Love is Hard

Coffee

"Crap!" I yell, as I swing my feet out of bed. I knew that I wasn't going to get up in time! Justin and I, my older brother, had some friends over and it was late when they all finally left. Justin lived with me awhile ago, but he recently moved out. He kept all his stuff here, because he shows up with no warning and stays. I don't mind it, I mean I do live alone, but his friends always think this is their place to crash also. Since his friends were over, I felt competition, I invited my own friends. Soon, there were like 30 people in my apartment! I didn't even talk to most of them!
"Dang Izzy! You know how to have a house full!" My friend Jackson yelled.
"IZZY!" I heard my best girl-friend, Katie, yell at me. Im only friends with one girl, because guys are less drama. I can barely tolerate what Katie puts me through. Yeah, I'm no full blown tomboy; I wear little makeup and dressy clothes, but the cute boy drama is a no go.
"Katie! You made it!"
"Of course, can't have a party without muah!" Katie spoke with her hands frailing in the air.

I throw on my clothes, add a little make up, and head out the door. I'm running behind as I get into the cab, but I tell him to go to the coffee shop first. My boss always let's me off when I give him coffee; working with the newspaper has its advantages. I am a 24 year old paying on college fee's. I got an editing job, but only at the newspaper company. Soon I'm planning on bumping up the level; writing is my passion. As my thoughts lead me away from reality, I hear the cab drivers voice,
"Here you go ma'am."
"Can you wait on me? It won't take long!" I ask, impatiently.
"I'll only wait 5 minutes!" So I hand him some cash just in case. I get out and quickly run in. Im in line for about 3 minutes, but I walk away happy. One carmel, one hot chocolate. As I walk outside, I head for the cab. Suddenly I see a man walking to my side. He crashes into me, sending my drink down my shirt! Ask any girl, a wet bra is not comfortable! He automatically starts apologing, resisting to help, but we both know I would call the cops if he touched me! I suddenly see the cab car pull away. Jerk
"Man, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" He said, going to the nearest table for napkins. I breathe deep and stay calm.
"Its okay." I say calmly. His face grows into a serious line instead of a smile.
"You're Isabelle Johnson!" He says, me barely listening.
"That's me." I say gloomily.
"I was at your party last night, Jason invited me. I could give you a ride!" He paused, and a smile grew back in my face.
"It will be your pay for eating all my food." I say, making him silently laugh. He guided me to his car; a black pickup truck. Like any gentlemen would, he opened the car door and shut it when I got situated. I made a call to my boss. He's very understanding, but he was a little hard on me today.
"So do I get to know your name?" I ask after hanging up.
"Oh, right! I'm Caleb. Thompson." He said, flipping on his turn signal. I looked at his clothes; a black T-shirt with stained jeans. His hair was shaved on the side, but longer on the top. The more I looked at him, the more attractive he became to me. I have been through crazy, insane stuff, and because of that I locked everyone out. I know I pushed everyone away, its what I do, it's easier that way. I haven't been with a guy since Junior year in high school. I lost interest in anyone. I pushed my parents away, my friends, my family. The only one I confided in was Justin. I knew he would be there for me, thick and thin. Caleb now noticed me looking at him. I shake my head to clear my thoughts, and ask another question.
"How do you know my brother?"
"I went to school with him." He answered as he turned onto my road. When he parked, he hesitated to get out.
"You were there last night, why not come in now?" I laugh.
"You're pretty humorous for a girl who has coffee down her shirt!"
"Who says I still won't hit you?" I tease. I walk up to the door with him trailing behind me. I get my keys out of my pocket as we ride up the elevator. When we reach my floor, we walk side by side to my door. I unlock the door to find my brother, in his underwear, dancing around my apartment. I see him zoom through the living area to the kitchen with a hairbrush close to his mouth as he screams, not sings, to blurred lines. I moan out loud before stepping inside. Caleb beside me is dying of laughter. I walk quickly over to the stereo to turn the music off so my brother would stop acting like a girl! When the music stopped, his screaming didn't. He sang the next verse completely before turning towards me. He smiled innocently, before laughing.
"You are such a dork."
"At least I don't have coffee on me!" He laughed, before turning to see the company I brought with me. As I walk into my bedroom I yell back,
"At least I'm not wearing pink underwear!" I hear snickers between the two of them before hearing his comeback,
"I don't think Caleb wants to hear about your panties!" Justin emphasis'. He knows I hate that word, but instead of getting mad, I start to feel heat rush to my face. I walk over to my mirror and watch as my cheeks flush. I'm taken by surprise; I haven't blushed since high school! Suddenly I hear Caleb moan, before disappearing into the bathroom. The bathroom is right next to my room, which for me is perfect. Since i was little, I always was nosey. I heard Caleb answer his phone, and have an edge to his voice. He sounds irritated, but respectful.
"Okay, I got it." He paused, "Yes, mom, I still am." His voice got deeper from, saddness? "Tell dad..." He slowly distanced his words. A really long pause was placed after that. He broke the silence with loving words, "I love you, mom." I break out of my haze as Justin, uninvitedly, comes into my room. I was so distracted that I paused from changing. My coffee stained shirt hung loosely around my neck, showing my bra a little. When I turned around I yelled at him to get out, threatening to flash him. His face turned red from disgust and he ran out screaming,
