You Found Me

I woke up to the sight of clouds and the airplane wings and to the voice of the pilot announcing that we were going to land in a few minutes. My mother was sitting beside me and she shot me smile, realizing that I just woke up. We were finally moving to Arizona and I couldn't be more excited.
 
I should be devastated, depressed, or sad because I was going to have to start fresh again. I wasn't. And John was the reason why.

He had moved to Arizona with dad a year ago because of my father's job while me and our mother stayed back. That's how he felt when he was told to go with my father. He was going to leave a lot of his friends back home. And when I say friends, I meant almost everyone he's talked to. Everywhere he went, he always had a friend. That's just him. So when he found out he'd be moving with dad, he was upset. But now, a year after, they've decided that we all move to one place and I couldn't be more happier.
 
Back home, I was known as John's sister. Everybody wanted to be my friend because they wanted to be John's. And when he left, everybody turned cold. But I survived the year, thankfully, by studying my ass off. It was all that I did when I got home or when I had free period. It kept me busy from going to parties or going out, but it did pull my grades up a notch.

The plane began it's final descent and when it stopped completely, we went straight out since we were sitting near the back of the plane. We grabbed our luggage from the conveyor belt and walked out of the airport. I pulled the my earphones that I've been using for the whole flight and shoved them in my pocket as we walked to a familiar white van.
 
My dad walked towards us and gave mom a kiss on the cheek then moved to me and gave me a peck on the forehead. "God, I missed the both of you." He looked back and forth at the both of us and wrapped mom with his arms.

My smile immediately faded as I watched the six footer boy go out of the car with a crooked smile on his lips."December," he raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms.

I rolled my eyes at the nickname and shook my head slightly. "Stop it."

"February?"

"I hate you, John," I muttered.

"I missed you too, March." He smiled before pulling my arm and engulfing me into a hug. I chuckled on his chest and slid my arms around his waist. It's been a long time since I've hugged my own brother. I think it's been a year when I did and that was when he had to leave for Arizona. It's still the same a year after, and that was more than okay.
 
I stepped back after a few seconds and looked at him from head to toe, examining what has changed in a year. Everything about him was the same aside from the fact that he grew a bit more taller and his hair got a little shorter than before. I chuckled when I noticed that he was still thin and looked like he needed a little meat in him.
 
"Has dad been starving you or what?" I laughed as he picked my bags up and shoved them in the car.

He turned to me with a little smile on his faces. "Doesn't change the fact that I'm hot. And please, these are looking better with each push up," he lifted his arms and flexed them while looking at me with a smirk on his face.
 
"If saying that helps you sleep at night, John," I shook my head and went in the van with John following shortly after. Our mother entered the front seat while my dad in the driver's seat. I leaned back on my seat and turned the air conditioning up, already feeling the heat that goes on around here.
 
John ran his hand through his hair and turned to me, "So what's been going on at home?"
 
"As always, you're missed there," I said monotonously without glancing at him. My eyes remained glued outside the window, taking Arizona in piece by piece. "What's new, right?"

"Are you mad about me because of that?" John raised his eyebrow and looked at me curiously. "Come on, March. You can't possibly blame me for all of that. As much as I get irritated by you at times, you being treated that way is the last thing I wanted to happen to you."

I turned my head to him slowly and my lips started to tug up, giving him a soft smile. What I liked about John being my brother was he cared about me even though I bug him most of the time. No matter how irritated he gets because of me, he doesn't really leave my side. "How about you?" I asked, curious to know how he's been doing here for the past year. I knew that leaving was rough for him especially because he left a lot of friends back at home and I wanted to know how he kept up being the new guy here.

"What, here? Everything's fine. Everything's great, actually. New set of friends, new girls to hang out with," he nodded and scrunched his eyebrows slightly. "I'm actually doing good."
 
My mouth fell agape and I think I just started having a panic attack when I heard that last sentence. "Oh no," I breathed out, shaking my head slightly at him. "No. No. No."

"What? What? Are you okay?" His smile immediately disappeared and he shook my lightly on my shoulders.

"Oh my God. Am I going to turn into John O'Callaghan's sister again here?" I turned to him slowly and stared at him, thinking that Arizona might turn into home where I can't make my own friends. I don't want that to happen. Not again.

John sighed and he relaxed in his position. "March, you're making me sound like I'm that evil bastard that keeps you from having friends."

I raised my eyebrow and looked at him in disbelief. What he said was just the very accurate description of him right now. I can't blame him for the whole of my problem. He was just a little part of it, but he's still one of the reasons.

"Okay, maybe I am that. But you can't honestly think that I mean to do that to you, right? If it helps, I'll stay away with whoever you stick with around here. I promise. No dating your friends," he closed his eyes and raised his hand and put his other on top of his chest, right above his heart. He opened one eye and peeked at me, a little smile forming on his lips.

"Fine," I shrugged off the thought that my problem would just happen again around here. I was starting my junior year tomorrow and I'm happy that my dad and John got everything sorted out for me before I flew all the way here.

After an hour of talking to John about what had happened there and what happened here, we finally arrived at home. The first time I had been here was a month ago and this was the second time I've arrived here. It still looked the same with the porch and the walls painted white. After going through the door, I noticed that they did a little decorating, obviously because they've added the furniture we had from the old house. I looked around with a small grin on my face. This place truly felt like home.
 
