Newgrounds.com — Everything, By Everyone.

NOTE: I am talking about my relationship with my brother, despite the fact that part of the title suggests otherwise. Please see my previous post to find out why the title is the way it is.

I have a fantastic relationship with my brother. Not to sound corny nor egotistical, but he truly looks up to me. Since I know that I am a major influence in his behavioral life, I try my best to always set a good example for him, rather than saying that he should stop "copying me."

We also enjoy each other's company very much. Our relationship consists mostly of good humor, which includes various in-jokes and other silliness. As such, we express ourselves in ways that we don't do so with other people. In short, we are quite comfortable acting "unrefined" near each other.

However, I am not trying to say that my relationship with him is flawless. Each of us contributes to the various points of rockiness in our relationship. For instance, I am an A and high B student in high school who is currently taking three AP courses. My brother takes various mid- and low-level courses, in which he attains B's and C's. How does that relate? Well, I frequently get pissed off at him whenever he intentionally screws up in school, such as when he purposely does not do a project until the last minute (or at all). This makes him reluctant to tell me about his work in school, as he does not want me to catch him dodging work.

On a different note, I sometimes act like a general ass toward him, usually because I am being moody. For instance, whenever I have no homework left or am taking a break, and want to be by myself, he usually asks me if he could show me something or if we could hang out together. However, my mood is aggravated by my general tiredness, which leads me to sometimes raising my voice whenever I dismiss him. I don't like doing that to him, as he is only 11 and he means well.

In short, he is one of my closest friends, and I am one of his. It bothers me deeply that I have to go live in a dormitory in college, as I am not comfortable with leaving him. Our house is not necessarily the best environment for him, for reasons that I will not specify. But, on the bright side, my college is only about an hour away from my house, so I can visit frequently. Still, that is not the same as living with him and making sure that nothing undesirable happens involving him. I know that I'm going to worry like mad about him once August rolls around.