21 Days

Chapter One

I lay on my back, hanging my head off of my brother's bed watching him as he gets ready. He stands there, brushing his dark brown hair out for the tenth time. He keeps spraying water on it and running my hair straightener over it because he has a cowlick and he wants to look perfect. He’s not usually the type concerned with looks, but he was trying to look so flawless it was amusing.

"Xavier, relax," I state after he lets out a loud growl. He turns around to face me; he has a little section of hair sticking up where it’s parted. His hands are beginning to shake from frustration.

"You don't understand, tonight's the night I kiss Patricia," his blue eyes sparkle as he speaks even though he is severely frustrated.

Patricia Roberts is basically the girl of his dreams; she has long natural straight blonde hair. Her eyes are a dark brown, so dark they appeared almost black. She has very faint freckles lining her nose and cheeks, but some days they stick out from under her make up. Patricia is an extremely smart girl, she’s a year younger than Xavier, but managed to skip a grade because of her intelligence.

Xavier plops down on the bed beside me, his feet in my face. "I'm finally going to kiss her," he exhales in expectation and anxiousness. "I've liked her since I first laid eyes on her and she's finally allowing me the opportunity to have a chance with her."

"Bub, everything will be fine," I reply, sitting up and placing my hand on his arm. He settles a little bit at the comforting gesture.

"I sure hope so." He looks up at me with a smile. "But you know, this will go perfectly," he states swinging his leg across my body and pushing me down on the bed.

Using all of his body weight Xavier holds me down and begins sticking his other foot in my face. "Smell it!" He yells as I fight by squirming and avoiding his foot. "Smell my foot, Lee. I'll let you go."

"Xavier! Stop it!" I whine as he applies more weight to my body. "Mercy, mercy," I cry, giving into my brother's demand of smelling his foot.

"That's a good baby sister," he states, patting my head with his disgusting foot and lifting his other leg off of me.

"Xavier," my dad calls from downstairs "Alan is here."

We both get up off the bed as he hugs me goodbye. "Good luck," I whisper in his ear before he lets me go. We both leave the room and walk downstairs.

Alan stands in the front doorway; a smirk presses across his thin lips when he sees me enter the room. His red t-shirt peeks through his black jacket. Alan has short black hair and hazel eyes. He’s extremely tan, but it is all natural.

Alan typically bullied me; he liked to call me names and "accidentally" push me into walls, he thought it was funny, but it wasn't. Xavier would try to stick up for me, but seeing as Alan is his best friend Xavier's attempts at protecting me usually failed. Although Xavier was unable to protect me, I was able to fend for myself when it came to Alan bullying me.

I figured that this was Alan’s immature way of flirting with me. It was strange, though, because he was very mature in other areas. He often took care of his siblings, worked a stable part-time job, and drove like an old granny. It’s like the part of his brain that was related to romance was totally underdeveloped.

Xavier wasn't upset with me when I protected myself, because he was one of those people who always wanted others to like him. I couldn't get mad at my brother for being a pushover, because that’s the way he is. Xavier has a lovable soul, and he just wants happiness for everyone around him.

Alan gave me a quick nod before the boys rushed out the door to the bash. They climbed into the white sports car that Alan had borrowed from his parents. Running upstairs to my brother's room, I unplugged my hair straightener and placed it on the dresser in my room. While in my room, I changed into a pale orange tank top and black pajama pants. While exiting the room, I slipped my light pink house coat on and joined my parents downstairs.