My Kid Brother

I love the sound of crickets accompanied by the crackling of a fire. The smell of this smoke is heavenly to me, I breathe it in and exhale any pent up stress that was lingering in my mind. My environment right now is my idea of a perfect summer's night. That's when I hear a screech that I swear to go had the capability of shattering ear drums. I slowly turn my head to my right. “Was that really necessary? Could you act your age for five minutes?” My little brother was sitting on a tree stump next to me. His face was covered in melted chocolate and gooey marshmallow. He stuffed what must've been his eighth s’more into his mouth. “Why?” he spewed graham cracker crumbs in every direction when he spoke. “Look Connor, I know you like to make everyone laugh and that's a really great thing. You make me laugh all the time even when I’m sad. But there's a time and a place for that. And this is neither the time nor the place, kid.” Connor lit a marshmallow on fire and showed it to his sister. “Mia. Mia. Mia. Mia” I was on my phone and was about to go off on him when I saw flaming candy stuck in my face. “CONNOR!” he mischievously giggled and blew it out. What am I doing hanging out with a 12 year old on a friday night during the summer. I went on snapchat and saw a bunch of kids hanging out with their friends. I cant lie, this made me feel like a loser. So when I looked over to Connor who was trying to show off his fake boogers he made of marshmallows, that really sealed the deal. “I am a total loser” Connor looked at me “duh” he replied. I punched his shoulder. His laugh faded when he saw me tearing up. “What happened? You're not a loser Mia, you're the best sister in the world. Youre so cool.” I shrugged. “I don't know. No one wants to hang out with me. I feel like no one wants to be my friend.” I shook my head while I stared at the ashes swirling around the fire pit. “It's pathetic I’m 16 I should be doing something instead of wasting my summer.” Connor looked mad at this statement. “Mia you are great and they are missing out. Plus you're my best friend, so that means you're mine!” He smiled showing his missing teeth. “We aren't friends. You're just my kid brother, it's not the same.” He continued “Ok so if im just some kid let's play a game.” I tilted my head, confused by what he said. “What do you mean, what game?” He smirked “Truth or dare. I'll go first! I dare you to go hang out with one of your ‘real’ friends.” He was so snarky I could believe it. “Ya I will.” I stood up and started to storm off. Connor yelled “They don't even care about you!” and whipped my head around and said “yes they do!” Connor shouted back “Why's that?” I was really mature and said “because I said so.” Wow, I'm acting like I’m twelve now. 

I looked at snap chat again and saw all the popular girls hanging out together. I thought I’d take a chance and I texted one of them, Abby. We used to be friends but she got kind of mean when you got popular. She texted me back asking if I wanted to hang out with them. I was so excited. These girls dont let anyone into their clique. I said yes and she told me they were driving over and to be ready at ten. I went inside and put on some mascara and the coolest outfit I could pull together. I went outside and braided my hair while I waited. They are all so pretty so I wanted to make sure I looked as good as I could. I saw the car coming really fast up my driveway and then I heard my brother yell “Mia, I didn't mean it don’t go!” I ignored him and got in the back seat. The second I opened the door smoke poured out Abby said “uhm nice outfit” a couple of the girls snickered. “Thanks! And thanks for inviting me to hang out with you guys.” I started coughing and rubbing my eyes because of all the smoke and the awful smell. The girls in the front laughed at me so I started laughing uncomfortably too. “Uhm what are you guys up to?” The girl driving responded “We were gonna go for a swim, you're cool with that arent you?” She had never talked to me before. She was kind of the mean girl at our school, her name was Olivia. “I didn't bring a bathing suit or anything” . As I said, a girl named Emma blew smoke in my face and I tried smoking. I politely declined “not my thing. Thank you though.” Emma just rolled her eyes and said “whatever.” Olivia, the driver said, “That doesn't matter, we're all going to do it, or should we just bring you back home.” I answered a little too quickly. “No, I'll do it!” We pulled into a gravel parking lot and she hit the brakes hard. “Good, let's go.” We all got out, I started walking and they stayed a bit behind me in a cluster. I heard them laughing and whispering. I thought that was normal, they're all really close and I’m not. We got to the beach and they told me I should jump in first. I was skeptical but I said ok. I took off my shoes and my sweatshirt so I was only wearing a T-shirt and shorts. It was really cold with the breeze. They turned on some music and encouraged me to jump. This was so spontaneous, but I did and I felt like I fit in and was actually a part of a group for once. I was under water anticipating them to be cheering me on when I came back up for air. I smiled and opened my eyes. I heard a sound like they threw a rock or something. Then I saw that they were running away with my sweatshirt and my shoes. I could hear them screaming and laughing. One yelled “loser” and the speed of out of the parking lot. I began to panic and cry. I left my phone on the beach and realized they had thrown it in the water. I wanted to be home. I wanted to be sitting by the fire with my annoying little brother. I searched for my phone but the water was dark and got too deep. I was crying and shivering. I had no choice but to walk home in the cold while I was dripping wet without so much as shoes. I walked for nearly 30 minutes like this. I walked inside and saw my brother play on his iPad. He looked at me like I was a ghost. “What happened to you!” I broke down and sat on the floor burying my head in my knees. Connor wrapped me in his favorite blanket and hugged me. “It's ok Mia. I'm your family, that means I will never leave you. Don't cry please.” I looked at him and smiled. He was right, he's the only friend that I can always depend on.