You're My Backbone

My head slammed against the glass window awakening me from my sleep. I groaned in pain as I placed my hand where the soon-to-be bruise was. I sat up straight and cussed under my breath.

I glanced to the right of me to find both of my brother's completely out of it, snoring loudly with their long legs sprawled out.

It was quite a sight to see, I must say. I was tempted to take a picture and then use it for blackmail sometime in the future. I smiled to myself, but then shook the thought.

"You alright back there, June?" My mother asked from the front seat of the car. As I peered over the front seat I could see her sucking down what must be her seventh coffee today.

"Yeah mom. I'm fine. How long was I out?" I began to stretch my arms out, but was cut short by the ceiling of the car we were in. I rolled my eyes and slumped back into my seat. There was no use to attempt to get comfortable. I sighed heavily.

"About four hours. We're almost there sweetheart."

I could feel my eyes and face light up. I sat up straighter in my seat. "Oh yeah? How many hours would you say?" I asked, hoping only one or two.

"Try forty five minutes." I could see my mother grinning in the rear view mirror.

"Thank god!" I yelled, not caring about my three brothers sleeping.

Shane was the first to wake up after my out-burst. "Shut up!" He groaned from the passenger seat next to my mom.

"Shane!" My mother gasped. "Do not talk to your sister that way."

Shane chuckled then stuck his tongue out at me. I rolled my eyes. "Ouch," I placed a hand over my heart. "That one really hurt."

He shook his head and then turned back around to sit in his seat properly.

"What's going on?" Ross stretched out his hands in front of him next to me. He looked over at me.

"Forty five minutes left." I said flatly, the excitement leaving me.

"Sweet." He shrugged, clearly not as excited as I was.

Next was John, but he wasn't too happy about waking up. Hell, John was never happy about waking up.

"What is up with all of you? Can't you see I'm sleeping?" He whined as he sat correctly in his seat for the first time the whole drive.

"Would've fooled me." I mumbled while glancing out of the window.

I could almost hear the grin on John's face. I knew him too well that whenever he spoke, I could tell how his face looked. "You got a problem with me June?"

I rolled my eyes. "Please John, there's only forty-five minutes left. Can we please make it somewhat pleasant?"

John laughed. "What do you think?"

I sighed and glared over at him. "Please don't annoy the crap out of me."

"Too late." Shane and Ross spoke out at the same time, causing the two of them to explode with laughter.

"Go back to sleep." I said, regarding all three of them.

"I rather not now." John smirked.

John and I were the same age. Twins, to be exact, fraternal twines. We looked nothing alike. John had his sandy colored hair and green eyes, while I had dark brown hair and what seemed like grey eyes. One trait we seemed to share when it came to looks was that our hair was always in our face. John had just recently decided he wanted to grow his hair out. Although my mother protested, John claimed that he was seventeen, almost eighteen and that he could do what he wanted. I, on the other hand, always had my hair in my face. My side bangs always seemed to get in my eyes and my long, thick, straight hair framed my face.

"John, leave your sister alone." My mom scolded him from the front seat.

John put his hands up in defense. "Fine, fine. Whatever."

"I have a question." Ross spoke up.

"Yes Ross?" My mom responded.

"Who gets first pick of rooms? Please don't tell me Shane and I have to share again."

My mother's shoulders hung low and she let out a deep heavy breath. "You and Shane will be sharing again. I'm sorry Ross. There's only four bedrooms and John and June are the oldest. They need their own rooms."

Ross folded his arms over his chest and huffed. "Fine." He mumbled to himself mainly.

"I'm sorry Ross."

"It's fine." He waved her off, but I could tell by his tone it was still bothering him.

I bit my lip, going over in my head what I could possibly do to cheer the boy up. An idea suddenly popped into my head.

"Hey, Ross, why don't you get first pick on what room you and Shane get to have?" I leaned over to get a better looked at his face,

His face lit up and he was beginning to start a new sentence when John cut him off.

