Page 2 of This is Me

Tearing my eyes away from the photos, that hung on the wall, I looked down the hallway. My eyes skipped past my brother and parent’s bedroom and landed on the spiral staircase that led to the rest of the house. Having the urge and need to get further away from the camera that held the freshly recorded video, I hurriedly walked toward the stairs.

Passing more family photos and a series of colourful paintings, I came to the top of the stairs and started on my way down, skipping four steps at a time.

Soon, I found myself at the bottom landing in another hallway, though the one I was now standing in was quite a bit wider than the one upstairs. At the other end of the hall was a large wooden door with a colourful window gracing its frame. In a short while, my family would be entering the house through that door and, hopefully, I would be in a better state of mind by then.

The tile floor was cold beneath my feet as I made my way down the hallway toward the open archway that sat near the entrance of the house. I took in a few more of the family photos that were scattered down the hall. Some sat on the wall showing off my brother and me when we were younger, while others were placed on small wooden tables next to either open archway that sat opposite each other at the end of the hall.

Sighing, I turned into the archway on my left, taking the turn somewhat wide as to not hit my hip on the wooden table that protruded just a touch too far. As I walked in, I took in the sight of my family’s large dining room while continuing to walk through it. A long, glass table sat in the centre of the room, decorated with a few candles and flowers, while a glass chandelier hung from the ceiling directly above it.

As I said, my family lived quite comfortably. My father was a general practitioner at our local clinic, and my mother ran her own vineyard, which had become very popular. Surprisingly, my brother also contributed to the house. Instead of heading off to University or College, my brother had decided to continue on his dancing path, going on a few huge tours. I hated to admit it, but he was a talented dancer.

As I was making my way through the dining room, toward another arched doorway to my left at the back end of the room, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket, and I reached down to grab it.

“Peter, you sophisticated dumpling,” was the first thing I heard when I answered the phone, and I smiled at the sound of one of my best friend’s voice.

“Andrew, you luxurious sausage,” I slowly responded, doing my best to replicate him, though probably not to the best of my ability.

“What’s up, man?” Andy asked, though I could only just hear him as the sound of a harsh wind was following his voice through the receiver.

“You’re not driving, are you?” I asked cautiously.

“No!” He practically yelled back, obviously making sure that I could hear him. “My dad is, and he’s smoking, so he’s got the windows rolled down!”

“Fair enough.” I let out a slight laugh and could feel my anxiety from making the video ebbing away as I listened to Andy.

Before you think it—no. I didn’t like Andy that way. Sure, there was once a time when I did, but it was just a stupid crush, and it had passed. I wouldn’t deny that he was handsome, though. He was tall with tight, curly, black hair and sweet brown eyes. I wouldn’t say I had a type, but at one point, it felt like he was it.

“So, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight?” Andy asked, still yelling, but just as the words had finished coming through my phone, the wind stopped coming through with it, and I assumed his dad must have put the windows back up.

“Uh,” was all that seemed to come out of my mouth. Sure, I wanted to see Andy, it was always fun hanging out with him, along with my other friends, too. But the thought of the video circled in my mind, and I knew that was something I would have to deal with sooner rather than later.

My overall plan—whether it was a good one or not, I didn’t know—was only to have one copy of the video and to carry it with me at all times. I wasn’t too sure about what the rest of the plan was, but at this moment, it didn’t seem essential to have a second step. All I knew was that if I had it with me, it would be safe. It may have been stupid, but I didn’t want to delete it, and I didn’t want to risk anyone seeing it.

“Blaire and Leroy are gonna be there,” Andy continued, “they’re gonna sleepover and head to school tomorrow with me. There’ll be one more seat in the car if you’re interested.” I could practically hear a smile come through the phone with Andy’s words, and I mentally slapped myself.

Blaire and Leroy were my other two best friends. Leroy was the tough guy you would see playing sports all the time, mainly football, but in reality, he was a total softy. Blaire, on the other hand, was a total nerd, but would not hesitate to knock someone on their ass if she had to. She, in short, was a bit of a badass.

However, two years ago, I made the mistake of telling Andy and Leroy that I had a ‘thing’ for Blaire. It hadn’t been intentional, but I hadn’t known what else to say to them. Andy and Leroy had kept asking why I never dated anyone, and they had become very persistent with trying to get an answer out of me, and the lie kind of just slipped out of my mouth. It was something I regretted all the time.

See, now, every time Blaire was involved in anything, Andy and Leroy never failed to mention her, and it was always with a slight hint of glee. I thought about telling them that I didn’t feel that what about her anymore, but if I did that, the onslaught of trying to find me a girl would begin, and, well, we all know how that would end.

“Come on, Pete, it’ll be great!” Andy continued, trying to convince me to go, though I knew that I would have to decline. I couldn’t risk my family finding the video. Not now.

“Sorry, Andy, I’ve got too much to do,” I replied. It wasn’t a lie, so I didn’t feel too bad about saying it. Though, at this point, a small lie wouldn’t be such a big deal, right?

“Awe, you suck, Pete!” Andy laughed, and a small smile tugged at my lips.

“Shut up, Andy!”

“Alright, I gotta help my dad unload the car. I’ll see you at school tomorrow. See ya, Pete!” Andy called through the phone and hung up before I got the chance to respond. Not that I minded. I always found ending phone calls awkward.

While I was on the phone, I had wandered into the kitchen, which boasted one of the most massive counters I had ever seen, and though I saw it every day, it never ceased to amaze me. The top of the bench gleamed like marble, but I knew it was fake. The countertops and stainless-steel appliances appeared spotless under the bright, white lights that hung from the ceiling.

Moving around the large island, I slid open a door that sat beside the fridge, revealing a small pantry, which, to my dismay, was relatively bare.

“Oh, yeah. Shopping,” I whispered to myself as I remembered why my family had gone out for the day.

Silently cursing to myself, I wandered out through another open archway, bringing myself into the living room. Just like the other rooms in the house, it was quite large, but the dome-like window on the far-right wall let in a lot of natural light, which illuminated the whole room.