The two-story house was typical to most houses in Southern California, covered in stucco with a few areas of fake looking stone to make it look slightly different than the neighbors. I stepped onto the front porch and knocked on the front door. No one answered right away but I could hear music and laughter inside so I knew they were here: They being my oldest brother and a few of this friends. The sun setting but it was still high enough in the sky to make my blouse stick to my skin. It was blazing hot and this wasn't how I wanted to spend my first afternoon back from school.
I rang the doorbell twice and nearly left before the door finally opened. I took an involuntary step back as I looked up to the guy that had just opened the door. He had to be at least six-foot-four and was well built with tightly cropped, dirty blondish hair.
"Can I help you," he asked politely?
It took me a long moment to remember why I was even standing there, "I'm looking for my brother," I finally sputtered out, and then quickly added, "Brandon— I'm looking for Brandon."
He squinted and looked at me carefully, "You're Brandon's little sister," he finally said in mild surprise.
"Yes, his wife asked me to pop over and tell him that she's ready to go. Is he here?"
The man didn't say anything for almost a minute—just stared. It made me feel extremely uncomfortable and I tried to think of some smart ass comment to throw at him, but his dark eyes made me feel so small that my mind just went blank.
Finally he shook his head and smiled, "I'm sorry, I'm Kyle," he apologized. "You probably don't remember me. I used to hang out at your parent's house all the time when I was in high school with your brother."
I studied him carefully but didn't recognize him so I simply shook my head, "Sorry, I don't remember you."
Kyle laughed, it sounded easy and genuine, "No, you probably wouldn't. You were only just a baby when your brother and I were seniors. But wow, you look all grown up now."
The complement made me blush in embarrassment, "Uh...yeah, I guess I am," I said lamely. I shifted to the side and tried to look through the front window, hoping Kyle would take a hint and go and get my brother.
Kyle glanced to the side and I could tell that he got the clue, "Brandon will be back in five or ten minutes. He was just returning a few things to the store. You can come in for a minute if you want. It's nice and cool inside."
I hesitated for only a second. Feeling the cool air flowing from the doorway was enough to convince me it would be better to wait inside, so I nodded and stepped through the doorway. The cool air felt fantastic. I knew that my brother and a bunch of his friends had thrown a huge party here last night. My sister-in-law had done nothing but complain about all evening. In fact she was still complaining about her husband when I woke up this morning, so when she started whining about how late it was going to be when they drove home and how cranky her kids were going to be I jumped at the chance to volunteer to go get my errant oldest brother; anything to get away from his spoiled rotten wife.
A large flat screen was showing a movie I noticed, so that explained the voices I'd heard from outside. Looking around the house I almost laughed out loud. This place definitely belonged to a bachelor; with the high end electronics, leather couches and modern furniture.
"Must have been some party," I commented dryly, seeing the empty liquor bottles stacked on nearly every horizontal surface.
Kyle laughed and it made me smile. It was an infectious laugh and I couldn't help but like how it sounded, "Yeah, you could say that. We haven't done anything like that in years—I guess we were due."
I sat on the corner of a black leather sofa and Kyle cleared away several bottles from the coffee table. "Your name was Jillian, right?"
That made my smile disappear instantly, "Yes, but everyone calls me Jamiee," I told him. I'm not sure why I hate the name Jillian so much, but yeah, I'm hypersensitive to it.
"Oh right, I guess I knew that," Kyle confessed. "I think I remember Brandon telling me that you were going to a boarding school in England. Is that right?"
I nodded, "Since I was eight."
"And you're over there all school year?"
I shrugged, not sure how much I wanted to start talking about. That's one of the biggest differences between England and America, in England you never ask strangers about their personal lives, it's considered rude, so you have to find people to gossip with to learn what you want to know about someone. But I was back in the States again, so I might as well get used to directness now and not get all tied in a knot about it.
"Usually I am. Sometimes mum and dad will fly me home for the Christmas holiday, but other than Christmas and the summer holiday I'm pretty much always there," I explained.
Kyle lowered the volume on the television and took a load of empty bottles into the kitchen. When he came back he took a seat on the other couch facing me. Normally I would have cringed and not wanted the company, but Kyle was a handsome guy and easy to talk to, so I didn't seem to mind.
"That's a lot of time there. I guess that explains why you picked up the accent."
It was true. I did have a strong English accent. Between being with my mum when I was little and being at school ten months out of the year I was doomed to sound English, unlike my dad and my brothers, all of whom sounded completely American: Another sore spot I might get into later.
When I didn't answer right away Kyle said, "The accent's great. It makes you sound dead sexy. You're going to have all the boys at college falling at your feet if you come back to the States to go to school."
Again I felt my cheeks burn and I knew I was blushing. This was ridiculous. Why could this guy make me blush so easily? "I'll be in sixth-form when school starts again," I started to say. I knew he wouldn't know what that meant so I quickly added, "that's basically a senior in high-school, so it's my last year there."
"So what happens after you graduate, I imagine your parents are pushing college?"
"Of course," I said more sarcastically than I intended, "I mean I want to go to university, but I don't know if I'm going to stay in the UK or come back here. I haven't decided yet. My marks in school are pretty good, so I have options... I don't know."
"I'm sure I'm echoing your parents, but keep going to school. It'll be worth it someday. Any ideas what you want to study?"
"Not really - I know I want to do something in writing, but I don't know what," I said. Then, trying to be sociable I asked, "What do you do—for work I mean?"
Kyle sat back lazily into the couch and stretched before he answered, "Well, I studied civil engineering in school, and I worked for a number of years as an engineer, but lately I've been spending a lot of time trying to buy up rental properties and fix them up. I thought about being a porn star but I was too afraid to take off my clothes, so that didn't work out too well."
I couldn't help but laugh. I liked Kyle. He was easy going and smart and extremely fit.
