A Ticking Bomb

I hissed at the guy who just shrieked. "Get out. Wait downstairs, I'll open the door."

It was Henry's little brother, Ollie. He was probably bullied by the guys to climb into my room. Ollie was like thirteen or fourteen probably.

I heard they spoke in hushed voice as they walked away. I sighed, I just wanted to sleep today after all the crazy things I had to go through through last night.

I looked at the remaining craziness on my side. I didn't know how Arden ended up in my bed. I didn't even sleep that long to not be able to notice that he had climbed to my bed. His head snuggled close to my chest and not only that he also put his arm and leg around me. With me only in my underwear and our promising position like this could make anyone misunderstood. Especially to young Ollie. I sighed as I peeled his arm and leg off myself.

I went downstairs and unlocked the front door. My three friends and a little brother tag along were all looking at me. And I looked at them. It was our little staring contest.

It was Sachi who first broke into a grin. "Luca my brother." He pulled me into a hug. In the middle of our hug he whispered not so secretly "Did you cheat on Lana with a guy? What are you thinking bro?"

"Who is the guy? Do we know him?" Henry pipped in.

I forced freeing myself from Sachi's tight embrace and took a couple steps back away from them.

"Let's get going first. I'll explain on the way." I said.

So in minutes we got into Henry's jeep. Fighting shotgun with me Sachi eventually got in the back with Ollie and Rowan.

"Breakfast first?" Asked our designated driver. It was always Henry who drove, because only he owned a car between us and he wouldn't let anyone drive his baby.

Sachi used to have a car but he had an accident last semester. So his parents sold his car and his driving license was confiscated. Now he always dipped for the shotgun because he missed driving around.

Although he was nineteen almost twenty now, he was the most youthful and childish among us. He said that old people like him had to match up his energy to connect with the younger generation. I meant although he was a bit old as a junior student, there wasn't that much gap.

And as someone who said that he started school a bit late because of his speech delay, he sure spoke very well and very much. Sachi was talking Rowan's ear off in the back. Rowan gazed straight ahead, as if uninterested with whatever Sachi was telling him so animatedly about. Something about fishing and witnessing a real mermaid in the ocean.

I turned my head around suddenly remembered, "How is your grandpa?" I asked Rowan. He went to his grandpa's house

"He's alive." He responded. I nodded, Rowan wasn't much of a talker, sometimes he didn't even bother to respond.

Feeling his story got cut by me Sachi poked my side, "Aren't you going to explain to us, cheater?" Sachi asked. "Ollie said that you were sleeping with a guy naked."

"I wasn't naked, I was in my underwear." I clarified. "And I wasn't cheating. I broke up with Lana."

Henry who was driving glanced at me raising an eyebrow, "So you did sleep with a guy?"

I rolled my eyes at him, "He's my step brother."

"You slept with your step bro?" Sachi exclaimed from the backseat.

My eyes widened in shock, "Wait wait listen to me, let's not make any more misunderstanding. First, I broke up with Lana, and that guy is my step brother. He got drunk and I don't know how he ended up in my bed. And no, I didn't have sex with him." I explained quickly.

Sachi tsked in disappointment,"And here I thought we'll get a new scandal. Honestly you're too boring."

"Yeah we need to bring in a new one. I'm getting tired of you guys. Let's recruit a moderate one." Henry said half joking.

We had been having this conversation a lot. Sachi, Henry and I had known each other since kindergarten, and we adopted Rowan in middle school. When you lived in this small town, you were bound to see the same kids from kindergarten to high school.

"Yeah, let's bring someone in to balance our group. Sachi talks too much, Rowan talks too little and you're too ugly." I said to Henry. Henry wasn't ugly, it was that he tried to grow a  goatee and dyed it purple. He looked absolutely ridiculous.

"You're too stupid." He jabbed back.

I laughed, "I got better grades than you."

"But you can't count. I didn't know until you ask for calculator. " He said reminding me that one time I helped him at his family's convenient store.

"It's just that I can't count change in my head." I gruntled.

We stopped at Chinese fast food takeaway because it was Ollie's favorite. We ordered a family feast set and then waited for the food.

As we ate we told each other what happened in the beginning of summer break. Because other than me they went somewhere or busy with work. Rowan went to visit his grandpa in Tennessee. Sachi and his family took a trip to Hawaii. And Henry got chained to the store by his mom and couldn't escape. And he only managed to come today because Ollie hadn't seen the sun for weeks already. Ollie did look several shades paler than the rest of us, but at least he looked more lively now eating his favorite food.

"So that step brother of yours. What kind of person is he?" Sachi asked whilst stabbing an innocent dead shrimp on his plate unmercifully.

"He's okay. Just a bit weird sometimes." I answered.

"Weird how?" Henry chimed in.

"I feel like we're dealing with a ticking bomb and I'm afraid it will blow up." I answered honestly.