Rhythm of Love

Alex's Point of View

I dropped my brother off at school. Yeah, the poor kid failed first grade and now he's eighteen and a senior in high school. He mumbled a thank you and said not to expect him for at least an hour after school.

I sighed. "You didn't tell me you were going out today, bro."

"Why?" he sneered. "Did you make plans?"

"You know you gotta go to the doctors if you wanna get in the band." He cast his eyes away from mine.

"Well I don't. Tell Mom to get her herpes checked. See ya later."

"Eli-!" he slammed the truck and I growled in frustration, tempted to go and beat some sense into the arrogant asshole I called my brother.

I was never sure why exactly it was that Eli seemed to hate me. He just... did. I mean, he used to look up to me when I was still in high school, but ever since I graduated and started my online courses, he'd been distancing from me and I can't say I loved it.

Eli was all I had.

A honk from behind had me moving off the familiar school campus and towards the family bar my uncle owned. It used to be my dad's, but... Well, it's my Uncles and the point is, my band gets fed for free. So of course, they'd be there.

I walked in and nodded to Hellin, the only waitress on duty at the moment as well as my Uncle's wife.

"The usual, Lex?"

"No thanks, Lin," I said with a smile. Hellin, for as long as I could remember, called me Lex and, thanks to my ten-year-old attitude, I'd gotten in the habit of calling her Lin. My ten year old cousin squealed and ran up to me, wrapping her thin arms around my equally thin waist.

"What's the miracle, you don't want the usual, Lex?" she asked me. I laughed.

"Not hungry this morning, Beech." Yep, her name was Beech. Did I mention Hellin's foreign? Somewhere around France, I think.

"Issues with Eli again?" I heard my uncle call from the kitchen. He rang the bell and Hellin ran to go get the order.

"You betcha," I called back, following Hellin to the 'spot', the place the guys always claimed when they came, alone or not. Only Xander and Ivan were there; Conner was most likely in the kitchen, learning the secret family recipes that Eli and I could care less about.

I slid into the booth to sit across from them as they began gorging on burgers and eggs, disgusting as usual. An egg- on a burger patty with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and ketchup! I grimaced and asked my aunt for a cup of coffee, which Beech carefully brought over.

"Perfecting your waitressing skills, eh, Beech?" She nodded vigorously after setting the coffee down.

"Me and Conner are gonna run the place when Mom and Dad retire." Ivan and Xander stopped mid-bite to stare at my cousin as she slid into the booth next to me, and then we all burst into laughter. I pushed her blonde curls away from her forehead, pulling her to me in a hug as I laughed.

"What's so funny?" Conner asked, pulling a chair from a nearby table so that he could sit with us. We kept laughing, and Beech pushed away from me to smile at him.

"They're laughing cause we're gonna get married and take over the bar from Mom and Dad." Conner's tanned cheeks turned red as he glanced around at us. We laughed harder and tears started falling from our eyes.

"Um, Beech, I've got a girlfriend."

"That's okay," she said with a smile. "Seventy-five percent of teenage relationships don't last." Ivan and Xander started grabbing at each other, laughing too hard to breathe. I put my head back against the wall, trying to control the laughter as Conner's tan, strong face turned an even darker and more embarrasing shade of red. Beech glared at us and hopped out of the booth, singing 'Burnin' Up' by the Jonas Brothers, her second favorite band, as she walked away.

After about five minutes, the guys and I finally stopped laughing, wiping tears from our eyes and gasping for breath.

"Ah, the affections of a ten year old girl," I said, laughter managing to escape my lungs.

"Better not tell Camee, Conner," Xander laughed. "I don't think she'll appreciate you working here anymore."

"Yeah," Ivan followed. "She won't like the competition."

"Oh har-dee-har," Conner grumbled, smiling. I rolled my eyes. Conner loves Camee, but he's a sucker for Beech. Wonder how things will turn out when Beech grows into her curves like Hellin did.

The bell on the door tinkled and I heard Beech give an excited squeal. She ran over an grabbed my hand.

"My best friend is here! You have to come meet her, Lex!"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." I scooted out of the booth and let Beech drag me towards a large family. I recognized... Damien, was it? But I didn't really know anyone else. Before I could look at anyone else besides Damien, Beech jerked me over to another ten year old girl.

"This is Cyn!" she said excitedly. "She hasn't been here for three years! Cyn, this is my cousin, Lex!" I smiled warmly at the ten year old girl, who squealed excitedly. "Lex! That's Cyn's re-eeee-ally pretty sister, Nora!" I froze and looked over at where Beech was pointing.

Sure enough, there sat Nora, staring at me in shock.

Suddenly, I was burning up in this fully air conditioned room.