Moving day has arrived. Kyler and I packed Mom’s SUV with most of her belongings. She already packed her new clothes from the other day in the dresser totes so that saved us a trip or two from the house. There were a few extra boxes that had to go in the back seat of my pick up. I asked Kyler to ride with Mom and Dad so I could talk to Hannah alone. He agreed without having hurt feelings, even being two years younger than Hannah he understands exactly how much we have sheltered her from the real world.
Once we were on the road, I made sure Hannah understood that just because she was going to be at school without Kyler and me, she wasn’t alone. Rather than talking every night at the house, we would talk nightly on the phone or Facetime. I made sure to let her know that she didn’t have to like it and it would be okay to come home if she really hated it. I didn’t want to acknowledge the possibility of my little sister finding a boyfriend or going to college parties, but I didn’t want her to be naive about those realities. So I sucked it up and put it all out there for her.
“Hannah I know you are looking forward to being on your own. There will be lots of guys who would love to be with you. There will also be plenty of parties and what you see at them may shock you. I don’t want you to think you need to be with a guy simply because he expresses interest in you and we aren’t here to tell you no. I can’t tell you not to go to parties but I want you to be smart about them. Explore slowly, don’t drink at the very first party you go to. Go with someone you trust and stay sober so you can see what the drunk girls are missing. Never accept a drink at a party that you don’t open yourself.”
She took hold of my hand and put me out of my misery. “I love you Calvin. You are my very best friend. I know why I have been sheltered my whole life. Just because I finally have the freedom to do what I want doesn’t mean I am going to go off and put myself at risk for all the things Dad and you have worried about. Do I want to have friends? Of course I do! But, it doesn’t mean I am going to jump into bed with the first guy who tells me I am pretty.”
It was hard to let go of my role as older brother slash protector. I reminded myself yet again that she is the smartest person I know. If I can keep the lines of communication open with her, she will tell me what she is up to while she is here. I know she could see me struggling when she told me, “Seriously Calvin, you can come stay with me whenever you want. I will be missing you just as much as you will be missing me.”
We pulled into the parking lot closest to her dorm and found more than two dozen other parents there helping their child go off to college. I am not going to lie, it was hard to turn off the typical guy reaction of checking out all the hot girls. My dad pulled me up short when I was too busy checking out a couple of chicks to see that my mom and sister were trying to carry a load of her stuff from the SUV. Dad directed Mom and Hannah to lead the way while us guys carried the boxes behind them. Hannah had studied a map of the campus and her dorm so she knew exactly where she was going. The five of us crammed into the elevator silently. You could feel the tension building the closer we got to her room.
I hadn’t made it into her room yet when my dad reacted for the first time. “There is no way in hell you are living here Hannah, I don’t give a shit what I said or how much we’ve paid. Fuck that, you are coming back home with us.”
Instantly I thought to myself thank god. We can quit pretending this is going to be okay! Hannah isn’t going to be staying which means I won’t have to worry from so far away. When I rounded the corner into Hannah’s dorm room, I saw exactly what had my dad freaking the fuck out. One hot chick, who I assume is her roommate, and two big guys. Now keep in mind, my dad isn’t a slouch by any means. He is 6’2 and 200 lbs., he is pretty solid for his age. I’m only an inch taller but have about 20lbs on him. Kyler is still growing, he just broke 6’ and is trying hard to build muscle. Both of these guys are clearly taller than I am, which means I would guess one to be 6’4” and the other 6’5”, both were built about the same as me.
Hannah was smart enough to keep her mouth shut. There wasn’t anything she could say that would change this. Mom however, quickly jumped in and reminded my dad that they had agreed to let her try it. The taller of the two guys stood from the empty bed and quickly acknowledged all of us. As soon as he introduced the three of them as siblings I relaxed. I saw the shorter one move to block his sister from the rest of us and that is when I knew these guys treated their sister the same way I treat Hannah. Before my dad could make a bigger scene and embarrass Hannah, I tried to help the situation. “Wow, we are pretty lucky her roommate has two brothers bigger than us. And look at that, they are hanging out here to protect her.”
Dad understood and Steve, the taller one, quickly confirmed that they are always hanging out to protect their sister and that adding a roommate to the protection detail would be a piece of cake. I liked the guys even more when they offered to help carry in the rest of Hannah’s boxes. On the way out for the next load, Steve gave Dad and me his phone number. We gave him ours as well, that way he could be our eyes and ears on Hannah.
Once we got everything unloaded, we weren’t ready to leave her so Dad invited everyone to dinner. The roommate and brothers jumped into my truck with Hannah and me. At dinner, we found out that the brothers are actually fraternal twins and two years older than Sierra. The twins are starting their third year here and Sierra is brand new like Hannah. It was fun for me to watch the siblings interact. It was clear that Sierra and Hannah had a lot in common, both sheltered beauties. Listening to Steve, he is clearly the smart twin and Curtis is the more athletic one.
As we made our way back to campus, both twins let me know I was welcome to come stay with them anytime. They were fraternity brothers and lived at the frat house. I shook both Steve’s and Curtis’ hands. I was shocked when Sierra reached out to do the same. My hand engulfed hers completely and as soon our hands connected, a jolt ran through my body and nearly dropped me to my knees. Her face instantly snapped up to look at mine. The shocked look in her eyes confirmed that she must have felt it too. She quickly dropped my hand and turned to shake hands with Kyler.
Hannah didn’t waste any time wrapping me in her arms. She knew the good bye was going to be hard for me; just as I knew it was going to be hard on her. She knows I hate it when she cries which is another reason I think she opted to tell me goodbye first. We held on for an extra-long hug before I told her I would call her later. Without looking around, I jumped into my truck and took off. If I made good time on the road, I would arrive just in time for the party at the cliffs; where I am sure I could find someone to take my mind off missing Hannah.