Garret Hoffman is the coolest person I've ever met — besides Dani. Makes sense, because they're siblings and all. Dani is cooler than I give her credit for.

"You look rough today" is the first thing out of Garret's mouth. He always tells it like it is — sugarcoating is his enemy.

"Everyone is saying. Didn't do anything different fighting this week," I tell him while shrugging, examining my own skin in case I've molted without noticing.

I'm in their living room which is dark and dingy with old pizza boxes stacked high and soda cans lining the brown carpet. There's holes burned into the faded curtains which let sunlight filter through in long, skinny beams. It's Garret's place, but he doesn't know the first thing about cleaning, despite our efforts.

My nose twitches at a random whiff of spaghetti sauce, soon noticing the dirty plate on top of the TV. Some flies hover above, dipping down on the utensils periodically.

"I missed you!" Dani squeaks when she sees me, practically gluing herself onto my torso like one of those sticky hands you throw at the wall.

"You too," I mumble near her ear, although I'm lying. I push some hair from out of her face and her drug store eyelashes bat quickly, looking at me with lust.

Normally, she smells like this cherry blossom lotion she gets from the bath store at the mall — bath and something I can't be arsed to remember — but today she smells like shampoo and Dial soap.

"Get a roooom!" Garret teases us as I hear a soda can pop open from the kitchen.

"You're just jealous," I tease him with a playful smirk, knowing he lives for this stuff. We used to have a better relationship, more of a bromance, but things have been different lately.

Dani detaches herself and loops her arm with mine, still watching me with wide blue eyes.

She's only five-foot-two, almost an entire foot shorter than me, but I like it that way. She's short and spunky and totally in love with me... what more could you ask for?

"So, I saw your brother the other day. Your parents had a lot of shit, I told him," Garret begins as he emerges from the kitchen while noisily slurping his Fanta. Lately, I've noticed that's his poison.

All I do is roll my eyes.

I'm sick of dealing, sick of being the gateway between my parents and their clients. The only reason I do it is because my record is clean and apparently that carries less of a risk. It's something dad taught Nadia, Angelo, and me when we were thirteen, but I didn't listen.

"Act sixteen and stand with your shoulders back. Be confident," is all I remember dad saying while his nearly-black eyes stared into mine, round with a kind of seriousness we barely saw. Bonding, if you could even call it that.

"I saw all the stuff they brought," my voice lowers, "but haven't seen them back since."

Garret shakes his head. "Man, that stinks. They're probably busy cooking up the next batch or something."

In my head, I know that's the most likely possibility, because you've gotta keep the family business going. The longest they've been away was four weeks and during that time Uncle Al only stopped by twice.

We thought they were dead. Nadia and I had to cash in the welfare checks early just to get some money to buy food. Angelo became a thief, stealing everything possible from the old CVS on Walnut street, his masked surveillance photos tacked onto cork boards in the local supermarkets.

"I hate them," I state boldly, remembering a few more core moments from my childhood.

Dani and Garret both look at me with the same "what the hell" expression. It came out of left field but it felt good to finally say it out loud. I've dreamt of this moment for ages. I've said it in my sleep, under my breath, in my dreams a thousand times before.

"I always thought you did but never expected you to say it out loud like that," Dani smacks my arm like I've just dropped an F-bomb in front of children.

I don't flinch from her hit. "Sorry, but it's true. I didn't have the upbringing you guys had. If you were in my shoes you'd feel the same way."

Garret looks like he's a statue deep in thought, or maybe a little bit traumatized. The only part of his body that moves are his eyelids, flicking open and closed once.

"I don't know what I'd do without my dad..." Garret trails, "sure, we didn't have the best childhood either, but man... I'd never say that about the people who brought me into this world."

We all stand silently in the living room. I reach up to scratch my head, but that's it. My mind is racing and it's all about my parents. What if something is wrong this time? Logically, I know it's not, because they haven't been gone that long, but what if it is?

The room suddenly feels like it's spinning.

