Big Brothers

Moving In

We made it to our new home a couple hours ago. I'm thinking of it as a new life, new beginning, new choices. We can start over. Chris was kind of sad the whole ride here. He had to leave Jessica behind. I was totally happy about that.

Mom tried to comfort him but all he did was stay quiet while he flipped through some pictures of Jessica. He could do way better. I'm sure she moved on right when he said goodbye. Anyway, our house is pretty big. It has 5 rooms and 5 bathrooms. Each room has their own bathroom. Very convenient. I'm glad that we don't have to fight over the bathroom anymore. It was so annoying before.

"Do you need help?" Jason asks me.

I bring my last box in my new room. From the looks of it, I'm going to have to sell some of my stuff. If not, put it in our basement. Everything is definitely not going to fit in here. My room is the smallest. I thought if I had a smaller room, I wouldn't have much to clean. Now, I have to start a yard sale. The bathroom is a good size for me though.

"No." I answer. "Thanks."

He pauses for a minute. Is there something else he wants to tell me? Whatever it was going to be, Alex doesn't give him a chance to.

"Jason, are you gonna stand around all day or are you gonna help with our room?"

"Alex, knock." I glare.

"Lea, no." He answers.

Jason and Alex both run out of my room. I sigh for a minute. This is my life. I think it's going to be good. It's going to have to be.

I start unboxing everything. I start with all my frames. Everything else is all sorted. It's just the little things. Little things matter, right? As you can imagine, the only people I hear playing around is Alex and Jason. Chris is a little depressed. His room is across from mine. Alex's and Jason's room is next to his. Surprise, surprise, Dylan took the attic. It's the darkest room in the house. My mom didn't mind. No one really wanted it, anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~
I put up my last frame. It's more of a family picture. All my brothers, my mom, and me. That's my family. My dysfunctional, but beautiful, family.

"Lea! Dinners ready!" My mom yells.

Wow, time flew. We got here at around 2:00pm. Now, it's 7:35pm. Woah. I place the frame down, next to my bed. I run downstairs and take the first chair I see. We always fight over seats at the table. Our favorite is at the end. Thankfully, I get there first. We are very competitive with everything. To other's, it's a mature move. Honestly, I agree. But are we going to stop? Nah.

"Hey mom." Dylan greets. "Smells good."

As always, Dylan stares at me. I take this opportunity to get up and help my mom set up the table. Dylan just follows me with his eyes.

"He's staring again." I whisper.

"He's making sure you don't hurt yourself. That's all." My mom assures me. "I'm sure he means well. You should talk to him soon."

I nod and take the dishes. I place a plate in front of each seat. I'll speak to him later. When there's more privacy. My mom sees me rush so she just takes over with the forks and cups. I quickly run back to my seat once I hear running coming down the steps.

"Seriously, Lea? It was my turn to sit there." Alex grunts.

"You're too slow." I shrug. 

"Alright, Alright. Take a seat and eat. Where's your brothers?" Mom asks both Alex and I.

Dylan wouldn't know. He's disconnected from the family. Occasionally he talks to Chris. Speaking of, the floor starts to creek. We all look to see Chris slowly walking over to a seat. He's so sad. I'm sure he'll find a new girl.

"Jason!" Mom yells.

"I'm coming!" He replies.

"Well, boys. Dig in." Mom speaks. "And Lea."

We all start passing plates around. I take a little bit of food in each bowl. Mom always cooks some good food. I need to learn her recipes ASAP. A few minutes pass and Jason finally joins us.

"You guys started without me?" He pulls a chair.

"Why would I have everyone else starve because you wanted to take your time?" Mom raises an eyebrow.

We all dig in. I usually stay quiet at this time. Well, unless someone talks about something that really interests me. Then, I never stop talking. Chris starts to mess around with his food, then slowly puts a little in his mouth. How long is he going to be like this?

"So... how's everyone's room looking like?" I clear my throat.

"Alex and I are almost done. It's looking good." Jason nods.

Alex agrees. He then starts explaining how happy he is with the house and whatnot. That was a good conversation starter. I wonder what they'll think after high school starts. I know I'll hate it. I'm not good at making friends. Let alone guy friends. My brothers always scare them away. Especially Jason and Dylan.

"What about you, Lea? You ready for school?" Chris asks me.

I guess he wants to move on from the topic. I wonder if he even unpacked yet.

"A little nervous but I'm sure I'll manage." I put a positive spin on it.

Chris nods. He then goes back to playing with his food. I want to say something so badly. But what could I possibly say? I mean... he's 19. Why would he spill his feelings to a 15 year old?

"Okay, let's talk about the elephant in the room." Mom interrupts the awkward vibe.

Oh great. It's like mom read my mind. I hope Chris doesn't explode like he usually does. All my brothers stop eating and turn their heads over to Chris. I take a deep breath.

"Chris. What's on your mind?" Mom asks.

Chris quickly gets up, puts his plate in the sink and walks away. He mumbles something under his breath but I couldn't hear. It must've been him cursing. That didn't go well. Now, there's a tense vibe. Maybe mom will go to his room later and have a talk with him.

"I guess I'll go, too. Thank you for dinner."
~~~~~~~~
It's around 10:45pm. Everyone is in their rooms. I can hear Chris on the phone with someone. Probably Jessica. Jason and Alex are silent. They'll start playing on their Xbox at around 11:00pm. They always do. Then mom goes in and yells at them to turn it off. Anyway, Dylan is most likely reading a book. He has a bookshelf full of so many books. He's read every single one of them, by the way.

I can't help but think about when I should have that talk with him. Mom says I should. Just to figure out if he's okay. The staring started since I was 13. Maybe it's because that was the first time I started to actually notice boys. I remember I showed my brothers my first friend. (Who was a boy). All my brothers started asking him questions.

"Are you guys dating?"
"You guys aren't doing anything weird, right?"
"Do you like her?"
"Does she like you?"
"If you hurt her, I'll kill you."

Yeah... he never talked to me again.

Anyway, I hope tomorrow is a better day. We're supposed to go school shopping. We start school on Monday.

Let my new life finally begin.