Two Introverts ✔

4 | Sam's Past

"Oh my god, Sam! You've grown to be such a big boy! Come on in, meet your cousins. They were so eager to see you and show you their new bunk bed!"

A six year old Sam nervously smiled at his aunt. She was cheerful as always, and he was anxious as always. He looked behind him and saw that his parents were busy taking out all their luggage from their car while his 2 year old sister was sleeping in the front seat. He didn't know whether to help his parents or listen to his aunt and go in, so he stood there for some time and just stared at nothing, naturally getting lost in his own thoughts.

'Go and help your parents, you idiot,' one part of his brain said.

'Go inside and see your cousins, they've been waiting for you, moron,' the other part of his brain countered.

By the time he finished arguing with himself, his parents were done bringing all their luggage into the house, and he realized that hadn't done either. He hadn't helped his parents with their luggage and nor had he gone inside like his aunt had told him to. He facepalmed and went in, hiding behind his father's back. He was always hesitant when it came to meeting his relatives because the number of times he'd seen them didn't matter; they always acted like they knew everything about him. But he didn't know anything about them, save their names, which made him feel rude and ignorant. So as a result, he never spoke to any of them - what would he even talk about if he knew nothing about them? Almost all of his relatives knew how shy the boy was, how he never spoke without being forced to, but still, each time Samuel and his parents were out of a relative's house, he would get scolded a lot.

"Can't you just say a 'Hello, how are you' to them? Don't act like you don't know how to talk, we all know that you do. We need to do something about this little attitude of yours."

He would feel terrible when his parents said that to him, but he couldn't really do anything. He knew he was being annoying and bratty, but he couldn't bring himself to talk to people who were almost strangers. 

He was, yet again, in his own world, so it caught him by surprise when his cousin came up to him, pulling him by the sleeve. "Sammy!! Did you know I got a new bunk bed? I need to share it with that douchebag" - she pointed at her older brother - "but that's fine! Come on, we can both sit on top and boss around him," she said, giggling.

Sia was someone who he was pretty comfortable with - she didn't make him feel nervous. She giggled and talked a lot, and though he didn't like it when people were constantly nagging, he quite liked her presence. Mostly because she never forced him to talk, and sometimes did all the talking and never once got bothered by the fact that Sam responds to most of it with just a single nod. She knew that he paid attention to everything she says, and when he's genuinely excited about something - which has happened when he was with her - he gushes about it a lot, making her squish his cheeks and call him "the cutest thing alive" despite being just two years older than him.

* * *

It had been a week since Samuel had gone to his cousins' house with his parents and he was having the time of his life playing and laughing non stop with them. Drake, his older cousin, didn't play much, but when he did, the whole room would roar with laughter because of his funny antics. On that day, though, they had decided to go to the mall to watch a movie and buy some clothes. Upon arriving, Samuel and Sia ("S square," as they liked to call themselves) claimed their seats in the movie theatre next to each other immediately and sat comfortably while their parents sat right behind them. Sam's younger sister was sleeping peacefully against his mother's shoulder and when he saw how squishy her cheek looked, he couldn't help but poke it with his chubby index finger and giggle at how soft it was. His mother swatted his hand away and scolded him for trying to wake her up, but he paid no attention to that and started talking to Sia.