Nothing Personal.

I bit my lip, tilting my head as he spoke. He spoke slowly, and softly. It was really obvious he was having a hard time saying what he was. He sat next to me, his hands on top of mine which were resting on both of our legs. He wouldn’t look me in the eyes, and he was mumbling.

“Rian, hun. I don’t hear what you’re saying,” I told him, biting my lip harder. He sighed, looking me in the eyes for the first time. He opened his mouth and shut it a couple times, before he scowled. He looked like an angry fish.

“Kyler,” he mumbled. “I’m, uh...” he took a breath. “Moving.” I blinked a couple times, trying to process what he had just said.

“What?” I asked stupidly, blinking a couple times. He nodded.

“And, I uhm, want to break up,” he went on. My heart sank, and my eyes began to water. He couldn’t be for real. My brother had to put him up to this. Jack was enough of an asshole to do that.

“Are you for real?” I asked. He nodded slowly, averting his eyes from my face. He hated to see me cry.

“Kyler, I’m sorry.” He stroked my cheek for a moment, gave me a small kiss and then was gone. Just like that. In the matter of a moment, I had just lost the boyfriend I thought I actually had a future with.

***

“Ky?” Jack’s voice carried through the door. “Come on, Ky. It’s been three fucking months. You need to get over it.” He knocked on the door, calling to me again. I buried my face deeper into my pillow, sniffling a little.

“Come on. I want you to meet a couple friends of mine,” he told me. I rolled my eyes.

“Jack Barakat, fuck off,” I shouted, rolling over to look at the ceiling. The doorknob jiggled, and there was knocking again, like knocking and jiggling the door would be some cheat code to get it open or some shit. I bit my lip, putting the pillow over my face.

“Do Mom and Dad know you talk like that?” he asked, trying to open the door again. I snorted, shaking my head.

“Do Mom and Dad know you talk like that?” I asked. I heard him sigh, and I could imagine him shrugging.

“Fair enough. Just come out. Meet Alex and Zack,” he said softly. “For me? Kyler, I’m worried about you,” he told me. “You don’t eat, you never leave that room...all you do is cry.” He sighed. “Just come out today. For me.” I bit my lip, thinking about it. Of course he tries to guilt me. That was just like him.

“Fine,” I mumbled. “But I get to pick where we go.” He groaned, and I heard him hit his head on the door. I laughed a little.

“Fine,” he said. “Just hurry up. Zack’s getting hungry,” he said. “He’s scary when he’s hungry.” I laughed a little, getting off my bed, going over to my closet to pull out some clothes. Catching a glance of myself in the mirror, I realized I’d need a lot of make up to fix the effects of all my crying. I got dressed quickly, making my belt tighter than it used to be. Jack was right. I hardly ate, and there was quite a bit of weight loss involved with that. I had to wear a skirt that was usually too tight and wear a belt I haven’t warn since the seventh grade.

Once I was finally ready, I unlocked my door, letting it swing open. Jack was leaning against the doorframe. He smirked when he saw me.

“Kyler, it’s been a long time. I had forgotten what you look like,” he said, laughing a little. I rolled my eyes, pushing passed him. When I got to the living room, I stopped short.

“Woah.” In my living room, there were two extremely hot guys sitting on the couch, like they did it every day.

“Kyler, meet Alex and Zack. Guys, meet my little sister, Kyler,” Jack introduced, putting his arm around me in that protective brother way. One of the guys, the one with the blonde hair tilted his head. I noticed then he was pretty ripped. Have to admit, that’s pretty hot. The guy sitting next to him was pretty cute too. He was no muscles, but the hair was working for him.

“Kyler,” the one with the hair said, making a face. “You used to date Rian Dawson, right?” Jack groaned, giving him a look.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, looking down at my feet. “I did.” Jack made a noise before he picked up his car keys.

“Alright, let’s go.”

***

After driving around for half an hour while I decided where to go, we eventually ended up at the hot dog stand in the middle of the park. Sure, it wasn’t the best food in the world, but it was the park. It was fresh air and sunlight that I needed, so no one complained about it. I sat next to muscles, whose name was Zack, and across from hair, whose name was Alex. Jack was off getting the food, leaving me with his two friends.

“So, how do even spell Kyler?” Alex asked. I shrugged, looking up at him.

“Can you spell Kyle?” I asked shortly.

“Yeah,” he said slowly.

“Add an R. That’s how you spell Kyler,” I sighed, putting my head on my arms, which were crossed on the table. He shifted, looking back at the stand to see if Jack was coming back.

“I’m going to go see if he needs help,” he informed, getting up from the picnic table and heading back towards the stand. Zack cleared his throat, and I looked over at him, swiveling my chin on my arms. He gave me a faint smile.

“You know your brother’s worried about you,” he told me. I shrugged a little, sighing heavily.

“I’m worried about me, Zack,” I replied. “I don’t know why I’m still hung up on him.” He shrugged at me.

“Because you’ve spent all your time locked in your room. Not living your life. You haven’t given yourself a chance to get over him,” he said. He looked over towards Jack and Alex for a moment before he looked back at me, and speaking in a lowered voice.

“I know Jack’ll kill me for this, for corrupting his little sister or whatever, but there’s a party at my place tonight. Why don’t you come over for a little while? You could use some fun,” he whispered. “If you want.” I sighed, making a face.

“Sure,” I said finally, “Why not?” Jack and Alex came back over with all the food, which got thrown on the table. Zack gave me a smile.

“Gotta move on,” he said, pulling over three or four hot dogs. I guess he was right.