Forever 21

I am standing at my locker, looking around for Emily and Melissa. I spot Melissa first, talking to yet another one of my family members. Her hair is tied with red ribbon into two pony tails, her small frame is covered in a modest plaid skirt and a modest black sweater of a white dress shirt. She is maybe five foot four and skinny. She looks like a freshman at our school but she's well over the age of 21.

"Look who I found," says Melissa as she stops at my locker. Melissa's big brown eyes widen as if to say, 'why the hell is there another one of your family members in our school?!'.

"Damian!" squeals the little girl. She is my cousin Brianna. She is one of the younger kids in my family, though she was a lot older than she looked.

"Hi," I say as I hug her a little.

"How is your mother?" she asks.

"Why don't any of you visit her?" I snarl as I slam my locker.

"You know we can't."

"Whatever," I say flippantly.

"So Brianna tells me she's already 21. I can't believe it!" I nod a little and glare at my cousin.

"What are you doing here, Brianna?"

"Bringing you home!" she says happily. "Uncle Danny says I have to walk you home."

"Too bad," I say irritably. "I'm driving to my friend's house. You can shove off." I walk past her and she is quiet. I know I'll hear it later when I get home but I honestly couldn't take any more of my family trying to tell me what to do.

"Damian!" Melissa snaps. "You can't be mean to your older cousin."

"I'm mean to everyone else, why not her?" I ask as I look back at her. "Let's go. Where the hell is Emily?" I turn around and crash into the girl in question. She stumbles back and glares up at me playfully.

"Thanks," she says as she looks at Brianna. "You ready-- Who's that?"

"Brianna Cayos!" says Melissa, again in the 'can you believe more family?' tone.

"Another family member?" Emily whispers as she glances at me.

"It's the thing for Elaine."

"Right," she whispers before looking at Brianna. "Nice to meet you but I'm afraid we're going to have to get going. Come on, Melissa. We need to head to work remember?" Melissa nods and says goodbye to Brianna. While Emily and Melissa walk ahead, I look at Brianna. She has the dangerous look in her eyes that tells me I am going to be in big trouble when I get home. I nod, as if to acknowledge the fact that I am in trouble, and leave the girl to join Melissa and Emily on the way out of school.

"So you want to explain why there are like 12 of your family members just chillin' in our school?" Melissa asks.

"It's for Elaine's birthday party."

"Oh right," says Melissa after a moment of thought. "You were telling me that we were going to be sleeping over my house that night."

"Yeah,"

"Hey," says Emily. "You okay?"

"They didn't say happy birthday to me." I say with a sigh.

"It's not their fault. They're probably really busy with Elaine. I mean, you said 21 was a really important age."

"18 is kind of important to normal families, don't you think?"

"When has your family ever been normal?" asks Melissa. "Remember that time your mom did that magic trick and made the rabbit come out of the punch bowl? That was some crazy stuff right there."

"And how many families do you know ship in their entire family for one birthday party? Not exactly what I call an apple pie life." Emily adds. I shrug and unlock Sir Reginald Enrique Jean-Paul Tran II. "You're still coming over tonight, right? We're going out." I nod a little.

"Yes, I'm coming over. Uh…Wayne's coming too." I say as I grab my seatbelt. Emily and Melissa raise their eyebrows.

"Yes!" shouts Melissa. "Time to dress like a slut."

"He's gay, Lis." Emily says.

"So?" Melissa asks. "We still have Damian who likes boobies. Might as well please everyone." I laugh a little and glance at her and Emily.

"Thanks, guys," I say softly. "I really appreciate this."

"It's the anniversary of your birth and the birth of our friendship. Why wouldn't we celebrate it with you?" Emily asks as she rolls her eyes. Melissa nods and pats my shoulder.

"Let's get home so I can figure out what I can wear."

"Do I need to get dressed up?"

"Come in whatever you think is most comfortable." Emily says.

