He's My Brother's Best Friend

I watch snowfall through my window from where I lay on my bed, listening to my Mom talk.

She thinks I'm faking a fever because I don't want to go to church on Christmas Eve.

She raises the thermometer and squints at it. Ben, who has been standing and smiling all this while, chuckles. I turn to give him a cold glare. He finds it funny and laughs. Older brothers can be annoying and assholes.

Ben. Handsome as guys can come. Pretty girls are always flocking around him. This I know because he told me, well when we weren't fighting.

We live in different states because our parents are separated, but we spend the holidays together. Shuffling between the two states.

"We will do well to pray to baby Jesus to forgive your sins," Ben says with a smile.

"You should pray for yourself, pig!" I glare at him.

"Language, Annabelle " Mom softly scolds me. "Jesus wouldn't do that now, would he?"

*sighs*

Here we go again. Another whole sermon.

"We are running late, I don't want to be late to church on Christmas Eve. When I'm back, we will have a long talk about your foul language."

With that, she exits my room.

Ben bends down and ruffles my hair. I fight him off and claw at him.

He laughs and says "See you later, pumpkin".

He leaves and I don't say anything. I always have something mean to say to him, but not this time. If I had known that that was the last time I would see my brother, I would have run after him and given him a tight hug.

I would have told him I love him even if we lived a thousand miles away with separate parents and only got to see him doing holidays.

I would have told Mom I loved her even with all her fanatic behaviors. With her weird obsession with Christianity. She always talked about heaven and it being perfect. I hope she is there, I hope they both are. Despite everything, she is the best mother anyone can ever hope for.

I am already drifting to sleep when I hear a knock. God knows I am not going to get it but it is persistent. It then turns into banging and that is when I know the person isn't going to go away.

I grumpily stand up and wear my flip-flops. And I walk to the door.

When I open it, I see the least expected person - a police officer.

"Good afternoon, officer. How can I help you?" I asked. My eyes are heavy with sleep.

"Sorry to bother you, but is this Mrs. Hopkins ' resident?" He asks.

"Yes, it is," I answer. I don't like the sound of this conversation.

"You must be Annabelle Hopkins ," he asks again.

"I am. Is something wrong, officer?" I ask. Panic was in my voice. I fear the worst has happened.

"I'm sorry Annabelle, your mother, and brother, I presume, have been in an accident. I'm afraid they are both dead".

The words roll out of his mouth as if they were nothing. As if he hasn't just crashed my world. That my Mom and only brother no longer existed.

What happens next is my fainting. I felt life and consciousness draining out of me and I felt the policeman's hands around me stopping me from falling to the ground.

***********

I wake up to a beeping sound and my father beside me. My handsome father. Ben got his looks from him. He looks tired and like he hasn't slept in days.

As soon as I open my eyes, he rushes to my side and touches my forehead.

"Dad?" I Mom ble as tears fall down my face.

"My baby, Anne. You are alright, do you hear me? Everything is going to be fine". He whispers and strokes my hair.

"I need a doctor here!" He shouts and continues to soothe me. From the pain? I don't know what.

My father and I have kind of drifted apart. Maybe because we lived in different parts of the country, or the fact that he cheated on my mother with his young secretary and he still had the nerve to ask for a divorce.

Mom being the good Christian she was refused, she chose to forgive him and pray adultery out of him.

He chose to leave the day. He left with Ben.

The day he left was the first day I saw my mother cry. She sat on a sofa in the backyard and cried. Her body shaking as sobs left her mouth and she wipe her red eyes with a handkerchief.

Later that evening, her prayer group women came. They crowded around her and gave her words of advice, and chipped in Bible verses here and there. And told her to hold tight to God's no-divorce policy. So when dad sent her the divorce papers, she didn't sign them. It caused great tension between them, even till her death.

