Chapter Sixteen
Wonderfall
(adj.) someone you find yourself thinking about about all the time, the person you are completely infatuated with.
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When I walked downstairs, the kitchen was vacant of any activity. Both of my parents had gone to work and an eery stillness was left lingering in the house. Walking around, I felt the necessity to tip-toe my way across the floor as if making too much noise would disturb the house and we'd be sent packing.
The quietness only allowed me to dwell on Kali's texts, her lack-of to be honest. She was someone who I couldn't escape from, she took up all of my thoughts from the moment that I walked into the bookstore until the late hours of the night after we'd grown apart. I could feel myself falling in too deep but, I couldn't help myself. It's impossible to control your emotions, I knew that better than most people.
Jeremiah caused me to jump from my stance of leaning against the countertop, watching as coffee slowly dripped from the machine. The sound go his bare feet slapping against the floor had me nearly two feet in the air with surprise.
"You're home?" His voice asks me as I slowly turn to face him and his disheveled bed head, I'm certain that my own matching waves were just as unruly.
His question and ton shocks me, hitting me in the gut with guilt. I hadn't thought about just how much my absence was noticed by my family. "Yeah, I am."
He nods, looking a little unsure of it before making his way to the fridge. I couldn't help but notice just how similar we looked as Jeremiah got older. We'd always been told we looked alike but I was only just now aware of it. Even at eleven, I could already picture Jeremiah growing to be taller than me and the two of us being mistaken as twins; me as the slightly more worn version but still. His blue eyes were the only difference between us really.
I turned back to the coffee maker, a little bit more lost than I had been moments ago. I hadn't ever pictured Jeremiah growing up before, I'd never really thought beyond myself and that ate away at me as I continued to mull over the last few years of our lives. He'd only been nine when I started to check out of life, taking up partying to dull everything, but I had a feeling that he knew something was up, he may not understand it all but it doesn't take rocket-science to notice everyone beginning to walk on eggshells around your older brother.
"What are you up to today?" I find myself asking, glancing over my shoulder to see Jeremiah's body language.
I notice his body go rigged, ceasing to rummage through the fridge any longer. Then his shoulders shrug before continuing his search for something to eat.
I sigh in defeat, an uncomfortable silence settling in the kitchen just as the coffee announces that its ready with a loud, obnoxious beep. I pour the black liquid into my cup, shuffling around until I'm seated at the breakfast nook, the cup in front of me having lost my interest.
Jeremiah grabs peanut butter and jelly from the cupboard after putting bread in the toaster, a glass of milk that he'd poured waiting for him on the counter. The silence only thickens as we both live two separate lives, ones so completely distant from one another even though we were only, physically, five feet apart.
My phone vibrating interrupts the stillness in the room. My mind had already shifted from my conversation with Kali since my brother's arrival downstairs so when I see her name running across my screen I almost wonder why she'd be texting me.
Kali: Want to have a water balloon fight?
A smile finds itself across my face, along with a pair of curious eyes that watch me as Jeremiah approaches the table where I'm sat.
"Want to do something fun today? It looks like it's going to be a great day." I ask, a little unsure of myself as I look into Jeremiah's blue eyes that remind me of my mom. His questioning look turns into one of joy in an instant.
"Okay, what are you thinking?"
~ ~ ~
Jeremiah was definitely confused as I led the way to Kali's house, especially after I told him to wear his swim suit and asked him where our old water guns were packed. He didn't ask me where we were going however, only followed along in silence.
We were rounding the corner to Kali's house when I noticed Mr. Harvey coming out of a house across the street from Kali's. A bright smile was on his face as he turned in the door way to kiss the motherly-looking woman who was standing in the door way. I could see the love in their eyes immediately and it made me wonder what it would be like to grow old with someone, to build a life with another person.
"I've never been here before." Jeremiah states, taking in his surroundings just as Mr. Harvey makes his way down the steps of his house and onto the street.
