ANCHOR

Chapter 10

   SAM

  "Hey Sam." Derek said, entering my room. His brown eyes were rimmed with pink, but still not managing to convey how tired he must've been. I didn't bother to ask how his day was, because I knew he wouldn't have wanted me too. I knew how days went by in this family. Long and slow. "Hey." I replied.

     He sat down on my bed, looking over to me, seated on my desk chair. He sighed a long, thoughtful sigh and closed his eyes. I was aware of how old he seemed, of all the stress that had knawed away from his young appearance. I walked over to him, and found a spot on the navy blue comforter. Slinging my arm around him, I looked out my window.

   "Have you ever liked a girl before?" he asked me suddenly, and I pulled my arm away to look at him. For a moment, I saw Hope's face. "Yeah, why?" He looked away, suddenly ashamed of himself. "I-I don't know. Just wondering." "Derek." I told him, my voice firm,"you're fourteen. Liking a girl isn't exactly out of the ordinary." He looked at me sadly. "I know. But this girl- she's different. I don't know why I like her, but I do." I smiled at him, trying to make him feel better. "She makes fun of me," He claimed. I then felt my smile fall, my stomach drop. "She says I'm weird, I need to get friends. She's the only one who really ever talks to me, but each time she does..." He frowned.

   "Derek." I said, unsure of what else to say. I looked at the tears welling in his eyes, saw him giving in to the some unknown force. I hugged him close, and felt the tears staining my shirt. His shoulders shook with all the weight that had been piled on them, year after year. Tears started forming in my eyes, and the back of my throat hurt. We stayed like that, a long moment, and my blurred vision wandered to my window.

   In Hope's backyard I saw two girls laying on the well kept lawn, lazily looking into the sky. I recognized one immediately as Hope, her black hair splayed out around her. The other must've been her friend, Melanie, I'd met today. 

    With Derek in my arms I stared at the girl that had found her way into my heart. I realized, sadly, that I had only spoken one word to her in my life. Some how, I felt like I'd known her much better.

  I looked down to see Derek studying me, then looking out the window. He nodded, a tight, firm nod, his mouth a thin line. "That's her right?" He asked, and I was surprised how well he read me. "Yes. Thats her." I repeated, feeling the weight of the words.

    "Goddamn kids, what are you doing in there? Get you're asses out here and clean up this shithole!" My dad yelled. I cringed, worried Hope might hear him. I didn't need to see him to know he was still where we'd left him, glued to the couch. Derek and I silently stood up, wiping our tears and putting away whatever part of us we'd let through. It was a ritual, I did the dishes, Derek swept. I cleaned Dad's puke from the toilet, Derek picked up his dirty clothes from his floor. Every day, the same damned thing.