-Anne Hathaway

The school season had already started in Azmarin Pass when Zareen’s family moved there, which meant that Zareen and Tykiem had to attend their new schools a few weeks after school began. 

In the midst of those first few weeks Zareen was stuck at home, settling in, sweeping the floors, cleaning the bathrooms, and rearranging the furniture with his brother. If he wasn’t vigorously setting the home, Zareen would be tapping away on his phone. 

Truthfully, Zareen hardly ever touched his phone, especially before the move. He preferred reading books or playing games on his computer. Zareen simply had no use for his phone beyond the occasional internet search or mobile play when he didn’t have a book to read. It wasn’t as if Zareen had any friends to text or call. Other than his mother and brother’s number, Zareen’s contacts on his phone remained empty. At least, it was, until he met Kiante.

But even after Kiante gave Zareen his number, the only time Zareen texted him back was when his brother and mother got home. Since then, it was always Zareen waiting for his purple haired neighbor to text him first before replying. It took him a while to get used to the idea of texting another person but texting Kiante quickly became his favorite part of the day. 

Zareen learned that Kiante was a part of the local high school's theater club. Whether he was lucky or truly extraordinary,the boy had a habit of getting the main role for any play or musical he auditioned for. Kiante also loved to send him pictures of him, his girlfriend and his friends. In between theatre updates and the more than occasional selfie, he would tell Zareen about his school day and his tutoring sessions. It turned out the guy who picked him up in the black car was his tutor, a local college student named Blaise who tutors in his free time. Zareen, for his part, didn't offer much information about himself other than his interests in reading and playing video games. Compared to Kiante's ever-busy days, Zareen found his texts quite uninteresting. However, Kiante never complained about Zareen’s lack of contribution in their conversations, seemingly happy doing enough talking for the both of them.

Despite his warm interactions with his neighbor, Zareen kept Kiante a secret from his brother and mother. Sure, he'd mentioned to Tykeim that he'd bumped into one of the next door neighbors but did not elaborate further about the boy. It wasn’t as if Zareen was embarrassed about knowing the other boy or worried about what his family would think of him. No, Zareen was unsure about how to bring up his new friendship- acquaintance?- to his family, specifically his mother. 

Unlike his older brother Zareen, Tykeim had plenty of friends back at their old home. Tykeim was one of the popular kids; he got along very easily with other people and made new friends all the time. However, Tykeim didn’t have all those friends simply because he was nice to be around. Tykeim had all those friends because he was given permission by their mother. Their mother’s words were the law in their family and the brothers knew better than to break them or worse; get caught.

Since Zareen was old enough to go to school, his mother didn’t allow him to get close to any other children his age. His mother wouldn’t allow him to go play with the other children in the neighborhood or attend any birthday parties. Anytime he got invited to attend a classmate’s birthday party, his mother would tear up the invite and make him throw it away. If a kid directly asked his mother to play with Zareen, she would politely decline with some sort of excuse. It eventually got to the point where his classmates gave up on trying to invite him to anything or interacting with him unless necessary. His mother's reasoning for all this? 

“You can barely keep up in class without needing extra help from your teacher. Do you really think they need someone like you hanging around them? No one wants to have an idiot for a friend. You're better off staying at home, where no one else has to be around a disappointment like you.”

Those words embedded themselves in his young mind. It served as a reminder that he didn't deserve to have friends. That he was unfit to have a friend. That other children were better off without him.

Sometimes his mother's words would linger at the back of his mind as Zareen texted Kiante. Sometimes he was able to ignore them, and would distract himself in conversation with his neighbor. Then there were times when he couldn't ignore his mother's voice and Zareen couldn't bring himself to even touch his phone, let alone look at it. Days would go by before Zareen would answer Kiante’s messages. 

Unfortunately this morning was one of those days when his mind was against him. It was Zareen and Tykeim's first day of school, and much to Zareen’s surprise, their mother was driving them to school.

His mother's voice always came strong and sharp in his head whenever she was around, always keeping him in check. She didn't even have to say a word to him for his fear to manifest like a noose-, not that she tended to waste her breath on him now that he was older, but Zareen always knew his place when she was around. But no matter how cruel her words were or how much her words stung, Zareen would always love his mother. 

Zareen sat in the back of the car, tracing the screen of his phone with his finger. Kiante had sent him a good morning text that morning while he was getting ready. Zareen had yet to answer him back. He wanted to, but he knew better than to text him back when he was trapped in the car with his mother and brother. Zareen didn't want to draw either of their attention to himself.

Zareen’s pink eyes glanced at his brother, who was nodding his head along to whatever song was playing through his earphones as he scrolled on his phone in the passenger seat. Even if the passenger seat was empty, Zareen would never sit in it. He always sat in the back. It was an unspoken rule. Something that Zareen didn't understand when he was younger but he was old enough to understand now. It was simple: he wasn’t good enough to sit next to his mother but, his brother on the other hand? Well, he was their mother’s pride.Not exactly joy, but definitely pride. 

