A City of Fools

Eli walked into school Monday morning with an attitude and determined to find Alex Gaskarth. She and Lauren had spoken the previous day about their date (or, well, more like Lauren gushed over how adorable and sweet and cute Jack was while Eli sneered about how much she wanted to massacre the face of Gaskarth) and Lauren was furious at first which then dissipated into pleading to make their friendship work.

And, well, Eli wasn't good at disappointing her friends.

In spite of her fury, Eli knew Lauren was right. Lauren and Jack were serious (as serious as they could be dating for two whole days in high school, but that was besides the point) and Eli refused to be the one to ruin it for them. Besides, Lauren and Jack dating meant Jack and Gaskarth would be sitting with them at lunch. And Eli hated awkward tension. So she decided to suck it up and apologize—even though she still wasn't convinced she had anything to apologize for.

She stepped into the building and saw Lauren and Jack sitting against the wall, their hands brushing just slightly, a warm blush on her best friend's cheeks, and she rolled her eyes. She didn't know how long she could see the cuteness every day without throwing up. She wasn't even against romance or cuteness or puppies or rainbows or whatever Jack and Lauren would be considered—she just preferred it to be more low-key. But Lauren didn't know the meaning and it was clear Jack wasn't going to hold back. She watched as the football player leaned in and brushed a tentative kiss across her best friend's lips and she rolled her eyes again, walking the opposite way down the hall.

“You okay, Eli?”

Eli turned towards her brother, Gabe, who had sneaked up behind her. She jumped slightly. “Yeah. I'm okay.”

Gabe rose an eyebrow. “Sis.”

She sighed. “I know, I know,” she said, shaking her head. She ran a hand over her hair, brushing some strands behind her ear. “Um. I was actually looking for Gaskarth.”

“Ooh, last names only, now?” Gabe joked.

Eli laughed slightly. Only her brother could make her smile over something so stupid. “Yes.”

“Going to yell at him some more?”

“Hopefully not. I actually want to be on civil terms with him since Lauren and Jack are...Lauren and Jack,” she muttered, shrugging.

Gabe laughed. “Yeah, I saw them walking in. I was momentarily disgusted and you know how much of a hopeless romantic I am.”

Eli smiled. “Speaking of. How's boyfriend?”

Gabe blushed. “We're not at the...boyfriend-boyfriend stage yet but. We're close.”

“When do I get to meet him?”

Gabe shook his head, still blushing. “No, no, you'll scare him off.”

Eli's mouth dropped open and she slapped her brother's shoulder. “Gabriel! I would not! Mom would.” She watched her brother shake his head again and look down. “Can you imagine what dad would say?” she asked softly.

“No,” Gabe said, the mood suddenly changing as he frowned. “No, I can't imagine what the bastard would say.”

“Gabe—“

“No, he left, Elinski,” Gabe snapped. “And he's not coming back and I don't care about his stupid, fucking opinions, okay? Because he's not even my father anymore. He's dead to me like he said we were to him.” With less than a wave, Gabe turned on his heel and started to walk away. Halfway down the hall, he turned around to face his sister while walking backwards. “Also, saw Gaskarth disappearing into the janitor's closet with some sophomore whore. I'll see you at home, Elinski.”

Eli wasn't sure what the emotion was that settled into the bottom of her stomach. She could write it off as worry for her brother, anger for her father, but something else entirely that she couldn't name when she thought of Gaskarth sneaking off with some girl. She didn't know why she was suddenly interested her and that only made her even more mad.

Besides, Gaskarth's life was none of her business.

+

“Hey, girl,” Lauren said, her smile wide as she slid into her seat in English next to Eli.

Eli looked over at her. “Hey.”

“What's wrong?”

Eli's eyes widened innocently. “What do you mean?”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “I've known you for half your life, Eli, I know when something is wrong.”

“That's true,” Eli said quietly, sending a quick glance towards the teacher, who wasn't paying attention. She then looked at the clock—she still had two minutes before the bell that would signal the start of class. She sighed and met her best friend's eyes. “Gabe and I got into a bit of a... Well, it wasn't even a fight, you know? He's just. He's mad.”