Two years after their separation, dad hit the jackpot in his importation business and became very rich. He sent us more money but Mom spent as little as she could. Saving up the rest. Because of her miser habit, I wore the cheapest of clothes and the crappiest gadgets. Anytime I went over to dad's, he bought me loads of expensive things. When I came back, Mom took them and gave them to charity...

I have gotten better bit by bit and I am released two days later. For reasons best known to him, dad wouldn't go back to the house. He insists we stay in a hotel. I agree and we did. I tell him I need clothes and that I want to go back home to get my clothes.

He refuses and instead takes me to a boutique and buys me new things. Expensive new things.

I know, I'm sad that Mom and Ben just died, but when it dawned on me that I would have to go and live with him.

*****

I'm dressed in black, dad is dressed in black. I look around, Mom 's sister Aunt Michelle is here, her friends, some of Ben's friends that I recognize, and our pastor, they are all around.

We are sitting around two coffins in the cemetery and the Pastor gives a long speech.

"Sister Moreen was a good woman and I know heaven is rejoicing."

Some people murmur and nod in agreement.

"When the women in the Bible went to check Jesus' body, a man told them that he was no longer in the tomb". He pauses and looks at all of us.

"And now I tell you, brothers and sisters, sister Moreen and her son might not be with us now, but they are in heaven, smiling down at us with the saints".

People clap in agreement and nod. I turn to look at dad, with his dark shades. And he looks back at me and smiles sweetly.

Dad isn't a Christian. On paper he is, and his name is in fact James, but he never went to church only on Christmas day.

He believes in Jesus, so he claims, but he says he doesn't believe in Christianity.

That was one of the many things that pulled him and Mom apart, I guess.

After the burial, dad takes me to the house. It is quiet and calm. He steps in and looked around. He then sits down at the dining table. I didn't know what to do or where to stay so I sit on the stairs. He beckons to me and I stand up.

"Come sit here," he says and taps on the dining chair closest to him.

I sit and he smiles at me. Behind the smile, I can see the tears he was fighting back. I am not so strong, I let mine flow.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your Mom and Ben." He says.

"It wasn't your fault. It was nobody's. Some things just... happen. I shake my head and wipe my tears.

He nods in agreement. Some things like the death of his ex-wife and son.

Silence follows. I guess none of us know what else to say.

"You are coming to live with me. I mean, if that's okay with you. " He looks at me.

I don't have a choice. Can a seventeen-year-old live by herself? He knows I don't have a choice, but here he is asking.

"I don't have a choice. You are the only one who would take me in. " I reply to him.

" Your aunt Michelle said you should come to stay with her. That's if you want to. I want you to come live with me but if you don't want to, you can go to Michelle. "

Aunt Michelle. She isn't like Mom , she is strict and won't hesitate to smack you no matter your age. That aside she has three sets of twins so, I'd rather stay at an orphanage.

"I'll go with you. " I say to my dad. He smiles and nods. I could see the excitement on his face as he pulls me in for a hug.

After so long, he pulls away.

"What's going to happen to the house?" I ask.

"It's all yours. What do you want to do with it?" He asks me.

" You could sell it and keep the money for yourself. Not that you would need it."

I know what he is saying. He has a lot of money. I won't be needing my Mom 's crappy house for anything.

"So what do you want to do? Are you going to keep it?"

I was still thinking. Mom loved this house. It held so many memories. Not all of them are nice but that's all I will have of her.

"Annabelle?" My father calls me back to reality.

I snap back and looked at him.

"What have you decided?"

I have.

"Can I give it to Aunt Michelle?" I ask.

"Aunt Michelle?" He asks, Somewhat surprised.

Aunty Michelle might be all tough and strict. But that woman suffers a lot. She lost her husband right after the birth of her last twins. She works really hard at the end of the day for very little. That's why she is so mean. This house would go a long way. I'm sure that would be what Mom wants.

"Aunt Michelle could really use the house and there would be enough rooms for the three twins."

Dad nods. He must be thinking of how much of a genius I am. I couldn't have done it so perfectly.