Zareen supposed that's what happens when you're a straight A student and one of the best athletes in school. Having such a high achieving son suited their mother’s ambition and perfect, flawless reputation. If it was someone else in Zareen’s position, they would probably be envious of Tykeim, and would hate him for being the best. But, that wasn’t the case for Zareen because he looked up to his older brother. Sure, Tykeim could be a little difficult to get along with at times,or would tell on him to their mother but he was still his big brother. A title that not just anyone could have, a special title that tied Zareen and Tykeim together, as surely as the blood pumping through their veins. Tykeim was the perfect role model for Zareen, who worked hard in his shadows to become just as amazing as his big brother. 

The car stopped, rousing Zareen from his thoughts. His pink eyes left Tykeim’s figure and traveled to the window. Right outside was the modest sized building of Azmarin Pass High School. Next door was Azmarin Pass Middle School, Zareen’s destination. 

His mother unlocked the doors, not bothering to wish them good luck at their new schools or a good day as the brothers got out of the car. She did however let them know that they would have to walk home after school, because she would be too busy at the hospital to drive them home. Then, just like that, the car was gone. Their mother left them without a word of goodbye, but it didn't faze Zareen or Tykeim in the slightest. They were used to their mother’s behavior and didn’t expect anything less from her. It was already good enough that she took time out of her busy schedule to take them to school, why ask for anything more?  

Highschoolers littered the front of the school, groups of students gathered together, chatting and hanging out with their friends before classes began. Some students sat on the steps that led to the school waiting for their friends, while others walked past them into the building . Tykeim took a step towards the stairs, his mind already on his classes, when he suddenly heard his name.

“Tykeim, wait!” 

A burst of courage ran though Zareen’s body as he slid his hand out of his hoodie and grabbed his brother’s arm. Tykeim stopped in his tracks, turning his body towards Zareen with pursed lips, his black eyes narrowing as his focus shifted to his younger brother.

“What do you want, Zareen?” Tykeim asked, pulling his arm out of Zareen’s grip and taking one of his earphones out of his ear.

“I wanted to wish you a good first day of school.” Zareen avoided Tykeim’s gaze and shove his hands back into his hoodie pocket. That wasn’t exactly what he wanted to say but… 

“That's all?” Tykeim sounded doubtful and raised an eyebrow. 

“No, um...” Zareen hesitated for a second, shifting his book bag straps with his shoulders as he glanced back at his brother. 

The rush of courage had left him as quick as it came, leaving him timid in front of Tykeim now that he had his older brother’s attention. Zareen wasn’t sure if his brother would agree or not to his request but as Tykeim’s patience began running out, he forced the words out of his mouth. 

“Can we walk home together after school?” 

It was a simple wish. A simple request. One that came to mind when their mother told them they would have to walk home after-school. It wasn't everyday Zareen saw an opportunity to hang out with his older brother. But as soon as Zareen the question left his mouth, seconds thoughts began to fill his head as he unconsciously braced himself to be rejected. For his request to be by his big brother's side to be turned down without hesitation. 

"Sure." 

He shouldn't have ever opened his mouth, he should not have stopped Tykeim, should not have wasted his brother's time, after all why would his brother want to spend time with-

"Huh?" Zareen snapped his head up to meet Tykeim's relaxed gaze. 

Did he hear that correctly? Did his brother really just accept his request? Did Tykeim just agree to spend time with him? If Zareen had a tail at that moment, he was certain it would be wagging behind him, like an excited dog when his owner would play with him. 

"I get it, it's a new town and you're a little nervous right? You're probably sweating at the thought of walking home alone without your big brother there to protect you." Tykeim laughed and reached out a hand to ruffle Zareen’s hair. "You can't do anything without me, can you?" 

Zareen opened his mouth to refute his brother but immediately closed it. His brother wasn't necessarily…wrong about that statement. 

“Anyway, you should be making your way towards the middle school. You don’t want mom to think you're trying to skip school, especially on your first day, right?” Tykeim was smiling at him but Zareen could hear the warning in his voice as his hand left his head. 

Deciding not to push his luck, Zareen nodded his head obediently and took a few steps away from his brother. He already got what he came for, there was no need to hog up his big brother’s time anymore than he has already.    

“I’ll see you later then, Tykeim.” 

Tykeim nodded his head in agreement before continuing his way up the steps, not once turning back to look at him. Zareen watched him though, waiting until his brother’s figure disappeared into the building to finally head towards the middle school. A smile graced his face as he walked , ready to start his first day of school. Too absorbed in his own happiness to notice the neglected phone in his pocket lighting up as a new message came through.

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Zareen sat by himself on the sidewalk outside his school, as other middle schoolers passed behind him. Laughter and chattering filled the air as his fellow students headed home, in groups and in pairs. He ignored the middle schoolers behind him as he waited patiently for his big brother to come. As Zareen waited, he watched some ants as they circled a dying bug, with its little wiry black feet kicking in the air as it laid on its back, trying hard to fight against its inevitable death. The ants patiently waited for their prey to cease its struggling, before closing in on the bug and piling on top of it as they teared into its body with their sharp mandibles.