It's Complicated

Chapter 1

Summer was almost over. Fall was settling on Boulder. Normally, I'd be sitting in the window of my bedroom, drawing the beautiful mountains just visible from our second floor, but instead I was on the stairs, eavesdropping on the argument my brother, Larry, was having with his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend about what had been going on lately. Why was I here? I wasn't entirely sure, myself.

"Angie, why did I see you out yesterday with Darren?" he asked in his calmest voice.

"We were just hanging out." Also calm.

A short pause. "Holding hands?"

A long pause. "Larry." A warning voice. "We weren't holding hands."

Larry sighed. "Look, Angie. You know things have been good between us for the past three months, so why would you ruin it by lying to me? I saw you and Darren holding hands. I watched him kiss you. He admitted everything to me earlier today. Whatever you say can't make matters worse."

It was true – he'd come home earlier looking like something the neighbor's cat had vomited once, and it didn't take much prodding for the whole story to come pouring out.

"Fine," Angie sighed. "Darren and I were on a date." She paused. "It wasn't our first."

Larry was quiet for a long minute. "Out."

"Pardon?"

"Out. Leave. We're over."

"What?" Disbelief.

"I know everything I need to. We're over. Now get out of my house."

I heard a chair scrape, angry footsteps, and then a door slamming. Once there was silence, I went into the dining room and found Larry with his head in his hands. He looked up at me and gave me a weak smile. "Hi, Daisy. I knew you were close by."

"Are you okay?" I walked over and hugged him.

"I will be." He hugged me back and then stood, forcing me to take a step back. "I'm going to my room now. I'll see you at dinner." He stepped around me and went up to his room. Within a minute or two the house was filled with strains of Taylor Swift.

That's how I knew he was hurt. He'd never tell you or let it show, but he always played Taylor Swift at times like this. It was a dead giveaway. I sighed and began dinner. Dad would be home in an hour and his sister, our Aunt Millie, would be home sooner than that. She was a few years older than him and had been divorced. We all loved her to death. She'd moved in when I was five and our parents had just divorced. Mom had moved to Chicago with my two younger brothers. I hadn't seen any of them since.

Well, not unless you count video chat. In that case, I'd seen them a few times.

All I really remember from that time was being in court. Not me or my brothers, but our parents. I remember me and Larry being put in a room somewhere and being told that we were going home with our dad and our mom was going to go away with our brothers, Russel and Michael. I'd talked to Mom, but we'd never gone to see her and she's never come to see us. Her and Dad were on good terms. They had to be, since he talked to her, too, and had been a few times to Chicago to see her. Or maybe the kids were who he went to see. Probably the latter.

Anyway, I prepared dinner to Taylor Swift's entire album. I even hummed along as I plated the food. When it was done, I called everyone and within ten minutes we were all chewing silently. I tried to focus on the food, knowing where the conversation was going to go and hoping for the best.

"So," Aunt Millie said, pausing to speak before taking another bite. "Tomorrow is the first day of the school year for you two. Excited?"

This was how everything began. We'd visited things last year before my sixteenth birthday. Tonight, I'd find out where I stand, and I had a feeling it was in the same place.