My Brother's Friend

Chapter One

Part One

Present Day

I look in the mirror, turning back and forth to see myself from all angles. I hear a knock at my door and before I can answer, it flies open. "Are you ready yet?" Daniel groans.

"Daniel!" I yell. "You can't just barge in!" Daniel just laughs and because I can't stay mad at him for long, I laugh too as I push him out of my bedroom. "And no, I'm not ready yet. Soon though."

"Does that mean I have to serve breakfast today?" he asks, making a pouty face and hanging in my doorway.

"Yes," I say. "Now shoo." I go back to my mirror and sigh. This is as good as it's gonna get, I think as I turn around. I put my hair up in a ponytail and grab my backpack, feeling sort of guilty for making Daniel serve breakfast. He is actually kind of a good brother when I think about it. He didn't usually complain no matter how bogus I could be. I can hear him knocking on the doors of the tenants. Our home isn't exactly... normal per say. Our mom owns a boarding house where we let lots of people rent rooms from us and we serve them meals and hang out together in the evenings. My brother and I have been doing chores for the boarding house ever since dad died long ago and we had to pick up the extra slack. 

I look out the window before I leave my room. The enormous tree in my front yard blocks out most of my window except for a few persistent rays of light that come through and dapple the opposite wall and my bed spread.

"Emma Louisa Reynolds get down here!" I hear my mom shout from downstairs. My stomach drops. Oh god, my mom hardly ever calls me by my full name and she certainly does not shout in the morning when she might wake up the rest of the sleeping tenants.

I run down the stairs and to the kitchen. Mom is sitting at the kitchen table with her hand over her mouth. "Mom?" I say tentatively. I honestly have no idea what I might have done wrong. I step into the kitchen slowly and quietly, the way one does when trying not to arouse more angry energy from one's mother. "What... what is it?" I sit down hesitantly in the chair next to her at the table, eyeing the suspicious piece of mail she's looking at.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asks suddenly, looking up at me and grinning.

"Tell you what?" I ask.

"About this!" she exclaims. "I am so happy for you! You got into the Theodore Arts camp!" I have to practically shove my entire fist in my mouth to keep from shrieking. The Theodore Strauss Modern Arts Camp is one of the most prestigious arts camps in the entire country where people from all over the world come to perform in art, drama, dancing, and music. I'd thought it was a long shot (almost as long as its mouthful of a name) when I filled out the application. But I guess I got in.

"I'm so proud of you," mom says, giving me a kiss on the forehead. "My talented baby."

I'm on cloud nine as Daniel comes down stairs. "Ready to go Emma?" he asks, swinging his keys around his finger.

"Yes!" I jump up from the table, "Thanks for doing breakfast Daniel." He just shrugs and grabs up his bag. I blow my mom a kiss and follow him out the door. Then I get into the back of his small, beat up car and hold onto the back of the passenger's seat as he speeds out of the driveway. He isn't exactly a reckless driver, but he isn't exactly a safe one either. He pulls up in front of Mason's house, right across the street from ours and honks twice. Mason comes running out the front door. As soon as he gets close enough for me to see I can tell that the entire left side of his face is red.

He opens up the passenger side door and climbs in. "Hey, Mase. Is everything okay?" Daniel asks, leaning over to turn on the AC.

"Yeah, fine," Mason says curtly. He turns around in his seat and smiles at me. "Hey there, Em."