“I heard about a freshman's temper tantrum,” Lauren mused, “but I didn't think it was Gabe.”

She shrugged. “Well, we started talking about Gaskarth—“

“Alex,” Lauren interrupted.

Eli sent her a glare. “About Gaskarth, and then I changed the subject to ask him about his new boyfriend—Danny—and when I could meet him, right? I stupidly mentioned our father—“

“Bad move, Eli!” Lauren said, sighing. “You never pull the dad card!”

“I know, Lauren, I know,” Eli said. “But it just came out, you know? And, God, I didn't know he was still furious about it, you know?”

Lauren shrugged. “I guess he just... He's more emotional than you.”

“I know,” she said softly. “I mean, I took it hard. But I moved on.”

“You know Gabe has to blame himself since your father left after Gabe said he was gay,” Lauren said, murmuring the last word softly as people walked around them.

“But that's not why he left, I know it,” Eli said. “I mean, I don't know why he did. But it's not Gabe's fault. I just... I want him to see that he couldn't have prevented it. The dirt bag was going to leave no matter what.”

Lauren threw an arm around her best friend's shoulder, giving her a quick over-the-aisle hug. “He'll realize it. He will.”

“I hope so,” Eli said.

The bell rang and Lauren ignored it. “Wait, why were you looking for Alex?”

“Gaskarth,” Eli whispered. “Class is starting, pay attention.”

Lauren glared at her. “We'll talk later.”

+

Gabe draped the strap of his book bag over his shoulder as he made his way to the office. It was halfway through fourth period and he faked a stomach ache, escaping to the office. He approached the front desk, coughing.

The secretary, Mrs. Osborne, looked up at him, an unamused smile on her old face. “Can I help you, Mr. Carter?”

Gabe rubbed his knuckles over his eyes. “Um, I'm not feeling too well, Mrs. Osborne. Would it be possible for me to just...go home?”

Mrs. Osborne gave him a once over. “Do you have a ride or do you need to call for one?” she asked, pointing towards the phone.

“No, I, uh. I have a ride. Thank you,” he said softly.

“Just make sure you sign out, hon. Feel better,” she told him, though her tone betrayed the words she spoke.

He nodded and signed his name in the book quickly, sending the secretary a week smile, before walking out of the office and quietly walking home.

+

“Hey, is Gabe okay?” Jack asked as Eli sat down at the table.

Confused, Eli nodded. “Um. Yes?”

“Oh,” Jack said, taking a drink of his chocolate milk. “I was just making sure. I saw him signing out earlier and—“

“He left?” Eli asked.

He nodded. “Yeah. I... I mean, is he okay?” he repeated, unsure of why she was so confused.

Eli sighed. “Huh. Maybe he just didn't feel well,” she mused. “I'll ask him when I get home. He's probably still mad at me. I said something stupid earlier.”

“But it's over now,” Lauren said before Eli could beat herself up even more. “Right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I. I guess.”

“Good girl.” Lauren smiled before eating a bite of her baked potato.

Eli took a sip of her water as she had opted against lunch. Whenever she got frustrated, she lost her appetite; water was all she wanted. “So, when are you guys going out again?”

Lauren flushed and busied herself with look through her bag, mumbling something about needing a pencil.

Jack smiled. “Tonight. We're going to Denny's.”

Lauren looked over at him, her eyes wide. “We are?”

“Yeah, babe,” Jack said.

“I thought you were kidding about going out so soon,” she said, her voice quiet.

Jack rolled his eyes, kissing her temple and he looked back at Eli. “Isn't she just a doll?”

Eli felt herself smile as Lauren flushed and giggled against his side. But the smile soon faded as Gaskarth—or Alex as she was so often reminded—joined them at the table.

“Hey guys,” Alex greeted before taking a bite of his taco.

“Sup, bro?”

Eli frowned as she watched him eat. Of course he would just walk back to the table like he owned the place, acting as if he did nothing wrong; acting as he if didn't completely humiliate her at Dave& Busters. Of course, of course he would act like that. She was more frustrated that it actually surprised her.

