Beatiful Strangers

1

This place looks just like it did five years ago. Five years sounds like a very long time.

Five years away from all my old friends, away from my mom, away from my dad, from my sister, Heaven and my amazing baby.....

"Paris! Mom look! My sissy! She's back."

I'm broken out of my thoughts by the sound of my baby brother's voice

"Sekani!" I say picking him up in my arms

He puts his small hands on the sides of my face to steady my head, and gives me a kiss on my nose.

"I missed you. Mommy said you would come back soon so I waited." he says putting his arms round my neck in a hug

"I missed you too boo boo bear. And you're a very good boy for being patient''

He's getting kind of heavy but I don't mind; he's my baby and I love him

"Patient." he says musing on the word for a minute

"Come inside. Me and mommy made you something."

I refrain from saying 'I' and follow the scent of food to the kitchen

"You're home early." my mom says from beside the oven where my present from her and Sekani currently resides.

"I started out for home early. I didn't want to have to wait even a second more to see you guys."

I swipe some dough out of one of her unwashed mixing bowls and stick it in my mouth

"That's not healthy you know." she scolds me

I ignore her comment and ask her a question that has been on my mind since I got here

"Where are dad and Heaven?"

She rolls her eyes at me but still answers

"Your dad's running late at work and Heaven's out doing what she does best. She said she wanted to get you something cute for your little get together party or something."

"Where do these go?" a voice from behind me says

"Oh upstairs babe but you can put your stuff in the guest room. It's the only one with a bare door, just opposite the door decorated with tiny colorful hand prints. But don't go in there, that's my parents room. My stuff goes in I and Heaven's room. On the door it just says Heaven and Paris. Thanks." I say giving directions on where to keep our stuff to my boyfriend.

"I see you brought Andrew." my mom says coldly

"It's Drew." I correct, not phased by how cold her voice sounds or the death glare she has on following all Drew's footsteps

"And I feel like I told you and dad that he'd be coming over for thanksgiving."

"I don't recall." she says sarcastically

"Drop the death glare he's gone. I don't understand what your issue with him is."

She doesn't say anything for a while and then "You know Jesse is coming over with Heaven."

She tries to act nonchalant about it but I know where she's going with this

I'm tempted to ask if they're a couple now but I know that's not possible.

I understand this game she's playing; trying to bring up something that isn't there anymore

"You aren't sly Danielle. I know what you're doing." I say pining her with a questioning glare to make her admit she's up to no good

"What? I'm just warning you ahead of time." she says eating the dough off her fingers

"Buh? What?? Huh? You literally just told me not to do that a second ago" I remind her

"I know. But I'm the parent." she says eating more dough

"Who would've thought." I shade her

"Well that's one less person eating my cupcakes I'll add you to the list, right after Andrew."

I roll my eyes at her and laugh cause I know she's just playing

"Whatever. Imma go upstairs and unpack." I excuse myself from the kitchen and head up the stairs.

When I get to the top of the stairs, I wait there for a second taking everything in, letting all the memories overwhelm me

This house holds more memories than I ever thought I'd make here, Sekani being the most precious of all of them.

I remember finding out that Danielle was pregnant and my reaction.

I thought Sekani meant a whole new round of troubles and insecurities. I didn't know that he was the missing link this family needed to hold us all together.

I was such a fucked up human being; only thinking of myself, but I'm glad I'm better now.

I open the door to I and Heaven's room and let it all come flooding back in.

It's not like I didn't come for five years, it's just that shit hits different every time.

Walking over to my bed, I place my suitcase on it and begin to unpack.

The first thing my hand comes in contact with is my Ridgewood sweatshirt. I never wear it but it's always at the top of my box anywhere I travel.

I remember getting it with the whole gang back then and how we thought it showed our school spirit. It just kind of felt right to keep it. That was a day or two to our graduation from high school.

I unpack the rest of my stuff in a daze thinking about the good ol' days. (oh my fucking jeez that just rhymed)

My mind has been playing around the issue since but I can't get myself to actually think about it. I'm going to be seeing Jesse for the first time in five years.

We've talked a few times over the phone but this is the first time I'm going to be seeing him since after I left for college.

I don't know what to expect, I'm not sure what to even say.

I panic a bit before I realize what I'm doing. Jesse is my friend. Why would I have a hard time talking to him? Why should I be worried that things will be awkward? It's been five years already and we've cleared up any misunderstanding we might have had.

Misunderstanding? Yeah that's the word for a very complicated relationship that almost ruined our lives and our friendships and still ended up being nothing more than a high school crush. Because that's all it ever was.

Ok I need to stop over thinking this. It was five years ago and it's not like I still have feelings for Jesse. I really wore the whole concept of having feelings for Jesse thin for almost a half year only to discover that we're better as friends.

I guess it's cause at a point we just made sense like the whole strangers to enemies to friends to lovers cliché and I was in love with the idea of being in love with Jesse and not with Jesse as a person. And that probably sucked for Jesse.

But it's been five years and we're cool now. It shouldn't be that hard to...

"They're hereeeeeeeeee!" I hear Danielle's voice from the kitchen

Oh crap.