Keep the Faith

“Danielle!” I yelled, setting my bags down and slamming my fist against her front door.

“I don’t want any!”

“Danny, it’s me,” I sighed.

“Me who?”

“Me, Riley.”
“Oh,” A short, black haired girl opened the door for me and smiled. “Sorry.”

“It’s… fine,” I shook my head and picked up my bags once more. “Can I bring my stuff in? Or do I just stand out here for a few more minutes?”

“Oh, haha,” Danny moved out of the way and let me inside. I walked into a small foyer, black and white all over. Very artsy.

“Pretty room,” I complimented, her pushing me up the spiral stairs and to a short hallway.

“Yeah, I hate it.”

“Okay?” I shrugged and let her push me into a bedroom, shoving me onto the bed as she sat my bags next to me.

“This is your room,” She explained. “You’ll stay here. I’m next door.”

“Why are you acting so weird?” I sat up and asked.

“Just stressed, new house, new neighbors,” She sighed and threw herself on the bed next to me. “And a new roommate.”

“Hey! I thought you wanted me here?”

“I do,” She reassured.

“Well, it certainly doesn’t seem like it,” I whined.

“No, I do! I promise!” She stood back up. “Oh, and your mom said that your half brother was gonna call you soon. Seems he lives in the area. She thought it’d be nice for you two to see each other.”

“Yeah, it’s been around twenty years,” I nodded.

“Aren’t you only twenty one?”

“Yes.”

“Oh,” Danny said. “Wow, that has been a long time.”

"Yeah, he used to call me all the time until I moved to Hawaii," I sighed and shrugged my shoulders. "Did she leave a phone number?”

"Yeah, it's a Huntington Beach area code," she cleared her throat and smiled. "Why don't you go call him, catch up."

"Are you pushing me?" I stared at her with a glare. "Go take a damn bubble bath and calm you're spaz ass out."

"Fine," she nodded and walked out the door, I sighed at her frustration and walked down the steps to the kitchen, on the table sat a yellow stick-it pad that read:

Rylie's brother called, she needs to call him back at-

"Well," I cleared my throat and dialed the number on the black cordless phone from the pad of paper, after a few minutes the line picked up.

"Hello?" a deep, raspy voice answered.

"Uh, is this Brian?" I asked slowly.

"No, who is this?"

"Rylie Haner, I'm Brian's sister, he called my new roommate's phone and I hadn't arrived from Hawaii yet, is he there?" I asked shifting my weight so I could lean against the white counter.

"Oh, hey hang on a second," the man said then yelled for Brian. "Here he is."

"Thanks," I stared down at my hands and smiled as Brian grunted a hello. "Hey bro."

"Ry?" he laughed a smile lazed within the words. "How are you baby sister?"

"I'm good, I just got in, Danny told me you called."

"Danny? The chick I talked too?" he asked

"Yeah, that's Danielle, she prefers Danny though," I laughed and walked for the living room, soaking in the room's features. "Listen I haven't seen you in twenty years, where the hell do you want to meet up?"

"Gained you a new vocabulary I hear," he chuckled. "You can come to my house if you want, where do you live?"

"Abernathy Apartments."

"Not to far away, we live down the road, I bet you could damn walk and make it here within thirty minutes," he laughed. "Come on over." he told me the address and hung up.

"Danny! Do you want to go with me?"

"Yeah!" she ran down the steps with damp hair, new clothes and shoes on, I smiled and glanced in the mirror at myself, I had bright red hair, dark green eyes and pale skin, signaling I needed sun, and lots of it.