Exoskeleton

Chapter 1

Several knocks on the door caught my attention. I sprinted from the television room, only after pausing Ellen DeGeneres, and towards the front door.

My big brother was finally home after the annual eighteen day camp he went on by the coast in the Summer holidays. I fumbled with the front door keys, almost dropping them in my rush.

I swung the door open and my brother swooped in, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug. " I missed you Alice. " he said. " I missed you too Ryan." I replied.

"I see you traveled light this year." I said sarcastically while struggling with his humongous bag. "A lot of effort goes into all this." he said gesturing to his face and hair. I laughed.

"How was camp this year?" I asked as we climbed the steep stairs leading to his bedroom. His room was bigger than mine, which I don't see as fair. He is only three years older than me.

"Same old same old: surfing, tanning, flirting." he winked. I shoved him and mimicked gagging. " It was awesome as usual." he smiled as we reached his bedroom door.

"Cool, do you need some help unpacking?" I asked. "No," he snapped. I tryed to mask the hurt probably written all over my face and I turned around to walk away.

"Hey, I'm sorry, " he said grabbing my arm. His grip was stronger than usual and I winced. His eyes widened into planets and he dropped my arm like it was on fire.

"I'll see you for dinner." he said and slipped behind his door and into his bedroom. I stared in stunned silence at my brother's door. What was wrong with Ryan, had something happened on camp. Where was the bubbly, fun and annoying older brother I knew and loved?

I sighed and walked back down the stairs to continue with my Ellen marathon. I first grabbed a large packet of salty chips before slumping back onto the couch. Holidays were nearly over and I wasn't ready to replace my sweat pants with my school uniform.

I pushed the unhappy thoughts of school and Ryan away from my conscious mind and into the shadows of my brain. I pressed play and did what I always do: pretend nothing is wrong.

***

I opened the cutlery drawer and fished out two knives and two forks. "Mom and dad working late again?" Ryan asked even though he already knew the answer. "Yeah, but they send their love." I said.

I tucked the cutlery under my arm and walked slowly to the television room while trying to balance the dinner plates.

Ryan was sitting on one of the leather couches trying not to look upset, but I knew he was. My parents are really sweet and the time we spend together is loads of fun. The thing is our parents are rarely home.

My mom is a brain surgeon and my dad is a lawyer. They are always busy with work and Ryan and I usually eat alone. We have gotten used to our situation over the years, but it still hurts.

I stole the remote from the arm rest next to him, ignoring his protests. I pressed on a recorded episode of the Big Bang theory and then started shovelling down my mac 'n cheese.

"I hope you didn't watch any episodes without me." he said. "Of course I didn't." I said and I hadn't. My brother would have known just by looking into my grey-green eyes if I was lying. I would have been able to tell if he was hiding something as well just by inspecting his big, blue eyes. That's how well we know each other.  I know everything about him : his favourite food, hawaiin pizza, his favourite books, Harry Potter, and I even know that he secretly loves Beatles songs.

He would never tell any of his friends that though, I doubt any of them have opened a book in their lives. We ate in silence, only laughing at jokes on television.