Innocence Meet Jealousy...Isn't She Stunning?

“Hey Jen.”

I didn’t answer.

“How was your night?”

I didn’t answer.

“You all right?”

“Leave Tristin.” I spat, refusing to look his way.

“What’s your problem?” he asked. I could hear him kicking his shoes off near the front door, Callie and Beckett running at his feet.

I’d come home and collapsed on the couch, pulling my legs up to my chest and remaining in the fetal position since. I hadn’t even bothered to turn the lights up since it’d gotten dark which left the room in a dim, reddish glow. The clock before me read midnight but it felt like it was well past three. My head was aching but in such a way that made sleep impossible. “Tristin, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave. Right. Now.”

“No. Why do you have to be in such a pissy mood all the time? You’ve been complaining all week.” he said as he walked down the hall and towards his room. “You’d think you were the one that was beat up.” I barely heard him say as his door opened.

Oh he’s done it…

“What?!” I screamed, shooting up from the couch and moving so I could see him, hand on the door knob at the end of the hall. I watched as he whipped around at the sound of my voice and froze, “What did you just say?”

“I said you’d swear that you were the one that was beat up!” he yelled back at me, clearly entirely unaware of what I knew.

I shot him an incredulous look and my eyebrows furrowed together, “Do you really want to go there Tristin?” I spat, my tone hushed but malicious.

“Go where, Jen? I’m not the one that’s acting all bitchy.” He said, confident in his argument. He turned away from me and walked into his room, letting his door fall closed behind him.

Without thinking, I followed after him, pushing his door open with a force. He had already sat himself at his desk on the opposite side of the room and was powering up his computer as I stood there.

I wasn’t mad at him, not really. I mean, he was my annoying little brother and was currently calling me a bitch, which made me beyond angry, but I didn’t think I was mad at him per se. He was a kid, a stupid, vulnerable boy and there was no doubt in my mind that he did the things he did because he’d given into peer pressure, something he’d been known for doing before.

“Get out, Jen--”

“I know what happened, Tristin.” I said calmly, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the door frame.

“What do you mean?” He asked, his tone seeming to still be sharp but I could hear the uneasiness beneath it.

I nodded slightly, knowing he’d pretend he didn’t know what I was talking about, “Alright, play dumb but don’t think I don’t already know.” I said, turning on my heel and walking back down the hall. I quickly returned to my spot on the couch, flipping on the tv and turning to whatever drama-filled crime show I could find. Maybe I could get some pointers on how to kill my brother, and maybe even Christofer, without getting caught.

“He laughed sarcastically, “There’s good reason for that.” attuned

“Then why don’t you tell me what that reason is.” I demanded, realizing that I was extremely sick of these stupid games. All easy conversation aside, I was here to find out what happened to my retarded brother. I had to remind myself that just because Chris could keep a good conversation, didn’t mean that he was a good person.

“Would you say we’ve talked long enough for you not to judge me right off the bat? Can you please just try and understand my side of the story before jumping to conclusions.” he asked slowly and cautiously. I nodded steadily in agreement and breathed in and out very slowly to keep myself inhaling at all. I should keep an open mind about this, I reminded myself. “All right, good, thank you.” he said, seeming the slightest bit relieved, “First: do you remember me telling about Marissa? Y’know my gir-- my girlfriend?” he asked.

I nodded some more. I would’ve known even if he hadn’t told me the story of how they met when she fell down the stairs andinto his arms. He didn’t say it like that, but he might as well have. But that didn’t even matter because I’m pretty sure everyone knew Marissa.

“Well, the night of…y’know, the show, we weren’t exactly getting along and I was like, really upset about it because I hate to fight and--” I snorted and he stopped, “I’m not gonna explain if you’re gonna be like that.” he said, all jokes aside.

“Be like what?” I said incredulously, feigning ignorance.

“If you’re gonna act like I’m kidding about all of this. I’m trying to tell you the truth, Jennah. What really happened.” he said, quite obviously offended.

“All right, jeez. I’m sorry, I’ll stop.” I said, folding my hands tightly in my lap.

