The room is silent, the only sound being the galling noise of the fan. I scrunch my eyebrows, twisting and turning on the bed I lay on. My eyes grow weary as they capture every information on the page. Holding back a yawn, I turn back to check the time. 

I disagree with anyone who says biology is easy.

"Eline! The food is getting cold!" my mom calls out, cutting off my thoughts. I look at the shut door of my bedroom and an image of her irritated face behind the door pops in my head.

"One sec!" I holler back and bite the crown of my pencil.

Drawing is harder than I thought.

I furrow my brows at my pathetic attempt for a brain. At times like these, I reconsider my decision to have taken pure science in my senior year.

My stomach grumbles as though agreeing. I slowly rub it.

I can hear some mumblings before the voice disappears, probably being exasperated with not getting a proper reply from me. My stomach has not been well for the whole day and aptly, I have a biology test tomorrow. Portions are hard and peer pressure is forcing me to work harder.

Beep.

I should've put the phone on silent.

The phone jumps a bit as the sound buzzes. I glance at the bright screen and notice a message pop up. Flipping my braid forward, I take the phone and swipe to see the message.

New message from Avi:

Avi: Dude, I am freaking out. Camila just dropped her new song!!!

I sigh. My fingers rapidly strike the screen, making sure that much time isn't wasted.

Eline: Are you serious? We have a bio test for tomorrow, fyi.

I slightly shake my head, turning back to what I was doing. If my parents even catch me tapping the small red app with the play button during exams, I will get grounded for life.

Heck, I am starving myself for marks.

But I won't completely disagree though. This. This nerdy part of me had brought me all the prestige and pride I am gaining right now.

Or that's what you keep telling yourself.

Slightly pushing my thoughts away, I lift my pencil to write some more notes. But another irritating ringtone pipes in. Darn, I should've put the phone on silent. Betting that it's Avi, I look at the screen. But instead, it's a new number. I narrow my eyes at the digits before picking the phone in my hand.

"I wanna be nerdy. I'm already nerdy. What about nerdy Eline?... "

A small smile creeps on my lips as I hear the voice of Avi. I don't mind this version of the song though. I remember her recording this for fun but she resorted to forcing me into putting it as my ringtone. 

After internally debating on whether to answer the call, I hesitantly do.

"Hello?" I chime.

"Hey! Just wanted to see how my adorable nerd is doing," I hear the familiar voice.

"AVI! I told you that I am studying!" I say, puffing out in exasperation.

"It's fine, Eline. You love me too much to not speak to me," she says, knowing well about me.

I can't help but smile. I don't even remember how we both met, but since that day, we were and are by each other's side. Since seventh grade. She is extremely chirpy, sometimes too much to my annoyance. But still you just can't stop talking to her. My other friends, Jayden and Kayla are quite the same. All for gossip. Jayden has a more carefree side to him whereas Kayla is a bit more reserved.

"Avi. Can I call you.. later? I guess at 9:00 pm?" I ask, hoping she won't insist on talking right now.

"Whatever. As if your parents would let you. I'll be bugging you tomorrow, Ms. Mills." A slight tease comes from her and I roll my eyes, smiling again like a idiot.

"Fine. Bye," I say, cutting the phone and making sure that I put it on silent this time.

After some time, I manage to evolve the kidney shape of my brain to a much better oval. Satisfied with the meticulous work I put into the test, I finally manage to close the book shut for good and stand up from my bed. My numb feet on contact with the cold ground pricks everywhere. Pressing my feet harder on the ground as though it will help my feet, I start walking oddly to my door, still wincing from the numbness.

I walk out and descend the stairs, noticing my mom sitting worriedly on the dining chair. As I am busy noticing and trying to figure what's wrong with her, I get hit by a small person.

Light falls on her glossy brown eyes, making them lively and wide. I smile at her huge cheeks bouncing as she jumps excitedly.Before I could ask, Mel waves her exam sheet proudly in front of me. A huge A with a small star is drawn in red ink on the top corner. I gently push the paper away and smile at her.

"Wow, Melanie. You really like math, don't you?" I ask, grinning at her again. A small smile creeps on her rosy lips but falls down quickly as my eyes catch hold of the tiny white notebook in her hand.

"What's that?" I don't try to suppress my question as I lean in further to take a look. She violently shoves it behind her, but I could catch a small glimpse of the cute little decorations on top of the notebook.

