My Brother's Best Friend

September 1995

I could not fall asleep whatsoever. The constant thought of starting a new school was eating away at my nerves. What would people think about me? Would I be a nerd? A loser? Popular? No, definitely not. I turned over and looked at the clock, 11:08 p.m.

"I wonder if Matt's up right now?" I thought.

I was careful to get out of my bed, creeping up to his bedroom door. Quietly, I pushed the door open, only slightly, not daring to knock in case he was sleeping, but not wanting to walk in and seeing anything I shouldn't. As I peeked through the crack I saw Matt, snoring as if he were preparing to take off in flight. I slowly crept into his room, trying my best not to startle him, though hoping that he would hear me and wake up. I reached his bedside and gently shook his arm to wake him up.

"Matt?" I said.

"Erin, what do you want?" Matt said.

"I can't sleep, I'm so scared about starting at school tomorrow." I replied.

"What are you scared of? Somebody gonna stuff you in a locker the first day?" Matt had a much more carefree attitude than I ever did, having some of the better qualities of us two twins. While Matt was tougher and more relaxed than I, I had to admit that I did much better in school than him.

"No! Well, kind of," I said, "I just-- what if I do something stupid and everyone thinks I'm a freak on the first day."

"If anybody thinks that you're a freak, you know to send them my way and I'll take care of you. You know I would never let anybody do anything to hurt you." He said.

"I know, it's just something new. I know nobody besides you," I said.

"Not true," he said, "Valary and Michelle are going to school there, you guys are good friends."

"Yeah. I guess. I just hope it all goes well." I said

"Stop worrying, you only make things worse for yourself. Try to get some rest, because if not then maybe you will say something stupid and be the freak of the school," He joked at me as I punched him arm.

"Thanks for always being here for me Matt," I said.

"Of course, you're my twin. I've got to protect my baby sis," He said, "Now go get some rest, because tomorrow will come fast."

"Goodnight Matt,"

"Goodnight Erin"

6:00 A.M.

*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*

ughhhh, I groaned as I slid over to hit the alarm clock off. Did I get any sleep? After talking with Matt I tossed and turned all night, waking up every hour, on the hour, dreading the day to come, and now it was finally here. I woke up and tried to get into the bathroom, only to hear Matt singing, screaming rather, Master of Puppets by Metallica.

Before I could bang on the door, I could hear our dad calling from downstairs, "Kids, time for breakfast!" Our dad was always the best when it came to cooking us breakfast before school, since mom was always gone to work super early. As we came down their was nothing short of a feast for breakfast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, cereal, pancakes, and cereal incase what he hadn't cooked wasn't enough.

"So, how are you two feeling about the first day?" Dad asked as we were fixing our plates.

"I am super excited, this year Val and I will be able to go to school together. She gets to come over this morning so we can go to school," Matt said, full of excitement about his girlfriend who he started dating earlier this year.