He smiles and smoothens my hair.

*********

I look around my room. The pink wallpapers and the white bedding.

My clothes are neatly packed and my important stuff is in my backpack.

I took one last look at it and closed the door.

I walk into Mom 's room. Arranged as usual. I looked around. I pick up her Bible and bring it close to my nose. It smells just like her. The thought of this makes my eyes wet.

I put it in my bag. I sit on her bed and lie down. It was strange that she wasn't going to burst through the door, telling me to take off my shoes. Strangely, she isn't going to ever do that.

I descend the stairs. Aunt Michelle and dad are sitting and talking in whispers.

Aunt Michelle looks like her old self. Fearless and bold, but when she turns to me, I can't recognize her. My Aunt has been crying. Her eyes are red and puffy. She quickly cleans her eyes as soon as she sees me descending.

"Baby, are you set?" She asks, smiling.

I nod and look between her and dad. I was kind of nudging him with my eyes.

She looks at me confused.

"What is it?" She asks.

Dad clears his throat.

"Annabelle wants you to have the house. She thinks you should have it instead of giving it out for rent." Dad explains.

She covers her face crying. Her face turns red and she pulls me into a tight hug, almost choking me out.

"Oh my God, Annabelle." She sobs, "You are such an angel, aren't you?"

She releases me and cups my face. She wipes my face and that was when I realized that tears were pouring from my eyes.

"Your Mom would be proud of you. I and your cousins appreciate your kind gesture. It's going to relieve so much from my shoulders."

She turns and pulls dad into a new hug.

"I'm going to miss you guys. But no worries, I and the clan will come visiting."

I giggle, imagining my cousins who were hard to control, turning dad's fancy house upside down."

Surely going to miss Mom 's house.

I stand gazing around the luxurious house that is now my home.

Everything seems to be made from glass or something expensive. I have been here so many times but each time I come back, there is a new something that just pulls out all the air from my lungs and makes me stare in marvel.

I am still lost in the wonder when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on, you will have enough time to look around. Let me show you your room." Daddy says.

He climbs the stairs and I follow suit.

He opens the door and the view that meets me is just spectacular.

If this haven is my room, I won't ever leave it.

Everything is pink and completely different from where I slept when I spent a few days with him, and Ben.

On the dressing table is a pink laptop. All of these would have excited me on a different day, but not today. Now with all the grief I came with in my heart.

"Wow," I say flatly.

" Don't you like the color? I could have it changed." He says. I can see hope in his eyes. Hope that he did it right and I hope that I loved it.

"No, it's not the color, it's nice." I force a smile and run my hands over the laptop.

His face lights up. He just feels so fulfilled. I feel sorry for him, maybe we will be able to start to patch up our strained relationship from there.

"Okay then. I will be in my room if you need me" he says and leaves the room.

I sit at the table and look at the expensive gadgets in my hands. Any girl my age would have screamed out in joy, being happy to have this, but I don't know why I can't.

I feel like my mum will burst into the room and take them all from me, telling me that I don't need them, but that doesn't happen. It's never going to happen again, will it?

I curl up on the bed and hug onto my new phone and laptop.

"Oh, ma," I whisper to myself. " You would have totally objected to this if you were here."

I sigh and close my eyes.

*******

I close my door quietly. And tiptoe across the hall. I want to find the kitchen and see what fancy food would be in it. But here I am before this door right after mine. It's Ben's room. I breathe in and open the door.

The room is in order. Ben might have been an ass, but he was a tidy lad. His laptop is on the bed, his bed made, and all.

I look at the trophies on the shelf. He would never look at them again.

I sigh, like to drive off the ill thoughts in my head. I open his closet and a scent so much like his hit my nose.

His clothes are hanging there. I can't help but remove one of his hoodies. It's red and very attractive. Without thinking, I put it over my head, and on.

It's oversized but I can feel my brother holding me, so it's perfect. Next, I lay on his bed and look at the ceiling. Slowly, I drift to sleep.