"N-nothing," she stutters, instantly turning around and awkwardly walking out of the hall. I stand there, confused and kind of scared at the same time.

Life skill #1: When your sibling tries to hide something from you, never trust what they say. They are just tying to cover it up.

Mel might look cute but she is far more deceiving and cunning than any of us in the family. God knows what she is up to. Maybe it's some diary.

But Mel never liked diaries.

That's true. I remember giving her a cute little diary set with all those girly decorations and a heart shaped lock. The next day, it was given as a gift from her to one of her friends' friend.

I look back at the dining table and meet Ma's eyes.

My father being a business man has gone to some meeting and so, it's just me, my mother and Melanie. It used to be Max as well but tides change. Looking back at Ma, I reluctantly sit down, still a bit unconvinced with whatever Melanie is trying to do.

On the other side, I am trying to figure out what Ma is worried so much about. I want to ask her but decide that she will already spill it out. She is never one to keep secrets or feelings hidden for a long time. Not wanting to look eager, I slowly chew my food before I hear a clear of throat.

She is going to speak.

And when she does, I know that there is a reason behind it.

"Do you even know where Max is?"

I meet her black eyes, a trait she inherited from her mother, an Indian. She has slight asian features but they are usually overshadowed by her father's foreign nativity. Age has done good to her, leaving her cheeks still a bit chubby. But her thick brows droop, her eyes slowly disconnecting from mine and looking worried.

"No," I say, ignoring the flashing images of party lights and small shot glasses. I don't know where he is but I can guess. And that guess sends my stomach churning in anger.

"Did he text you?"

I pause for a second, shaking my head. "No, Ma. He doesn't even text me anymore," I say, thinking about the last message he sent me. A dark feeling blossoms in my heart as I recollect the text vividly. It might be years ago but time doesn't heal deep wounds. She looks at me with a pitiful face and sighs.

Max inherited more features of Pa than me, making him look less Indian than I do. He somehow managed to get almost all of the good features from both my parents, leaving me with a mix of both bad and good.  Guess good looks mixed with being an adult teen makes you feel super young. And feeling young in this case, involves a lot of partying and fun. I don't know why he turned out like this.

I guess when we moved towns, he was quick to snap back into this current state of his. It might have something to do with me for sure. I don't know what the reason is but I know that I am one of the reasons why.

"What will others think of us Mills?" I can almost hear my mother say to him. The first party he went to almost sent my mother fainting.

I look back at her, her hand slowly picking the meat and eating the rice. I mirror the same. We never spoke much during dinner and today is no different.

But a sudden hoot sends Mel shutting her ears dramatically with her hands. A small glint appears in Ma's eyes. She looks back at me.

"I guess he has arrived." I sigh and walk to unlock the door, preparing myself for whatever absurd story he has brought with him.

I control my revolting brain telling me to just let him stay out. He could stay there for all I care.

But you care about him.

That's the problem with me. How ever someone tries to hurt me, I still can't stop caring about them. Especially when the person is my brother. I will never forgive him for behaving the way he does with me but he is my brother. And I just can't seem to hate him in my heart as much as I show outside.

With a click of the door, I am met by a six–foot teen with side swept hair.  We share the same set of black round eyes, nothing else is similar. Well, we had the same hair color, but that was before he decided to dye it pink. The day he decided to dye it kind of worried me. We always used to be identified immediately by our strikingly similar eyes and hair color. We even used to come off to some people as non-identical twins when we were younger. But when he dyed it, I just felt like it was an indirect message of cutting off our bond for good.

Call me overthinking, but that's what has happened for all these five years.

His eyes meet mine and the joy in them immediately vanishes, leaving a dull and bored expression. I feel my heart sink but immediately decide to not show it. A loud slap falls on his back and that's when I notice another guy behind him.

"Bro, got to go. Meet ya later." He flashes a grin and then walks off, plugging his earphones back in. I immediately scrunch up my nose as the stinging smell of alcohol hits. I cried the first time when I saw him drunk. None of us drink or smoke. That's one thing that we always stuck with. Underage drinking is just worse. It's like a slow poison, giving us an unending pleasure and making us ask for more. And when that more reaches a level, we slowly crumple and fall prey to death. He knew it. He knew the rules. Why was he so opposing? I knew he hated it before. What happened now?

Ma seems to notice as well as she immediately closes the door and drags him by his arm. With an easy to miss eye-roll, he trudges along and stands alongside with her in the middle of the hall.

