3. So much more than he thought

Chapter 3: So much more than he thought

Kelsey's POV

*****

In the movies, people are shown to wake up to the sound of birds chirping, the sun shining nicely from the window as the main character wakes up with a smile on her face, ready to start the day.

Instead, I woke up to the lovely sound of kids screaming at each other.

Yes, they were fighting.

I made my way downstairs to the living room to find Noah and Lara fighting over the remote, each trying to remove it from the grasp of the other.

"Let go it's mine, it's my turn to watch today!" Lara screamed while she pulled the remote towards her.

"You watched yesterday it's my turn today," Noah fought back pulling the remote towards him.

"Well Kelsey likes me better so she'll let me watch TV," Lara said sticking out her tongue at him.

They were already using me, how flattering.

I didn't know why they were even fighting. They both had their own TVs in their rooms. If I was lucky enough to have a TV in my room, I would probably never even get out of there.

"Who said I like you better?" I asked, finally making my way towards them.

As they noticed me they let go of the remote and put it on the couch, looking down to the ground in shame.

"Why were you guys fighting over the remote at 8 in the morning when you could have easily watched in your rooms?" I said checking my watch for the time.

"We're sorry Kelsey but-" Noah started before Lara cut him off.

"But Noah started it. I was calmly watching TV looking all cute like always, because Ellie was watching the TV in my room first, and he came and stole the remote from me!" She said.

"That's not true we grabbed the remote at the same time!" Noah said starting their argument again.

"Guys enough!" I said grabbing their attention as soon as I realised that they were about to start screaming at each other again. "Don't you both have a TV in your own rooms?" I asked looking at Noah.

I was very disappointed in him. He was a fifteen year old guy fighting with his ten year old sister for the remote when he could have easily watched it in his room. I understood Lara's problem, having to share a TV with someone else, but Noah had no excuse.

"Yeah, but this one is bigger and the picture is clearer," Noah responded, glaring at Lara.

I scoffed, my lips parting slightly in disbelief. I couldn't understand why they would even be fighting so early because of a TV with a clearer picture.

"What are you, 5?! Ellie doesn't even react the way you two are acting right now. So here it goes, neither of you is getting to watch TV today, not even the ones in your rooms, how does that sound?" I said, earning groans from them.

I felt bad for having to be so hard on them in the first few days of my job, but if I learned anything from what I had often observed with regards to my dad was that you need to be tough sometimes if you want people to respect you. I could not let it slide and have them thinking that they could get away with anything just because I was nice to them.

"It's not fair, what else am I supposed to do all day?" Lara said.

"Read a book or hang out with your friends, you have your own laptop and tablet. Use them. There's this thing called youtube," I said.

I didn't know what the big deal was. She had nearly all of the new gadgets, and a pool in her own house. I couldn't understand why she wanted to watch TV so badly when there were so many other things she could do.

She sighed and stomped upstairs to what I'm guessing was her room, murmuring something like 'it's not fair'.

"What about me Kelsey, what will I do? I don't like books and all my friends are on vacation," Noah said. "I don't feel like doing anything else."

I thought about a solution before coming up with the perfect one.

"Practice your guitar" I told him, remembering the guitar strapped to his back the first time his mother introduced me to all of them. "If it's good enough, I'll let you play it for us tonight after dinner," I suggested, smiling at him as he smiled widely at me.

I could tell that he liked to play the guitar, especially since he had strapped to his back for a really long time, and I really wanted to hear him play it.

"I'd love that, thank you Kels, none of my siblings actually listen to me playing the guitar or anything," he said with a frown.

My heart tightened as soon as I took in the sad look on his face. I could tell that he wanted to have the support of his family, and I felt horrible at the fact that they never gave him the chance to. That was why for as long as I was going to be there with them, they were going to have to respect each other's dreams and talents.

"Well tonight they'll have to!" I dramatically said, raising my pointer finger in the air causing Noah to chuckle, making me feel glad at the fact that I managed to turn his frown upside down.

"Now go, you don't want to blow this chance do you?" I asked.

