It's Only Life

            “Cause baby, you’re a firewo—” Katy Perry’s voice was abruptly cut off as I pulled my car into the driveway of my family’s house and turned off the ignition. I felt kind of bad for turning off the song just when she was about to start really belting it out, but hey—it had been a long drive back from UCLA, where I had just finished my freshman year of college, to my parents’ house in San Diego. I was ready to see my family and stretch my legs.

            I climbed out of the driver’s seat, slamming the door shut behind me, and headed for the front door, bringing only my purse and the rest of my Chipotle burrito bowl with me. With any luck, my twin brother, Isaac, would be home and willing to help lug in the boxes, suitcases, and various other pieces of my freshman year I'd brought home with me.

            “I’M HO-OME!” I hollered as I unlocked the heavy wood front door and pushed my way inside. “Who missed me?”

            Immediately my dog, Maggie, trotted into the entryway from the direction of the kitchen, her tail wagging wildly. I dropped to my knees, a huge grin spreading involuntarily across my face. “Hi, puppy!” I exclaimed, doing my best to make up for hardly visiting at all last semester with lots of hugs and ear-scratching.

            I was so busy re-bonding with my dog that I barely noticed when four teenage boys made their way out of the kitchen to greet me.

            To be fair, it wasn’t that unusual for me not to notice my brother and his friends. After all, Isaac lived here, and most of the time it felt like Seth Rios, Mason Rios, and Spencer Vaughn did, too. The four of them were all students at San Diego State, but that was only if you used the term “student” very loosely—unlike me, who had been taking tough classes with names like “British Literature to 1789” that would actually earn me a degree, they were spending most of their time surfing and recording music. Occasionally, when they felt like maybe they should give education a try, they went to classes like “History of Rock and Roll,” which was practically cheating considering that they pretty much had the history of rock and roll memorized already.

            Still, they had to be doing something right, because their band, The Level, had recently been signed to a pretty major record label, and in about a week they were set to go on their debut tour—a nationwide, summer-long series of shows opening for Fallen, one of the biggest bands in the country. It was pretty amazing, but to be honest, I hadn’t spent much time thinking about it. I was too busy getting ready for my own sweet summer gig, an internship at Preston-Morgan Publishing Company in New York City. I was flying out there the day after next and would be spending my summer learning all about how to become one of the top editors in the business. Not only was I going to learn a ton, it was also a great opportunity to network for finding a job after graduation.

            I stood up, and Isaac immediately took a few long strides across the living room, picking me up and twirling me around. “Hey, Linds!” He set me back down and grinned widely, reminding me of a little kid. That was one of my favorite things about my twin brother—while I was the one who always started to worry at the slightest hint of trouble, he could weather anything with a smile and a few jokes. We balanced each other out, and as much as he drove me crazy, he was also one of my best friends.

            “Hi!” I couldn’t help but grin back at Isaac’s infectious smile. We weren't identical, but with our straight, dark blond hair and blue-green eyes, we looked like the opposite-sex versions of each other--except for our height. Isaac was over six feet tall, while I had somehow missed out on every single height gene our ancestors had to offer and wound up a disappointing five foot three. “I missed you! Congratulations on the tour, you guys!”