Because You're Different ✔

10. Clueless

Sam

Nathan and June were talking a lot, lately. I'd wake up late, and they would already be up, making breakfast in the kitchen together and laughing at stupid jokes. Sometimes they shared this look when I apparently didn't get something. It was annoying.

He was my brother. He should be talking to me. What were they talking about anyway? The news? The president? What was so complicated that was too hard for me to understand? The grumpier I became, the sneakier their behavior — sometimes when I entered the kitchen, they'd stop talking altogether, trying to hide their smiling faces.

On a particular evening, I woke up in the middle of the night, my stomach rumbling, and found them whispering in the kitchen together, both in pajamas, sharing a bag of chips. Really, was it now necessary to wait until I was asleep and then go behind my back? She was my friend.

I blamed that psycho, Lena. First, she'd stolen my brother from me when she was alive. She'd made sure there were countless nights I had to have dinner with mom and dad alone. And when she was there, she would be offering me to set the house on fire. Nathan said she was joking, but I think she really meant it. "Lena, stop scaring him," he'd say. She never listened. He didn't realize. No, it was always Lena Lena Lena.

And now Lena had taken June from me and given her to him.

It started on New Year's Eve. We hadn't celebrated it last year, and I figured June and me would be counting down to zero with just the two of us this time. But no.

I don't know what she said to him about Lena, but it'd worked. Or maybe it'd been that freaking hug. I couldn't have hugged Nathan, we never hugged. It'd have been weird.

I mean, it was kind of fun to be all together at the time. In hindsight though, I should've been the one to persuade my brother to join us. And I probably would've thought of a better way than her. A way that wouldn't have meant breaking the law.

She got him drunk.

Very drunk.

She started with beers, then kept refilling his wine glass, and ended with some mixed drink Valentina had taught her to make.

Ironically, Nathan was a hugger when he was wasted. I hadn't known that, and I didn't really need to know. And June... well, I had no idea if she was just happy or she'd had a little too much to drink as well. I didn't understand why she drank. It's not like she was trying to fit in, and she only did it on special occasions... Still, she was breaking the law. She more than him. I wondered what his lawyer study mates would say if they knew he was letting a minor drink wine.

My birthday was coming up. Two weeks and I would be fifteen. They hadn't even mentioned it yet. Yeah, sure, we never did anything big, not since grandma had died, just eat cake and maybe buy a present, but now that June was here and we'd actually celebrated Christmas, I'd expected them to at least pay a little attention to it.

It seemed, though, that the only ones my friend and brother were paying attention to were each other.

I was walking the hallway alone. June told me to not bother waiting for her — I'd been grumpy, and she didn't like it. Good. It was her own fault. She barely even wanted to work on our book with me. She said it wasn't that good anyway, and that maybe we should come up with a new idea. Yeah, right. It was just another excuse to spend time with Nathan. For some reason, he'd been working really hard on this project for university, typing away on his laptop till deep into the night. Apparently, he was interested in the topic, discrimination. And of course, June was helping him every now and then. I didn't get how she could understand any of the bullshit in those articles.

"Hi, Sam!"

For a second, I halted. Was someone talking to me? Nah, must have been another Sam. I wanted to go on, but: "You're not ignoring us, are you?"

Two girls were blocking my way, desperately clinging to each other, and they were giggling like I had toilet paper stuck to my shoe. Consciously, I looked down. Nothing. Thank god. "Err... no, I just... I was thinking. Sorry."

They giggled even louder. It was kind of unnerving. When June did it, I at least knew what was funny. I think one of them, the one with the purple skirt, was called Jennifer, and the other, with the blonde, shiny hair was Hayley. It was Jennifer who spoke: "About your birthday?"

What? I gaped at them, and it must have looked stupid; they were now giggling so violently I wondered if I should be getting worried. Had they read my mind? "M-my birthday?"

"Yes. June told us about it. We wondered why we weren't invited yet."

"Invited?"

"Yes, to the party, of course," Jennifer said. "I know your house. It's so cool. You are having a party, right?"

Either I was dreaming, or I had wandered into a different reality. Since when did people know my name? More importantly, how did they know where I lived? They weren't supposed to know, mom and dad had forbidden me from telling.

But I guess everything was different anyway. June practically lived with us, and mom and dad definitely didn't like her. "Did June say there was a party?"

"No," Jennifer said, curling her brown hair around her finger. "But we figured there would be."

I didn't know what came over me — I didn't throw parties, and I didn't make myself stand out. Suddenly, though, I didn't care anymore. "Yeah, of course. It's gonna be small though. Just a couple of people from our year."

"Cool. Let us know when it is." Jennifer smiled, throwing her hair over her shoulder as she and Hayley walked away.

Oh shit... What had I done? I needed to find June, and quickly.