“Thank you.’ his expression softened a bit, “Anyways, we were fighting and I was upset and after the show the guys and I went out back and just smoked for awhile, just to ease all the tension, y’know?”

“Smoked?” I asked hesitantly, hoping to clarify.

He paused a little and looked down, “Like, thegood stuff.” he was tentative.

“Oh.” I mouthed, rolling my eyes the slightest bit.

“You said you wouldn’t judge.” he stated, giving me a hard look.

I held up my hands defensively, “I’m not, I’m not. Please, just continue.”

He nodded although he didn’t seem all that convinced. “So, we were out there and I was trying to get everything off of my mind when your brother and his friends, er--bandmates or whatever came out and asked if they could join.” I swallowed hard, “And I mean, I was as high as a fucking bird at that point.” he paused, suddenly aware of his vulgarity, “Sorry.” he murmured.

“I don’t care, keep going.” I brushed it aside and urged him.

“Okay so the guys and I didn’t really care. Figured we’d let the kids have some fun ‘cause like, they’d just played a kick ass show. To be honest with you, I didn’t care what anyone did. But the other kids left and it was just your brother and the uh, brown haired one, I think.”

“Matt.” I filled in, knowing at least a little about this part of the story.

He nodded and laughed a bit, “Sure, Matt. Dude, the kid was going crazy. He was way too into it and at first, I thought that your brother was really chill, like he was so much calmer than Matt.”

“Ha, that’s so far from the truth.” I said.

Chris gave me a look and laughed as if to imply that he knew, “We were all having a good time together ‘cause its hard not to with that stuff, but everyone started getting all weird when Marissa came outside.” he paused and took a deep breath, looking away from me towards the ground, “I really don’t know what she was doing, but she just came outside and stood there with us. She didn’t even talk to me, she just stayed away and took a few drags. And as if that didn’t make me mad enough, that dumb Matt kid went and started hitting on her. And I don’t mean that harmless, teenage-boy.” his voice had suddenly turned sharper, angrier, “The kid was being a real jerk. Like the kind of stuff you never want to be said to your girlfriend, even when you’re mad at her. No, especially when you’re mad at her.

“So I got mad, I’m not gonna lie. I told that Matt kid to knock it off but he just gave me this stupid smile and kept calling Marissa ‘baby’ and ‘mama’, asking her if she really took me seriously. I kept telling him to shut his mouth, but he wouldn’t. He just kept saying those things to Marissa. And when she didn’t stop him, it made me more mad. But see, I still didn’t do anything. Not until Matt shoved me and got right in my face. I shoved him back and--”

“Wait, how was Tristin involved in any of this?” I asked.

Chris gave me a look that basically told me to shut up and I snapped my mouth shut, “Things were just about to get bad with Matt, I had a feeling and no one was like, straight enough to stop it. The kid was just about to throw the first punch when your brother went like, crazy. He was screaming and came at me like you wouldn’t even believe. It wasn’t until he did that that everyone else kinda realized what was going on and damn, the kid put up a fight. Half of his injuries he caused himself, but it was a mess. Everyone ran and left me there with him and Matt and Tristin just wouldn’t calm down. He just kept trying to fight me and I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t hold back. I was still really angry. I’m just--I’m really sorry.”

I didn’t say a word and I swallowed hard.

“Jennah?” he asked. I nodded my head but didn’t respond, “Can you say something?”

I took a deep breath and ran back over what Chris had just told me in my head, remembering all the details, “I didn’t expect that.”

He laughed nervously and pushed his hair out of his eyes, bobbing up and down, “That’s understandable.” there was another moment of silence and I knew that he wanted me to give my full opinion but I just couldn’t. I didn’t really know just what to think yet, “Do you still hate me?”

A weird feeling surrounded my stomach at the sound of hesitation in his voice, “Ummm…” I began, “I don’t think I do.” My voice was unsure and I knew he could tell.

“Alright, good, good. How about we get you home?”

If only the story ended there. If only that was all that happened.

If only that was all Christofer wanted to say.