"You're my sister! That is so gross!" I finished changing, finally, looking into the body mirror at my outfit; a light blue flow-free shirt with an infinity scarf. My pants were still dry, but I sprayed perfume just in case I smelled like coffee. I wore my heeled converse my mom got me for my birthday that I always wore to work. As I walked out I saw Justin, still in his underwear, lounging around on the couch eating popcorn.
"You're going to be fat, and I'm going to laugh when you can't stand up straight on your own." He smirked at my comment. At that moment I didn't know Caleb was in the doorway behind me.
"You can just take care of me!" I snorted my ugly laugh causing Justin to cough up his popcorn. "You sound like a donkey when you do that!"
"Shut up!" I say grabbing for my winter Peatree coat. As I reach for it someone gets to it before me, causing me to hesitate. Caleb takes it off the hook and positions it properly for me to put it on. I send a thank you smile and accept his help. When I pull my hair out of the coat, I look up at my brother. His mouth is wide open, showing shock on his facial features.
"Dude, thats my sister! You're supposed to be on my side!"
"I think she gets enough from you." He says as I snort from laughter, "Plus, its cute." The room goes quite, and the tension rises. Suddenly my face heats up, and I can't stop it. Justin gives him a look, knitting his eyebrows together from confusion.
"Dude! Again, that's my sister!"
"Well," I clear my throat in clarification, "I'm really late!" I grab Caleb by the shoulder, dragging him toward the door," let's go."
"Bye, you two 'love birds'!" Justin yells out behind us.
"Sometimes i wonder if I'm the youngest." I think out loud, causing Caleb to laugh.
"You clean up nice, you look good." Caleb said as we hopped into the elevator. My face heats again, making me hide it from him. We walk out of the apartment building, side by side. He, again, opens my door for me. Before he turns the keys, he asks,
"Where do you work?"
"Union newspaper." I paused, not knowing if he knew where that was, "On 5th street." He nods.
"You like writing?"
"Like is an understatement." I have a mini-laugh before asking, " Where do you work?"
"Everywhere..." He sighs. When he looks at me, I see the look I have in my eyes: pain. I turn away, but push the question.
"Well, continue!" He laughs.
"You're demanding! I have more than one job. I'm a mechanic at Mikes Body Repair Shoppe, I'm a waiter at Ihop, and I work at the machine factory here in town, called Kindle." He stops, probably to breathe.
"How do you have a life?" I ask, before restating, "I mean three jobs, yet you can still make it to a party! I'd be at home eating ice cream, or sleeping!" He laughs while I smile. His laughter is the best sound in a humans ear; so perfect!
"Its hard, but I do it. Somehow." I sigh now. "Hey, you can't sigh! You're working somewhere you're college degree is in use! I on the other hand..." I look over at him, pushing him on. "Sometimes struggle to get dinner on the table."
"You're not the only one. Justin is two years older than me and I still buy food for him. I'll come home and find him eating on my couch..." I trail off, dazed by his laughter.
"Siblings, never know what to do with them!" Caleb says, making me giggle. Giggle? Who am I?
"I mean, I live alone. I don't mind it when he comes over; its just, he brings his friends...which like to stay." I trail off, thinking back to my past.
"Well, I don't know what its like being the younger sibling, but being the oldest is tough." Caleb sends a quick glance at me, before returning his eyes back to the road.
"Man, I might as well be the oldest!" I pause, "My older brother lives with me, my parents are out of the picture, and I have my own place!"
"You're not close to your parents?" Shock rides through his voice. I shake my head.
"No. I kind of distanced myself years ago." I sigh, "But Justin, they just got closer and closer." I lean towards Caleb and whisper, "I think for money." We laugh and talk the rest of the way to my work, making me want to spend the day with him. He slowly turns into the parking lot, erasing the smile off my face. I moan out loud, but I see a smile form on his lips.
"We should hang out soon." He says, me nodding in agreement.
"Next time, hopefully, you won't see a disturbing sight of my brother!" Then I pause, "Is that possible?" Caleb laughs, making me smile. As I reached for the door, he interrupted me.
"Hold on!" He jumped out of his truck, and quickly ran to my side, opening my door like a gentlemen.
"Why, thank you kind sir."
"Anything for you, My lady." He says after my feet touch the ground. I blush, but I don't hide in enough time and I then see his cheeks flush also. He then closed the car door, while I walked a couple spaces. I turn around to see his hands placed in his pockets, nervously. His right hand flows through his hair, making it messier.
"Thank you, for the ride." I finally break the silence.
"No problem." He says. Suddenly my boss comes outside; meeting probably.
"No, Sandy. We don't have enough room for..." He paused, "Miss. Sam Johnson, about time you got to work!" He laughed, "I hope that coffee incident wasn't just to flirt with this young, fine man." He winked at Caleb, making us tense up. Caleb laughs, making me nervous.
"Trust me, he's all yours." I say, shooting a teasing look towards him. I tell him goodbye and to come to my next party. "Don't be a stranger!" I say walking away. I smile as he says,
"From you? Impossible!"

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Thank you for reading! It took so long to write
Please comment! I want to know if its good
Thank you again! I love writing!

- Emuna_Jasmine