I have received a lot of feedback looking for my continuation of Heart Is Where The Home Is. I couldn't decide how I wanted to do it and ultimately I decided to make it a weekly serial. The focus will initially be on Mel, Keri, and Jim Steel's brother Joe as the main characters as they meet and begin adulthood. Ken, Lainey, Abby, and Jim will appear frequently as well as the other side characters. There's a lot of stories to tell, so please enjoy.
***Melanie***
I walked up the steps to my new front door and dropped the box I was carrying to find the keys I stupidly put in my pocket. I looked behind me and saw my best friend, Keri, struggling with two suitcases.
"Jeez," I said, "You don't have to do it all in one trip."
"It's not," she moaned. "I've still got two boxes, a gym bag and a backpack."
I rolled my eyes and opened the door. I guess I expected the vacant house to smell musty or something, but it smelled like new carpet. I should've known my brother-in-law and sister wouldn't let me walk into a dirty house.
Keri burst past me through the open door and stopped abruptly. "Holy shit!" she shrieked.
"What?" I asked as I walked up to her. That's when I saw the beautiful furnishings. My sister Lainey was an interior designer and went all out.
"I didn't expect something this nice," she chirped.
"Me either. I guess that's why they wouldn't let us see the house before we moved in."
"AAAhhhh!" Keri screamed.
"What the fuck, Keri?"
"Hi, girls," my brother-in-law Ken said as he walked into the room from the back of the house. Ken's been with my sister for two years and Keri, bless her heart, hasn't gotten used to seeing the Hollywood heartthrob in person. She actually fainted the first time they met.
Kinsey "Ken" Greer was my brother-in-law. He was known for playing Jace Stryker in the Patriot Squad series of action movies. He was from our small town and fell in love with my then waitress sister. He was retiring and moving back home when they fell madly in love. They were sickening together. Way to lovey dovey, way to much PDA.
He was Keri's favorite of the Patriot Squad actors. Mine and my sister's favorite was always Jim Steel, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed hunk of humanity.
"Hi, Ken," I said as I walked past my ever-shocked bestie. "You didn't have to go all out like this for us."
The living room was insane. There was a 70-inch television, and a large leather sectional with two matching recliners. The tables, lamps, and bookshelves all looked expensive.
"Wait until you see the bedrooms," he smiled.
I gave him a hug and asked, "Where's my sister and adorable niece?"
"At home. Little Belly has a sniffle, and we didn't want to take her on a plane."
I rolled my eyes. They named my niece Isabella, but he insists on calling her Belly. It drives my mom nuts.
Keri finally snapped out of it and whispered, "Thank you, Ken."
He laughed and said, "When are you going to get used to me?"
She shrugged as he walked up to her and grabbed her into a big hug. I swear if he weren't holding her, her knees would've given out and she'd have been a puddle of mush on the floor.
"Hey, movie star, maybe you could help with the bags since you're here?"
He let go of poor Keri and said, "Absolutely."
He headed out and Keri had a tear falling down her cheek. "Jesus Christ, Keri. He's just my brother-in-law, get over it."
I shook my head and walked away. I heard her say, "He grew his beard back," and that made me laugh. He hadn't worn a beard since he retired from acting. The most he would have was a three-day scruff. Keri was heartbroken the day she met him as he had recently shaven the beard off.
***
Once we had everything in our rooms, Ken ordered a pizza for us.
"Do you need anything? Do you have enough money?" Ken asked.
"Yeah, we're good. Dad gave me a debit card for expenses and don't think that I don't know who funded that account."
He turned red with embarrassment. I knew he was paying for my education even though he was trying to hide it. I heard him and my dad arguing about it at my graduation party. Ken was a great guy, but he sometimes didn't understand that he couldn't take care of everybody.
"Mel, I just wanted your dad to not have to worry about anything."
I laughed. "You're an idiot, dear brother-in-law, but I love you anyway." I hugged him. "Thank you for all you do for us. I know you don't have to pay for all this, and I want you to know we really appreciate it."
"Same for me," Keri added. "Thanks for letting me live in your house."
Ken laughed and said, "It's not my house, it's Mel's." He kissed both our cheeks and waved as he walked out the front door.
"What does he mean, it's your house?" Keri asked.
