It was raining the day my brother, Kevin, walked out of our house and never came back. It was a long time coming, but I was still shocked. He was never the kind of person who put up with other people’s problems and he usually kept to himself. He was one year older than me and I remember when I was young how he would always stay in his room, playing video games, while I stayed with the family. We were exact opposites in that sense: I loved to be around people, but he hated it.

My mother and father divorced when I was 14 and he was 15. My dad got primary custody of us and we could only visit my mom on the weekends. Kevin took it a lot harder than I did, since I didn’t really understand the severity of it, although I knew what was going on. My brother’s only place to turn to was my mom and after she left, I think he started breaking down on the inside. He tried to stay strong for me, and I wish he hadn’t. Every time he smiled, I saw the pain in his eyes. I would try and get him to hang out and play games with me, but he was never in the mood.

My father told me to leave my brother alone, but I thought that I would somehow be able to save him. Two months after our parents’ divorce, he finally broke completely and it was just over something small, or so I thought.
I had just come home from school and, surprisingly, I was very happy, even if it was pouring down rain out. I walked up to his room, which was the first one on the left when entering my apartment. I knocked on the door.

“Big brother!” I shouted. There was no answer. I pouted my chapped, dry lips. I made a mental note to ask Dad to buy me more chap stick. I knocked again, calling his name this time, but once again, he didn’t answer. I got scared. Usually, by now, he would answer the door, but there was nothing. I turned the door knob and entered the room. He was sitting on his bed, his head hanging down; he looked as if he was crying. I ran over to his side, shocked.

“Big brother, what happened?” I called him big brother the majority of the time. For some reason, it suited him more than Kevin. He didn’t respond but instead just turned his head to look at me. His eyes were a crimson red. He had definitely been crying. I hugged him tightly but he froze in my grasp. “What’s wrong? You can tell me,” I squeaked.

“Jenny, just go back to your room. I’ll be fine,” he responded after a couple minutes of silence. I shook my head. I had never seen my brother cry before, and I didn’t want him to start doing it again. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I knew that I couldn’t leave him alone with only his tears. He didn’t say anything else, and we just sat there for a while, me hugging him while he just stayed silent.
After a long while, my father called us both into the dining room for dinner. I was the first one out. Kevin took his sweet time getting there. On the dinner table was some broccoli and a hamburger. My father wasn’t the best cook, but he tried his best. I’ll give him that. Dad sat down as well, taking a bit of his sandwich. I started with the vegetables instead. Kevin did nothing.
“Son, eat something,” my dad said. Kevin didn’t answer. He just stared at the food on his plate. I looked over at him, my mouth filled with food. My dad decided that there was no use in trying to get his son to eat, so he turned his attention to me. “How was school today, Jenny?” he asked. I turned my attention to Dad.
“It was good” was all I said.
“Did you invite Ruby over?” my dad asked. Ruby was in the same grade as my brother, but he didn’t talk to her. Ruby and I were friends because we were cousins. She was a year older than I was, but she had friends all over the age spectrum. Ruby also had a sister, Isabelle, whom I was also friendly with. Ruby and I immediately hit it off because of our shared love for music. Kevin didn’t like Ruby though. He said she was stuck-up and annoying. I never saw where he was coming from.
“You invited her?” I heard my brother say quietly. I paused. His long black bangs were covering his face, but I could sense that he was mad.
“Yeah,” I muttered. “She’s going to help me with math--” I chuckled lightly, hoping that Kevin would just forget about his hatred towards my friend. My wish wasn’t granted.
“How can you be so stupid?” Kevin hissed, standing up. My father watched with interest. He had no clue that Kevin and Ruby were “enemies.” I didn’t even know until recently. “She’s a total jerk. All she does is make fun of other people.” He was right. Ruby did tend to talk a lot about other people and not in a good manner. I always thought it was just because she was a teenager, but I guess I was wrong. The only problem was, I wasn’t about to admit that.
“No she doesn’t! She’s one of the sweetest girls I know,” I yelled. Kevin scoffed.
“Kevin, I’ve met Ruby and she’s quite nice,” my dad said. Kevin’s eyes widened. He walked away from the table, back to his room. There was some banging and crashes and finally he came out, carrying a suitcase with him. He turned to me and our dad.
“I’m leaving,” he announced. “Since mom left, you all act as if I’m absolutely nothing. I am tired of being treated like this. Neither of you attempted to change this, so I’m left no choice. Good-bye.” He stormed out of the door. I sat there, shocked, before I started crying and my dad looked at the door, dumbfounded. I started shaking, hoping that Kevin would be okay.
“We should go after him!” I screamed, jumping up and getting ready to grab my coat. My dad shook his head. He knew where Kevin would be going- my mom’s. She didn’t live far from our house so it wouldn’t be much of a walk.
“He’ll be fine. Finish your dinner,” Dad ordered and I sat down. I looked at my meal, trying to make myself move my fork. Eventually, I did, but I had a hard time eating. Kevin’s plate lay untouched and cold, waiting, like me, for him to come back.