He Is Why I Can't Look Two Seats Ahead -- Brad
Saturday morning was hell. Waking up after what happened last night was hell. Existing after what happened last night was hell.
I groaned loudly as I slowly began rolling out of bed. I knew he was gone, but not for long. I quickly began getting dressed and ready to leave so I'd be gone by the time he came back. I was not going to make the same mistake as last Saturday morning.
I climbed out the window and ran. I ran as far and as fast as I could before he could get home.
I pulled out my old Walkman and began listening to an old AC DC track that's been stuck for years, but it's okay because I love AC DC.
"Brad!" I heard a sickly sweet voice call out. I looked away from my people-watching and saw two girls with brightly-coloured hair walking towards me with big smiles on their faces. Shit.
"Mal," I said quietly once they'd reached me.
She smiled at me. "This is Erin. She's amazing, sweet, funny, loves AC DC, and makes the greatest bacon ever." So that's who the girl with the green hair was.
"Will you marry me?" I asked her, getting onto one knee.
"My heart belongs to another," Erin said with a short glance at Mal. Weird. Or not.
Mal wrapped her arms around Erin, a smile on her face. "Mine," she mumbled into Erin's shoulder.
"Not really. She likes to joke."
I could see the hurt look in Mal's eyes as she pulled away from Erin, so I'm guessing there was something wrong with her statement.
"So, where did you come from?" I asked Erin.
"California," she said shortly. Kind of the same way Mal was talking to James yesterday.
"So, Brad, we're on our way to pick up James and Connor for an EMP. Wanna come with us?" Mal asked with a smile. I want to slap that smile off of her face.
"What's an EMP?" I asked with a strange look Mal's way.
"An epic mattress party!" Mal and Erin screamed together in unison.
"What's that?"
"We shall educate this squishy version of Harry!" Erin screamed with enthusiasm as she grabbed my arm and began skipping, dragging me along, with Mal forced to run after us.
"Stop!" Mal screamed a few minutes later, all three of us completely out of breath. "We need to be quiet. Connor needs to be snuck out so neither of you move."
Mal ran away, the leaves crunching under her feet. I saw. Her climb up a tree and sit in front of something for a moment, before being swallowed into the side of the house.
"You guys are dating, aren't you?" I asked Erin.
"Yeah," Erin answered after much hesitation.
"Cool. You guys are cute."
"Just don't tell anyone, yeah? Mal was okay with us being public at our old school, but that's just because it was a very accepting community that that we lived in. It's not the same here. She's scared."
I nodded, knowing from the start I'd keep it a secret. Though she never shuts up, Mal is obviously a very private person and I'd hate for her to feel uncomfortable, especially at my hands.
A few moments later, she came running back to us, Connor Ball in tow.
"Hey," I said to him.
He nodded in response. Okay then. Tried to be nice.
"Let's go get my shiny prince then, yeah?" Erin asked us with a smile. Mal responded to her with the same one, grabbing her hand and taking off, leaving Connor and I to chase off after them.
(>^-^)> <(^-^<)
Connor and I were out of breath completely, and had to lie down on James' big, green, grassy lawn to catch our breath.
"Hi," I heard a small voice say beside me. I turned to see Connor turned to see me, a small smile on his face, making it transfer to mine. "I felt bad for not talking to you earlier."
"You're fine."
"Jamesy!" I heard Erin's sweet voice squeal, and the sound of two pairs of feet thumping on the ground, one set on a wood porch, the other set in a grassy lawn. We heard the slam of bodies colliding, and I turned to see Erin all wrapped up in James' arms, big smiles on both faces. But it's was friendly. Erin clearly loved James, and James clearly loved Erin, just not the same way that Erin loves Mal.
"Is that Connor and Bradley?" I heard James ask Mal quietly.
Before she could answer, I corrected him. "It's Brad, actually. Bradley's too formal."
