Uncharted Territory

Reagan

“Time to get up!” Kennedy yelled as his voice cut through the dream I was having. I pulled the blankets over my head and rolled over in hopes of going back to sleep but Kennedy wouldn’t let me.

“Oh no you don’t, baby sis. We have a lot to do today.”

I groaned as I sat up and said, “First of all, don’t call me baby sis. I’m twenty, not two. Second of all, you have a lot to do today, not me.”

Kennedy smirked and said, “You’ll always be my baby sis, no matter how old you get. Also, I want you to come to band practice with me today so you can meet the rest of the guys.”

“No thank you. I already met Garrett and I’m pretty sure that’s enough.”

“I thought you liked Garrett just fine.”

“I do but I don’t think I can handle three other people just like him.”

“They’re not just like him. They’re mellower than him. Well actually Pat is probably more hyper but John and Jared are just fine.”

I rolled my eyes but finally said, “Fine, you win big bro. I’ll come. Now get out so I can get ready.”

“You won’t regret this!” Kennedy said, being over dramatic as he left the room.

I rolled out of bed and quickly got dressed and ready for the day. I decided to just let my hair stay loose in its natural waves because that’s how I liked it best and because it was easier to do that rather than to try and put it up or straighten it.

I headed downstairs and told Kennedy I was ready to go but he completely flipped out.

“You are not walking out of the house looking like that.” Kennedy said as he blocked me from walking out the door.

“That’s weird, I forgot you were my mother…oh wait, you’re not. Therefore you don’t get to dictate what I can and can’t wear.”

“Yes I can because mom’s not here so I’m in charge of you.”

“You’re only two years older than me Kennedy!” I cried out exasperatedly.

“I realize that but your shorts are too short and I can see your bra.”

“My ass isn’t hanging out of these shorts so they’re just fine, thank you very much, and this ‘bra’ is called a bandeau top. It’s supposed to show.”

“Reagan, you can’t wear this around my friends. They’re a bunch of perverts.”

“Maybe you should get better friends then.” I smirked.

Kennedy sighed because he realized that he had lost this argument so he finally agreed that I was fine to go. He headed out to his car and I followed him smiling because my winning this argument just showed that I still had him wrapped around my finger. Some things never change, no matter how many years people are apart.
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Kennedy and I arrived at the boys’ practice space ten minutes later. As soon as we walked in all eyes were on me.

“Umm…hello.” I said nervously. It was nerve-racking having three boys just sitting and staring at me.

“You were right Garrett. She is really pretty.” A boy with long brown hair said.

“Sorry Pat, I already called dibs.”

“Stop treating my sister like something you can buy! If any of you even think about touching her I will make it so you can never have kids.” Kennedy threatened.

“Well can I at least hug her?” The long-haired boy asked.

Kennedy sighed and said, “I guess, but don’t let your hands go any lower than her waist.”

“Yay!” The boy said and then came over to wrap me in a hug, “Hi, I’m Pat. I hope I’m not scaring you. I just like hugs. Oh, you’re also really pretty.”

I laughed as I said, “Thanks Pat, and no worries, I like hugs too.”

“Finally someone else that likes hugs! These guys will never let me hug them.”

“Because we’re not gay, Pat.” Garrett said and then walked up to me, “Hi, I’m not sure if you remember me or not but I’m Garrett.”

“I remember you Garrett.”

“I figured you would. I mean people don’t forget when they see a body like mine. You know I was thinking about that and I was wondering since you saw me half-naked maybe you’d let me see you half-naked. Kind of like I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?”

Kennedy walked over and hit Garrett in the back of the head.

“Ow, I was just kidding dude! Gosh, take a joke.” Garrett pouted as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Hi, I’m Jared and extremely sorry about that idiot over there. We don’t like to take Garret out in public. I’m sure you can see why. Anyway, it’s very nice to meet you and I’m glad we finally have another redhead in the group.”

“Hey, I have reddish hair.” Garrett piped up.

“You don’t count.” Jared said.

Garrett mumbled something under his breath but then looked up at me and said, “Why do you have red hair anyway, Reagan? I mean you and Kennedy are siblings but he has dark hair.”

“Garrett you can’t just go around asking people why they have red hair.” Pat said, shocked.

I turned towards him and asked, “Did you just quote “Mean Girls” but say red hair instead of white skin?”

Pat smiled and said, “Yes, I did! You’re my new best friend! Not only do you like hugs, but you also understand my movie quotes.”

“Sorry that I find “Mean Girls” quotes too gay to comprehend.” Garrett said.

“Well you’re too gay to function.” Pat retorted as I burst out laughing.

Once I was finally able to control my laughter I turned towards Garrett and said, “I guess I have red hair thanks to genetics. My parents, Kenny, and little brother Brock all have dark hair but one of my grandmas had red hair so I inherited it from her.”

“Now that we’ve learned about my family’s genetics…” Kennedy said as he rolled his eyes and then continued, “Does anyone know where John is?”

“Yeah, he’s in the other room with Tim.” Jared said.

“Alright, thanks. Reagan, come with me and I’ll introduce you to John and Tim.”

