cleaner light blue t-shirt, black baggie sweat pants, bare feet, and a clean face. I stared at myself in the mirror for a bit in the bathroom. I'm quite chubby, musta been all the crap I been eating over the months. I stopped caring so, so long ago about myself. Arial became my main focus, making sure he had a normal and healthy life as possible. I sound like a dad. Hell! I'm startin' to look like one too. I'm only twenty four and sometimes I feel older than that.