The door to the room opens with a loud sound and that wakes me up.

I turn to see Dad with an anxious look on his face.

"Annabelle? Are you okay?" He asks.

"Yeah." I croak." I just slept off".

He walks to me and sits beside me.

"You haven't been crying, have you?" He is worried.

"What? No." I miss my brother and all, but all I do now is brood. I have no tears left to cry.

He joins me in the bed and looks around the room.

"Should we clear the place up?" He asks.

"No. I don't think it's necessary. This is Ben's room. Like his museum now." I said.

He nods in agreement. I know he didn't mean it. He just wanted to say something, anything.

"You know, that was his first trophy." Daddy points at a silver cup. "He won it when he was fourteen. We had just moved here. And since then, he just kept bringing them in, in their numbers."

I smile. "Yeah. Ben was a promising guy." I agree.

He just got accepted into college and all that.

He never wanted to go to college, but he suddenly changed his mind and got accepted to study marine engineering, then tragedy struck us. We can't really get over this, can we?

"He wouldn't let me into his room." I didn't know how loud I had said that until my dad turns to me.

"What?"

"He wouldn't let me in here without permission," I explain to Daddy with a laugh.

" He would ask me to knock and wait for his response before he allowed me in."

Daddy laughs. "Did he do that to you?" He asks.

"Many times" I answer.

"And here I was thinking that it was only I who suffered that."

He reaches out and cleans a tear from my eyes. I thought I was done crying.

"But hey, I've got you now, right? And you've got me?"

I nod.

"We will get over this together, I promise."

He hugs me and I clean my eyes with my brother's sweater.

I spent the rest of the weeks settling into my new environment. And coming to terms with the fact that I will never see my brother or my mother again.

I have been quietly grieving and coming to terms with it.

************

I'm in the dining room just going through my pictures. I'm zooming in on a picture of Ben and staring at his beautiful eyes.

I hear the now-familiar sound of my father's car and I don't bother to check because I know it's him.

The front door opens and he enters the kitchen.

"Hi, Dad," I say.

"Hi." He looks sweaty and his breathing is somehow over the edge.

"Are you okay?" I ask. " You look a bit worked out."

"Yeah." He nods. " Just had to get you some stuff."

He raises his hand and I see a big shopping bag in it.

"Wow? What's that?" I have gotten so many gifts from my dad over the past few months that I'm no longer surprised by them.

He quietly hands it to me and stands with his hands akimbo.

"What's this?" I try to figure it out by feeling its shape. I can't just place a finger on the exact thing that it is.

"Go ahead, open it." My father pushes.

"Okay...." I do as he has said and open the bag.

I'm not too drilled about what I see. Books, books, books. Textbooks, exercise books, and all kinds of shit to be used in school.

"It's one week until school resumes." He informs me. " You are going to start attending Ben's old high school. Lakeview High School."

Lakeview? What kind of dumb name is that?

"But you didn't tell me about anything," I say with annoyance.

"I'm sorry. I thought you already knew you were going to start school here since you are now staying here."

I stuff back everything into the bag it came in. This has just ruined my nice evening. I was having a very nice time with myself when he came with his bag of books and ruined my day.

"But I just lost my brother, I'm still grieving," I tell him. " I need time to mourn him properly."

"Okay, just how much more time do you need?"

I haven't thought of that, but since he asked.

"About a year or six months. " I say.

He bursts out laughing. Why is he laughing? He asked me a question and I gave him my desired answer.

"A year or six months, are you crazy?" He asks.

"Ben was the only brother I have and you don't get a mum twice in life." I defend my earlier statement.

"Look, Annabelle." He holds my shoulder. " I love you, and I love Ben, but the best way to mourn him is to move on."

Move on? How is going to school moving on?

"Going to school too early isn't moving on." I shake my head.

"It is, Anne. And Ben would have wanted to see you do that."

I'm getting frustrated here. Why can't he see that I'm not just ready to start attending high school again?

