brothers.

31~ Overload

Jack

This week could not get any worse.

I was exhausted after sleeping at 2:00 in the morning. How my Human Development teacher expected us to finish an entire project in three days, I didn't know, but I did it at the cost of my sleep. I was so tired that I even went into the women's bathroom by mistake.

On top of that, my favorite shirt was ruined after spilling soup on myself at lunch, and it was now raining heavily. I had to cross buildings between classes, so I was soaked to the bone, my umbrella safe at home.

I was also supposed to go out with some of the guys from the team today for lunch, but they cancelled on me. Few hours later, I saw them all in the parking lot, coming back from Rita's, happy as can be. When I confronted them about it, they just brushed me off.

My texts to a couple of them were left on 'Read' and one— a Summit High grad— responded with, 'Cry to ur ghost sister lol', so at least I had a bit of an answer to my question.

Even at college, away from Summit, she still ruined my life somehow.

I waited under the awning of the Student Center for Nicole's car to pull up. I was cold, tired, and in a very bad mood. I mindlessly scrolled through FamiliarFaces in the meantime.

flynngrinn: yo

Lucas? What did he want?

jack_linus_field2004: what?

flynngrinn: how u been?

Ok ig? I texted back.

Lol, he said, ur happy w ur new sister now right?

I bristled. What r u talking about

I see tom and harry at school and they seem ok now, wondering if ur ok w ur new sister too, he said. I want to see the new amy again lol

Unable to resist myself, I cursed at him and blocked him. My already sour mood worsened, my skin heating up. It was always about her. Everyone would always talk about her. It wasn't fair.

Nicole's car finally rolled up. I wordlessly got in the back seat, Kyle in the passenger. "Hey, sweetie, how was school today?" Nicole said jokingly. "Did your teacher give you a gold star?" Both chuckled.

Normally, I would've laughed along, but I wasn't in the mood for jokes. "Not now, Nic."

Kyle turned in his seat, noticing my expression. "What's wrong, Jack?"

"Nothing."

"Did something happen?"

"No."

"You're all wet," Nicole observed, glancing in the rearview mirror as she drove. "You forget your umbrella?"

"I didn't know it was going to rain," I answered.

"It said it on the forecast this morning."

"Well, I don't have time to be checking the weather all the time, okay?" I snapped.

"Don't talk to her like that." Kyle eyed me sternly. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing, alright? I don't feel like talking."

Nicole tapped Kyle's arm. "Let him be."

The rest of the ride was tense and silent. The rain pattering on the windows irritated me by the second. Lucas's messages had really sent me over the edge.

The only reason I tolerated him was because of Tommy and Harry. They needed football scholarships for college. I didn't want to screw that up for them, not with Lucas's influence over the team. Tommy wasn't aiming for college, but he wanted to give his scholarship to Harry to go out-of-state.