Velvet

Travis

He was always there for me, through thick and thin. No matter how much I monumentally fucked up Travis was there to help pick up the pieces. Our little family started with my parents, who meet at a Keith Urban concert and by the end of the night created Travis. The first couple years being saddled with a kid forced them to work shit jobs to pay the bills. Soon after, they made me. While pregnant my mother made this special drink that apparently curved all her food cravings and helped her stay slim.

This idea launched our family into the life of wealth.

By the time I came along my parents were already engulfed in their business. They spent as little time with me as they could manage.

I specifically remember a time in 3rd grade when a boy from my grade was a bully and constantly picked on me. He did things like shove me to the ground, pull my hair until I wept, and steal my things. I came home crying because one time when he shoved me I cut open my knee. My mom glanced over with her reading glasses perched almost at the tip of her nose as she responded to emails from her high class clients. "What's wrong my  love?" she asked, as the space between her eyebrows wrinkled together with concern. I explained to her that I got pushed at recess and cut my leg open. All she did was take a deep breathe, rub her eyes, and sigh. "You are not a baby anymore Mia. Go wash it out and put a bandaid on it or something." She replied in annoyance and turned back to the laptop. Travis was coming into the kitchen and overheard us. He grabbed my arm and took me into the bathroom and gave me a tissue. He gently wiped away the dried blood and dirt , rubbed on neosporin and put a bandaid over it. I hung my head. "Mom doesn't care about me." I stated, while sniffling. He pulled me in for a hug. "Of course she cares about you, she's just stressed about work." He assured me with a little smile.

in middle school our parents transferred us over to an elite private school that we both excelled in, earning a 4.2 every semester. When we got into private high school we were pushed extremely hard and both earned a 4.8 consistently. Being the absolute dorks that Travis and I were, we made it into a contest to see who could get the highest score.

No matter how great our grades were or how much we participated in things, our parents rarely took notice.

Dad was usually off in New York at the company headquarters or locked away in his study. We all knew the real reason that he went to New York so often but it was never spoken of. Both parents did the act of betrayal eventually. It was just something that we all silently accepted. Although, I never saw my parents fight or anything like that. There was always a "Good morning!" and a hearty breakfast on the table in the morning with the whole family sitting together talking about upcoming things.

I never considered my parents as anything other than house mates that occasionally chatted with me.

I didn't have many friends of my own so I hung out with Travis and his friends. They were all great. It felt like all of us were a family together, and it made me less sad about my parents at home. All of them were a in my grade, even Travis who had entered school a year late. The four boys were my protectors. If someone hit on me then usually they were shooed away by one of them. Caleb and I often pretended to be dating in an effort to get people to not flirt with us. When I asked Travis why he scares away all the boys who would date me he would always reply, "No one is good enough for my sister!", and then mess up my hair.

Travis and I used to have movie night every saturday, we found the absolute dumbest movies to watch. Every time we were both breathless and panting from all of our laughter. We bought two giant bags of kettle corn that we almost always ate on sunday too.

Those are the things I miss the most about him.