Second Chances

Chapter 2

"Change is the essence of life; be willing to surrendor who you are for what you could become." - Unknown

The apartment was small.

            As I stepped inside and took it in, I noticed that it had two bedrooms and one bathroom; the tiles in the kitchen were chipped aside from the one that was missing in front of the gas-top stove. There weren't any curtains on the sliding glass door and the carpet was well worn and matted. When I opened the fridge, I was met by a freezer that didn't work and a burned out light bulb. I then entered my bedroom and found a squeaky twin bed, a closet without a door, and a rather unattractive stain on the ceiling.

            I dropped my duffel on top of the bed and the mattress dipped with its weight. I  stepped back into the hall as my dad brought in the last box and set it on the three legged dinner table that wobbled with such enthusiasm I was positive that it wasn't safe to eat on, let alone set a heavy cardboard box. He placed his hands on his hips as he took one long look around the apartment, breathing in the musty scent, and then turned his gaze to me.

            "Well . . . it's got character."

            I raised an eyebrow, thinking to myself; it's got something all right, as I watched an ant scurry across the wall behind him.

            "Yeah," was what I said out loud. "Character."

            Dad stretched his lips into a grateful smile at my words, then grabbed the cardboard box he just set on the table and handed it to me. "Let's get unpacked, shall we? Terrance should be here soon with the rest."

            I nodded and took the box, then smiled and hugged it to my chest. At least I still had Terrance.

            "Okay," I murmured and stepped backwards into my new room.

            There was an end table with a missing drawer beside the bed, along with a desk shoved underneath the window with a hairline crack that stretched from the top left corner to the bottom right.

            I set the box on my bed and pulled the pen out of my hair to shove into the tape that kept the box closed. With a satisfying riiip, the box was opened and inside I found two of my favorite books, an empty photo album my aunt bought me however-many-years-ago, and Louie, the teddy bear I'd had ever since I could remember. A genuine smile tugged at the corners of my lips at the sight of it.

            It was the first thing I pulled out of the box. I set it on the bed, against the headboard since Terrance had my bedspread and pillows in his red pickup truck. I grabbed the two books and empty photo album and stacked them neatly on top of the desk, making sure the spines lined up perfectly.

            "Hey Waves," my brother said as he poked his head into my room, that signature lazy grin of his stretching across his face in greeting. His blond waves circled his head like a golden halo, disheveled from the long move. Like our father, he had the chiseled and sharp features that made every girl he encountered weak in the knees. Not only that, but his smile was blinding and his dark blue eyes were lined with long, thick eyelashes that made him that much more alluring. I may have been his younger sister, but it was hard not to notice how attractive my brother was.

            "Hey," I replied as I sat on the lumpy mattress, the springs groaning in resistance.

            "Wanna give me a hand? Dad wants the pickup emptied before we take back the U-Haul."

            Terrance was always the optimist of the three of us; Dad probably the second, but Terrance had this way of making everyone smile and put them in a better mood while lightening the tension or awkwardness in any given situation. Which was why his grin seemed so genuine and his eyes twinkled like the stars our mom used to study.

            I gave him a small smile and nodded my head once. "Yeah," I said and stood up. "Yeah, sure."

            Terrance's grin broadened as I brushed by him and he ruffled my hair. I merely rolled my eyes and headed out to the pickup truck where the rest of our boxes laid. Only as I opened the door, I was met with a closed fist hovering in the air inches away from my face, and a guy so tall, I figured that he had some relation to Big Foot, or Godzilla.

            I jumped and stumbled back into Terrance who let out an oof of surprise; presumably because I just elbowed him in the stomach.

            With my eyes widened, I watched as the fist fell to the side of the gargantuan guy who towered over me a good foot and a half. He was skinny with gangly limbs and brown hair that was a curled mess on top of his head; his green eyes were enlarged due to the glasses perched crookedly on his nose. He had the kind of high cheekbones that my old friends would've killed for, and his skin was fair, but pale, like he spent most of his time in artificial lighting. He wore a pair of bright orange basketball shorts and a baggy black T-Shirt that had the Batman logo stamped across his chest.

            "Umm . . . " I fumbled for my words, suddenly having no idea what to say.

            Terrance gripped my shoulders and gave them a squeeze.

            "Hey there, what can we do for ya?" he asked as he stepped around me to greet the newcomer, saving me from having to start a conversation. I stayed where I was, safely hidden behind the rock that was my brother.

            The newcomer looked down at Terrance, being a few inches taller than his six-foot-three height. He pushed his crooked glasses up his nose which I noticed had masking tape across the bridge, holding them together; only as soon as he had them pushed up, they slid down his long and thin nose once again.

            "Um, well," his voice was softer, and deeper than I thought it'd be. He fiddled with the fraying edge of his T-Shirt and kept shifting his gaze around, refusing to look Terrance or I in the eyes. "My—my uncle sent me over. He's the landlord, and . . . and he said to check in and make sure you were . . . settling in okay?" he said it as a question, as if he was unsure of what he was saying.

            He cleared his throat and shifted his gaze to the black and neon green sketchers he had on his feet. I was fairly certain that I saw the tip of his toe poking out of the hole in the top.

            Even though I couldn't see his face, I could feel Terrance giving the landlord's nephew a charming smile as he nodded at him.

            "All right, well thanks man, we are settling in fine. I'm Terrance Cadwell, by the way," he said while holding his hand out for the newcomer to shake. He only glanced at it so Terrance easily shifted his hand so he was pointing behind him and at me. "And this is my lil' sis, Waverly."

            I gave the newcomer a small wave and a polite smile, but he just nodded, not looking at me.

            "I'm . . . I'm Hamilton, Hamilton Myers," he muttered and shifted his weight to his left foot (the one without a hole in the toe).

            "Well Hamilton, it was nice meeting you, man. Dad's not home right now, but I'll let him know you stopped by," Terrance informed him with a nod and I noticed Hamilton relax a touch, his shoulders sagging with a relief I presumed was from the ending conversation.

            With a hurried nod and stumbled steps, Hamilton turned and began walking away, seeming to trip over his legs every so often as if he wasn't used to their length.

            Terrance let out a long breath and turned with his hands in his pockets, his eyebrows raised as he looked back at me. "Well," he said after glancing back at Hamilton's retreating figure. "That was different."

            My eyes followed Hamilton's awkward gait over Terrance's shoulder for a moment before I shifted my gaze back to my brother and nodded in agreement. "Yeah."