Dreaming In Stereo

Part 3 -- Baekob's Girl

It was a mildly chilly afternoon in Sydney. Sunlight spilled its way through a long, winding street. On either sides were rows of neat, two-floor houses with a small patch of garden at the front. Number 7 was bustling. It housed a family of four--two working, middled aged parents, and two teenagers.

Mrs Delgado and her two children were gathered into the open kitchen, where a hastily-made after school snack sat half-eaten on the table. Mrs Delgado was humming to herself as she scrolled through her phone. The older girl, Mikaila, had a pair of white headphones over her ears. Waves of dark hair tumbled out from underneath a solid black beanie that she wore. She was dressed in school uniform--a light blue polo and a darker blue skort.

Opposite Mikaila sat her younger brother, a boy of about thirteen named Jakob. Jakob ate his snack slowly. He was dressed in a similar polo shirt stained in the corners and was wearing a baggy pair of trousers one size too large. As Jakob turned to look out the window, his jaw line intensified, etching itself deeper into his oval face.

"Hurry up, Jakey," Mikaila said a little loudly through her earphones. "I've got to take you to guitar."

"You haven't gotten much after this anyway," Jakob grumbled at his older sister. She glared back at her brother. "Anyway, why can't I just go to guitar myself? It's not like I'm a kid anymore."

"You're thirteen." His mom said firmly, as if that was all there was to it. "You should get a move on, Jakob," She had looked up from his phone and placed it face-down on the table.

Jakob sighed in annoyance at his mom but quickly finished up his granola bar. He ran upstairs and changed into a dark crewneck tee shirt and some faded jeans, grabbed his guitar case, wallet, phone and keys, and came back downstairs a couple of minutes later.

"Ready to go now?" Jakob asked his older sister.

"Hang on a sec," Mikaila raised a finger and closing her eyes. She sat in silence for a few more seconds, and then opened her eyes. Jakob rolled his eyes. "Okay. Let's go."

They headed out of the house together and retrieved a skateboard and wooden longboard. Mikaila got on the longboard and set off. Jakob strapped the guitar around his shoulder and rested it on his back, then started off slower than his sister. "Hey! Slow down, Mikaila!" Jakob shouted at his sister.

She laughed and flung a curl of black hair over her right shoulder. After a few moments though, she put a foot down and dragged it across the floor to stop. As Jakob neared his sister, Mikaila suddenly took off in a burst of his speed.

"Mikaila!" Jakob shouted. He charged with adrenaline, and bursted off after his sister at a dangerous speed. When Jakob got next to Mikaila, he gently nudged her and she slipped on her board, wobbled slightly, and fell off. Jakob fell off the board too, which went plummeting down the street and straight into a hedge of grass.

"I swear, Jakob!" Mikaila shouted. "You idiot!"

Jakob laughed loudly as he lay on the grass, and Mikaila started to laugh too. She got up and retrieved her board, which wasn't too far away. Jakob checked his guitar to make sure it was okay, and then started to jog to get his skateboard.

"Let's just walk," Mikaila suggested.

"NO!" Jakob shouted, shaking his sister's shoulders. "That's no fun."

"Honestly, you're such a baby sometimes, Jakey," Mikaila laughed at her barely-thirteen year old brother, who was now fumbling with his phone.

"What are you talking about?" Jakob demanded in a falsely high voice. "I am a baby. Don't you know? I'm onwy five."