One

1

 

            “Halea Jaun!” She heard her mother shout from the base of the stairs, “Get that stubborn hide out of bed and come help me!”

             She subtly rolled over and squinted at her alarm clock. 5:32 AM it read. “Why…” She mumbled closing her eyes again. As bad as her memory was, she was quite capable of remembering that school didn’t start till eight-thirty. She normally didn’t get up until quarter after six.

            “Because,” Came a deep voice from the doorway. “I said so.”

            She froze, and then slowly turned over, her blue eyes wide, although she didn’t need her eyes to know who that voice belonged to. “Markus!” She exclaimed, clumsily falling out of bed onto her hands and knees. She hit the ground with a thump and grunted. “Ugh. I’m awake now.” She looked up as his shadow blocked the morning sunlight from the window across the room.

            “Graceful.” He laughed. “I guess that much hasn’t changed since I’ve been gone.” He smiled and extended his hand to help her up.

            She shot him an angry glare, which unintentionally turned into a playful smirk and jumped into his outstretched arms, nearly knocking him over. She stayed there for a while then pulled back, still having to look up at him because she was so short. She wondered if she would ever grow. “You haven’t changed much.” He looked almost exactly the same as the last time she had seen him two years ago. Clean shaven, approximately six feet, messy brown hair with unnaturally natural blondish highlights, and mesmerizing blue eyes. The only difference was that he looked a bit more sophisticated and—at first glance—more mature. But as soon as she looked into his eyes she knew that was a complete act and he would always be her playful, sensitive, big brother, no matter how long he was gone.

            “It’s only been two years.”

            “That’s it?!” She shook her head, trying to suppress her smile, but failing miserably, “It feels like its been fifty!”

            He held her out by her shoulders and looked down at her, “Did you grow?”

            “Are you kidding?” She rolled her eyes, “That won’t make me feel better; I know I’m a midget.” And she was, according to tall people. She was a whopping five foot two, and had been for the last three years, since she was fourteen. Even with her incredibly thick, brown curls adding almost an inch to her height, she was still puny compared to her brother, and most of her friends. “I only hear about it on days that end in ‘y’ though, so thanks for reminding me.”

            He laughed again and pulled her into another hug, squeezing the air out of her. “I missed you baby sister.”

            “Baby!” Halea exclaimed. “I’m not that short.”

            “Believe what you wish.” Markus teased, “But don’t spend the whole morning thinking about it, because mum’s got breakfast going downstairs.” He gave her another bear hug. “Meet you down there.”

            As her big brother left, Halea turned to get dressed and stopped to look at her reflection in the mirror that was casually leaning up against her wall. Wow she thought. Her hair looked like she’d been rubbing balloons on it all night; it was sticking out in all directions. There was a red welt on her left knee that was slowly turning back to a normal skin tone, and her cheeks were a severe rosy pink color that she hadn’t seen on her face in quite a while. Her bed clothes were stuck to her like she had just climbed out of a swimming pool, and a thin sheen of sweat layered her forehead. It was insanely hot for early June. She looked as if she had just been in a chick fight, minus the blood and injuries part of the deal. 

Any other day she would have been beat red with embarrassment if someone saw her like this, but today she was beaming, and couldn’t keep the smile off her face. But she didn’t care what she looked like right now. Her big brother was home; and he brought a part of her back with him.