Living The Lie

Chapter 4

Waking up the next morning to the sound of my alarm going off, I look over at my clock which reads 6:35am.  Guess it’s time to get up. Groaning, I start to stretch my muscles that became stiff overnight. Grabbing the clothes that I laid out the night before, I begin to head to the bathroom still groggy from sleep. Peeking into Mathew’s room, I can see a lump on the bed, his light snoring echoing in my ears.

“Great! Now I don’t have to fight with him over the bathroom,” I think, giving a little smile of triumph.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, I walk out of the bathroom. I can see my brother leaning against the wall, daggers shooting out of his eyes.

“Thanks for waking me up, Oh great sister of mine,” he snapped.

“You are welcome, Oh lazy brother.” Walking back to my room I can hear my brother growl behind me.

“Better hurry up.  You don’t want mommy taking you to school on your first day,”I mocked, not looking back. I hear the door slamming behind me. Yes, this is how it should be. We should be fighting, as normal brothers and sisters do. Not tip toeing around one another and guarding what we say, like we did the last few months at our old house.

Walking  into my room, I check myself in the mirror which is now hanging on my wall.  I am wearing a light blue t- shirt that says, “Don’t mess with me” and dark blue jeans that are worn out at the bottom.  My black Converse Chuck Taylor's are on my feet. Maybe I should dress up a little more considering it’s my first day. However, both Mathew and I had to walk to the bus stop down the street, and I really don’t want to ruin one of my $300 pair of shoes.

“We’re going to be late”, my brother calling from downstairs. Damn he is fast. Grabbing my black book bag, I start to head out. Walking out the door, I look over at my brother . He’s wearing black jeans, a brown long sleeve shirt with brown sneakers on his feet. Nothing fancy. It would seem that my brother had the same idea that I did. Without saying anything we start to head down the driveway.

After walking about 15 minutes, I can see a yellow sign that reads “Bus stop” in bold letters. As me and my brother walk closer, voices fill the air. After walking around a tree I can see about fourteen kids all hanging out. We both pause for a moment, debating whether or not we should advance. Before any conclusion can be made, a male voice calls out to us, “Hey, this is the bus stop, if you are waiting.”

Looking over, I can see the boy who showed us around the other day. Tom, I think is his name. As Mathew and I both walk towards him I wave hello, thankful to him for saving us from an awkward situation.

“Hey.” Tom grins. His blue eyes blazing into mine. His smile is so sincere that I cannot help smiling back.

“So you take the bus too?” I question, secretly hoping that he does. It would be nice, having someone to talk on the bus to and from school.

“No, not usually,” Tom admits, crushing my hopes.  Of course he doesn’t, that would have been too easy. Taking his hands, he places them in his pockets and starts rocking back and forth on his feet as he speaks.

“I have a truck, but it’s in the shop right now. I usually drive both me and my sister to school.” Taking a hand out of his pocket he points to a girl who looks about the same age as Mathew. She is cute, I notice. She has sandy brown hair, just like her brother. But, that’s where the resemblance stops. Her eyes are brown, placed on a round pretty face. Where her brother has a rugged look, his sister has a look of elegance that someone is just born with. Both are attractive, but in their own ways. As I’m looking at her, it seems my brother is too because he’s walking right up to her, introducing himself. I raise my eyebrows slightly, staring over at them. Well, he wastes no time, I think to myself. It seems that he is taking the move better than I had thought.