"Let's get going. We're having an EMP. And Vikki is there, but it'll be fine because she's going to be too preoccupied with trying to get Case to pay attention to her, and Case'll be too preoccupied with Tris to talk to Vikki," Mal said with another smile. It's all smiles today and I'm not liking it.
"Tris?" I asked quietly as my breath hitched at the sound of his name.
She nodded, and we all began chasing after her again.
(>^-^)> <(^-^<)
When we finally got to Mal's house, I almost fell over from exhaustion, but I couldn't because I was keeping Connor up. He was very weak.
I felt the weight of Connor leave my body, and I looked around for whatever happened to him.
"James took him from you. You were daydreaming and staring into the door's soul. It got uncomfortable, so it opened and you were staring at Tris." Fucking Mal.
"What's James doing here?" a girl who looked like Mal with red hair asked with a frightened expression.
"I invited him," she replied shortly. "Brad, Connor, this is my sister Casey. Brad, Connor, James, this is my friend Vikki."
"Best friend," Vikki 'corrected.'
"Right. Best friend. Guys, these are some boys I met in maths. We're in a group with Tris," Mal lied, knowing none of us were comfortable with how we'd all really met.
"Wait, where's Connor?" I asked to the air.
I felt a tap on my shoulder, so I turned around to see Connor with his head on James' shoulder, his arms around his neck, and his legs around his waist. Thank goodness, I thought I'd cry if something happened to Connor. Connor is so sweet and small. I'm scared to death for him half the time.
I smiled and turned back around, only to meet Tristan's fiery gaze head on. Damn. He smiled, and I smiled back, but not before Vikki decided to speak up.
"Why the hell is that gay kid here?" she asked Mal with a disgusted tone as she looked at Connor.
"I invited him. If you have a problem, leave. I don't really want you here anyway." Vikki gasped audibly and ran out the door, purse in one hand, wiping tears with the other.
"That was harsh," Connor said quietly.
"Sorry to disagree Connor, but that was very mean what she'd said about you. It's not right for her to feel that way about anyone, and she needs to get a new perspective because the one she has now is clouded with judgement and hatred," Tristan said quietly, as if he didn't want to be heard, but he still wanted to say those words. My heart stopped as I looked at him, his eyes staring into my soul. His arms draped across Mal's sister. His knees bent and legs spread a bit, Mal's sister sitting between them. His hands holding those of Mal's sister, twirling her fingers in his.
I wished it was me. I wished I could be the person sitting with him, cuddling, all wrapped up in one another. I looked away, unable to handle it anymore.
"Hey, Brad, how about we get some snackies?" Mal asked with a sympathetic look on her face. I nodded.
Before we could leave, Erin grabbed Mal's hands and pulled her into her, kissing her cheek and whispering in her ear, but only I could hear. "Hurry back, beautiful."
Mal smiled and I followed her to the kitchen. "What was that?" I asked her once we were in the kitchen.
"That was Erin. Erin kissed my cheek. That's all." Mal looked genuinely happy that Erin had done that, obviously still upset about what happened at the park. "What was that look you gave Tris?"
"What?" I asked in complete surprise. I didn't know she saw that.
"Look, Brad. Tris is insecure about who he is. He knows, but he's scared. He told me one night when he was super drunk after I picked him up from a party. Anyway. Brad, I know how you feel, it's obvious to me. But that's only because I pick up on things. I know who should and shouldn't be together. I know how people feel about each other. I can see it. I can sense it. Brad, I'm begging you, please don't make Tris even more uncomfortable. He's scared to accept himself. He is so sweet, and I know the only reason I felt like hiding mine and Erin's relationship was because of Tris, but that's just because I'm scared he'll tell people at school. I'm not ashamed, I just don't want a repeat of what happened in junior high. Erin and I were young, naive. We thought it was okay. Kids bullied us for the rest of junior high. We'd come home with a black eye to get a matching one on the other eye. But we got into high school. No one would speak to us. No one. Absolutely no one. Just the two of us. People were a bit more okay with it then, but they still wouldn't talk to us. We had so many friends, Brad. Everyone knew us. Everyone was kind to us. Everyone was our friend. And then, no one was our friend. But, sophomore year came along, and our old friends, the real ones, came back to us. But we just couldn't talk to them. We could barely look at them. It was humiliating. I felt so stupid. And then we moved here about a week into sophomore year. Erin moved to California. And now I'm here, telling someone I've barely had a conversation with my who-" she didn't get a chance to finish her story. I hugged her.