John followed me in with my bags on both of his hands. He set them down on the floor and helped with the rest of our stuff. When everything was out of the car, he walked right up to me, wiping the beads of sweat forming on his forehead with the end of his shirt. "Your room is ready. Your bed, your closet, your study table… And you have me to thank for it," John wiggled his eyebrows. I looked at him for a few more seconds without a word then he sighed and gave me a soft smile. "I'm glad you and mom are finally moving here in Arizona," he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me.

Although no one could as annoying as my big brother sometimes, I love him too much too. He did this and I know how much he hated packing and unpacking but he arranged my bed and I appreciated that.

"I really missed you," I mumbled into his shirt. I stepped back after a few seconds

"You say that now. I'm sure you'll get tired of my face," he pulled away and grinned. "Now check out that room and organize your shit in it."

"Mouth, John Cornelius," my mother shot him a glare and pointed at him.

"Missed you too, mom," he laughed, motioning me to go up to my room.

After repacking what I could in a few hours, I went down because it's already time for dinner. I helped my mom set up the plates and sat on one of the chairs, waiting for the others to pour in. My father was the first one to get in, kissing me on the top of my head, followed John.

"Tomorrow's your first day, March," John mumbled with his mouth full. "Don't worry, they have no idea I have a sister."

"You've been here for a year now and you never mentioned you had a sibling?" I scratched my head and stared at John.

"It never came up," he shrugged.

"Good," I mumbled, chewing on potato salad. "I'm so not going to be 'John's little sister' again."

"We get to be the parent of that kid who made the library shelves fall over twice," mom nodded at John. "Just go to school tomorrow without having the principal to call us in."

I was about to tell her that she'll only have to worry about John when my phone vibrated. It was Kean.

Kean is part of the reason why it was okay for me to move here in Arizona now. His dad was in the same company with mine so he moved next door to them just right after my father and John moved here. He's the closest thing I have for a best friend and I'm just ecstatic that he's here and I still have two years of high school with him.

I stood up and said that I was finished with dinner and asked if I could go out with Kean. They agreed and I thanked them and went out to the front porch. I saw him standing on our front lawn, waving at me. I ran to him and hopped on him, wrapping my legs around his body and my arms around his neck.

"Oh God, you've gotten so heavy," he groaned, slipping his arms around my torso.

"You've also gotten so tall but you don't see me complaining," I hopped off of him and smiled. "Just because we didn't have sophomore year together, doesn't mean you can go ahead and grow that tall."

Like John, he had grown taller but at least Kean didn't look like he hasn't been fed for a decade. He had changed the way he dressed. I still remember the colorful shirts he matched with blue jean or khaki shorts. He was wearing some blue and white plaid with a blue ringer shirt underneath and jean pants. His hair grew thicker and longer and it suited him better than the style he had before.

"I don't even get why you didn't want to go here last year. I mean, I'm here," he pointed at himself and smirked. "What more could you want?"

I rolled my eyes at him and pushed him slightly back. I missed him as much as I missed John. He also promised me that he'll help me get through school for the first few months. I was more than okay with that.

"Hey OC," he started.

My lips puckered at the sound of my nickname from him. "You're still going with that OC thing?"

"Because I want to call you O'Callaghan but it's too long. It's okay OC," he smiled. "You should probably-"

I waited for him to finish his sentence when I realized that he purposely stopped and stared at the yellow car that stopped in front of us. There was some obnoxiously loud pop song blasting through the speakers and the guy in the driver's seat didn't look too happy about it. The girl sitting on the passenger's seat, was enjoying it anyway.

"Hey Kean!" She flashed her biggest grin and waved at him. "We're headed over to Kennedy's. Want to come?"

He took one look at me before turning back to them. "A party on Sunday evening? Kat, there's school tomorrow. If it's okay for you to go to school hung over, then go ahead," he bended over and waved at the guy in the driver's seat. "Hey Garrett. Don't drink and drive."

"I'm not that dumb," he shook his head. His eyes went to me and I suddenly felt frozen on my spot. His deep icy blue eyes stared at me like he was going to melt me but he dragged his gaze away after a few moments. I couldn't make out their faces that much because it was already too dark.

The girl in front glared at me for a while before turning back to Kean and waving. "Buzzkill. Bye, Kean." The window rolled up and they drove away.

I turned to Kean and raised an eyebrow. He looked at me and laughed. "That was Kat. The guy next to her, Garrett. Her boyfriend."

I simply nodded, not knowing what to reply. "Any tips for new students?"

"You'll probably die on your first day," he laughed. My mouth fell to the floor and I swatted his arm slightly. "Damn it, OC. I'm kidding. Stick with me and you'll be fine."

"How was it when you and John were the new kids around?" I asked, putting my hands to my hips.

"For me, well, I think I turned out okay. John? He's another story. He makes everyone like him. And well... Hooks up with a couple of girls along the way. I'm friends with a couple of John's friend. You're going to be fine, March. Don't worry," he smiled. "And fine," he sighed, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "I'll agree with the not mentioning to anyone you're John's sister."

"Really?" I grinned and took a step closer to him. "Thanks."

"Just... Find out how you're going to tell people your last name without them assuming."

I had no idea how to do that, but I was determined to keep girls who wanted in my brother's pants away from me. I knew that this move was going to be good. And I'm going to do anything to make it worth it.