“Something wrong, Eli?” Alex asked, a smile on his face.

“Yes, actually,” Eli said.

Alex smirked. “Anything I can do to help?”

Yes. Go jump off a bridge. “Actually, yes. I'd like to talk to you about something,” Eli said, struggling to keep her voice even.

“Talk,” Alex told her, taking another bite of his lunch.

Eli frowned. “Alone.”

“Oh. I got you,” Alex said, sending her a wink.

Jack rolled his eyes, elbowing his side.

“It was just a little hard to find you earlier, considering you were running off to a janitor's closet with an underage whore,” Eli snapped.

Alex pushed his lunch to the side as he leaned forward on his elbows across the table.

Eli scooted back; he was too close in her personal bubble.

“Jealous?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Of what?” she asked. “I feel sorry for the poor girl.”

“Jealous,” Alex repeated, “that she got some alone time with me.”

“Alex,” Jack warned, his voice low. “Don't—“

Eli rolled her eyes. “You disgust me. I can't believe I was actually going to apologize to you,” she muttered.

Alex's eyes widened and he was surprised, but he hid it quickly. “Really? Apologize?”

“Though you don't deserve it at all,” Eli snapped.

“Alex, maybe you should just go,” Lauren said.

“Why should he leave? He's my friend,” Jack said.

Lauren sucked in a deep breath. “Jack, he keeps starting—“

“They're both starting it, babe,” Jack told her.

“I'll go,” Eli said, throwing her bottle of water into her bag and grabbing her books, standing up.

“No, it's okay—I'll go,” Alex said, grabbing his books and standing up.

Eli groaned. “Just fucking stay, Gaskarth, I said I was leaving. I don't want to see your fucking face anyway.”

“Ooh. Such language for a cheerleader,” Alex mocked.

“Listen to me, Gaskarth, I'm not playing this game with you,” Eli said, her voice low. “I'm not going to fight with you in front of my friends. And our arguments are not going to be a cause of conflict for them. So just stay away from me and I'll stay away from you, got it?”

Alex smiled, leaning across the table. “What if I don't want to stay away?”

Eli frowned and walked around the table to where Alex was standing. “You want to stay away,” she told him before slamming the heel of her foot down on his instep.

Alex groaned, face contorting in pain. “What the fuck, you stupid bi—“

“Say it, I dare you,” Eli threatened. “Stay the fuck away from me.” Without looking at Lauren or Jack, Eli turned on her heels and walked out of the cafeteria. She paused outside the door; to the right she could find solace in the library, reading or studying until her next class but to her left, she could sneak out of the building and drive home, take a nap, and try to forget about the horrible day she had already had.

She had never skipped school before. But, hey, if someone's gonna skip class, they might as well do it senior year, right? Biting her lip, she walked towards the left and made her way to her car. The drive home was quick and silent, the roads fairly empty due to it being eleven thirty in the morning. When she pulled into her driveway, she sat there for a moment, steadying her breathing. She didn't know why Gaskarth got such a reaction out of her; half of her wanted to rip his face off and the other half...well, she wasn't entirely comfortable with any part of her not wanting to rip his face off.

A movement caught the corner of her eye and she looked up; the curtains in her brother's room swaying slightly. Confused, she climbed out of the car, leaving all of her stuff behind, and walking into the house. She shut the door quietly behind her, looking around.

“Gabe? You here?” She heard the sound of feet rustling upstairs and she made her way towards the stairs. “Gabe? Bro, you okay?” she asked. The minute her foot stepped on the stairs, she heard the unmistakable sound of a gun shot and her heart stopped momentarily. She felt a cold sweat break out across her body and she ran up the stairs, nearly tripping over her own feet, as she ran into her brother's room.

Eli fell to her knees in shock, a scream escaping her lips as she crawled towards her brother's side, blood soaking the knees of her jeans and staining the pale skin of her hands. His body lay limp across the floor, their mother's .22 caliber lying next to his right hand, blood staining the carpet.

“Oh, my God.”