I hugged her so hard. I needed to make sure that she knew I cared. I don't know this girl, but I do care. It'd be impossible not to. I can already tell that James and Connor care about her, but I can't tell if Tris cares. He doesn't talk much.
With the sudden silence in here, I can hear Tristan talking James' ear off, the two of them debating with Connor on James' team who was better: Paul McCartney or Mick Jagger. I giggled, slightly amused at the three. And at Tristan, finally taking part in a conversation. I could also hear Erin and Casey debating which of us four boys was the hottest. Erin said Connor, and Casey said James and Tristan were tied.
"Mal?" I asked as I stuck the fourth bag of popcorn in the microwave.
"Yeah Bradwee?" she said back in a mocking tone.
I rolled my eyes. "What's the matter with Tristan and James? They seem a bit off with each other."
"James dated Casey all through sophomore year. They broke up at the End Of The Year Formal because James found her kissing another boy by the punch bowl. I'm pretty sure it was Levi Jones. James was heartbroken. He hasn't talk to me since summer. We still hung out because he basically shut out all of his friends because he and Levi were really good friends and the rest of their friends kind of sided with Levi for some reason and well, Erin was in California so I didn't get to see her. But we talk everyday. Always have. Anyway. Now, Tristan's been dating Casey for the past two months. He's not too happy, but Casey is, and that's what matters, isn't it?"
I could tell she knew that isn't what matters, but I could see how hard she was trying to keep herself from believing it, and just nodded my head in agreement.
(^_^)
We popped so much popcorn that there weren't enough bowls to put it all in. Some of it we put in jars, but those ran out quick, so we just left the rest of it in the bags.
"We come bearing food!" Mal screamed as we walked into the living room, which was now free of furniture, except for all of the mattresses in this house. Every mattress in this house is a king size. Why do teenagers need king size beds? I still have a twin.
"Brad?" Tristan called out from where he lay spread-eagle on one of the mattresses.
"What?" I asked, annoyed.
"Nuggle me!" he shouted and raised his arms, like a child would raise their arms to be picked up.
I sighed, shook my head, rolled my eyes, internally slapped myself, and layed down beside him.
I looked to my right to see Tristan curled up into a ball, his arms around my waist and head resting on my chest. I looked past him to see Erin and Mal with their knees bent, facing each other. Mal's legs were spread while Erin's were tight together, sitting between Mal's legs with a bowl of popcorn on Erin's knees, the two throwing it at the rest of us when they'd miss throwing it into each other's mouths. I looked to my left to see Casey looking for a movie, and past her I could see James and Connor deep in conversation. I wonder what about.
"Brad?"
"Yes, Tristan?"
"I said to nuggle me," he mumbled into my chest. "You still won't nuggle me and I'm cold so warm me up."
I rolled my eyes and shook my head before wrapping my arms around him, my heart beat quickening, my breath hitching. I pulled him closer and began to rub his shoulders and back, attempting to warm him up.
I became scared. He has a girlfriend. His girlfriend is all alone and everyone in here is coupled up. She's seriously picking out a movie that no one else is going to watch because we're too wrapped up in someone else to even take our eyes off them.
That fear went away when I heard Tristan sigh, nuzzling his head into my neck, his soft hair comforting me, as if to let me know that everything's okay. Casey looked at me, and I could tell she didn't care. She smiled at me and mouthed the words 'thank you.' I don't know for what, so I mouthed the question, and she mouthed back, 'making him happy.'