Walls

First Impressions

I sighed loudly as I waited outside of the entrance to the airport in which I had just landed in. I glanced at my phone for what seemed to be the millionth time in the last 15 minutes.

Where is he?

I had been waiting for my idiot brother to pick me up for far too long. To say I was irritable is an understatement considering the several hour flight I had just endured to arrive in that secluded town of southern Florida. The lady who sat to my right during the flight was nice enough, we even engaged in a bit of small talk to help the minutes of this grueling journey go by faster. However, the man sitting on my left was weighing in at about 350 pounds, smelt like a well-used outhouse, and was snoring like a chainsaw. Not to mention the steady stream of ever present drool that exited his mouth and onto his shirt. It is safe to say that I spent the majority of my blessed time next to this man praying that his saliva didn’t somehow splatter on me during the standard turbulence of the flight.

I spared myself another glance at my phone, only to report that it had only been about 2 minutes since the last time I’d checked. I attempted to wipe the accumulated sweat from my hands on my denim clad legs to no avail as I realized they too were soaked with perspiration. I, being the intelligent sixteen year old girl am, I wore jeans that would be perfectly suitable for the early summer weather of northern New Hampshire, but clearly not the smoldering temperatures of my current location. I had a baggy gray sweatshirt under my arm and my dark hair in a rather unattractive wad upon my head in effort to cool myself down. I was well aware of my repulsive appearance and I could practically hear my brother commenting on it already. Though, of course, he’d actually have to show up first.

Sometime later, my brother decided to grace me with his presence. He pulled up in the same beat up green 1999 Toyota that he’d been driving for as long as I can remember although I hadn’t seen him in over a year. He’s been attending medical school for two years and been living in Paisley, Florida with his girlfriend for three. This summer, as my mom told me, all he’ll be doing is interning as a tech in a local hospital just few miles from his home that I’d never seen, because my brother insists on visiting us instead of us visiting him.

He rolled down is window as he pulled up causing the hip hop music he’d been playing to intensify in volume. “Elliot,” he greeted me curtly, with a smirk and a slight head nod.

I scowled at the use of my full name. I usually go by Ellie or Elle, and he knew that I hated the unfortunate name my parents had chosen due to its masculine implications. “William.” I spat back, using his full name as well.

I expected him to frown or at least having the obnoxious smirk drop from his face, but it only grew into a grin that exposed his white teeth in contrast with his sun-kissed skin. The Native American heritage we both share prevents us from burning too badly, although my olive skin was considerably lighter than his due to my skin’s significantly less sun exposure. “Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine on this beautiful summer morning,” he replied sarcastically. “Hop in.”

I grumbled under my breath as began to walk towards his vehicle, resisting the urge to shoot back a comment on his late arrival. I threw my large suitcase and matching carry-on in the trunk without a shred of help from my brother and dragged my overheated body into the front passenger seat. The cool air conditioning was satisfying, but I kept my cold exterior towards my brother as he began to drive.