I breathed a little easier. We reached my house and James dropped me off. I got my hoodie back on and walked inside thinking that this town was starting to actually get interesting. The next few days were spent mostly hanging out with James and Tyler. Sadly, no more shows or practices were in my near future. I could not figure out a way to run into Ari casually either. He was barely on any social media platforms so I couldn't even post a cute pic to try and get his attention. Jordan and Patrick would have laughed at me if they saw how much I was acting like, well, a teenage girl. Finally, I was invited to an end of summer barbecue held at my Aunt Claire and Uncle Jim's. All of the families were invited and I knew that meant an almost guaranteed Ari sighting.
Dad and I headed over and I was surprised to see such a large crowd. There had to be at least forty people in their backyard.
So this is what it looks like when all of the families were in one spot?
My eyes quickly focused on a group of people in the back corner. They consisted of Brenna, Tyler, Elle, her presumable boyfriend (I really needed to confirm his name already), and the literal boy of my dreams, Ari.
Elle was sitting on Ari's lap. He was laughing at some joke Tyler had been telling and it made me melt. He looked so relaxed and in his element. I needed to find an excuse to ditch my dad and go over there. I spotted James talking to Dylan and prayed he would come over like a fairy godmother.
James noticed me giving him the help me eyes, said something to Dylan who then looked first at me, before looking over in Ari's direction and back.
Subtle James.
Dylan shook his head like it was the funniest thing he'd heard all day while James made his way over. He greeted us and then James and I headed towards where we both knew I wanted to go once he rescued me from Dad.
We were still out of earshot of the group though when he said; "You so owe me."
"Deal."
As we approached he called out, "Hey dweebs you all should remember my cousin, Alex. They all looked at me, most happy, Brenna not so much. Alex you remember Elle, and Tyler's other brother Aaron?"
Ah! Finally confirmed that name!
So the Evans sisters were dating Mason Brothers? Yeah that was going to get confusing fast. I quickly tuned back into the introductions before I missed someone. " I know you already know Ari, Brenna, and Ty." They all – minus Brenna – waved. Brenna instead got up and dragged Tyler away.
I looked at James who had that same amused look on his face from the other night. I looked back to the other three. "Hi."
James squeezed my shoulders and said, "Alex is from Texas so feel free to make fun of her Southern Belle accent." He then did a ceremonious bow and left me standing alone.
Jackass.
Elle hopped off of Ari and went to sit on Aaron's instead. "I'll let you sit next to Ari."
That made me blush. I looked at Ari, he just rolled his eyes and nodded to for me to take seat. I sat down sheepishly.
After a moment, I looked at Elle and asked, "Are you in all in the same grade?"
"No I am going into grade ten and Ari and Aaron are going to be a grade eleven."
"I'm going to be a Sophomore too."
"Why do Americans call it that?" She looked genuinely curious.
I shrugged, "We also call it 10th grade."
"Weird."
I felt like an alien open on the table being explored. I locked eyes with Ari again. He smiled and said, "You have nice eyes." It was the first time he had spoken since I sat down. I noticed his camera off to the side.
Elle nudged him, "Ari, stop being weird."
I just smiled. Aaron was biting his nails and looked up at me, "He's right though, you do. They're the same dark blue as Laura's."
Elle shrugged. I smiled at her, "I like your green eyes." That made her smile.
Aaron kissed her forehead in agreement then looked back at me, "So did you like Running With Scissors. You'll have to stick around for Train Station next time. They're good too."
Ari spoke before I could, "She was the girl I told you I hung out with the night they played at The Garage after RWS."
Aaron's eyes bulged.
I chimed in, "Yeah James and I stuck around after the show. I liked them too."
They all nodded and Elle spoke, "Those two are the local bands. They play at all the dances and clubs. Brenna said they both might even be going on tour next summer."
My eyes widened at that. "That would be cool."
Elle just rolled her eyes.
"I like the music. I just don't really like my sister. I wouldn't mind her being gone for three months though."
I nodded in agreement to that one. I turned back to Ari. If he thought I had nice eyes he obviously hadn't spent enough time looking in the mirror. "You're still their stepbrother, right?"
He smirked, "Yep."
I looked around and saw Dylan throwing around a football. "I remember Dylan being friends with these guys when they were in Peewee hockey. I can't believe they're all still friends."
Aaron laughed, "Yeah at this point I don't think they could stop being friends even if they wanted too. All the siblings are so intertwined now it just wouldn't work. Everyone here will be the main people you spend time with if you are around your cousins a lot."
"Yeah I figured as much. James said you aren't all as close as the hockey boys though?"
Elle shrugged, "We all hang out when the families get together but we all have our select group within the bigger group.
"Yeah that's basically what he said too." I looked around. Some of them looks familiar but others just looked like strangers. I looked back and saw three pairs of eyes looking for me to speak. "I feel like I should recognize everyone more but I don't."
Ari nodded slowly, "You hung out with your cousins more than any of us. Why should you remember everyone?"
Aaron added, "Plus, it has been like what three or four years since you've seen anyone? Puberty changes people."
I looked pointedly at Ari. "I'm excited to get to know everyone again though."
Ari smiled, "Good."
My eyes kept wandering over the crowd trying to take them all in. Dylan and his friends were all tall and full of muscles.
One had olive skin and dark brown hair pulled into a man bun. He had almost a full beard. Maximiliano. I felt like he just went by Max but I remember that name rolling off my tongue a lot as a small child. I loved that name for some reason.
