I Found Myself Falling...Not For the Right Thing Either

The bedroom door was thrown open by none other than me, causing the two of them to freeze. “Katie, I know you just got here, but… out, now.” I didn’t have to say anymore. Her lips fell into a frown, but she slowly got up from where she was and made her way towards the door.

“See you at school?” She asked hopefully. I grunted a reply making her sigh and continue down the stairs.

“Will you just get out Rae? I’m not in a mood to talk.” Jake mumbled as he threw his soccer ball at one of his walls, watching it bounce off, catching it and repeating the same thing.

My temper was hanging by a string and that string was very thin. I lunged forward, caught the ball mid-air and threw it onto his floor.

“No! We are talking right now. You’ll talk to Katie, but not me? What the hell Jake?!”

“She isn’t my little sister and she didn’t get with my best friend!” He growled, jumping up from his spot on his bed.

“For the last time, we’re the same age!”

“I don’t give a shit about that!” He took a step forward and so did I. “It’s the fact that you went behind my back to hook up with my best friend who is an asshole for one, which I know firsthand since well, he’s my best friend, basically a brother which is how he should treat you! As a sister, not some slut!” My blood was boiling at this point.

“Did you just call me a slut?” I asked slowly, fisting clenching at my sides.

“Well, let’s see. Every girl that gets with Craig is one, you’ve said it yourself multiple times so technically, I’m using your own words.” His eyes showed his anger and I could tell you that mine probably looked exactly like his at the moment.

“I’m your fucking sister and you’re going to call me a slut? Do you even know me?! I’m a freaking virgin, okay? Craig and I haven’t slept together and it’s none of your business if we have, either.”

That’s when he flipped. I know I was scared of Jake at the movie theater when him and Craig got into their fight, but at this moment I think I was even more terrified and if I wasn’t as angry with him as I was, I definitely would’ve ran out of the room and hidden in my own, but I just stood there as he whipped around and grabbed the lamp off of his bedside table and chucked it at his wall.

“It’s none of my business?!” The ball he had earlier was chucked at the wall as well, flying across the room and bouncing off of a few other things, stuff on his desk being knocked off. “None of my business?!” He let out a laugh, one of the ones that an evil witch lets out in a Disney movie, but with much more evil. This laugh was followed by a punch to the wall. This is when I yelped, jumped and rushed forward to grab him. At this point his knuckles were red and I knew that bruises would start to form by the hole left in the wall, but he just continued yelling as if it didn’t hurt him a bit. “You’re my god damn sister. I’m suppose to protect you from assholes and jerks like him and don’t you go saying he’s changed and that he treats you like a princess because I know Craig and you can’t just change someone like him in a few weeks! It doesn’t happen like that.”

I gulped down the saliva that had formed in my mouth, a lump sticking in my throat. “But he has-”

“No,” he cut me off, “I can tell you right now he hasn’t. He’s just using you to get what he wants and I’m not going to let that happen to you. I’d freaking disown him if he ever hurt you. I will disown him!” I know it was the wrong moment for this, but my heart warmed at that. Jake was my brother and whether I liked it or not, he was going to look out for me as much as he could. Probably the wrong moment again, but I took another step forward and wrapped my arms around him. He jerked back for a second, not expecting my sudden movement.

We stood there awkwardly for a few moments before I croaked out, “I’m sorry.” My arms tightened around him. My eyes squeezed shut as I just stood there, hugging him. All of my anger, it just fell as his words hit me, breaking through the wall I had built. “I should’ve told you from the beginning, asked even, but I just knew you’d freak out like this. We both did and I couldn’t have that. I couldn’t lose my brother and he couldn’t lose his best friend. We were just waiting for the right time for everyone to know so that it wouldn’t be like this, but it backfired and we deserved it. You have the right to be mad. You have the right to hate me forever, but please. Don’t disown your best friend. He’s basically your brother. You’ve been friends since the freaking beginning of your lives.”

It felt like the world stopped as we both just stood there. My words, hopefully, were sinking in. I was just laying everything on the line and I was really scared of what he would do, what he would say, everything. He couldn’t disown Craig. After what felt like forever his arms slowly started to wrap around me, pulling me to him as well.

“I’m sorry, too.” I let out the breath I wasn’t aware I was holding in as he breathed out those three words. Again, we remained in this position, just holding each other in a comforting embrace. Slowly, we started to pull away and I felt a tear escape my right eye. I quickly reached up and wiped it before Jake could see it.

We both started, “I’m-” stopped. “You go ahead” We once again said at once. I sighed and lifted my hands.

“You go first.” Taking a deep breath he rubbed the back of his neck.

“I love you. I’ll always be your brother, no matter what. I could never hate you, maybe dislike you a lot for a long time, but never hate you. You’re my family. I could never hate family.” A smile graced my lips as I sniffled.

