classic rock and other things we weren't supposed to be into

chapter four

At 7:45 the following morning, I was dressed and waiting at the kitchen table with a bowl of half eaten cheerios. Uncle Sam sat across from me, Shakespeare's Macbeth, opened in his hands.

          Dad had just woken up and was thumping his way down the stairs. Uncle Sam and I made eye contact before he put his book down.

          "Well, good morning sleeping beauty!" My Uncle called in his English Accent.

          Dad glared at him as he entered the kitchen, a finger pointed directly at his younger half-brother as he warned, "Shut up."

          Uncle Sam raised his eyebrows cheekily at me, a wicked smile playing on his lips. His attention turned to his book as he marked his place with the bookmark I had gotten him for his birthday last month before returning to Dad.

          "Why so glum, big brother? It's Friday!"

          Dad opened up the fridge, reached in and grabbed the jug of Orange Juice as he let out an unimpressed puff of air, "Why do you care? You don't have a job, every day is a weekend for you, little brother."

          I couldn't help but smile at the two. Both men had raised me to be the person I was today. I never really missed out on having a mother, how could I when I had two Dad's. Uncle Sam, 29, and my Dad, 48, grew up very differently which is why they could never agree on anything when it came to me.

When Dad was in middle school, his mother passed away, leaving him with just his father. Now, Grandpa, had a house in England to stay in when he worked at Oxford for a few years. He decided to stay at Oxford as one of the Math Professors permanently and brought my dad out to stay with him. Years went by and Grandpa ended up remarrying Uncle Sams mom, Grandma Ellie. While Dad was away at college in America, Uncle Sam was born.

Years later, Dad meets Mom, Dad gets Mom pregnant, Mom doesn't want to raise a baby and leaves me to him as she roams around the country doing God knows what. Thankfully, my Uncle Sam was staying with my Dad at the time so he could save money while he went to University. This meant that my Dad wouldn't be left alone, struggling to support and raise a baby.

I looked between the two again and laughed when my dad put my uncle in a headlock.

"Alright, you git, I yield!" My uncle shouted breathlessly.

When the two separated, my dad smiled triumphantly at me and kissed the top of my head. I shook my head in amusement and threw my now empty bowl into the sink. A buzzing caught my attention as I turned around to get my backpack from the table. Looking down at the phone, I saw Uncle Sam's girlfriends contact pop up.

"Ew. Darling is calling you." I fake gagged as he shoved past me playfully to get to his phone.

"Hello, darling. I was just about to call you." He said as he left the room.

I looked at Dad, asking, "Am I ever going to meet her?"

Dad leant against the kitchen counter with a fresh glass of Orange Juice in one hand while his other supported him on the counter as he shrugged, "It's only been a month, kid, give him time."

I sighed impatiently but nodded anyway. It wasn't like I wanted to rush my uncle, but I was getting antsy. It had been a long time since either one of my guardians dated anyone. Besides, it wasn't exactly fair considering Dad had already met her when my Uncle did at the bar they went to to celebrate his 29th birthday.

A honking outside startled me from my sulking as adrenaline filled me. Sadie had actually come to drive me to school. Now I was nervous. A lot of things were going to change today, I could feel it.

Dad glanced worriedly out the window above the sink to see Sadie's mustang idling across the street, "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?"

"Yes, Dad, I'm sure." I grumbled as I kissed his cheek and ran towards the door.

I twisted the knob and heard my dad say, "Yeah, love you too, kid!"

I just laughed and ran across the lawn to Sadie's car. I opened the door swiftly, throwing my backpack on the floor before climbing in.

"Hey." I said with a genuine smile.

"Hey dude! Sorry I'm a little late, my mom was up my ass about coming home late last night."

As we sped off down the road I wondered what Sadie's family was like. Did she have the conventional two parents, two kids, and a dog lifestyle? I was only realizing now that I had never seen Sadie's parents. Sure, we lived across the street from each other and I always saw her parents cars in the driveway but I had never actually seen them.

The drive to school was quick, we passed the time by talking about the project we had due soon in Biology. As soon as Sadie pulled into the parking lot, Carley and Jeff were waiting for us in what I assumed to be Jeffs Jeep Wrangler. He was seated behind the wheel of the tan, four door, vehicle. Sadie got out and I followed soon after as Carley and Jeff did the same.

Carley walked around the Jeep in a cropped black hoodie and a pair of high waisted light wash jeans rolled up at the bottom to show off the black doc martens she wore. Honestly, I was nervous to see Carley again. Last night, we didn't exactly get off on the right foot and I would prefer going back to being a ghost than have someone hate me.

Upon seeing me, Carley immediately wrapped her arms around me. To say I was caught off guard would be an understatement.

"Oh, K! I am so, so sorry about last night. I so did not mean to be such a drama queen. Nat was right, I was projecting, and I hate that. We're good though, right?"

I was too stunned to say anything, sticking with simply smiling and nodding. Carley sighed in relief and immediately went to Jeffs side, looping an arm around his neck as he bent down to kiss her timidly.

Sadie leant towards me as she quietly said, "Jeff's 21. He goes to a University not far from here. We all used to go to school together until he graduated. They've been dating since we were freshman."

I watched them as they pulled away and Jeff smiled at Carley one last time. He promised to pick her up from school later to which she replied with an okay and a smitten smile. They were in love, that much was obvious.

Carley turned to us as soon as Jeff got back into his car and looped her arms through both Sadie and I's as she said, "Well ladies, today is going to be good I can feel it."

We walked into school still arm and arm until the first bell rang and we went our separate ways. Something felt off about today, whether it was good or bad was yet to be determined.