Recalling Reality

Chapter 2

Voices are muffled, and there are a lot of them. Noisy people are over, which can only mean one thing. Both of my brothers are here with their little families. Well, Taylor with his wife and kids, and Quinn with his soon-to-be. And I am not too sure I want to meet the future Mrs. Quinn Janderowski.

My brothers, Quinn in general, have a way with picking out their friends. It was a requirement for them to torture me through school. We were two years apart, but they still managed to instill this habit amongst those in my grade. That was what I got for my brothers being the star football players, and me being the one who sat back and had her nose in books.

I push myself out of the bed and glance around the room. Right in front of me are all our high school senior photos. Then, there are photos of college graduation day for both my brothers. Not one for me. I didn't go on to college. But, there is my military photo—the crappy photo that is taken in basic training with fake uniforms at zero-dark-thirty. Half asleep and grumpier than ever.

I didn't smile. I didn't even try. But the lighting was in my eyes and I was squinting because it was giving me a headache. They didn't allow retakes either. Just like my stupid senior picture that always made me cry when I looked at it.

"Auntie?" Gabe nudges the door open and pokes his little blond head in. "Auntie? Grandma was wondering if you would want to get up. Robert's putting the food on the grill."

Scanning the room, my eyes come to land on the ten-year-old version of Taylor, my second oldest brother. Gabe's hair is getting shaggy, but, being ten, he is allowed to pick his own hairstyles, as long as Taylor and Joan approve.

I put my feet on the plush, beige carpeting and stand. "I'll be right out."

"They told me to throw some shoes at you in order to get you up. But I didn't want to."

"Good boy. Where are your little toe-headed brothers?" I yawn, noticing that my suitcase is already in the room and pushed up against the closet door.

"Joey is picking his nose and wiping it on the couch. And TJ is pestering Robert on the proper grilling techniques." The smile comes through, and the mouth full of metal glistens from the late sun that is peeking through the window.

"Whoa. What the hell is wrong with your teeth? Did you get them all capped in silver like those hip-hop gangsters?" I wink and meet him at the door. "Just make sure you keep your pants pulled up over your ass. Your dad used to wear his pants so low he could barely walk without holding them up."

"That look is so old, Auntie." He rolls his eyes, and his cheeks dust with a soft shade of pink.

I retreat into the bathroom and close the door behind me. Plucking a maroon washcloth off the rack, I stick it under the faucet and let the warm water soak it. For once, I slept. And sound. I never heard anyone come in, like Robert with my bag.

The warm water wakes up my eyes and skin. I brush my teeth and get rid of the nap-breath. But my hair ... I pull the scrunchie out, and the curls poof out in their own wild and crazy style. Snatching the damn black elastic band off the counter, I pull them all back in and contain them in a haphazard ponytail.

When I open the sliding door, I am met by the laser blue eyes of the man I saw outside of Mom's office. I try to turn my attention on to something else, but those eyes are just as bright as they were earlier in the sunlight. Beautiful. Bright blue. Amazing.

"It is about time you finished up in there." The smile spreads over his face and, for a second, I catch a glimpse of some dimples. His body shifts to the side, and he slips in between me and the door frame with his bag at his side and his silver tie missing.