"So I can show up naked?" I ask as I look at her in the mirror. Her cheeks grow a slight shade of pink as she slaps my shoulder. "Melissa wouldn't mind," I say as I glance at the girl next to me. Melissa is covering her eyes as she looks out the window. "Gosh guys, calm down. I wont show up naked." I say as I roll my eyes and start to pull out of the parking lot.

"You'd look great," Melissa offers, as if to fix my pride.

"Thanks, I know I would." Emily starts to smile and I focus on the road. "What are you two going to wear?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Melissa demands. "Something slutty!" I smile and Emily starts to laugh. We end up at Melissa's house and they leave me sitting on her couch watching television. Melissa and Emily are getting changed, talking about their thing in secret and leaving me out of the loop. Melissa walks out of her room and is dressed in a modest black and purple skirt, a low cut purple top and a black sweater. "How do I look? Slutty enough for Wayne Leonardo?" she asks. I don't look up from the television.

"Yeah, real nice, Lis."

"You didn't even look." She mutters.

"I don’t like the fact you're going to parade around showing your lady bits to the whole world." She pouts and goes back into the room to get changed. I sigh and rise, glancing at the clock. "I'm going to head home and grab a shower," I say as I walk to the door, grabbing my coat.

"Alright, be back by six!" I nod a little as I close the door and head to my car. Upon arriving at my house, I see Wayne's car sitting in my driveway. I smile to myself, enjoying the flutter that is in my stomach. I knock on his back window to let him know I am there and lean forward to look into his window. He rolled down the dark glass and smiled up at me.

"Good to see you," he says smiling. I offer him a smirk and he rolls up the window to step out. "May I walk you to your door?" he asks with a charming grin. He is wearing a deep burgundy color button up shirt with a black vest over it while his tight, skinny black jeans compliments his long legs well. His bright, fire red hair makes him look even more handsome. I offer him a shrug and he leads me forward. "I was hoping this would be enough."

"You look fine," I say as I push open the door.

"You don't lock your doors?"

"Nope. No one comes in here anyway."

"How would you know? You're never home."

"I'm home long enough to make a few girls scream," I say as I grin devilishly in his direction. He blushes and lowers his eyes. I couldn't help but smirk again. I lead him into the kitchen where I offer him food and something to drink.

"No tour?" he asks. I let out a sigh and start walking.

"Bathroom," I say as I walk by. "Mom's room, sister's room, other sister's room, second bathroom---"

"Where's your room?" he asks as we round back to the living room. I glance at him and he is hiding his face behind his bright red hair.

"Downstairs," I say. "I like the privacy."

"Can I see it?" I turn to look at him and he is blushing brightly. "I just…I just think the way to tell who a guy really is…..is through their room." I nod and lead him downstairs to my lair. The floors are covered in dirty clothes, a few pieces of pink, red, black and white lace underwear are hanging around on the furniture. "You definitely get around, don't you?" he asks.

"They come to me." I say with a shrug.

"You don't think to tell them no?" he asks.

"Why pass up sex?" I ask. "Might as well do something to feel anything."

"What does that mean?" I shrug and pull off my t-shirt. "I'm going to get changed, give me a minute." I grab a t-shirt from my drawers and Wayne clears his throat.

"You can't wear that," he says. "You need to dress nice!"

"Melissa and Emily will understand if I don't wear anything nice. I don't own nice things." Wayne raises an eyebrow.

"You're going to be in the presence of very attractive young women. You need to look nice. And besides, you're supposed to dress up for your birthday. Go get a white shirt." I sigh and walk over to my dresser, grabbing one of the many white shirts I owned. I was a fan of simple, easy things. I turn to Wayne and he nods. "Put it on and take this," He hands me his vest and watches me put it on. "Grab a nice pair of jeans and get changed." I sigh and nod, grabbing the pair of jeans from my dresser. I walk to the bathroom and change.

"Am I less of an embarrassment now?" I ask.