I followed Kennedy down the hallway and could hear two other guys talking in the other room. They were talking about someone, I just couldn’t tell who. All I heard was “…can’t believe she’s back home. Hasn’t she fucked up my life enough already?” The two guys instantly stopped talking as Kennedy and I walked in.

“Hey guys, this is my sister Reagan. Reagan, this is John and Tim.” Kennedy said as he introduced me to the two boys.

John said hi and smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. I could tell that he was upset about something.

Tim smiled at me and said, “Hi Reagan, it’s nice to meet you. I’m the manager for the boys and Pat’s brother. If any of them give you any trouble just let me know and I’ll take care of it for you.”

I laughed and said, “Thanks. Kennedy has already threatened them but they don’t seem too worried.”

“Garrett, stop hitting me!” A voice suddenly yelled from the other room.

“Uh-oh, that sounded like Pat. We better get back in there before one of them kills each other.” Tim said.

“I’m going to stay in here and talk to John for a little bit. Will you be ok by yourself, Rae?” Kennedy asked.

“Yes Kenny. I’m a big girl.” I said as I began to follow Tim back into the room I had just been in.

“Ok boys, time to practice. John and Kennedy will be in here in a couple minutes.” Tim said as we entered.

“How are we supposed to practice without our lead singer and one of our guitarists?” Garrett questioned.

“Well on the last tour you completely sucked at “Growing Up” and “Inside of You” so maybe you should practice those.” Jared said.

Garrett flipped Jared off but picked up his bass to begin practicing. The boys had run through a couple songs when Kennedy came back in but John was nowhere to be found.

“Hey where’s John?” Garrett asked.

Kennedy sighed and said, “He went outside.”

“Well someone needs to go get him. He needs to practice so he can get his mind off of things. He’ll drive himself crazy if he doesn’t.” Tim said.

The boys all turned to look at me and Pat finally spoke up, “Hey new best friend, will you go get John? You’re the only one person whose head he won’t bite off.”

“Ok, I guess I can go.” I said as I turned to go outside.

I exited the building and saw John standing there, just looking out at the horizon.

“Umm hey, the boys asked me to come get you so you guys could practice.” I softly said.

John turned to look at me and said, “Let me guess, the guys sent you because they figured I wouldn’t bite your head off?”

“Yeah.”

John shook his head and said, “I’m not usually like this, you know. Not so depressed and melancholy, I mean. I’m usually happy and so thankful for my life. Someone from my past showed up the other day though and really threw me for a loop. I just feel so…broken.”

I went over to stand by John and said, “I understand. Everyone goes through times when they feel broken. Although, I think the only time we aren’t broken is when we’re just born. After that we’re at least a little bit broken for the rest of our lives. Sure, there are times when we’re more broken but I think there’s always some part of us that is broken that can’t be fixed. I mean, we spent the first five years of our lives believing that Santa’s real and then we find out that our parents have been lying to us. Santa will never be real, and that little part of us that believed in his magic will always be broken.”

John looked at me for a couple seconds but then finally smiled as he said, “That was really deep until you started talking about Santa.”

“Hey don’t hate on my analogies.”

“I wasn’t hating on them.”

“Yes you were. You were totally riding the hater train.” I joked.

John laughed and said, “Well I’m sorry. So I’m guessing you had a bad experience with finding out Santa wasn’t real?”

“It was awful. I bawled for at least ten minutes.”

“Wow, that’s intense. When I found out Santa wasn’t real I just asked my parents if I’d still get a big present. I was worried they’d be taken away since I now knew he wasn’t real.”

“Way to be materialistic, John.”

“Look who’s riding the hater train now.” John retorted and then continued, “Toys were important to be back then.”

“Well now that we’ve had an in-depth conversation about Santa, would you like to go inside and practice?” I asked.

“Sure, and Reagan, thanks for making me forget about my problems and feel better, at least for a couple minutes.” John smiled at me.

“No problem.” I said, smiling back.

John and I walked inside and saw Kennedy walking towards us.

“Hey, I was just about to go outside and get you guys.” Kennedy said.

“Well here we are. I’m ready to practice now, thanks to Reagan.” John said and then walked into the other room to begin practice.

Kennedy looked at me for a couple seconds and then said, “Was John just smiling and laughing with you?”

“Yeah…is he not supposed to smile?”

“No…Yes… I mean it’s just that he really hasn’t in the past couple days since…well someone kind of came back into town who had hurt him a couple years ago. The fact that this person’s back really messed him up. He hasn’t really smiled or laughed since he found out this person’s back.”

“Oh, well I just talked to him and he seemed to get a bit happier. Maybe he just needed someone to talk to.” I shrugged.

“We’ve all been talking to him and it hasn’t helped. It must have something to do with you.”

“Well I guess I just have the magic touch. Now you better get in there and practice, Kennedy.” I said as we walked into the practice room.

I thought about what Kennedy said. It was weird that the guys had tried to help John and couldn’t, but I just talked to him for a couple minutes and he seemed happier afterwards. Maybe John and I had some sort of connection or something. All I knew was, there was something special about John and I really wanted to get to know him better.