"I don't know. He bought it and I thought I was signing a rental lease. My sister later told me that it was the deed to the house. I didn't believe it, but maybe it's true? I'm gonna have to kick his gorgeous, rock-hard ass if that's the case."
"Oh!" We heard from the front door. Ken continued, "I forgot to give you this."
He handed me a sheet of paper that was a printed-out picture of a lanky, nerdy looking guy with glasses and messy hair, standing next to Jim Steel.
"What's this?" I asked.
"That's Joe Steel, Jim's brother. He's a first-year student here as well. That's his phone number on the page, give him a call and introduce yourselves. He's shy, and the way Jim made it sound, has a tough time making friends. I figure you could meet up and become friends."
I sighed, "Thanks, Ken. We'll be sure to look him up."
He smiled and said, "Jim says that picture is a couple years old. He may wear contacts now. Gotta go, I'll see you later."
He was out the door in a flash. I handed the paper to Keri, and she rolled her eyes. "He's the stereotypical geek."
We laughed. "I guess Jim used up all the good DNA," I said, making Keri laugh harder.
***
After a couple of weeks, we were settled in, and classes had begun. I don't want to toot my own horn too much, but I knew I was on the cuter side of the spectrum and Keri over the previous few years had grown into her own body. It didn't take long for us to start getting invitations to parties and unwanted attention from the men and boys around campus.
We avoided them at first. We agreed that we would get through our first semester before expanding our horizons into the dating and party scene. We wanted to make sure we had a handle on the flow of classes and homework and papers and all of the other stuff that went along with being college students living off campus. That lasted until the second month.
We were invited to a fraternity party by a girl that we sat near in the one class Keri and I had together. We had just taken a difficult test and succumbed to the peer pressure to relieve some stress. It was funny, that was the first time I thought about calling Jim's brother. I'd completely forgot about it and felt bad. I figured it might be a good chance to meet him and make some friends for him, if he didn't blow it that is. I couldn't see someone as bookish as him being that outgoing.
He answered, "Hello?"
"HI, Joe? This is Melanie Evans. I'm Lainey's sister. Ken gave me your number and said you go to school here."
"Um, yeah. Jim said you would call. I guess I gave up on that a while ago."
Shit! That made me feel bad.
"Yeah, I lost your number and just found it," I lied, proud of myself for my quick thinking. "Listen, my friend Keri and I are going to a party tonight and I wondered if you wanted to meet us there. We could meet up and get acquainted."
"Um, I don't know," he wavered. He sounded like he looked in the picture.
"Come on, Joe. Don't be a party pooper. If it's lame, we can take off and go somewhere else, okay?"
I could hear his sigh, "Okay, but I don't want to talk about my brother."
I laughed and said, "Ken's been with my sister for two years. I'm over all that star worship crap."
"Good," he said abruptly. I found it unnerving for some reason. Maybe he didn't have a good relationship with Jim for some reason?
We exchanged some school small talk and set up a time to meet at the party.
I walked into Keri's room and said, "Jim's brother doesn't sound too promising. I don't think he likes Jim much and he sounded like he doesn't like any people much."
"Maybe he's just shy?" she asked without looking up.
"Hopefully. If his picture is any indication, our conversation was probably the longest he'd ever had with a girl."
We giggled and I went to get ready for the party.
***
The house was packed. It was like something out of a movie, there were people everywhere, with solo cups spilling all over the place as they jumped and danced. We made our way to where we thought the drinks were and found an alpha jock guy passing out beers from a keg.
"Hey, hotties! How about a beer? We accepted his glasses after watching them come straight from the keg. I was aware of the stories of date rape drugs, so I was trying to be careful. It didn't occur to me that they could've laced the cups, but nothing happened.
"Let's see if we can find, Joe," I shouted over the music to Keri. She nodded in agreement, and we looked all around the party to see if he was there.
After an hour of looking around, we gave up.
"I guess he didn't come," I said as we refilled our beers. I was feeling well buzzed, and Keri's eyes were glassy as well. We had three beers pretty quickly and were definitely light weights.
"His loss," Keri slurred. "We can always try again another time when there won't be a crowd like this."
"Yeah," he probably saw it and freaked out.
It was getting stuffy, so we walked outside to get some fresh air. The back yard was a mess of patchy grass and garbage. There were some scattered people smoking and some were smoking pot, but we were able to find a couple of chairs that were empty by a firepit.
"You guys want in?" a guy asked offering his joint.