"Max, I told NO PARTIES," ma opens her mouth with visible pain on her face. Max's brows furrow.

"And drinking?! I thought we spoke about this earlier. God, Max. You're not even twenty-one yet! And don't think I will let you drink then also, young man." Her tone rises. I immediately recollect the first time he arrived home drunk. Ma was frantic .

"I am nineteen, mom! How long should I be under your control?! Plus, one shot doesn't really matter," his voice comes dull. Even if he is angry, it would make the situations somewhat even. But acting this unbothered bugs me to an extreme.

Nineteen and still acts like a kid. I snort.

"Max, you're spoiling your life. You still need to go to college. School isn't the only thing on education's list, y'know?" Her voice fades and she places her hand warmly on my brother's shoulder. He immediately jerks, worrying ma further. She removes her hand, visibly hurt. Suddenly, as though bitten by an insect, she gasps.

My eyes shoot in her direction.

"Max! Why is there a deep cut on your jaw line?" she asks, gently caressing the wounded area . He shuts his eyes, clenching and unclenching his fists. I move a bit closer to where they stand, trying to peek at the scar. Surely, it looks freshly cut, and he is trying to control the pricking pain. A deep red cut runs along his face, with a deep tinge of red on the surrounding skin. At the corner of my eyes, I could see Max's gaze drooping low. He is hesitant.

"Max," my mother's voice comes out stern, making him jerk straight.

"I am asking you something," she sternly orders.

"It's not a big deal, Ma," he replies, the boldness in his voice immediately dropping.

Speak about mood swings.

"Max Mills, I am asking you something. Either you reply or your friends do," she says and leaves the area, rushing to grab her phone; I guess to call Eva, his 'friend'.

"I-I got into a fight," he suddenly blurts out, causing ma to turn. The flick of anger in her eyes makes him instantly regret what he just said.

"With?" she places the phone back, her bottom lip trembling. To any other person, it would look like she is about to cry. But she is trying to control her anger. I guess that's why they both can somewhat go together. He behaves a lot like her whereas I don't even know who I behave like. Maybe Pa. Maybe Ma. Maybe neither.

Times like these make me rethink about my family's validity.

"Andy." His voice comes off low.

"For?"

A dark shade falls on his eyes but is jerked back by ma's death glare.

"He spoke trash. I was not even involved in this whole mess. He had some fight with one of his old friends and it got pretty violent. I tried to keep quiet but I just couldn't. And so, I stood up, wanting to teach Andy a lesson," Max replies without a pause. He was never one to hide stuffs from us. That's one thing you need to give credit to this kid for.

Ma walks slowly towards him. I stand there awkwardly , not knowing what to do. Realizing its best to just sit down on the beanbag, I head towards the comfortable seat.

"Now it's Andy, yesterday, James and tomorrow?" she sighs. He rolls his eyes again, fast enough for Ma to not catch him.

"Max, it's better to keep shut sometimes. These unjust acts happen all around the world but if we poke our nose into it, we won't be the hero. Instead, we will be the scapegoat."

My heart sinks at her statements. A past feeling, etching me out of the present. I gulp and look nervously between the both of them. I don't know why but something just feels wrong. Utterly wrong. I get what she says but if no one interferes when something is wrong, doesn't that just mean that we are contributing to the injustice as well?

"I get where all these emotions are coming. But sometimes, we just need to protect ourselves, " she says disheartedly, as though she knew something was wrong.

I want to open my mouth and tell her that it's fine to stand up. But I can't. She has a point and let's just say that I lost the rights to even say that statement without turning ironic.

His eyes turn red from the trauma he suffered. I bit my lip. I had no words. It was all my fault.

I take a deep breath, trying to push out the incident away but Chester's face keeps flash in in my head.

In a method to ignore my thoughts, I turn towards Max waiting to respond. Instead, he just removes his slippers and goes straight to his room. It's hard to miss the familiar hatred in his eyes.

I hear a bang and the room becomes silent once again.

################################################################

Author's Note:

Hello!

This is my first try at teen fiction. Hope you liked this chapter. What do you think about Max? Eline?

Seems like Eline is hiding something..

Also, like I mentioned earlier, you have all your rights to oppose Eline's ideologies. And she has all rights to think how she wants. So, hope you get that she is human as well, and to err is common.

Alright then....

Splashes.