Going to a new school, especially high school, is a huge deal. I need to prepare very well for it, both mentally and otherwise. A week is not going to be enough time to do that.

"I'm not going to allow you to do that to yourself. You are going to school next Monday." He says with much finality.

I'm breathing heavily. Why is he trying to be so cruel to me?

"I didn't say I'm dropping out of school, I said I'm not just ready." I try to break it down for him. Maybe he just misunderstood me, that's all.

"And I'm your father and I'm telling you that you are ready. You are more than ready." He says with a smile.

"This isn't fair." I force a tear to roll down my cheek. " You never treated Ben this way."

My father frowns at my remark, but I don't care. I'm going to do anything in my power to stop this. And that includes emotional blackmail.

"And how was it that I treated Ben?" He asks me.

"You never forced him to go to school. He didn't go to college even though he finished high school years ago." I sniff.

"Oh, he didn't tell you?" My father smiles. " He has been working in my company, the manual section. He sorted out products and checked that nothing was wrong when they were shipped."

Did Ben work in the manual section of Dad's company? He didn't tell me anything about it, and I'm sure he didn't say anything to Mum about it either.

"That was until he chose to give college a try." My father adds.

I look at him. So what exactly is he trying to tell me?

"Can I do that too? Before I decide if I want to start high school?" The dumb offer falls out of my mouth.

I know he won't allow it, but I'm hoping he will allow me to sit back at home since I offered to at least try the workout.

"It's hard labor, Annabelle." He shakes his head. " I doubt if you will be able to handle the stress."

Good, and so is high school.

"Then you can't make me go," I tell him.

I'm behaving like a ten-year-old right now. I know I'm getting on his nerves and I don't care.

"Annabelle, let's just get one thing straight. You are going to high school and that's about it." He stabs his hand on her table.

"This is wrong." I stand up. " You are violating my rights."

"What rights?" He has this amusing look on his face.

"My right of freedom of rights." I gesture my hands. I have no idea what I'm talking about.

"Oh, Christ." He holds his head.

"You are just being difficult on me for no reason," I tell him.

"I'm doing this because I care about you and your future." He says.

I hiss and throw my face at him.

"I don't know what kind of school bag you like so you will have to send me a picture." He stands up. "okay?"

I pretend not to hear him and turn my face away.

When I do turn, he has gone upstairs leaving me to handle my attitude alone by myself.

I wake up today feeling as normal as usual but all that changes when I remember that it is going to be my first day in high school.

I silently pray to God to help me. If I blow it today, I will blow it for the rest of my high school days.

I pick up a sweet black skirt and a pink crop top. My black backpack, which I grudgingly picked out, I fill with all I would need.

I walk to my dad's door and hold up my hand to knock. I stop. I better find something to eat first before waking him up.

I walk down the stairs then as if someone has been waiting for me, I hear the doorbell ring.

I drop my bag on a chair and walk to the door. I am so shocked by who I meet in the front pouch that I slam the door right back in his face.

It's Keith, Ben's friend who I hate with every fiber of my being. The one who teases me all the time. The one who walked on me naked in Ben's bathroom, when I had to use Ben's because mine was faulty.

What in God's name is he doing here? I run upstairs and barge into my dad's room. It's empty, where has he gone to?

I lock myself in the room. Where has my father gone?

I decide to confront Keith, I will ask him to leave the house.

I walk back downstairs to see my dad in the kitchen.

My dad is drinking coffee from a cup and Keith is there too. They are talking and laughing with each other.

I look from one man to the next.

"Dad."

"Yes, honey?" He asks.

"I..I.. you weren't in your room." That's all I can say.

"Yeah, I had to run by the office quickly."

I swallow hard. What's he still doing in my house? My dad's house, I mean.

Keith notices how much I look at him and so does dad.

"You know Keith right?" He was trying to reduce the tension.

"She knows me, alright." He chuckles.