"Just because you are straight doesn't mean you can't be…stylish." I roll my eyes and walk past him. He grabs my arm and in a flash, his cool, smooth lips are against mine. I freeze; what else am I supposed to do? He pulls away, his lips trying to grab one last kiss. I can't help but stare at Wayne. His cheeks are a bright red, the look in his hazel-green eyes is pure shock and fear. "I'm sorry," he mutters. I can feel the heat sitting on my cheeks. "I should go, Damian," he says as he starts to walk away. I grab his arm and kiss him again, placing my hand on his warm cheek. How long had I waited for this? I can't help but tangle my fingers in the cool red hair that is barely touching the nape of his neck. I pull away from him slowly and swallow the rising apology.

"I…" I try to say something but I can't find anything to say.

"I guess this makes up for not getting you a present." He says softly.

"I think you'll have to come back and give me a better present," I say as I flash him a grin that makes him blush again.

"I didn't know…."

"I'm not, but I can be if you're willing to." He hides his face and I cant help but laugh. "I think we should get back to Melissa and Emily. They wanted to leave at six." He glances at the clock on my nightstand and bites his lip.

"It's only five forty five." He whispers.

"Oh trust me, Wayne. I'll need more than fifteen minutes to sate myself with you." His face is a scarlet red and I can only laugh as I walk away from him to go upstairs. He follows me and I can only help but smile when he jumps out the door with me. I glance at him and stop him short at the door. "You and I will have to keep this quiet, you know." He nods without hesitation, his eyes giving away the hope he felt.

"I just…I wont tell anyway, Damian." I smile and nod.

"I know that, Wayne. I just have to make sure."

"Going somewhere?" a voice pulls my attention from Wayne. I couldn't help but feel my stomach sink when I saw a good number of my family standing on my lawn. I glared menacingly at two women I never thought I'd see again.

"In fact, we are, Elaine." I snap at my sister. She and Amanda stood with my aunt Angelia and her husband Paul, their son Andy and their daughter Kayla. Behind them were my uncles James and Justin; they were twins. With them were my other cousins Michael, Casey, Linda and Steven. "So nice of you to say hello."

"Can't miss out on saying hi to my baby brother," says Elaine.

"Well, hi." I snap as I walk off of the front steps and straight towards them. Wayne is a second behind, his steps almost on my heels.

"No hug?" Amanda asks.

"No," I say as I push past them. My aunts, uncles and cousins step aside and I grab Wayne's arm to push him into the car.

"Damian--"

"Shush," I snarl as I get into the car and start him up.

"They are glaring at the car like they're possessed."

"They are," I say softly.

"What?" he asks.

"Look," I say as I put the car into drive. "I'll explain later but not now. Not while they're here." I glance at the family once more and I see Elaine and Amanda staring at me. In their dark, demanding green eyes, they promise me a world of trouble. As if by some sort of magic, Brianna is standing between them, a creepy grin on her small pink lips. I pull away from the house and push my petal to the floor. For what felt like hours but was really only minutes, Wayne was silent.

"What's happening, Damian? You weren't kidding when all of your family is coming to your sister's birthday party."

"Wayne, it's not that simple…Remember how I told you 21 is important to my family? Well, turning 21 is like…becoming an adult. All of my family comes to town and we have a big feast. And I mean big. We spare no expense. Since my family has lived in this town, there were people who helped us with these feasts."

"I'm still in the dark. Why are they all mad at you?"

"As a rule of my family, the oldest male is supposed to set up the feast. He's supposed to find the birthday girl or boy a….an escort," I say as I try to cover the fact that I'm lying through my teeth. "And I'm not really liked because of the fact that I haven't done anything to help Elaine and that…well, I got my "gift" early."

"Damian," Wayne says.

"Look, it's complicated but all you need to know is that this doesn't concern you."

"Are you going to get in trouble?"

"It's a battle zone when that time of year comes around but it's nothing I can't handle."

"Damian, I don't believe you. Are you some sort of family of killers?"

"Something like that,"

"Well?"

"What do you know about dragons?" I ask as I glance at him. The car is slowed now, moving maybe 30 mph. Wayne stares at me, a small chuckle leaving his elegant lips. When I look at him more seriously, he frowns and swallows. Yeah, it'll take some time explaining what the hell my family is.