Part 25

Alex looked up at me and gave me a sly smile. "You really wanna be my younger sister? Just a warning: you are gonna know the real definition of teasing after being my sister for a couple of days. Are you sure you're up to that?"

I gave him a sly smile of my own. "I need to know how to interact with people. My whole life's changed. So, maybe I can too." I looked away for a second before I heard Alex's voice. But when I looked up, his mouth wasn't moving. I shifted to get up, and Alex sat up to let me stand. I got up, brushed myself off (it was a common habit), and started walking.

I barely got a few feet away before Alex called out, "Wait." This 'wait' wasn't an urgent 'wait', it was a teasing, calling out wait. I sighed through my nose and turned to face him.

"What?" I knew that I had no experience with having siblings, but I was not liking his tone. I wasn't ready for whatever tortures he had in mind.

Alex walked toward me, bent down so that he was eye level with me, and calmly said, "Are you just gonna barge on ahead, or are you gonna wait for your brother?" At the word brother, his face broke into a huge grin. Like he was pleased to have someone call him their brother again. I gave him a wide grin of my own, side-stepped, and swung my arm to the side as if permitting him to go first.

"After you, my brother," I said with an air of blatant mischievousness. He looked taken aback a little, and infinitely confused. But he went forward, and I hung back a couple of feet, determined to learn everything about my new brother.

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"...and that's when he flipped himself!"

"You're kidding!!"

"I am not. He flipped himself while still inside the floaty. After a few seconds, he hadn't righted himself. By the time that mom called out, I had already dived into the pool and was swimming over to where he was. I lifted the floatly and saw his legs disappear under the water. A few seconds later he surfaced. I guided him over to the edge of the pool, and he was hacking and coughing the whole time. It was a terrifying experience, but it was also the first time I ever thought about becoming a lifeguard."

"Hey, look where you are now. Mr. 'Most Popular Lifeguard Britain Has To Offer.' Doesn't that make you feel good?" We had been walking for several hours now, and he was telling me stories about the adventures he and his family had been through. Right now, he was telling me about how his younger brother had a bad experience with his first time using a floaty. Before that, he told me how his family had gone hiking in South America and suddenly found themselves in the middle of a swamp. And before that, he told me how he nearly failed his final lifeguarding exam. But the first story he told me was how his mother had nearly died while giving birth to his youngest sister. She was the youngest sibling as well, but because of the way she had been born, she was subtly ostracized. Apparently, the only people she found comfort in were Alex, and their sister Leta. They helped her find things that she was interested in, and they encouraged her to work in those areas, and to do her best, but to not compare herself to anyone other than herself. Leta sounds like a good sister. I think I'd like one. But first, I have to get used to Alex as a brother. He does not go easy on me, that's for sure.

"I'm not as popular as you think." Alex's confession jarred me from my thoughts.

"What do you mean? Everybody loves you. You have girls falling at your feet everywhere you go. You protect people who are being bullied, and you are very adept at recognizing all forms of bullying. I don't think I've ever heard you raise your voice at anyone. But people learn to change after talking to you. Literally, everyone who's ever met you loves you."

"Really? Everyone?"

"Yes, everyone! And it's not fair. You don't have to do anything and people love you. All you do is flash your smile and help people up, and boom, they're willing to follow you to the ends of the earth. You don't even know what it's like to hate yourself so much that you can see the hatred in other people's eyes." I was crying at this point. The man was so stupidly perfect. I'm sure that he's never had a bad day that people knew about in his life. Why did he get everything?! I kept on harboring these thoughts about him when I heard him respond. What he said shocked me.

"You forget that I'm the middle child. The only reason I wasn't completely ignored by my family is because I don't have abilities." I looked at him, and saw a kind, understanding look on his face. His arms were outstretched, as if offering me a hug. I took it. I rushed into his arms and sobbed into his chest. He held me, and told me over and over again, "No matter how easy you think my life was, it probably wasn't any easier than yours." I took great comfort in this, and told him the secret that I hadn't told anyone my entire life. "I'm adopted."