He shook his head and ran upstairs while I felt satisfied with myself for the way I handled that problem. I was never a strict person, and I often let things slide. That was why I felt horrible for having to ground them like that. The fact that I helped Noah do something he loved doing thanks to it, however, truly made me feel happy. I felt as if I was doing my job right.

Hearing my stomach start to rumble, headed to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast for everyone, taking out the stuff to start preparing the food.

"What's for breakfast?" I heard someone say, fanning on my neck as a shiver ran down my spine, making every hair in my body stand up.

I turned around and saw Ethan staring at the pan, a smile plastered on his face. My face instantly started heating up as I noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt, which was completely understandable considering how hot the summer days where.

But a hot summer day wasn't the only thing that was making me heat up.

"What does it look like I'm cooking?" I asked, trying to cover up how flustered I was feeling in that moment, my answer causing him to roll his eyes.

"Mom never cooks breakfast, she usually just puts a box of cereal on the table and everyone makes his own," he replied, opening one of the cabinets for a cup and pouring himself some juice. "It's nice to have some homemade breakfast for once."

I didn't really know how to reply. His parents had always been busy. I had always known the Walkers as hard working people who took their job very seriously, maybe a bit too seriously. The sole fact that they had to leave their children for four months said a lot. I knew that work was very important for them, but I felt as if they were neglecting their kids a little.

"You shouldn't hold a grudge on her. At least you have a mom," I mumbled, his eyes instantly softening.

I hated getting emotional whenever somebody mentioned their mother, but it often hurt me when I heard people saying things against their mothers, even when all they were trying to do was look out for them. I wished that I had a mother who could look out for me. I would have rather had a mother who worked too much than not have had her at all.

Ethan sighed and ran a hand through his hair making him look really attractive. "Yeah, you're right," he said, finally stepping away from me. "She may not always be close to us, but at least she's here."

I could tell that he was trying to choose his words carefully, which I really appreciated. Ethan and I already knew each other by the time my mother died. He was one of the first people I had ever met. An adorable three year old boy with rosy cheeks and messed up hair who stood next to me in my first ever school photo.

"Anyway, I was thinking maybe we could have a barbecue tonight, since it's Friday and all, I thought it would be cool," I said after a couple of minutes in silence.

I loved barbecues. My father and I didn't do them much because we liked to keep them a rarity. Whenever we had a barbecue we would always invite Meg, who was practically family, and just use the time to talk and catch up on life. It was exactly for that reason why I wanted to try and do the same for the Walker family, hoping that a barbecue would allow them to have fun together.

"Yeah I guess, the kids love barbecues they will enjoy it," he said, smiling slightly.

"Noah is even preparing a song to show you guys," I continued, smiling at the thought of Noah's happy face.

I frowned as I saw Ethan's reaction. Apparently he didn't find it that smile worthy, because he just laughed.

Not a small tiny laugh. Full on laughing.

The kind of laugh that made him sound like a goat.

Wait, no. Goats have never done anything wrong to me, I'd rather not insult them.

Poor goats.

"The heck is wrong with you?!" I reprimanded, feeling offended despite the fact that he wasn't laughing at me.

"Noah? Playing the guitar? In front of us?" He said, still in between laughs, making me mad.

I was angry at how he was reacting to the situation. Noah was really excited to have them listen to him play and his own big brother just laughed at him. I didn't know much about how siblings reacted to each other, and I knew that it was normal for them not to agree on some things, but having him laugh at something which was so important for Noah was simply disrespectful in my books.

What happened to the sweet and caring brother he was the other night?

"You know, you should really give him a chance. He said that you guys never give him a chance to make you listen to him and I find that really horrible," I said, making him stop laughing before he looked at me with a straight face.

"Damn Kelsey, chill, I was laughing because the last time Noah made us listen to him sing and play guitar was like three years ago and we ended up even getting complaints from the neighbors!" He laughed.

"Well that was three years ago! Maybe now he got better, you don't know that, you haven't given him a chance to know. He's passionate about it and you can't just take it away from him," I scolded, wanting him to just give his brother a chance.

Ethan opened his mouth to say something but then let out a sigh and walked off without a word. Not even an 'okay'. He just walked off.