"I should probably go," I suddenly announce. Dani whines like a puppy and strokes my bare arm with her fake fingernails. She knows I like it when she does that, but it's not the time now. The feeling makes me cringe.

"Stop," I tell her firmly, "I don't feel good. I should check in with my family."

Slowly, Dani backs away and holds her hands together feebly. Her head is ducked down and I can tell I've hurt her feelings. That's one thing I'm getting real tired of.

"Alright man, take care," Garret tells me while half-smiling. We nod to eachother.

***

Halfway home, I've already chain smoked three Marlboro's and stomped on every inanimate object I've come across on the sidewalk.

Why did my parents have to be such uneducated assholes? Then I remember they're educated and just assholes.

Dad graduated with a Bachelor's degree in economics and mom has an Associate's degree in liberal arts. It's something she did just to burn a hole in her dad's pocket because life was boring after high school.

If they're educated, with degrees and all, why am I being raised like this? They know better — and that makes me truly angry.

"Hey sucker, I've been following you the entire time. Three cigarettes and you seem kind of angry... wanna talk?"

I stop in front of the Main Street laundromat and turn around in the mid day sun, its bright rays shining on someone with a familiar face. I can't quite recall her name, but the second I see her, my mouth goes dry. She looks like home.

She has long black hair similar to Dani's but with a little more wave and sand colored skin. Her dark red lips curve into a smile that's almost devilish. It looks like she belongs on an island somewhere and not this crap-hole called New Canton.

"Here, let's have another," she says while extending her hand with a cigarette for me.

"Sure," I nod cautiously and let her light them for us. We take a seat on the bench in front of the laundromat, staring ahead into the empty street.

"You might remember me from middle school. We had the same history and science teachers. I sat in the back near you."

Middle school? The fuck if I remember anything from that time of my life. This doesn't jog my memory much, but it makes her a little more recognizable. She scoots closer to me, our thighs touching.

"My name is Aurora, like the Aurora Borealis," she says like being named after beautiful natural lights is something corny.

We both take a drag of our cigarettes before I turn and stare at her, noticing light freckles on her nose and under her eyes. I know it's freaky, but the staring is completely intentional.

"What?" She laughs, catching on with what I'm doing, "are you mute or something? Stop staring at me."

"Um, no, I've just had a bad day," I tell her quietly before looking away, getting one last glance at her dark eyes. She's mysterious in a way that makes me want to keep coming back for more.

"Your face looks beat up," she tells me after a few seconds of silence.

"Yeah," I laugh while I brush my shoes along the pavement, "you're the 100th person to tell me."

"Oh, really?" She wiggles in place and nudges her shoulder against mine, "do I get a prize for being the 100th?"

I take the last drag from my cigarette before dropping it on the sidewalk and crushing it with my foot, weighing my response in my head.

"Yeah, you do," I tell her softly, a small smile on my lips, tilting my head to get another glance at her soft skin and dark eyes.

The mood changes from playful to serious, almost like she's shocked I said yes. "Well, what's the prize?"

We're still staring at eachother and it's almost like the longer we do, the more energy is being charged between us. My head is getting pulled towards her glossy lips which look like they taste like black cherries. All the force in the universe couldn't stop me from what I'm about to do.

But it does, and I stop. It almost happens.

Our foreheads are touching and my hands are aching to touch her body, a sort of longing I've never felt before with Dani or anyone else.

"I can't do this."

I pull my head away and feel my fingers curl into loose fists before I do something I'll regret. Aurora's eyes roll dramatically like only a woman can do.

"He talks!" She mumbles unenthusiastically, crossing her arms against her chest. I understand her frustration though, given the last few seconds.

"Why did you follow me?" I ask, still leaning into her even though she's pulled back.

"It doesn't matter," she tells me while her head faces the opposite direction.

"I want to know," I tell her a bit more firmly, a bit more sincere.

She finally looks at me and her eyes have this emotion in them I can't quite pinpoint. Her voice sounds exhausted as she speaks.

"Isn't it obvious?"