Hello Stranger

Chapter 1

Darkness enveloped us, but couldn't touch us. The bonfire sitting in the middle protected us from the dark. Right here, when we're all together, it's when we're safest. We're at our best when we're together. There's always been five of us with our occasional extras. Tonight there's six of us, but it didn't change who we are together.

Ellie sat on her own chair snuggled into her fuzzy blanket. Joesph sat beside his girlfriend, Lizzie who was cuddled against him. Then there was me. I was laying my head on Xavier with my legs resting on Asher. We all sat around the bonfire laughing. Xavier and Lizzie thought having us over to their house for a bonfire tonight would be a good idea, and it was. We need moments like these.

"You okay?" Xavier whispers in my ear pulling me from my thoughts.

I turned to look at him then smiled up at him. "Yeah, I'm fine," I whisper in response.

"You sure?" He questions as he was trying to read my face for answers. I just nod in response. "Okay." He responds. Then, he kisses my forehead gently causing me to giggle.

"I swear if we didn't know you were gay, we'd think you two are together. I'm not even kidding." Ellie chimes in.

"Yeah, if you weren't gay, I'd have to kick your ass for kissing my sister," Asher adds on causing us all to laugh.

Xavier is out and happily gay. We all have always accepted him for who he is, but he didn't always accept himself for being gay. I was the first person he came out to. We were best friends, and of course, I supported him. I helped him realize that there's nothing to be ashamed of. I helped him learn to accept it, and now he wears his sexuality proudly. Besides my brother, Asher, I'm closest to Xavier. It was me, Xavier and Asher, who actually began this group.

"Hey, Xavier. Do you remember freshman year? That huge fight?" Joesph asks.

"Joey," I warn. I didn't like where this was going. Freshman year, Xavier had just come out as gay and many people didn't accept it at first. It was a hard year for him.

Joesph looks around Lizzie to meet my eyes. There was an emotion on his face that I couldn't read. It wasn't anger or annoyance like I expected though. "What? Jason was a dick at the time. He got what he deserved."

"Joey!" Ellie exclaims. "He was almost beaten to death. And nearly drowned, no one deserves that. He was a bully, not a rapist."

"It was my friend he was bullying," Joey mumbles. "He deserved it because it was my friend."

Part of me knew Joey was so upset because we didn't know that Jason was bullying him. Joey felt as if it was his fault and that he should have known and helped him.

"I get what Joey is saying. He deserved to be taught a lesson but Ellie is also right. He almost died. That was a little far," Xavier said. I could tell he was thinking of that day. That day is when we finally found out he was being bullied. Jason had threatened to make an example out of him in front of everyone. But the fight happened before Jason did anything. "Besides, the fight had nothing to do with me."

"What if it did?" Lizzie chimed in. We turned and looked at her as she continued leaning against Joey. Joey was watching me but I ignored it and looked at Lizzie. Her expression was serious as if it was a genuine question.

"Xavier's right Lizzie, it's not likely the fight was about him. He barely knew the kid who fought him." I reply.

"E'Claine," Xavier adds. "Emerson E'Claine."

Lizzie smiled slightly before repeating, "But what if it did?"

"Do you know something, little sis?" Xavier asks his little sister. She was 17, which is only one year younger than him. But he always referred to her as his little sister.

Lizzie sighed, "I'm just saying. What if it was to protect you? That'd give you a sort of guardian angel, wouldn't it? That's kind of cool?"

"Emerson doesn't seem like the guardian angel type Lizzie." Xavier points out. He wasn't exactly wrong. Emerson is the kind of kid who has already gone to juvie three times. Once was for almost drowning Jason at school. I'm not sure of the other two reasons, but he's not a good kid.

"E'Claine. He goes by E'Claine," Lizzie corrects her big brother. He looked at her questioningly. "We have classes together. We've spoken. It's no big deal."

"I don't trust him," Xavier says sternly. But a moment later he adds, "Just be careful."

If I was her, Asher probably would've carried me up to my room and tried to lock me up there forever. But Xavier wanted to trust Lizzie's decisions. She's not a little girl anymore, and he knew he couldn't keep treating her like one.

"Well, whatever he goes by, he's not someone I'd want as a guardian angel," Joesph says. "But he definitely is someone I'd want to have my back."

Lizzie leaned up and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. He smiled at her but never actually looked at her. I should probably ask him about it later.

"I agree. I think you guys would like him. He's a great guy. He's not what everyone thinks he is. He's just like the rest of us." Lizzie explains.

"I for one, believe in not judging a book by its cover," Asher states. "But his description is saying a whole lot, Lizzie. You can't deny that."

"I know how he looks and sounds. But he has a story. There's always a story behind someone like that," Lizzie pleads. "You guys are all friends because you guys took the time to understand each other's story. Jut give him a chance."

"Liz, we're not going to just write him off. But it's not likely we'll end up friends with him or getting to know him. But I promise we will keep an open mind about him. Right guys?" Xavier asks us. We all give her a reassuring nod. We don't just exclude people from being our friend, but no one ever fits in with us. With one of us, comes all of us. And not many are ready for that.

"Thank you." Lizzie smiles proudly. Xavier would do anything for his sisters. He was the man of the house. Lizzie and Xavier have two younger sisters and they have two moms with no dads. Xavier quickly picked up the role of being his family's protector. Lizzie did her best to make sure Xavier was still living his own life instead of putting it on pause for them.

We sat there around the bonfire for a couple of hours longer before we all went back home. It was a little after midnight when Asher and I got home. Asher pulled the car into the garage and got out. I was collecting my things when my door was opened for me. I looked up to see Asher standing there.

"What a gentlemen thing to do." I joke.

"Shut up. You know I always open the door for you." Asher jokes back. He runs his hand through his thick brown hair that usually covered his eyes. When his hair uncovered his eyes, you could tell how tired he was.

"Ash?" I ask worriedly as I got out of the car and he closed the door behind me. "Are you okay? You look so tired."

"I'm fine. Just tired from practice and work." Asher said trying to reassure me. But I knew my twin brother better than that. I stopped and grabbed his arm making him face me.

"Ash. What's going on?" I demand.

"Andrea, I'll be fine. Don't push this. Please." Asher begged me. I studied my brother for a moment. He looked so exhausted but he was begging me not to ask any more questions. 

I sighed, "Fine. As long as you'll be okay."

"I will be. Now come on." Asher said leading me inside from the garage. We both went upstairs into our rooms. Asher insisted on having a room close to mine in case I ever needed him. Our adoptive parents' room was downstairs but they were rarely home. We don't even bother checking if they're home or not. The second we turned 10, they couldn't leave us fast enough.

I hesitated before shutting my door. I was still so worried about Asher. Something was going on, he usually told me everything. I laid in my bed staring at the ceiling as time passed slowly. I could hear Asher typing on his computer because the house was so quiet. I listened for a while as I was trying to fall asleep. Eventually, sleep caught up with me and I was asleep. It was just three hours later, after Asher's typing finally subsided. I was hoping he finally went to sleep and would feel better in the morning.