I couldn't believe he would do that. Noah was a really sweet guy and he deserved better. All I wanted was for Ethan to show some support towards him, and after how I saw him act with his siblings the other night, I actually thought that he would have been more than happy to.

Apparently, I was wrong.

****

After a lot of persuading from my best friend Meg, I decided to talk to Ethan about Noah. I promised Noah that everyone would be there to listen to him, and I did not want Ethan to ruin the day for him by not believing in his brother's talents.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked on his door, entering as soon as he replied.

"Can we talk?" I asked him as soon as I opened the door.

He looked at me and sighed before removing the headphones he was wearing around his neck and walking towards his bed.

"I don't get you Ethan," I said, walking towards his bed and sitting down beside him.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, giving a confused look.

I wanted to try and find the words to say without causing an argument. We were getting along and I didn't want to ruin that, but someone had to snap him back to reality.

"The other night you were so caring towards Noah, and then all of a sudden you laughed at his dreams. Have you stopped to think on how he could have actually gotten better? He has been practicing every day at Meg's house for a whole year just because he was afraid you would judge him! Ethan you're his big brother you should be there to support him and not leave him alone like that without thinking about his feelings," I tried to explain gently.

My best friend Meg told me that he used to go over to her house to practice with May, wanting to improve.

May was a girl Meg's parents took in to their care when she was just a little girl. Her parents weren't able to give her the life she needed, and so they trusted her with the Andersons. Despite not being related by blood, Meg loved May as if she were truly her sister, and she would always protect her whenever she needed. That, automatically, turned May into another person I considered as my sister, and I was glad that her and Noah were actually good friends.

Ethan let out a sarcastic laugh before looking at me in all seriousness. "And who is going to be there to think about my feelings huh? Who was there for me to support me when I was the one who wanted to sing? who was there to listen? Certainly not my parents, who keep leaving us all the damn time. They don't even trust me enough to look after my own siblings. They had to hire you, but of course I'm the oldest kid in the family, no one has to care about what I do. Everyone has to think about the little ones, the oldest one can just take care of himself now can't he? No one has to care about him." He said, his voice breaking on the last part, leaving me silent.

I was frozen, shocked at his outburst which seemed to come out of nowhere, until I truly thought about what he said for a second. He had every right to feel that way, and I could see why he felt it.

I knew that Ethan and I weren't exactly the best of friends, but hearing him talk about himself that way made me feel sorry for him. I used to think he was so lucky to have a big family, to have both of his parents there, and yet he seemed to be suffering as much as I was because of the fact that they were never around.

Feeling alone as much as I was.

The always happy and cocky Ethan Walker that everyone loved and admired was hurting just like the rest of us.

"Look Kelsey, I know you're just trying to do your job and keep everyone happy, but sometimes it's just not possible. You're not a part of this family, you can't make everything better. You're just here for four months, after those four months are over you'll go back to being the same old Kelsey that never cared about me. You'll forget all about us. It's not the first time someone did that," he said, making my heart feel like it was breaking.

He was right. I wasn't a part of their family and I was never going to be, but one thing was for certain. I was not going to forget about them. I hated the fact that because of people's actions towards him in the past, he turned into someone who feared getting close to a person.

It was always a suspicion of mine, but I never had the proof of it, until then.

Ethan was upset and I understood that. What he said really hurt me but what he really needed was to be alone and clear his thoughts. That was why I decided to not take what he said to heart, and to give him the space he needed.

"You're right Ethan. I'll never be a part of this family. But I do care. I don't know why I do, but I do," I said, offering him a smile before deciding to leave him alone and not push him any further.

People can't always look at the surface. Within there's always something more, something others can't see. In Ethan's case it was that he felt neglected. He could feel the pain of his parents not being around when he needed them to be. It was true, my mother passed away, but my father had always been there for me. I wouldn't have known what to do if I didn't have him around.

Something about me was that I couldn't stand to see someone hurting. I always wanted to do everything I could to make them feel better, and somehow, I was going to manage to make Ethan see that he had so much more than he thought.

That he was so much more than he thought.