Chapter 1: Jake

                I’ve never really minded sharing a room with him, I honestly didn’t care. I don’t think he minds either.

                It surprised me when he asked mother for a bed, I thought he was fine with the air mattress. Mother was surprised too, giving that he was usually very quiet and rarely asked for things.

                Anyways, his name was Andrew. I think his real name is Andrei, and I’m pretty sure he’s Russian, because we’re Russian, but I guess sometimes relatives don’t have to be the same race. He’s my cousin, and he lives with my family.

                His parents died in a car crash last winter. I remember going to the funeral, my mother crying, and it was the first time I known I had a cousin.

                Sometimes I wonder if he’s really my cousin at all. He doesn’t act like me, he doesn’t look like me, and we’ve never met before. But my mother says its all true, and I guess it is.

                I’m about a head taller than he is, but he’s still tall for his age. He was always shy and never really talked to anyone. We don’t have many kids in the neighborhood, so he can’t buddy with anyone. It usually is just me, my mother, and him for a long time. By father was working in another country.