A New Beginning

When Jimmy and I stepped into the front door of the house I found that my luggage had already been piled up in the center of the living room.

“So where will I be staying?” I asked as I grabbed the first bag.

“Go down the hallway and it’s the first door on the left.” Johnny directed from the kitchen.

One by one I lugged each bag into my room. I sat on the bed and took in my new space. It was about the same size of my room back home so I would be use to it. Anyone could see that two guys lived here because the lack of decorating sense was apparent. It was nothing that a couple gallons of paint couldn’t fix. Unzipping the five cases I started to throw all of my clothes in the dresser. I don’t care if you think I’m messy. Organized chaos is what I like to call it. The closet was the next thing to get bombarded by stuff. One case alone was dedicated to my shoes. I matched up all the pairs and tossed them to the closet floor. About the time that I put my alarm clock on the nightstand, I noticed a framed picture that wasn’t put up by me. It was clear from the get-go that the picture was old. The clothes worn by the people in the picture were outdated and the color was slightly faded. The object of the photo was five young boys, and the smallest one was holding a newborn baby. It didn’t require a rocket scientist to figure out who was in the picture. Johnny was in the center of the group and he was holding me. He flashed every tooth in his mouth as he smiled at the camera. Brian and Zacky had their hands next to their heads in an attempt to look like a pair of moose. Matt tried to act all serious but the fact that he was giving Jimmy bunny ears didn’t help. Jimmy had the most adorable grin on his face as he focused on the photographer. Despite the overall pleasant demeanor of the picture, I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of alarm. They actually knew me for a short time before I left. Placing the frame back on the stand I looked down at my clothes and was disgusted that I hadn’t noticed how dirty they got on the beach. The beach. I will never think of that place in the same way ever again. I stripped off the gross clothes and searched for something comfy. I threw on a kelly green tank top with black skulls on it and found a pair of tiny jean shorts. Making my way into the kitchen, I was hit by the smell of burning food. Once the smoke cleared I found Johnny wearing a pink apron and matching oven mitts while holding a tray of what looked like chunks of charcoal.

“Oh my god,” I coughed, “what happened?”

“We attempted to make something for dinner. I hope you like your Pigs-in-a-Blanket extra crispy.” Johnny laughed.

“Umm…I’ll just order something for us. Jimmy crack a window open so we can let the smoke out. Johnny, do you have any menus that I can look at?”

“Yeah, in that drawer right there. Man Sullivan, we actually have someone to take care of us now.”

Jimmy glanced sideways at Johnny who still wore the pink apron.

“Aren’t you the one who is suppose to take care of her?”

This thought just clicked in Johnny’s mind as if he hadn’t figured it out yet.

“Yeah, I AM in charge aren’t I? In that case, I’m gonna lay down some ground rules. No alcohol, no drugs, no sex, tell me where you’re going, make sure someone is with you at all times, be home when I tell you to, and finally Jimmy is my second in command so his rules go as well. All these things will be subject to change in the future so don’t get all frustrated.”

“Who do you think you are setting all these ridiculous rules? I should be able to take charge of myself because I’m 18 now.” I huffed.

“I’m your brother that’s what. Now go wash up for dinner.”

I rolled my eyes and went to the bathroom to make him happy. Even though it seemed he was being harsh I knew he wanted to protect me. Seeing him in that get-up made up for it to. I splashed a bit of water on my face and went back into the kitchen right when the delivery guy knocked at the door. Jimmy answered it and soon brought in four boxes of Chinese food. Sesame chicken; my one weakness. Grabbing a pair of chopsticks I hungrily dug into the little white box. In no time at all I had polished off my food and looked at the guys. Both were giving me weird looks as the glanced from me to my empty container.

“Don’t you judge me! I just like Chinese, that’s all.” I pouted.

“We’re not judging anybody!” Jimmy defended. “How about you go pick out a movie while we finish eating? Does that sound good?”

“Well hurry up then.” I yelled as I ran for my movies that I brought with me.

Jimmy had no idea what he did by asking me to pick out the movie. I may wear a lot of dark clothes, rock out to heavy music, and act like a badass; but I do like romantic movies. My favorite of all time would have to be Pride and Prejudice. I wish all men could be like the guy in that movie. I popped the DVD into the player and waited for the guys to see what was in store for them. The two of them jumped over the couch on each side of me. Johnny seemed excited to watch a movie right now and it made me feel bad to crush his hopes.

“So, what are we watching?” he asked.

I pressed play on the remote and the movie started.

“Pride and Prejudice? This is a chick flick though!” he moaned.

“Too bad, so sad.” I giggled. “Remember, I was in charge of picking out the movie and this was my choice.”

The guys just wilted into the couch and prepared themselves for their torture. Forty minutes into the movie I began to hear snores issuing from Johnny’s gaping mouth. He couldn’t even make in through half of it. I turned my head to see that Jimmy’s eyes were glazed over and he was staring into space.

“You really can’t stand this movie can you?” I asked.

“What I can’t stand is how big a bitch Lizzie is.” He said in an aggravated tone. “She searches for perfection but can’t see through her own faults. Darcy seems like the kind of guy who likes to protect himself, which comes off as him being an asshole. It’s painfully obvious that those two end up together though, but that is usually the case. It can take a while for a person to see their true feelings for another.”

After his little speech he turned to focus on me. His gaze seemed to bore into my thoughts as if he was trying to read them. I looked quickly at the screen to avoid his stare. I found it weird that he had been paying that much attention to the movie. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and just assume he was actually into it. The movie continued without a word from either of us. I knew he wasn’t in the movie mood anymore and he could probably sense that I wasn’t either. Working up the courage I decided to make the first move.

“I think we both know this movie isn’t interesting anymore. What do you wanna do now?”

“Umm…I don’t know. It’s your first day here, you pick something.” He said awkwardly

I smiled when he said this. There has been one thing that I love doing and Jimmy is the perfect person to do it.

“Well, I have one thing in mind if you’re up for it.”