The fool! I will soon give him something to laugh about.

"What's he doing here?" I was just trying to get him to feel unwelcome. I wanted him to be the one who feels awkward.

He isn't disturbed by my rude question. He instead walks to the refrigerator and takes out a bottle of water.

"Why? He is taking you to school today."

Did I hear well? This clown takes me to school?

"Have a nice day, Keith" Dad heads upstairs.

"Will do, sir". Keith says.

I follow my dad upstairs. What is he thinking? He was supposed to take me to school on my first day, but no. He has left me in the hands of a pervert.

I'm passing through trauma and here he is pressing away on his phone.

"How can you do this to me, dad?" I ask.

"What, baby?" I'm sure he knows exactly what I was talking about.

"How can you ask a stranger to take me to school?"

"Keith is not a stranger." He insists, " he is Ben's best friend. I wouldn't give you to a stranger. What kind of father would I be?"

"To me, he is a stranger. I don't know him." I insist.

Dad looks at me like he is trying to figure out what exactly is my problem.

"I'm too busy to take you to school today, I'm sorry. I have to head back to the office." He doesn't see things the way I'm seeing it. He is not even bothered by my uneasiness.

"I'm not going," I say.

Since he wants to be this nonchalant, I will show him how hard I can be.

"What?" He asks. Now he gives me his full attention.

"If you won't take me, I'm not going." I fold my hands and lean against the wall.

He looks at me quietly. I'm sure he is deciding how best it is to respond to me.

"Oh yes, you will, sweetheart. Every great person gets to where they are through hard work. You can't do that without school." He starts a speech.

I roll my eyes. This isn't what I want to hear. Why can't he get into his damn car and drive me to school?

"So?" I ask rudely.

He sighs and gives me a light Pat on my back.

"See you after school, Annabelle." He walks away.

I stand confused. Not just confused, amazed. He has left me alone with a stranger and he has gone to work. Does this man even care about me?

I drag my feet back to the kitchen.

He is there, waiting for me. He is holding an apple which, I'm sure, he took from the fruit basket on the table.

When he sees me, he smiles at me. *scoffs* okay, I admit. He is fine and all, but who cares?

"You are set?" He asks.

Why won't he wipe that stupid smile off his face?

"Yes, I guess," I reply.

"Won't you eat breakfast?" He points at the box of cereals. " I could make you some."

The last thing I want is a stranger's hand all over what would get into my mouth.

"No, I'm good." I refuse. "We should go, don't want to be late on my first day."

He nods and stands up.

"Wait, are you not supposed to be in college or something?" I ask, genuinely out of curiosity.

"I am." He gives me a short reply.

"Are you just dropping me off?" I ask.

"Nope. I'm heading there too." He smiles and walks out.

I'm confused but I follow him outside.

The ride in his car is quiet. He is focused on the road and it's a good thing. Won't want to die with this lunatic.

Being curious about me, I begin to interrogate him again.

"I don't understand. You said you are in college. How come you are still in high school?" I ask.

He smiles but keeps his eyes on the road. A few moments passed and he doesn't give me an answer. I'm beginning to think that he doesn't want to reply me. But he hums and turns to me.

"You're curious, aren't you?" He laughs. "Well, I'm helping out the basketball coach. Had an injury that is going to keep him bedridden for four months. So I'm stepping in for him."

Oh. I never thought of this. I thought he was a dummy who is still stuck in high school while his mates are in college.

"What about school? Won't you miss lectures?" I ask, again.

"I will miss, but will catch up." He says.

"How?"

"I have my ways." He winks at me.

My face turns soar. He notices and laughs.

"I don't think I should be going to school with a staff," I say. I want to hear his reply.

"Who said I'm a staff?" He asks.

He just said he is stepping in for the basketball coach, doesn't that kind of make him a staff?

"I'm just a normal guy. Practicing with the basketball team, no biggie." He says.

I keep shut. Enough of the talking. Can't forget I don't like this guy.

