My Brother From Another Universe

I'm so excited to try out my latest invention which I've just finished working on and modifying. I've been working on it for the past eight months and now it's finally done, I can't wait to test run it and see how well it works. No one thinks I can pull this off, not even my parents and especially not my sister, Austin. She's just twelve minutes older than me but acts like she's twelve years older than me. They all think I'm wasting my time but I'm gonna show them, I'm gonna show them all. 

"You still on this shit?" Austin asks as she comes into my room. Here we go. 

"She's a full grown invention now, so address her with some respect okay," I say, raising my voice a little. Just a little. How dare she call my invention a 'shit'. 

"Why don't you just give it a break? You've been on that thing for months."

"Did Thomas Edison give it a break when he invented the first light bulb after so many failed attempts?"

"Dinner's ready, weirdo," She deadpans and leaves. 

I sigh. I'm not going down for dinner till I turn this baby on and prove Austin and everyone else who never believed in me wrong. This invention of mine has the ability to transport objects and people between parallel universes. The first of its kind and it would be even more iconic if it works perfectly. 

I place a marble next to the invention, I will use it to do a test run before I can try it out on larger objects and actual people. I push a green button, turning on the invention then pull the two large levers on it, making it spark and releasing bright diffuse rays of light for a whole sixty seconds. I shield my eyes from the bright lights and when the disco show is over, I check for the marble. 

It's gone. 

It works!

My invention actually works!

I do a happy dance and pat myself on the back. Can't wait to show the world what I made. Now, to bring the marble back from whatever universe it's in. 

I push the yellow reverse button and pull the levers back up. The diffuse rays of light put up another bright show, making me turn away. After sixty seconds I check again for the marble but it's not there. Doesn't it work when on reverse? 

Before I can worry any further there is a loud thud in my bathroom. I grab a hammer and walk slowly to my bathroom. As I step closer, a tall boy about my age with a good form and long dark hair walks out of the bathroom and glances at me and my hammer. 

"Where am I?" He looks around like he just found himself on Mars. 

"Who are you?" I ask, confused. Firstly, as to what he's doing here and secondly, as to how one's hair can look so fricking good. I would have to ask him later what products he uses on his hair if he turns out not to be dangerous. 

"Travis," He replies casually. He doesn't seem scared of me, or my hammer. "And who are you?" he asks back. 

"Avan," I try to sound as casual as he did. "Where are you from?" I ask again but before he can reply, realization hits me and my eyes widen in shock and partial excitement. 

"You must be from a parallel universe!" I blurt.

"If this is a parallel universe then what in the world am I doing here? One second I'm at the park picking up a stray marble and the next, I'm in a parallel universe?" 

"Did you just say you were picking up a marble?"

"Yes, but that's not the point." 

"That marble you picked up from your universe was the object I used to test my invention. Perhaps you got teleported here because of the contact you had with the marble when I tried to bring it back," I explain to him. 

"So how do I get back? I don't see any marbles around that we can use." 

"That's not a problem, come this way please." I direct him to my invention, eager to show him that it works even though he'll be leaving for another universe soon. 

"Is this the invention that brought me here?" he asks as he brushes his hand over my invention. 

"Yes," I reply, searching for my journal so I can ask him a few questions about his universe before he leaves. 

"How does it work?" 

"You push the green button then pull the two levers beside it."

"Like this?" He pushes the button and pulls the levers with so much pressure that one of the levers ends up in his hand. "Oops."

"My baby! What have you done?" I exclaim, snatching the handle from him. 

"I'm really sorry," he apologizes but I'm in no mood. This is eight months of my hard work broken in a single second. Travis looks genuinely sorry, he can probably see how important this invention is to me. 

"Well, amidst this tragedy, the good news is that this is going to take just a few hours to fix, twenty four hours tops," I announce and Travis smiles, glad that I'm not too mad about the lever. 

"That's good news, this means I'll be back home by tomorrow," he says happily.

"In the meantime, why don't you meet my family, I wanna show them just how well my invention works."

"That would be cool."

I give him a once over and realize he's dressed like every other teenage boy, he's even wearing a cool gray jacket. I really thought he'd be dressed differently since he's from another universe. I pocket my journal. 

Austin barges into my room again looking frustrated. "Would you quit fooling around with that machine and come down for dinner! Mom won't let us eat unless we're complete at the table. Hurry up!" She yells. 

"Avan dear, dinner is ready. Please come downstairs, you can't work on an empty stomach," Mom calls out from downstairs and I give Austin a look. It won't take anything from my sister to be a bit more polite, but she chooses not to. 

"If you were gonna call him, why did you send me up here?" Austin yells back at mom. 

"He's your brother."

"Whatever."

I smile. "I'll be down in a sec mom!"

"Who is that?" Austin points at Travis. 

"This is Travis, he's from a parallel universe," I reply proudly. 

"A parallel universe?" Austin scoffs. 

"Of course." 

"Of course," Austin mimics me. 

Travis walks up to her smiling sheepishly. "Hello, I am Travis."

"Travis, this is my twin sister, Austin, she's a beauty queen and a drama queen," I say. 

Austin scoffs and is about to spin on her heels when I stop her. "Wait, don't you wanna know how my invention works?" 

"I refuse to be bored while hungry," She deadpans and leaves. 

Travis nods approvingly. "She is a fine young lady."

"Uh... Thanks." 

"Avan get down here. It's already fifty seconds and you said you'd be down in a second, fifty seconds ago." Mom says from downstairs. 

"Mom, when I said I'd be down in a second, I didn't mean that I'd be down in a second," I respond. 

"Well whatever you meant you better get down here."