The Scars Within

Meeting the Brother

The next morning, we are awoken by the smell of pancakes and bacon in the kitchen. After pushing each other out of the way to get to the kitchen, we sit down at the table as Adeline serves us. Each of us got two pancakes, and as much bacon, eggs, and sausage we could eat. About halfway through our meal, the front door opened. I thought it was strange, because all of us (Quentin, Adeline, Ricca, and I) were already in the kitchen.

"Maman, Papa, I'm home." 'I wonder who that is... Ohhhh it's probably Ricca's brother. She did say he usually comes home for the weekend.' Looking towards the entrance to the kitchen, I watch as a man walks into the house. He's fairly tall, probably a little shorter than Quentin, with dirty blond hair that has the tips dyed black. From what I can see, his eyes are either a really dark brown or black, and he has snake bites. He walks into the kitchen, but he pauses when he sees me. With a scowl on his face, he asks, "And who are you?"

Standing up, I hold out my hand. "My name is Carmin, Carmin Harley. I live next door." He doesn't shake my hand, but crosses his arms instead.

"If you live next door, then why are you here?" He asks, his scowl deepening. From her seat at the table, Adeline speaks up.

"Abel, where are your manners? Carmin and Ricca had a sleepover last night after Carmin helped us unpack everything yesterday." She then turns towards me. "Sorry about him. He can be a bit rude at times." Smiling, I tell her it's fine and sit back down. Abel scoffs.

"Aren't sleepovers for little kids? What are you, three?" Before anyone else can say anything, Abel turns around, and walks upstairs. The rest of us sit in silence. Then, Ricca begins to speak.

"I wonder what's up with him. He's been rude to people before, but nothing like that."

"I don't know, but I'm definitely going to have a little 'chat' with him later. Sorry if he offended you at all, Carmin." Quentin states.

"No no no, it's fine, really. Trust me, I've been called worse than a three year old." Seeing the looks on their faces, I know I've said the wrong thing. 'Shoot. Probably should've phrased that better.'

"Why would anyone call you a bad name, Carmin?" Ricca asks, her head tilted to the side.

Shuffling in my seat, I look down at my lap and reply, "Um, I'd really rather not talk about it right now." No more words are exchanged as we finish eating. The whole time, Abel never comes back downstairs. Quentin and Adeline tell Ricca and I that they'll take care of the dishes, so we head back to the living room to start cleaning up.

It takes roughly half an hour for us to put all the pillows and blankets back in their rightful places. Once the couches are in place as well, Ricca and I head upstairs. On the way, we bump into Abel, who's just coming out of the bathroom.

"Hiya Abel! How was your first week of college." Ricca asks, a large smile on her face. After glaring at me for a few moments, he replies.

"It was alright I guess. There aren't a lot of people in my classes." 'I didn't notice it before, but he has a pretty strong French accent like Quentin does.'

"Well that's good! I'm glad to hear you're having fun."

"Never said it was fun, Ricca. I said it was alright. Thanks though." With that, he walked into his room. From the glimpse I got before the door closed, the walls were a dark grey, almost black, and the room seemed clean. I also noticed that Ricca seemed a little disappointed after Abel left. 'I wonder why. Maybe it's because of how Abel is acting. From the sounds of things he's always like this though. Hmm.' After we reach Ricca's room, we start packing up the things I brought. It only takes a couple of minutes before I'm ready to head back home.

"I'm so glad you stayed the night here Carmin! I had a lot of fun. Maybe we can do this again soon?" Ricca asked, looking at me with her 'famous' puppydog eyes.

Smiling, I replied, "Of course we can do this again! This was the most fun I've had in a long time. Thank you, Ricca, for inviting me to stay the night."

"It's no problem Carmin! After all, you helped us unpack everything yesterday." Sighing, Ricca looks me in the eye. "I'm really sorry about what Abel said. I think it's just because he started college along with moving to another country and everything."

"I told you Ricca, it's alright. Really, it is. I can't say I know how you feel with moving and everything, but I understand that it tends to stress people out. I just hope that he won't be like that all the time. I would think that would get on my nerves after awhile." Laughing, we continue chatting until we agree that I should head home.

After saying my goodbyes to everyone, I went back to my house and up to my room. Once everything was put away, I flopped down on my bed and started playing music off my phone. I decided to play some of my favorite rock bands, and started excessively head banging to the drum beat and singing along. Little did I know that Abel could see me from his room, and was watching with a small smile on his face.