"Morning Damian! I wasn't expecting to see you this morning." Mr. Harvey calls out to me, the smile that his wife put on his face still present.
I laugh, a little nervously for having been caught sneaking my way over to Kali's. I knew that Mr. Harvey could sense something was between Kali but being seen going to her house seemed weirdly intimate, personal information that didn't come up in the bookstore. "Morning Mr. Harvey!" I say back. "I thought I'd stop by cause I knew you'd miss me." I amend, making a joke of the situation.
"I'm sure that's the truth. You have a good day now." Mr. Harvey holler backs, a chuckle echoing through the street as he continues on his way. Jeremiah is now looking at me, incredulously, eyes bugging out of his head and everything.
"How do you even know that guy?" He asks me in astonishment.
I nervously laugh, my brother's shock at my life leaves me feeling anxious for having put up so many walls between me and my family. I tug at the long sleeves of my dri fit shirt in order to stop myself from being consumed by the thoughts that linger at the back of my mind.
"There's a bookstore on Main. I go there everyday to read, Mr. Harvey is the owner and Kali-" I stumble trying to find the best word to describe. "Kali works there and is now a friend of mine." I finish, looking at Jeremiah as the pieces slowly piece together in his head.
"Why go to a bookstore everyday?" He then asks, his voice holding the slightest bit of judgement and distaste at the word, 'bookstore.'
I shrug and laugh just as we stop at the Kali's front door, my hand lifted in the air to knock. "I like to read." I answer simply, Jeremiah scoffs at that just as I hear feet pounding their way closer from behind the door.
Kali's gaze meets mine as the door opens in a hurry, her hair has been pulled into a bun out of her face and loose curls fall from the security of their elastic. She smiles up at me before turning to face Jeremiah who appears to have turned into the shy boy that I've always known him to be.
"You must be Jeremiah, right?" She asks him. My heart skips a beat because she remembered that even though I hadn't often talked about my family over the last month of us knowing each other.
He nods, his stance relaxing as her warm smile greets him. "Yeah." He clarifies.
"I'm Kali, nice to meet you." Kali introduces herself, opening the door wider so that we can enter. "Come on in, my brother and sister are out in the back filling up balloons."
Jeremiah enters the house first, taking in everything that is Kali's home as his eyes wonder over the place. Kali's fingertips skim across mine as I make my way inside, my mouth tilting upwards with the small gesture.
"Hey." I greet, my voice deepening more than I had expected.
"Hi." She says, closing the door behind me with ease. I take notice of her athletic shorts and purple tank top as she slowly turns back to face me. "You ready to get taken down by some water balloons?" A hint of a challenge suggested in her tone.
"You are going down." I throw back, my words stumbling over themselves with nerves rather than coming out completely effortlessly which was what I had been aiming for. I wanted desperately to smack myself in the head for being nervous around Kali; however, I just couldn't help it.
"Alright then," Kali declares, her hands moving excitedly as she speaks. "I'll show you guys out back." Jeremiah looks at Kali before glancing back at me as if to ask for permission so I nod my head, the hint of a grin taking over his face as we follow Kali outside.
Courtney is immediately running towards Kali enthusiastically, her small frame skidding to a stop before the three of us but she continues to jump in her place as she shoves a balloon filled with water in Kali's face. Austin lingers by the outdoor faucet, twisting the tap until the water is only dripping onto the ground underneath. Next to his feet there is an overflowing kitty pool of multicoloured balloons, waiting to be smashed and thrown at people.
"Damian!" Courtney yells, her eyes finally noticing the two new figures next to Kali. I grin down at her, her curly hair bouncing as she jumps from excitement.
"I'm pretty sure someone has a crush." Kali whispers to me, moving from her place earlier until she's next to me as she speaks.
A chuckle escapes my mouth as Courtney looks at Jeremiah, glancing him up and down as if to judge whether he's worth her approval.
