I let out a sigh of relief as I slid the sliding glass door closed behind me walking forward to rest my forearms on the porch rail. After Melinda had so graciously offered me an escape from the crowded living room, I found myself being stopped by several pairs of supposed aunts and uncles or old friends of the family before I could manage to make it to the door.

                Each conversation was about the same. They all questioned what my plans for college were. “It would be such a shame to see a bright young mind go to waste” they would say. Brady, Melinda’s middle child and the one I shared an age with, only being a few months younger than him, was going to one of the best colleges in North Carolina on a full scholarship. He had always been a smart kid and it came as no surprise to me that he ended up doing so well for himself. I kindly explained that I wasn’t sure what the next move for me was yet but that I was looking forward to figuring that out. I could tell some were pleased enough with that answer. Most of them, the aunts mainly, were not.

                The women noted how they were glad to see I had finally lost some of my chub and grown into a beautiful young woman. “If only you wore a little make-up.” The men told me to smile more and made wisecracks about how I still hadn’t managed to grow much taller. “Don’t worry kid, men like their gals short.”

                Now and then Melinda and I would make eye contact and she would send me a reassuring smile and drag me away from whoever I was talking to in the moment. It was as if she could tell how painstakingly redundant each conversation had become.

                I took a breath of the fresh air as I stretched out my back and shoulders. I was beginning to feel sore from the long car ride that day. Even though we were a good thirty minutes from the nearest beach the air smelled salty and the heat seemed to cling to you with a vengeance from the humidity. I was quickly coming to regret my decision not to wear lighter clothing, even with it being the beginning of fall the North Carolina heat was unforgiving.

                “Little Alex has grown up,” a gruff voice sounded from beside me.  

                I turned half expecting to see yet another middle-aged man claiming to practically be my uncle but instead, I was met with a much younger unfamiliar face that couldn’t be more than a couple years older than myself. He was leaning casually against the porch railing with one hand shoved into his jean pocket and the other holding a beer. I wondered how long he had been there before saying anything.

                His dusty brown hair was haphazardly tousled with a cocky smirk displayed on his chiseled face. He freed his hand from his jean pocket and pushed off the banister, his biceps bulging from the action, and began making his way over to where I was. He easily stood a foot and a half taller than me, not that it was much of an achievement. I was barely 5 feet tall on a good day.

                “Beer?” he offered the opened bottle he was holding.

                “I’ll pass,” I answered quickly. It’s not that I didn’t drink, I had done plenty of that at high school parties I would often run off to, to escape my mother. I just didn’t make a habit of accepting drinks from guys I didn’t know. One too many crime documentaries and late-night Law and Order reruns deterred me away from that.

                He chuckled at my response and stepped back, bringing the bottle to his plump lips and taking a sip. “You don’t remember me, do you?” he asked with teasing eyes.

                I studied his chiseled features and while his blueish-green eyes seemed familiar I couldn’t place him. “Don’t tell me you’re another uncle,” I joked to fill the silence.

                He chuckled at my response taking another drink. “I’m glad to see you have more sense of humor than Nathan. That kid needs to lighten up a bit.” He shot a dazzling smile in my direction, and I could tell he was used to doing well with the ladies. “It’s fine though. It’s been a while since we last saw each other.”

                “Care to remind me?” I questioned with a raised brow.

                “Nah, I think I’ll let you figure it out.” He said with a wink. “Your brothers are in the cave, I told them I’d wait for you and show you where to find them.”

                The cave. Nathan had brought it up a couple of times when we spoke about how he had been doing since his move here. It wasn’t an actual cave. From what I understood it was a shed that they had turned into a bit of a boy’s club when they needed to escape Izzy or avoid Dad and Melinda.

                “If you follow me, I’ll take you there,” he said nodding towards the porch stairs as he finished the beer he was holding, tossing it into the trash can near the door.

                “Sure, lead the way.”

                I followed him as he led me off the porch and to the tree line along the backyard studying his rigid yet relaxed posture as he moved so confidently. It was obvious he put time and effort into his body, and it paid off. He continued walking past the tree line but stopped shortly in and reached a hand in my direction.

                “Watch your step, these roots can trip you up pretty easily,” he warned with his outreached hand offering it as help.

                I ignored his help and chose to continue walking, which I had hoped would have shown my independence and self-confidence but that quickly changed when the tip of my combat-style boots snagged a root protruding from the ground. A small squeal escaped my lips as I began to tumble forward, and I braced myself to be met with the ground. But instead, I felt a large hand wrap around my arm pulling me into a strong embrace. I was engulfed by a subtle scent of sandalwood and vanilla with a mixture of the beer he had just been drinking. Had circumstances been different I might have found myself growing comfortable in his hold as it seemed to send a calming wave through me, but my embarrassment was too high. A deep chuckle rumbled from his chest that I was tucked into as he helped me steady myself.

