It's Complicated

Chapter Three

We waited outside for Stanley to arrive; he suggested that it would be better if he came to pick us up because we would most likely sleep at his house, since that was where the party was taking place. Stanley and Levi had moved in together almost two years ago. When they had started college, they had made an agreement to move out of their parents' home by the age of 23, and they had managed to reach that goal one year before they planned. Stanley always spoke to me about his desire to leave home. Our parents were not the strict type but they were really religious, and sometimes it could be overwhelming, Stanley was never able to stand living with them, he adhered to their rules, but it was forced. He was never able to go where he wanted, listen to what he wanted, or even bring home who he wanted. So, Stanley had decided that moving out would be the best way to be able to get the space he wanted to express his true self.

They had rented a three-bedroom house, mostly for my benefit. Whenever I was tired of mom and dad, I went over to Stanley's, so one could say that the extra bedroom was practically my room.

"Hi big head," I said as I got into the front seat of Stanley's car.

"Who are you, and what have you done to my little sister?" Stanley said to me with a puzzled look on his face "How did you even get this girl to put her hair down?" he turned to look at Josie in the backseat.

"It was a piece of cake," Josie shrugged. I rolled my eyes at her as Stanley proceeded to drive to the party.

"So, who's going to be there?" I asked Stanley, I needed to prepare myself to be seen like this. Not that being seen like this was a bad thing, it just felt weird and new.

"Honestly I have no idea, Levi took care of the details, all I did was buy the alcohol," Stanley giggled.

"Typical Stanley," Josie smirked.

"Are you afraid?" Stanley asked me worriedly ignoring Josie's comment.

"Not so much," I lied. I was 100 percent afraid but I didn't want to admit that "I just wanted to know what I was dealing with."

"Listen Sof, just lay loose, nobody is going to be there to judge you," He consoled me "You will have fun tonight, I'm going to make sure of that."

"Thanks bro," I smiled.

"Sure, you will," Josie said as she rolled her eyes. Since I found Stanley's shirt earlier, Josie's mood had changed and I had no idea why.

"Is there something you would like to say?" Stanley asked her.

"Nope," She replied swiftly as she diverted her attention to her phone. Stanley and I watched each other and shook our head. Josie was always a very moody person, one minute she would be happy and the next minute she wouldn't want to talk to anyone, in moments like that we left her alone to come back to her normal self because there was nothing that we could possibly do about it.

The party was filled with different types of people, graduates, college students, work buddies of Stanley and Levi and many other unrecognizable people. If it was one thing, Levi knew how to throw an extravagant bash. As I stepped out of the vehicle everyone stared at me in astonishment, most of them were speechless, while others mouthed 'wow' to me as I walked past them.

"You're so beautiful."

"Wow, I didn't realize that you had that side in you."

"Can I get your number?"

I forced a smile as I brushed past what seemed like thousands of people. I didn't understand what they saw in me, yes, my appearance was different from usual, but it wasn't that different. I was still that same averaged height, light skinned, small bodied girl. Josie had always told me that I had extra potential because I was biracial. My mother was Trinidadian and my father was Caucasian, while I took more on my father's side, Stanley took more on moms' side, being chocolate colored. Many people had said that we didn't look like we were related, which was true. I was small while Stanley was buff, our complexions were different, I had long, curly Indian- like hair and when Stanley had tried growing his hair it was more on the thick side. My brother and I had our physical differences.