I stay hidden in the comfort of my room as I listen to the loud music and cheers of my brothers and their friends. They are having a party, and now I felt trapped in my room.

I feel like it would be weird if I show my face down there because they’re all college kids, I think to myself. I had met all of their friends before when my brother asked if I wanted to hang out with them. Of course I was skeptical because I’m not close with my brothers, but I agreed nonetheless.

I look down at my dog, who is waiting for me to lie down on my soft bed. How could I say no? I sink into the fluffy blankets and grab my sketchbook. I might as well draw while I’m stuck up here. I put the 4H graphite pencil to the paper and begin to glide the pencil against the smooth paper. After about an hour, I am halfway through finishing my drawing. All of a sudden, I hear one of my brothers’ friends, Victoria, call for my dog.

“Bandit! Where’s bandit?” she says, as her voice booms through the hallway.

“Should be upstairs in my sister’s room,” my brother says, exposing my location. I look over at my dog, who is wagging his tail at the sound of his name.

Is she going to come upstairs? I hear footsteps getting closer and closer. With every step, I feel my heart start to beat faster. What do I do? She’s going to come into my room and see me!

I honestly don't know why I am scared. Maybe it is because I don’t want her to see me in my comfy pajamas on. Whatever the reason was, I was still scared. I had to mentally prepare myself for her to open that door and see me, but I obviously don’t have enough time since my room is the first door she would see when she got up the stairs. When she swings the door open, I freeze in place awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

“Hey, what are you doing up here when the party is downstairs?” she says as she leans down to pet my dog.

“I didn’t want to intrude. I feel like it would be weird if I were there because I’m the only one in highschool,” I say as I look down feeling shy.

“It won’t be weird. My little brother who’s a senior is downstairs.” I feel encouraged by her words. Maybe it won’t be that awkward, but then again, I’m awkward. “Come on, let’s go downstairs!” She grabs my hands without even letting me answer and starts to bring me downstairs. As soon as I got downstairs, I was hit with the smell of delicious food.

“Guess who I brought down?” All twenty of them look over at me and cheer. I didn’t know how to react to all this attention. Half of me liked the fact that they actually acknowledge me, but the other half is scared I’ll do something silly in front of them. They all smiled kindly at me and gave me warm hugs.

Vincent, another one of my brothers’ friends, comes up to me and greets me with a hug.

“I heard you like to draw. Do you have any of your drawings with you?” I was taken back by his question because not a lot of people know I like to draw.

“I have my sketchbook upstairs.”

“Bring it down here girl! Let me see them.” I eagerly run up the stairs and swiftly grab my sketchbook. I didn’t want to attract attention, so I call over Vincent so that he would be the only one to see. He soon starts to skim through my drawing, and his eyes widen. I felt proud to see that I amazed him because I thought it wouldn’t be cool enough for him.

“Oh my gosh. Guys, come look at this!” My heart stops, and I am soon surrounded by everyone. I feel embarrassed because I don't like a lot of attention, but they all kept complimenting me on my drawings.

“You should get an instagram account and post all of these. These are so good!” I never really showed anyone but my friends my drawings because I thought they would think it’s weird. I felt really happy to know that they wouldn’t judge me so easily. After I put my book away, they start to play different games. I didn’t know how to play any of them, so I just sat and watched. However, they all really wanted me to play. I felt wanted, and I couldn’t explain how happy I felt. The night was filled with a lot of fun times and laughter. They were all drinking except for me because I was too scared to since I was too young. Luckily, they didn’t peer pressure me to drink, which made me realize something––they really care about me. I don’t have to be “cool” to have fun with them, and they don't want me getting hurt.

By the end of the night, we all gathered together in the living room. Vincent stands up with his girlfriend, Sabrina, and raises his cup.

“I am so happy to have all of you here tonight. I couldn’t have asked for a better group than this. Any normal person would see us as a group of close friends, but that’s where they are wrong. We’re not just a group of friends. There is no way. We have something friends don’t. We have that bond, that love that they don’t. You wanna know why? It’s because we’re family!”

He lifts his arm to reveal his recent tattoo that says “family” in chinese. He raises his cup. “To family!”

“To family!” We all cheer as we raise our cups as well. In that moment, I was filled with joy. Though Vincent wasn’t completely sober saying that speech, I felt how genuine he was. I felt so blessed to be a part of this group. I may not have known them for long, but it feels as if I’ve known them forever. This is the one place where I felt included, and I knew that the man upstairs was watching over.

I truly felt joy that night.