Max caught a football from a boy with with curly black hair. His skin was a lot paler than the rest of them and his sleeker frame told me he had to be Ari's brother Jacob. Jacob? Where did I pull that from? But I was almost certain that was his full name, not Jake.
I looked at the boy next to Jake. His legs looked like tree trunks. I recognized him from Laura's Instagram though, Gavin Mason. Even with short cropped hair, he looked like Tyler and Aaron. Gavin threw the ball to a boy with light mocha skin.
I couldn't help but smile at a memory from the first time I met Logan was his name. I remembered being a small child and being fascinated that his Mom had espresso colored skin and his Dad paler than me. Logan had the perfect blend of the two.
"Max, Jake, Gavin, Logan, and Dylan." I said more to myself than anyone in particular.
Elle heard me though and responded, "Yep. You got all those right. Looks like you remember more than you thought."
I laughed, "Those are the easy ones. They were always around Dylan. Max taught me how to lift the puck off the ground. Logan used to not know how to stop quick enough on skates and always ran into parked cars. Hard to forget them. What are their last names though? I know Jake's is Munro like Ari's. Gavin's is Mason."
She nodded, "Logan's is Stone and Max's is Flores."
I looked around trying to match more faces. Logan's mother was sitting with her two other children eating. They were two boys who had the same mocha skin as Logan. I loved that their hair was a shade of auburn that they partially inherited from their dad. One of them though looked like he could lift the smaller on over his head like he was bench pressing him. The smaller one dress a lot like Aaron and Ari. That seemed to be a theme. Either they were athletic or artistic. Their dad was at the same table. He was still almost translucent, and his red hair was as bright of a flame as I remembered, just with a little more white. There was something off though; they weren't sitting together. They were at the same table maybe, but each seemed to really be there with someone else. Mrs. Stone was sitting next to a man who was much tanner than Mr. Stone and had deep black hair. Mr. Stone was with a woman who looked like a Swedish model. Next to her were a set of blonde haired children, a boy and girl.
I looked back at Elle, "The Stones got divorced?"
"Yep. Three years ago. About a year later Mr. Stone started dating Ms. Leighton. They got married last Spring. The blonde clones over there are her twins Annie and Landon Leighton. They're headed into Grade Eleven."
So that's how they have five.
James had mentioned one of the families had twins but he never filled me in on how.
"What are Logan's brother's names? I am spacing there."
She just smiled, "Well the one who looks like he's ready to go work out is named Declan and he's about to be in grade eleven. The tiny little thing next to him is named Ryan. He is one of the youngest of us, he's going into grade 9. He's really sweet but kind of sensitive. All of his brothers and step siblings are pretty athletic and preppy."
"And he looks about the furthest thing from that." I interjected.
"Exactly." Elle confirmed. "He also came out to his therapist about a year ago. The Stone's had him in therapy because they thought their divorce and Mr. Stone's remarrying was making him act out with all the black."
"You know because emo hipster kids have to have mommy and daddy issues of course." Aaron added with a laugh.
"How do you know he came out to his therapist? Isn't that supposed to be private?"
Ari chimed in with the answer, "It was a therapist from their church. The asshole outted him to his parents for fear of his eternal soul. Now they are hoping they can pray the gay away."
"Doesn't the Church also have something against divorce?" I thought out loud instead of in my head like I had intended.
I was from a non denominational background with Jordan but because of her holidays are mandatory church attendance habits but we really were 'Chriseaster Christians' for the most part.
Ari's voice brought me back to the conversation at hand, "Yeah try telling that to Mr. Stone. His mom has come around to the idea a bit. He lives with her full time now because of it."
"Wow. Anything else I should know around here?"
"Not really as far as parents go. I mean we all went through puberty so there's the drama that goes with that of course."
I looked back at the tiny boy staring at his phone. I had a feeling we were going to be friends soon enough. He smiled at something on his phone and then looked up in what I thought was meant to be casually. My eyes followed his gaze and landed on a tall boy with olive skin like Max and blue hair that made subtle eye contact back with Ryan before they both looked back down at their phones. His style was very in line with Ari, Elle, and the rest of those around here who were more artistic than athletic. He stood next to a girl with waist long brown hair that looked like it had been painfully straightened into submission. She was wearing a mini-skirt, crop top, and a pair of wedged sandals.
Who wears that to a family BBQ?
Looking around I spotted the last of the family cohort. There was a blonde girl on one side of the lawn wearing a tie-die crop top fighting with a tall Hispanic boy that matched Max and the boy with blue hair. The girl had a slender frame and long blonde hair that looked highlighted from the sun. She looked like Tyler with a wig on though. The Masons had strong genetics for sure.
I looked back at my little group who might have all the answers to my questions.
"Is Ryan into that kid with the blue hair?"
They all smiled but Elle responded, "Reece Flores. His twin Nina is standing there next to him. As far as the parents are concerned, there is nothing going on there. In reality..." She let herself trail off but I got the hint.
"Okay and what is up with those two in the back fighting?"
"Danny Flores and Miriam 'Miri' Mason. They're more grade nine babies."
"Are they together?"
Ari shrugged, "Depends on the day of the week."
I shook my head, "I am so not going to remember names and grades of all of these kids."
Elle leaned back behind her and grabbed what looked like an artist's drawing tablet.
"Let me write them all out for you."
"Wow."
Elle nodded, "Yeah I know it's a lot to keep up with."
I nodded, "It's like a soap opera. A literal real life soap opera. I mean I thought my family tree was weird."
I felt Ari's shoulder lean in to mine. "What's your branch like?"