Intertwined

Met me

It smelled of crisp, hot, but clean air. The sky was an easy blue and the sun mellow, soft but also scorching with heat. Thick mirages covered the tarred road, and dappled the area with sunlight. The tree branches sparkled and bent in exhaustion and dropping dry autumn leaves covered the grass that had turned brown from the heat.

The leaves fell slowly and in spirals, twirling lazily in the wind. It was like a dried up winter wonderland. "Do you have any siblings?" She asked. "Two" I answered.

"An older sister and a little brother, how about you?"

She was lost in thought now but her eyes glimmered when they met mine " It's just me and my brother, Jason. He is an annoying, stupid and honest person. Probably the most genuine person I know but I'll never tell him. Boost his ego to the moon if he heard me say this so please never ever tell him I did or I will do something very horrible to you!"
She was trying so hard to look serious but unfortunately for her she wore all her feelings on her face so I could see right through the stunt.

"Well is that a threat ma'am? Should I be afraid? Ohh I'm so scared" I said sarcastically and that finally broke the serious look on her face as she gave me a hearty laugh.

"You should also stop with the sarcasm! Because of that you're not getting my number today." She pouted first and then her eyes beamed with mischief and she plastered a huge grin that stretched from her lips to her ears.

"When you say I can't you only encourage me, besides I know you want my number so I'm not giving you that, you'll have to scowl the internet till you find me and I know you wanna find me." I responded smirking confidently and enjoying this a little too much than I intended I show.

"Mmmh we will see about that Tkae, we will definitely see about that." She gave me a challenging look and I was all in for the challenge.

I always got my way with girls and they usually just threw themselves at me. Always gave me a vulnerable look and feel whenever they approached. And I was always a sucker for damsels In distress. Super cringy I know.
A sucker for the ones that made themselves fully disposable to me and I have to admit although it was easy, it was never a challenge or different they were all the same and it was starting to become a bit of a turn off.

That's why I never had a relationship that lasted more than a few weeks or some days even, because they quickly got boring and the whole vulnerability act was getting old.

But she, well she looked different, felt different and I could see it in her eyes, that fire that was so alluring and so hypnotizing I knew she would hand me my ass if I crossed the line or made any stupid mistakes. I could almost see it. And man was the view beautiful.

"There he is. Jason!! Hey, come here." She called our to her brother and I could see they had a normal brother sister relationship with a little bit of sizing but I could tell there was something else there. Love. She loved her brother but I knew she could never say it out loud, and from the grin Jason had as he jogged his way to her, only showed that he would definitely never let her forget it if she said it out loud or even thought it out loud.
I know my sister would.

Jason was tall, muscular and built like the sportsman he was. He was a darker shade of melanin in comparison to Tariku who had a mixed vibe to her skin tone. He had dark curls and deep brown eyes that were very intimidating.

"Hey, little bro! Miss me already?" He said and she rolled her eyes .

"I just came to take my bottle asshole so calm down. How is the game going?" She asked casually and I'm sure he said some soccer stuff that went over my head but she winked at me showing she understood no more than I did.

"Hey bro what's good I'm Tkae" I shook his hand.

He had a hard grip but so did I thanks to all the carrying around of extremely heavy speakers. Pains of being a musician. I swear we burned more calories on a single gig than the whole rugby team burned during the entire season.
I'm not joking seriously that shit is heavy.

He gave me a questioning smile but quickly gave me a blank expression so that I couldn't see his emotions anymore but he was calm and steady. "I'm Jason, what's good bro. I see she's dragging you around don't let her intimidate you, she doesn't bite." And with that Tariku sighed and it was hilarious so we all broke into a laugh.

"Thanks man, she was just threatening me earlier but I think I can handle her." I responded confidently and he gave me a look I couldn't decipher but then went on to take out a purple juice bottle from a sports bag and gave it to Tariku. They gave each other a quick goodbye by punching each other with elbows and I'm sure a few looks were thrown in communication but I dismissed it. I shook his hand and we left him as we headed back to the practice rooms.

"Your brother is a pretty cool guy." I told her honestly and she smiled dragging her feet and looking on the ground at all the grass.

"Yeah he is but not that much. Usually at least but I guess he thinks you're pretty cool too." I laughed.

"I must be special then innit? I feel pretty special now." She gave me a little push and I exaggerate the effect and she just burst into laughter.

I was happy this was really going well. Too well I thought. And yet again pessimism was raising her ugly head but I ignored the thought and enjoyed our walk and conversation to the practice rooms.

"You know I didn't tell you but I'm also an artist, well kinda
I used to do these paintings but I just lost interest along the way I guess." She smiled as if I had said something amazing.

"I can help you regain that interest." She was smiling mischievously.

"Is that so? Well. And, how exactly do you plan to restore this lost interest of mine?"
She grinned like a five year old girl who's just been given candy.

"You'll see" She said her eyes squinting like she was thinking of something. I raised my brows in thought. "Is that a promise?" She looked at me and just said "maybe."
I was intrigued by the way she said that one word but I did nothing and we just continued talking till we got back. I still couldn't believe this was just the first day. We literally met like a few hours back but it felt like such a long time. Something told me she would become a very important part of my life.