“I love you too and again, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you from the beginning.”

“It’s okay.” He replied, “I mean I guess I am technically a hypocrite, but I’ve never hid things with Katie. You’ve had millions of times to express how you’ve felt about us and you’ve never said a word.”

“I know.” I mumbled, looking down. “I’m fine with it and I think it’s because secretly I’ve been doing the same thing, minus a few things.” He groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Can we please not talk about that? A little weird to talk about between siblings.”

“Agreed.” I mumbled, reaching my hand forward I asked, “Truce?” With a sigh he reached forward and grabbed my hand, shaking it as he said,

“Truce.”

“Are you two done now?” We both jumped and turned around to where Katie was standing in Jake’s doorway.

“I thought I told you to leave?” I asked, confused. Didn’t she walk downstairs?

“Well, yeah, but then I figured someone would be needed in case an ambulance needed to be called and well, I’m actually surprised that more isn’t broken. I’d say that a light bulb and a few other things aren’t so bad to what I was expecting. Besides, I was hungry and my mom hasn’t gone grocery shopping yet and I remember your mom bought those hot fudge pop-tarts that I love so much so, I decided to grab some.” She paused for a second, breaking one in half and holding it out to Jake and I asking, “Want some?”

I couldn’t help, but laugh at her.

♥

“Please everyone take out their textbooks and work on the pages that I wrote on the board. I’ve got to go to a meeting in a few minutes and I trust you all enough to be left by yourselves for a class, don’t make me have to take away this right in the future if I have to hear that you all aren’t being quiet or anything.” Mr. Kinley instructed as he wrote a few numbers of pages on the white board in front of the classroom. We all remained quietly, silently cheering inside for him leaving us for a class which every student knew that that meant that we didn’t have to do anything today and that was the greatest gift ever, especially in AP Biology. The class was hard enough on us all.

“There, now, please be good.” Mr. Kinley was a great teacher and didn’t really care what we did when he was gone, but always left us with some type of work to do when he was gone even though he knew only a few students actually did it during class.

“So, partners?” I looked up to see both Katie and Liz standing in front of me, their books in their hands as if to make it look like we’d actually work. They both sent one another scowls which had me rolling my eyes.

“Won’t you two just sit down? If anything I’m the one who has the right to be the most disappointed with the both of you, but I’m not so just sit down and please go back to being friends. This sucks. I miss our girls’ nights.”

There was a sigh between the both of them before they each dragged a chair over to my desk and plunked down into them.

Liz was the first to speak. “I’m sorry for everything I did to the both of you.”

“I’m sorry also even though I really didn’t do anything.” Katie replied. I gave her a look and she rolled her eyes. “Okay, so maybe hooking up with Jake and getting feelings for him is something, but that had nothing to do with Liz. Well, and those awful things I said about her, but then again she was saying the same things about me behind my back so, I think it they cross one another out.”

“Wow, I think my apology to Jake was better than that and mine sucked ass.” We both broke out laughing causing Mr. Kinley to give us a look before he said he was leaving and left the room causing everyone to form groups and start talking about anything other than the work we were supposed to be doing.

“Did I miss a lot?” Liz asked, looking at the both of us oddly, like we each had two heads on our bodies.

“Just a lot.” Katie said.

“Yeah, a lot.” I agreed.

“Wow, thanks guys for being so detailed with your explanations.” She mumbled sarcastically. Her legs kicked up onto the table and she leant back into her chair. She was dressed back in jeans and a t-shirt. Don’t get me wrong, I the t-shirt was a v-neck, low cut, but not as bad as her outfits used to be. It was like she changed back to whom she was before.

“Sorry, it’s just a lot has happened and a lot of it shouldn’t be discussed in front of gossiping teenagers all around us.” We all looked around as if everyone was listening in on our conversation which people could probably care less, but sense I had been the topic of gossip lately and Liz before that, you never know what people are going to say or listen to.

“So, does that mean we can all have a girl’s night, tonight?” I asked, hopeful.

“Not at my house, my parents won’t want anyone over when they have to work in the morning.” Katie said.

“Mine might not care, but we’d just have to be quiet.” I told them.

Liz’s lips pressed into a straight line as she spoke, “As much as I hate this divorce thing between my parents, I know my mom will say yes if I ask her since her and my father will do anything to make me happy at this moment in time since each one is trying to make up for what they’re doing.”

“Aw hun, I’m sorry about that all. Just know we’re always here for you, no matter what.” Katie nodded her head in agreement which caused Liz’s lips to curve up into a small smile for a few seconds.

“Thanks you guys. That makes this girl’s night even more needed. Get all of your homework for tomorrow done this afternoon because I want the both of you over my house around five or six o’clock and don’t plan on getting any sleep.”

We all laughed at the statement and agreed upon it. After, we all took out the work we needed to get done, all looking forward to tonight.