Daydream Believer

xcix. change and after the wedding

xcix. change and after the wedding

I was standing in the corner near the snack bar, as usual. There were just too many people. Who knew that Dad and Shonali had so many friends? They let me invite Aaron and Justin, so they must be around here somewhere. Noah was playing on his phone in another room and Brooklyn was standing next to me, since Shonali told me to keep an eye on her. I hated being the oldest. Dad and Shonali were always asking me to take care of Noah and Brooklyn. They couldn't just leave me alone.

"Kenna, I'm tired," Brooklyn said. It was well past her bedtime. If I had my driver's license, I could have driven her home and then I could have gotten away from all of these people, but I didn't have it yet.

"Me too," I told Brooklyn. "We'll go home soon." Really, I had no idea when we were going to go home, but I wanted to comfort her a little.

"When?" Brooklyn asked.

"Soon." In the three and a half years I had known Brooklyn, she sure hadn't grown up much. She had gotten a little taller, but she still acted like a spoiled brat sometimes.

Aaron came over to the snack bar. I waved at him and he came over to our little corner. "Hey! What's up?" he said.

"Not much," I said. "I have to watch Brooklyn."

"It can't be that bad," Aaron said. "Little kids are fun!"

"You try watching her then," I said.

Aaron crouched down to Brooklyn's level, which was a struggle since he was so tall. "Hey Brooklyn," he said. "I'm Aaron."

"Hi Aaron!" Brooklyn said.

Aaron grinned. "Want to play a game?" he asked. Brooklyn nodded. Aaron took a napkin and drew a tic-tac-toe board on it. They played a few very intense games of tic-tac-toe, which Aaron won every time. More importantly, he entertained Brooklyn so I could pull out my textbook and get some homework done. Why did Dad and Shonali have to have their wedding on a school night?

I needed peace and quiet, but it didn't seem like I was going to get that. I wondered where Justin was. I could imagine him on the opposite side on the room reading, like me. Maybe he was trying to talk the DJ into playing that Arctic Monkeys song he liked, just like he joked that he would. I had already had more than my fair share of human interaction for today though. For now, I would savor what I had.