"Austin, Courtney, this is Jeremiah, Damian's younger brother." Kali initiates, her head giving Austin a slight nod as if communicating something along the lines of 'be nice.'
Jeremiah's looking at Austin and Courtney who are now both standing in front of us so that we are all making one big circle. The three of them greet each other and surprisingly, Austin strikes up a conversation with Jeremiah almost immediately. Kali and I exchange a look, our eyes locking with surprise behind both of them.
"Wow." I mouth to her, her head nodding in agreement.
My eyes whirl back to the scene in front of us just as the sound of a balloon bursting rings through my ears, a cold splash of water causing the black fabric of my shirt to cling against my stomach. Snickering follows as I glare up at the two boys who are the culprits of this war.
"You two are done." I proclaim, running past Kali as I head over to anticipative group of balloons.
~ ~ ~
"We are getting killed out there by a five year old and two teenage boys." Kali huffs, all of her facial features pulling down in frustration.
Both of our breathes are laboured from having running around her backyard, trying our best to fight back against our respective siblings who had obviously devised a plan to win. We luckily got away and had been hiding at the side of the house after running out of balloons; both of our clothes soaked to us like a second layer of skin.
"I brought water guns, they are in my backpack on the porch. If we can get those then we can definitely save ourselves because they'll run out of balloons." I suggest, knowing that we are probably taking this way too seriously but I didn't care, this was the most fun that I'd' had in a long time.
"If you get those, I'll grab the hose and we may actually have a shot at revenge." Kali's green eyes sparkle with child-like enthusiasm, it was easy to see where Courtney got it from. The hot sun was beating down on us as I affirmed that I understood the plan.
"One..." Kali mouthed to me as we crouched along the perimeter of the house, I couldn't see the backyard yet as Kali's body as blocking my view but I heard the rustling of our siblings somewhere around the corner.
"Two..." I said with her, both of us smiling at one another.
"Three!" We screamed in unison as I barrelled my way past her to the deck where I had left my backpack. I was so focused on making my way to my backpack that I hadn't even clued into the undisturbed scene of the backyard, absolutely nothing was happening even though I was a complete open target.
My scramble to my backpack only left me insanely confused because it wasn't there, I was nearly a hundred percent certain that I had dropped it here when I abandoned everything after Jeremiah and Austin hit me.
"Now!" Courtney yelled, all four of them coming out of their hiding places. Austin was throwing balloons, Jeremiah and Courtney equipped with the water guns, and Kali pointing the hose in my direction.
"Traitor!" I call out behind me as I quickly run to the other side of the house that I know leads the front lawn. I hear the four of them chasing after me as I hit the front of the house, the street coming into view.
All of their attention on me quickly turns on each other with the change of scenery. Courtney has taken up spraying Austin, who's now focused on aiming his balloons at both Jeremiah and Courtney. Kali brings up the last of the pack, the hose extending around the house with ease. She's laughing at the scene before her, aiming at all of the kids, soaking all of them within seconds.
When her eyes meet mine, the green becoming even more crystal clear with the sunlight hitting them, I charge to her. My skin makes contact with her, igniting an instant heat against my arms as I pick her up playfully.
"You are the worst accomplice." I tell her, laughing as I listen to her giggles. I place her back on the ground not letting her out of my arms just yet. All of us were completely drenched at this point.
"What can I say? I'm a double agent." She states, loosening her grip on the hose until the water stops entirely. Her body turns in my arms
"Oh really?" I question, my face leaning in to her's. Her eyebrows raise in anticipation and just as she's about to tilt her head up to me, I snatch the hose from her hands to receive the revenge I was hoping for.
Her face is in complete shock and anger as the water splashes against her body, her clothes only making her figure stand out more so than before. Jeremiah, Courtney, and Austin are my next targets, their laughter filling the air as all of our movements pick up once again filling the neighbourhood with livelihood.
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