When It All Fell Apart

The noisy chatter of my classmates rung in my ears, disrupting my short-lived moment of peace. Every student looked so elated today, just because it was the very first day of school. Not me though. My head was swarming with one million thoughts at once, and more than anything I wanted to shout for everyone in the room to just shut the fuck up already.

The dull ache in the back of my head was slowly progressing into a full-blown headache. I groaned and dropped my head onto my desk. I felt someone prodding at my shoulder, and I grumbled something along the lines of, "What do you want?"

"Dude, Cameron, are you alright?" A familiar, slightly concerned voice questioned. I reluctantly forced myself to look upwards. I was met with the face of William, one of my good friends from last year. Unfortunately, we had both failed to keep in contact over the summer.

I forced a small smile, and glanced uneasily around the room. "Yea, I'm fine, just a little tired."

"How are you not ecstatic? This is our senior year, where's all that enthusiasm you used to have?" He asked, his eyes practically shining with happiness. I don't see what's so wonderful about being a senior. Sure, we're the oldest in the school, but that doesn't change the fact that this is another year of torturous work.

I shrugged, trying to play it off as nonchalant. William and I had just met for the first time since last year, and already he was realizing that something was different about me. Something was off. Not that he would find out, anyway. There's no chance of me saying anything about my little 'summer fling' with my brother, and I doubt Colton would jump at the chance of telling anyone either.

"Oh, and by the way, what's up with your brother?" William suddenly asked, breaking me out of my train of thought. I immediately snapped to attention at the mention of Colton.

"What do you mean?" I asked cautiously.

"Since when is Colton sociable?" William asked, looking a little amused.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, more than slightly confused.

"It's only first period, and he's talked to almost everyone he's met in the hallway. There's no way you haven't noticed."

I shook my head slowly, trying to comprehend what William was telling me. Colton, talking to people? The thought made me want to laugh aloud. Colton was about as anti-social as you can get. Or at least he was last year.

"Before, it was rare that he even talked to anyone at school except for you. What's going on? He already has a few friends." William continued.

Again, I could do nothing but shrug. I honestly had no clue what was going on with Colton these days. Sure, we talked at home, occasionally. We just weren't that close since we...broke up.

"Maybe he got a little too lonely." I said, trying to keep my words from sounding bitter. William gave me an odd look and took the seat beside me.

We talked for about a minute before the bell rang. Colton came waltzing in the classroom just as the teacher, Ms. Segall, was about to close the door. Two girls were practically attached to either side of him, giggling and chatting animatedly with him. Colton responded just as perkily, and it made my stomach churn. A trio of guys waved to him, and he waved right back.

Ms. Segall then cleared her throat, and Colton made a show of heading to the back of the room. He sent me a small grin, which I returned eventually, and sat directly in front of me. Ms. Segall picked up a fresh piece of white chalk and scrawled a few things on the board in her elegant script.

I exhaled loudly and leaned my head against the wall beside me. I tuned out Ms. Segall's voice and got lost in my own thoughts in a matter of seconds.

Basically, the whole rest of first period consisted of me staring at the back of my brother's head, wishing I could reach out and run my fingers through his silky, jet black locks of hair.