Author: I'm waiting for votes and comments, all I can see that there are so many ghost readers right here. But as an writer I am giving my time and effort to this story.
"Nunew? Well, I guess he hasn't woken up yet. I'll go to his room and see. We'll eat something or maybe go out...
Time passes, somehow. Don't worry about us, focus there. Okay daddy, see you later."
I opened my eyes when Zee spoke on the phone.
My yesterday's pain was relieved from the medication and sleeping. Still in bed watching Zee from behind, I felt my throat tighten and coughed slightly. Hearing my voice, Zee turned to me.
He smiled.
"Good morning."
I smiled too. .
"Good morning."
"You took the medicine yesterday. Did it feel good?"
"Yes, I am good."
He sat on the bed.
"My father called and asked about you or something. They said they were fine, but we can come back tomorrow."
I was listening to what he was saying, straining his messy hair.
"Alright."
I said briefly. He came close to me and gave me a kiss on the forehead. I smiled and leaned in and kissed his cheek.
"Get up, it's already noon. I'll take you somewhere."
I opened my eyes in surprise. We didn't go places together very often. Usually, if my mother and stepfather took us with them, we would go to dinner as a family. The fact that he was taking me somewhere now made me excited.
"Yeah let's go."
I got out of bed to get ready.
After almost 45 minutes of travel, we reached the place that Zee mentioned. This was a seaside town far from the city we live in.
We passed many wooded areas along the way. We even stopped at one of them and had a small picnic with sandwiches from the bakery, accompanied by old songs playing on the car radio. I realized that I miss getting fresh air. We had a very refreshing journey with the windows of the car completely open, our hair and summer shirts flying, and when I finally saw the beach, I was filled with a different peace. It was a relief to be away from the bustle of the city.
Zee lowered his green-rimmed sunglasses and parked the car, turning to me. He looked so cute with his glasses.
"What happened?"
He said seriously.
"With these glasses..."
I said through my giggles.
"You look so sweet."
When I said that, his serious demeanor turned into a mischievous one.
"Hmm, would you like to taste this candy?"
He said with a grin.
"Um, let me see."
I leaned in and gave him a short kiss on the cheek. He gave me the same kiss and said,
"Let's get down. We're here."
I looked around more carefully. We came to a house by the beach. It had three floors and looked more like a small apartment from the outside. With its white and dark blue paint, it resembled a sailor's lighthouse. While one side of the house was facing the beach, the other was facing the road, but there was not as much traffic as the inner city highways.
"Where is this?"
I said. Along the way, he never mentioned where we came from.
"Now you'll understand. Come with me."
"Oh merciless Zee. He never comes here, you know Nunew?"
I laughed at what Brett said.
"Don't be fooled, I come here often, bro."
Said Zee, pretending to come off hard. Rhett shook his head as he tried to eat the piece of pancake in his mouth. When it's over,
"We're kidding. Nunew doesn't believe it anyway, does Nunew?"
I smiled.
"Yes of course."
Zee brought me back to his old friends. Brett and Rhett were twin brothers. The three-floor house belonged to their family, but they were spending the holidays here, arriving a few weeks earlier than their parents.
Even though we arrived at noon, they prepared us a very nice breakfast with organic products of the town. After breakfast on the ground floor, we were sipping our coffees in the living room. The interior of the house was completely colored and retro furnished. It had a very pleasant atmosphere. I felt as if I had come to another country.
While we were chatting, the doorbell rang. Brett went to open the door and two more people entered. Brett hugged the boy, while Rhett hugged the girl, and the twins turned to us.
Brett "Look who we're going to introduce you to. This is my girlfriend, Everly, and this is Rhatt's boyfriend Trey." said.
We introduced ourselves and started chatting. The atmosphere got better as it got crowded. It was almost as if they introduced us to their lovers, giving away what they saw as really close. Zee was their childhood friend, but they had just met me. Other people might not want to introduce them to me at the risk of this situation.
It means they really loved me. I loved them too.
There was no love of luxury like in the city life, talking about money and brands all the time, gossiping about it, and nothing like that. It made me feel extraordinary being with them since our environment is usually like that. Unfortunately, due to the business environment of our family, we were always face to face with people who talked about money. I've never complained about being rich, but I often felt like living this life increased our odds of meeting fake people.
In the evening, we all went out to the terrace together. The twins' girlfriends had left before this time, as they had work to do.
Again, the four of us were sitting.
The house had a very large terrace and had a full view of the beach. Since the house is counted at the entrance of the town, we could see the lights of the town center combined with the sea. The twins decorated the terrace with led lights and various ornaments.
The air was also cool in the afternoon, and it was a perfect summer night air. We were sitting at the table on the terrace. There were soft padded garden seats around the table so I felt very comfortable.
Zee wrapped his arms around me even though they gave us shawls because the weather was getting colder.
In fact, Brett said with a laugh,
"So he always wanted a hug."
The twins knew we were step-brothers, but by our actions they seemed to more or less understand what was between us. Because it was the first time we were this close. It was the first time we had been to a place alone, and Zee even introduced me to someone from his real life. I said 'real life' because Zee's childhood was spent in this town.
From what I learned, he was not born rich. Therefore, it did not have an extravagant structure. And having a controlled structure suited him very well. No matter how much we annoy each other at times, I enjoyed discovering the little details about him and watching and examining him.
I had just discovered this.
I was also excited that I was now learning from his childhood.
"I got emotional when the night came." said Brett.
Rhett nodded in agreement.
"I don't know if Zee told you this, but..." he said and looked into Zee's face.
"Tell it, man." as if Zee knew what he was about to say.
"Bro, what a hard time we had!" said Rhett.
"Seriously, by the way."
Brett interrupted, looking at me.
"Shall I tell him? Please, please!" he said later.
When Rhett gave his consent, he began to explain.
"We came here from another city. Here's to Zee's school. We're smaller. I, I mean, maybe you understood my way of speaking and dressing, compared to other children, I was more or less feminine. The kids at school noticed this state of me. And they couldn't accept me. They didn't get in. Likewise with Rhett. But his situation was different."
After that sentence, Rhett took over the rest of the conversation.
"Can you believe I was overweight as a kid?"
He asked me. I looked at him in surprise. His body was so fit now.
"Are you serious?" I said.
"Yes I am. And that's why I was bullied a lot in the school cafeteria. The twins in this story were embraced by someone outside of school. That's the guy."
He said, looking at Zee with a warm smile. I could see the three of them had tears in their eyes. I also wanted to cry unintentionally because I could imagine what they were going through.
The twins were so sweet and Zee...He had a beautiful heart too. I was very happy to have learned it. Although I felt his good heart in some of his actions towards me. No matter how much we bickered and lied to each other, our purpose was not to seriously hurt each other. And such a thing never happened.
When my eyes found Zee, he smiled with full eyes. I smiled at him.