"June! Are you fuc-freaking crazy!?" He yelled and caught his mouth before he could curse and get in trouble with our mother.

"Oh, John, leave her alone. That's a great idea June. What do you say, Ross?"

Ross smiled wide. "Yeah!"

"Alright. It's settled then." My mother smiled and through the rear view mirror she mouthed the words "Thank You" and winked at me.

The second the car pulled into the driveway, Ross climbed over John and bolted to the front door. John and Shane followed him on his heels hollering and shouting about the rooms to pick.

I chuckled at them and hopped out of the car. I walked around to the trunk and opened it. I pulled out a box as my mother made her way around.

"Thank you June. You do too much for me sometimes." My mother smiled sweetly at me.

"It's no problem mom. I like helping out."

My mother bit her lip, but then released it. She sighed heavily and shook her head. "This move will be good for you June. I don't want you to help me this much anymore hun. I feel like I'm holding you back. Back in Colorado, John was out every night with his friends...and you were....home with me. I want you to go out and-"

I cut her off. "Get a social life. I know, mom." I mumbled and pulled another box out of trunk. "I'll go put this inside."

"Honey-" She reached out for me.

"No, I get it. I need friends. I'm anti-social and being here will make me somehow overcome that. I'm a loser. I know now mom and I've always known." I stormed off, angry with her. I marched up onto the new house's front porch and walked into the foyer.

It was a nice house; a big house. I set the box down on the hardwood of the foyer. I ran a hand threw my hair and looked around the wide house.

I could hear my brother's still yelling upstairs and it brought a small smile to my face. I walked up the stairs to find John in the hallway, standing in front of an empty room.

"Is this your choice?" I asked observing his hand on his chin, contemplating on whether or not to pick this.

"Not sure. It's this one or that one." He nudged his head to the left, gesturing to the room next door.

"So, one of these will be yours and one of them will be mine?"

"Yes. That is, if I ever make a decision." John walked over to the other room and peered inside.

"How 'bout I make the decision for you?" I asked.

John scoffed. "As if that will happen."

"It will. Because this one is mine." I walked into the room on the left and slammed the door in John's face. I smiled victoriously and then turned around to examine my new room.

It was spacious, but I knew that wouldn't last for long. Once the moving trucks arrived-and I believe they were only an hour behind us- all of this empty space would be filled. I pictured my bed with the black comforter in the corner and my wooden desk on the side. I started to find places on my new walls where I could put my posters of my favorite bands. I started smile as it all came together.

A knock on my door alarmed me and I jumped slightly. After I recomposed myself, I walked to the door and opened it to find my mother standing there.

"John said you picked this room?"

"Yes." I replied flatly.

My mother opened the door wider so she could walk in. She started to observe the wide room and nodded her head slowly at certain aspects she saw. "I like it a lot."

I folded my arms over my chest. "So do I."

It was silent for several moments and I bit down on my lip hard.

"You know I didn't mean that June." My mother said finally breaking the silence.

"I know." I mumbled looking down at my shoes.

"You're not anti-social. You are a very friendly girl and many people back there used to love you."

"I know." I said once more.

"Then why are you behaving this way?" She glared at me as I finally raised my head to look into her eyes.

"Because I'm not like John. Everyone knew him back at home, and I, I was just his twin. The one no one knew about. I didn't make a name for myself there, but he did."

My mother made her way towards me and rested a hand on my shoulder. "John's great sweetheart. But so are you. Both are you are amazing people. Don't doubt yourself for one minute."

I nodded my head and stared down at my beat up chucks. She walked over to the doorway, but stopped short and turned back to me.

"And even if that's the way you feel June, you're somewhere new now. You can start over here. You can be something new."

And with that she was gone. Leaving me with my thoughts and her last statement ringing in my ears.

That, and my three brothers screaming at the television downstairs.