                “Told ya, they have a way of sneaking up on you.”

                I quickly pushed myself away from his embrace, my cheeks red hot with embarrassment. I was naturally clumsy, always had been but I was usually lucky enough not to have an audience when I was.

                “Thanks,” I mumbled as I fixed my twisted shirt, following him as he continued walking. I was sure to accept his outstretched hand when he offered it again.

                “Here we are,” he said as he nodded to the shed that sat a few yards in front of us. It wasn’t anything fancy by any means but for a shed that was in the middle of the woods, it was nicer than what I had expected. The boys had even strung up some lights on the outside and had a couple of chairs perched out front of it underneath a makeshift roof. The door creaked open as we got closer revealing Nathan and Brady in the doorway.

                They both met us outside. Nathan shared a quick hug with me and Brady following with an awkward fist bump as they said their hello’s. A strong smell of marijuana billowed off each of them and it became clear to me why neither one of them was at the house. It seemed as if they had snuck away to do a little partying themselves.

                “Sorry, we didn’t wait for you up at the house. Daniel offered and we figured the fewer people crowding you when you got there the better,” Nathan explained. I nodded playing along with their excuse but not being fooled by it for one moment. I couldn’t blame them, with a house full of that many opinionated people I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same.

                “You remember Daniel, right?” Brady asked nodding to my cocky tour guide.

                Daniel. The name still didn’t ring a bell.

                “I believe the last time you were here he still went by Danny. We all swore you used to have the biggest crush on him.”

                My eyes grew wide with realization. Danny was a friend of Brady and Elijah, Brady’s older brother. I remembered him being over anytime Nathan and I had visited when we were younger. I was convinced that he lived with them until Melinda forced him to go home one night. The last time I had seen him he was a chubby 13-year-old boy. I’d be lying if I said that 10-year-old me didn’t have a crush on him. After all, I was a 10-year-old girl who still hadn’t grown out of her chubbiness and was not used to getting a boy's attention unless it was for teasing.

                I turned to Daniel with accusing eyes. “You could’ve told me who you were.”

                He chuckled in response, “Where would the fun have been in that? I knew you would figure it out eventually, especially since you had the biggest crush on me,” he teased.

                “I did not,” I argued but instead was met with the laughter of all three of the boys who stood around me. They were enjoying my embarrassment.

                “Elijah is inside if you want to come in,” Nathan said nodding to the door of the shed.

                Elijah was Brady’s older brother by a couple of years and from what my dad had told me during the car ride, he was taking a very extended gap year as he tried to figure out what he wanted to do. Supposedly, his gap year seemed to be filled more with video games and partying and Dad didn’t try to hide his annoyance regarding it.

                We all piled into the shed where a tattered but comfortable-looking couch sat against the wall with a couple of lawn chairs placed on either side of it facing a TV. Elijah sat perched on the edge of the couch gripping a controller as he angrily pounded away at the buttons so enticed by the game he was playing he didn’t seem to notice that we had all come inside.

                “Fuck,” he roared in frustration slamming the controller down onto the floor as the word Defeat flashed across the screen as if to taunt him in his loss. It wasn’t until Brady cleared his throat that Elijah seemed to notice any of us were there. I could see what Dad meant when he said that Elijah seemed consumed by his games when he played them.

                “OH, hey Alex, how was the trip?” Elijah said casually as if we all hadn’t just witnessed the mini tantrum he had just thrown.

                “It was all right,” I answered with a shrug. He didn’t respond. He was already picking up the controller from where he threw it down and restarting the game he had just lost.

                Elijah had always been the quieter, less talkative of all of us when we were younger and it seemed as if he never outgrew it. I sat in one of the lawn chairs and watched the loading screen for his game, unsure what to say to break the silence.

                “So, Alex, Nathan here has been super vague about why you guys finally chose to move down here after all these years. Your dad even seemed to not know why. We are all curious. Care to explain?” Daniel’s voice broke through the silence as he plopped down onto the couch next to Elijah. All eyes were on me, Elijah had even seemed to divert some of his attention from his game to see what my response would be.

                Nathan and I locked eyes, and I could see him silently pleading for me to just leave it be. Not that I wanted them to know the reasoning as to why we left either. It was something neither Nathan nor I wanted to have to explain to anyone.

                “A fresh start never hurt anybody,” I responded. “Why’s it matter anyways?” I asked.

                Daniel and Brady shared a look, and I could tell that they wouldn’t be dropping the topic anytime soon. “Just seems to be a story behind it is all,” Daniel answered.