"Do you play?" He asks after some minutes of awkward silence.

"Me?" I ask stupidly. Of course, he is talking to me.

He nods.

"I'm not tall enough." I shrug and he laughs.

I smile too. I like that I can't at least tell a half-bad joke. Maybe with this, I can make some friends there.

Minutes later he pulls up in a school parking lot.

The school is bigger than I pictured and it has a lot of students.

For some time, my legs won't move until Keith says.

"Are you coming out or what?"

I then step out. Some cheeky-looking girls stare at me. It was so intense that I didn't know I was backing off until I hit Keith.

He holds my shoulder and leads me to the school building.

********

I'm now sitting before the principal, Mr. Owens.

He is a bit too young for his age. I thought only old people with zero social life were principals. Here before me is an early thirty, too young for a man his age.

He is holding a pen to his mouth as he brushes through do's and don'ts that I'm supposed to follow.

Half of what he said, I can't remember.

I was going to tell him to rephrase, to come again. But the next thing I remember is standing before a class and the teacher asking for my name.

"Go on, sweetheart. What's your name?" Mrs. Fred, the class teacher, says.

I have lost my tongue again. I stare at the teenagers staring back at me. I open my mouth but nothing, absolutely nothing comes out.

"Her name is Annabelle Hopkins." The principal helps me.

I'm grateful he did. We would have stayed here all day if not for him.

"Everyone says welcome to Annabelle." Mrs. Fred urges.

"Hi, Annabelle." The class says without enthusiasm.

I expected this. High school isn't the best place to be a newbie.

"Be nice to her okay?" The teacher says. None of them replies to her.

"That's your seat, Annabelle." She points.

Slowly, so as not to trip, I walk to my appointed seat.

The students all ignore me. Not even a friendly smile to say welcome. A group of girls at my left. They are talking loudly. Loud enough to distract the class but the teacher pretends not to hear or see them.

One of them stands out. Pink hair (is that even allowed in high school?), Short skirts and heavy makeup.

She looks like the leader of this clique. She meets my eye and I turn my gaze away. My instincts tell me that she is not one person I want to offend.

They throw rude glances at me. And I look away and ignore them for my own good.

After some hours. Lunchtime is here.

The students file out of the class, but still, none of them have said a word to me.

As they file out, I stand awkwardly, waiting to trail them.

"Hey, are you Ben's sister? Ben who died in an accident months ago?" I hear a voice.

I turn and it's this beautiful girl. She is in a white short skirt with a tiny gray top.

At last! Someone has spoken to me. I will make a friend after all.

"Yes, that 's me. I'm his junior sister." I answer eagerly.

I wait for smiles of pity. Or a long chain of words on how good my brother was. How they miss him here although he was an ex-student they didn't know all that well.

Instead, she walks past me with her friend who looks similar and is dressed in the same way.

The shock on my face can't be described on paper.

She just spoke to me and now she is walking past me? Can girls be any more dramatic?

I can hear murmurs from her and her friend.

"I told you she is the one." Her friend says with victory.

"Don't blame me for doubting you." She says. "She looks nothing like him."

With that, they walk away.

For a moment I step back and pause. So much is happening in just my first day in school. This isn't going as I hoped. It is going way worse.

"You can do this, Anna," I assure myself. "You've got this."

With that, I pray to all the gods I knew, to guide me and took a step outside the hall.

The hall is crowded. Every inch of every space is holding too many people.

I hold on to my tray a little bit tight. I use my eyes to scan around the room for a vacant table. None.

My hope is failing but I soon see one. At the far end of the hall. I walk to it and I don't like the occupants.

The gossiping girls from class are sitting around the table. They are three in number.

Normally, the table is made to occupy six people but here two are sitting at one side and a single girl at another.

I quietly join the second girl without a noise. And that's when the girls who I thought never knew of my existence raise their heads to me.

Their face holds no compassion or friendliness, to say the least.

"Who are you?" The one with the meanest asks.

