Introvert

fifteen

Dylan fidgeted with the end of her old Big Dogs shirt that was covered in paint stains as she listened to Brandon sing along to a song she didn't recognize. When he had found out about her plans, the older brother told her that he would drive her over to his friend's house.

The sister was partially grateful because it meant she wouldn't have to walk, but at the same time, it felt slightly embarrassing. All Dylan wanted was for Brandon to not make this a bigger deal than it was.

As the two pulled up to Edwin's house, the girl took it all in. His place was across town and was a lot nicer than their home. At least, it felt like it. The driveway was long and hidden behind a gate. When they got to the end of the driveway, she saw the two story house and bit the inside of her cheek. Her anxiety grew instinctively.

Brandon looked over at his little sister. He easily picked up on her anxious tendencies. "Come on," he said as he parked the car.

The girl looked over at him, wide-eyed. She hadn't expected him to get out of the car. The few times he had dropped her off at Ev's house, he had barely stopped the car for her to get out. Dylan followed his lead and left the car. Heading for the front door, she adjusted the strap of her bag before Brandon took it off of her shoulder. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him confused.

Not even acknowledging her, Brandon knocked on the front door of his best friend's place. The door immediately swung open to a smiling Edwin. "Hey!"

"Hey, man." Brandon dapped up his friend.

"Are you hanging out with us?" Edwin asked the older brother before looking over at Dylan.

The girls gaze shifted over to her brother then back to Edwin. She wasn't expecting him to stay with her.

The boy with glasses shook his head handing the bag back to his sister. "Nah, I was just carrying her bag up for her. Spray paint cans are fucking heavy actually. I actually have plans with Char, so I gotta go." He looked at his little sister. "Have fun."

She nodded as she took back the bag.

"Well, come on in," Ed spoke as he pulled the door open more for the girl to enter.

"I know you said you didn't need anymore supplies, I just had some extra cans of spray paint that I thought we could use," she said following the boy through his house. As they walked, she stared at the walls in astonishment. The outside of the house looked nice, but walking through the halls felt like one of those home living magazines.

"That's fine, why'd you have spray paint?"

"Oh, um, it was for a physics project last year. Did you ever take Hernandez?"

"No actually," the boy said as they entered the kitchen. Dylan stood on the opposite side of the island. Edwin rummaged through the cupboards while the girls looked over to the glass French doors a few feet away. From where she stood, the girl could see the giant backyard that was behind the Honoret property.

Her gaze left the backyard for a brief moment to look back at Edwin. "The only extra credit he offered was for this rocket launching project where we had to build and decorate a rocket. It was pretty cool actually. On a weekend after like a month of working on them, we got to go and launch them."

"Damn," he paused as he filled a cup up with water, "Want a water?"

"I'm okay for now, thank you though."

He nodded. "Okay so the garage is this way." He began to walk over to the French doors. Opening the right-side door, she followed him out to the backyard. Just as she had seen through the window pains, the backyard felt massive. There was a deck, a pool, a fire pit, and a massive lawn.