A Year in the Life of an American Teenager

Chapter 3

It was not a long walk from the school for Kendall since she only lived a couple of blocks down the road. She could walk in the morning, but she'd rather ride with Shauna because it was more fun. Shauna had another class, so Kendall had left without her.

She walked down the sidewalk, looking straight ahead and listening to her music, which was interrupted every so often by a gust of wind that blew into her ears.

"Falling in love seems easy to do

I guess I was scared because I knew it was you

But I'm leaving my doubts

And I'm figuring out

That I've been playing the fool

When all I wanted was you..."

More like screw you.

Music was one of the things that helped clear Kendall's head when she needed to. She just listened to the lyrics and pictured the story as if it was a three-minute movie. That made her forget the things that were bothering her at the moment. She also played guitar or her ukelele when she was in the mood, but she hasn't picked it up lately since Ethan had taught her. It was just one of those things that it didn't feel right to play, knowing that she wouldn't be playing if wasn't for him. Her guitar has been sitting in its case all summer and her ukelele sat wedged between her bookshelf and her desk collecting dust.

Ethan was a musician. Other than the guitar, he could play the piano and drums. Unlike Kendall, however, he could not sing, even though he had potential. So months before they broke up, they'd spend hours picking songs to learn and he'd make her sing while he played, despite her protests. Some of the artists they covered included Chase Coy, Jason Mraz, One Republic, Colbie Callait, and Ingrid Michaelson, since Ethan knew that they were some of Kendall's favorites.

She walked up her driveway that led to her bright yellow and white house, and she went through the brick walkway that was bordered with her mom's colorful garden. As she walked up the stairs to her front porch, she saw her older brother Drew sitting on their porch swing and reading a book. He looked up when Kendall got to the top of the stairs and grinned.

"Hey, how was school?" he asked, putting his book down.

Drew was a junior at MIT, where he got a scholarship for engineering. He doesn't go back until next week. In Kendall's opinion, they didn't look that similar, but according to anyone else, they looked almost like twins. She could see the similarity in their brown eyes and brown wavy hair--his a little more curly--and their interest in reading and sports. But their smiles, their body structures, and their personalities were different. Kendall was short and slim, whereas Drew was tall and well-built/muscular looking. Kendall had a rounder face compared to her brother, who had more defined features. Kendall had their dad's smile, while Drew got their mom's--their dad's being a little more wide and their mom's appearing softer. Drew is very outgoing and open to everything and everyone, while Kendall is more reserved and particular when it comes to who she can trust with specific things.

Kendall sat down next to him, her feet dangling over the swing while his feet were flat on the ground (he was 6'4" and she was 5'5"). "It was okay. Nothing really exciting. I have a friend in every class, so that's good."

Drew just gave her a doubtful sideways glance, knowing that she wasn't telling him anything specific, which meant she was hiding some information. Kendall pretended not to notice.

"Really. So like Shauna's in one, Clare's in another, maybe a certain asshole who you and I both want to punch in the face, or Colleen?"

Kendall snorted and replied, "I said have a friend in every class. And yeah he's in my history class, but I have Colleen."