"I'm Annabelle. Annabelle Hopkins." I say.

"Who cares? I say who are you to think that you can sit with us?" She snaps.

Nearby attention has just turned to us.

"I'm sorry, I thought the seat was empty," I mumble.

"Unfortunately it's not, so scoot."

To say I am embarrassed is an understatement.

I am waiting for the ground to open up and swallow me.

The other kids around were laughing and whispering to each other. Is this going to be my life? Am I going to be that girl that has no friends?

I turn to run out of the hall and hide in the toilet. Their eyes are still boring through me.

Quickly I turn to run. And that was a grave mistake.

As I turn, I hear a gasp. From the mean and girls and other students.

The look on their face told me that I am in big trouble. I can hear the whisper of the name, Taylor.

I turn around to behold the leader of the gossip girls. So that's her name, Taylor. The pink freak that I took my eyes off in class. How on earth did I do this to myself?

"Are you kidding me?" She shrieks.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I try to clean off the pieces of food all over her.

"Get your filthy hands off me." She pushes me away.

I stagger back and hold my hand to my mouth. I'm about to cry. I do that always when I am about to cry.

I want to cry because I have just been embarrassed by this girl in front of the whole school.

I feel a warm hand on my shoulder. I turn to see Keith looking down at me.

"Are you okay, Anna?" He asks. With genuine concern in his eyes.

I don't answer him but turn to look at Taylor and the mess I just made.

One of the girls is cleaning Taylor's body with a small handkerchief.

Keith looks at her. He knew I have gotten myself into some deep girls' shit.

Boys may overlook simple mistakes like bathing someone with your lunch but not girls and not this girl.

"Did you do that?" He whispers.

Well, what did he think? I wouldn't be standing here at the very center of it if I'm not responsible.

"Do you know this psycho, Keith?" Taylor asked.

Did she just call me a psycho? Can this girl be any more meaningful?

"She's not a psycho, Taylor. Annabelle made a mistake, no one is above that."

Keith is standing up for me? I've been nothing but rude to him. I almost tear up again.

Taylor looks surprised. She looks from me to Keith and back again.

"Wait. You know her?" She seems surprised.

"Yes." He says. "she is Ben's junior sister."

The hall comes to a standstill.

"Oh my God," Taylor exclaims.

Not only her, but everyone around seems to be surprised too. They are talking loudly.

I don't know who Ben was around here but I'm grateful we were siblings.

"Annabelle, let's get you another lunch," Keith says.

"Sorry about your blouse." I apologize.

"No worries." he shrugs with a smile. "it was an ugly one anyway."

I nod and Keith leads me away.

"Hey, you can sit with us. If you want." She calls after us.

Did she just invite me to sit with her? After all, that just happened a few minutes ago?

I turn around in surprise. I'm torn between saying yes, I wanted to say yes and saying no. So as not to sound desperate.

"I think she's fine. She is going to sit with me and the boys." Keith says with his hand over my shoulder.

He pulls me along. He didn't even give me a chance to decide for myself.

He pulls me all the way to the "boys" table.

About twelve teen boys are sitting at the table. It's like being handsome is one of the criteria of being on the basketball team.

Unlike the girls, they smile and wave at me. As Keith waits for me to sit before taking a seat next to me.

"I can't believe you're Ben's sister." One of the beams.

"I don't understand." I laugh. "Why is being Ben's sister so special around here?"

"That's because your brother is a legend around here." Keith chips in.

"He is my legend." One of the finest of the boys says.

He straightens his hand with a smile. Offering me a handshake.

"I'm Kevin." He adds.

I take his hand in mine.

"Annabelle," I reply. Returning his smile.

The whole students and staff are looking at us. Something tells me not everyone gets to sit at the "boys'" table.

"Here." Keith interrupts my thoughts. He pushes his snacks to me and his can of coke.

"Don't worry," he smiles. "I haven't touched it."

The boys laugh and so do I.