"The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward."

-Steve Maraboli

"So are we hanging out this Saturday or are you bailing on me again?" Morgan asks in her usual accusing tone. When my disappearing acts become the topic of conversation she tends to get a little cynical. Hoisting myself up into my SUV I internally sigh at her question as I return the waves of a group of guys getting ready to climb into a four-door truck before shutting my own door.

"You know I don't mean to, right?"

Morgan lets out a light airy laugh, brushing it off like she always does and buckles herself in before we pull out of the parking lot."Hey if your dads are having family friends over you can't really bail on them."

Lies.

All I do is lie to her and have been for years. The social events were nonexistent or rather once in a blue moon. With both Sean and Christopher's work schedules, my own school, social and raid schedules, there is never enough time for gatherings of any kind. Tonight's a rare special case and even though on this particular occasion I'm not lying to her it still reminds me of all the times I have.

"I'll see you on Saturday for that party," I reassure Morgan, pulling up to her house just a block away from the school and put the car in park. "Promise."

She nods sliding out, shoulder bag in tow. "I will hunt you down KP if you even try to skip out." Her threat is more playful than menacing but after being friends our entire life I know she wouldn't hesitate to do just that.

"I'd rather my death be glorified, not tragic." I joke back, getting my words out right before she shuts the door and sticks her tongue out at me from beyond the glass.

Cracking a small smile I pull away from her house, now officially hanging up the title KP for the night.

At home, I'm just Kindra. Which means I'm now in Christopher and Sean's kingdom, which means chores, expectations, and punishment in the cruelest way if the prior isn't met.

They really aren't as bad as that sounds.

I allow my mind to wander further, to the dinner festivities tonight and the party the following night with Morgan but my fantasies are short-lived. As I pull onto my childhood street there, sitting in the driveway like it never sped off at sixty miles per hour, is the sleek black coat of my brothers 350z.

In a panic, I slam on the breaks and I decide to park on the street, in front of the neighbor's house, two doors down and begin to mildly hyperventilate. That's how bad my brother and I left things.

Shit... Shit, shit, shit. I smack my head on the steering wheel with each shit that echoes through my head. What is he doing here? He should be in his final year of classes, not here at the house. Regardless of the reason for his presence, it leaves me dreading the next three hours of being cordial I now have to fake my way through.

"Wow Kindra, get a grip," I mutter to myself, realizing I'm merging over into the melodramatic category no girl ever wants to be put in.

Everything will be fine, it had to be. Liam couldn't do anything with our dad's present and with Kirk and Vince coming he really wouldn't have the opportunity to pull any kind of crap.

Inching my way out of the car I make my way slowly down the street and up the driveway. Reaching the front door I slip into ninja mode, ever so quietly turning the front doorknob and pushing gently as to avoid making any noise. I almost think I've successfully snuck into the house when I hear him.

"Hey, squirt."

Hey, squirt? Almost four years of being MIA, telling me I'm not his sister nor does he think of me as one and the first thing he decides to say to me is hey squirt? I can't even remember the last time he called me that, it has to have been years ago before I ran with him and his crowd.

"Hey..." I mutter leaving my shoes by the door and peeking into the living room to where the familiar voice drifted from.

There on the sofa, blonde hair tousled in the same way I remember is my brother, lounging lazily watching the television. "Hope you're ready to eat because they are in overkill territory now."

The sentence is normal. His tone is normal. His attitude is even normal. However this isn't even close to normal, it's creepy and honestly, I'm not getting the joke. All of this must be etched on my face because Sean sticks his head out of the kitchen and signals me to come.

"What in the hell is going on?!" I whisper frantically at him and then at Christopher as I slip into the kitchen away from the creature that looks like my brother but clearly is not.

Christopher, who is standing at the counter casually chopping celery, stops abruptly to make a blowing up motion by his head with his hand with the sound effects to match. He seems to be as mind blown as me, this is a one-eighty for Liam.

Christopher goes back to chopping veggies, having gotten in his two cents, causing me to shift my eyes back to Sean who I raise one eyebrow at.

"Trust me, it was the first thing I asked when he showed up." He said quietly, trying to keep his voice low so that certain individuals sitting in the living room can't hear. "Her name is Clarissa."

"A girl?" I ask, my voice now a confused whisper.

"A girl," Sean confirms with a nod of his head.

I officially have a migraine now. Since when does Liam listen to girls or even date girls? Never in the history of ever, that's when. Liam's known for treating a girl with less respect and dignity than they deserve, let alone having never cared enough about one to keep them around.

Shaking my head to try and clear the fog I sigh, I don't have time for this. "How long until the happy couple gets here?" I ask, referring to Vince and Kirk, who recently got engaged.

"T-minus thirty," Sean says turning his attention back to an empty tray and a cutting board of yet to be sliced meat.

Yeah, I definitely don't have time for this, not now and if I get my way not ever.