Along Came Seth

Ryan's, Ice Cubes, and Strange Encounter's

“Where are your brother and sister?” Mom got straight to the point not even letting me get past the front hall.

“Off. Somewhere” I mumbled.

“You let your brother and sister go off somewhere?”

“I didn’t think I had to keep a leash on them” I joked. Mom’s eyebrows knitted together angrily and I looked down.

“Excuse me?” Mom looked at me full on.

“Nothing”

“Seth, honey come in” Mom said noticing him talking to a shrub.

“No, you’re a silly goose” He grinned poking the shrub.

“Is he~”

“No, he might have alcohol poisoning but he is definitely not high” I said catching on to my mom’s line of thought.

“Come on sweetheart” Mom put her arms around his waist and walked him to the living room, where he decided to use the ground as a chair, “Look at this, Trish”

I looked over at Seth and sighed, “I’m sorry”

“I thought I could count on you. I honestly thought you were better than this” Mom said pityingly.

“You can. I am” This had been our spiel for my entire life; Mom basically blaming me for everyone’s problems and me inextricably apologizing for it. I don’t know how it had started but it had stuck and each and every time she found a new way to make me feel like dirt

“So losing your brother and sister~”

“I didn’t lose them, they just went their own way” I caught Seth in my line of vision staring at my mom.

“Ms. McGuiness, do you have Advil?” He grumbled.

“Oh, yes honey” She bounded down the hall to the kitchen, “Here”

“So now I have to wait up all night for them because you decided you couldn’t be bothered to wait for them?” Mom said, “It’s like I gave birth to children who are stuck in the toddler phase”

Mom looked at me pointedly before hopping into her portal, I mean elevator, and leaving me with my thoughts.

“That. Was brutal” Seth acknowledged once she was gone.

“You’re not as drunk as you say you are, are you?”

“Oh, I totally am” He concluded, “I just know that that was not cool”

I shook my head and motioned for him to get up.

“Do you think you can?”

“I’m a big boy” He smiled standing up, quite wobbly if you ask me.

“C’mon” I put his arm back onto my shoulder and made sure my hand was securely around his waist.

“You’re like a bodybuilder” Seth said as we neared his room. I had never seen the inside, so this was new to me.

“Are you gonna open it?” He asked watching me stare at it.

“Obviously” I scoffed pushing the door open.

I honestly don’t know what I had been expecting. His room looked like an asteroid had hit. Multiple times.

“Do you not know what a laundry hamper is?” I mumbled trying not to step on the piles of clothes, books, magazines, and ~, “Is that a bowl of lasagna?”

“Yeah, I had this one crazy craving for it three nights ago”

“And the bowl is still present in your room” I couldn’t deny the itch I had to clean this place up. It was horrendous, almost as bad as Elliot’s room which, I promise, looked like a bad scene from a horror movie.