Mr. Johnson

Thirty-Three

Greyson Walker

SATURDAY

The annoying laugh of Janice from Friends floods my room as the rerun plays on the TV. I pick up the dirty clothes from the floor and toss them into the hamper across the room. A knock on the door of my apartment startles me. I check the time of the clock beside my bed, 8:13PM.

Who the hell is here?

I slide a pair of short on and hop to the front door. My jaw drops as I open it.

"Seth?"

His eyes slowly meet mine, "May I come in?"

"Of course," I step the side allowing him room to enter.

He sighs with his hands in his pockets, walking over to the kitchen bar, "I don't really have anyone else to talk to, Grey. I know what I said about never seeing you or speaking to you ever again, but maybe I was overreacting. I just really need someone right now."

To say I am shocked is an understatement. He sits on the barstool, resting his elbows on the countertop. I grab a bottle of wine from the fridge.

"Do you want a drink?"

Without saying a word, he nods.

I pour each of us a glass, "I'm glad you came over."

He takes the glass from my hand, shaking his head, "I just don't know what to do or who to trust anymore."

"What happened?"

Seth laughs, "Besides the fact that my girlfriend slept with our professor?-"

"Seth-"

"No," he shakes his head, "That is not what I want to talk about."

I sit down beside him, taking a sip from my glass, "Then what is it that you do want to talk about?"

His foot taps the bar across the legs of the stool, causing an echo, "My life is a web of lies."

Unsure of what to say, I simply place my hand on his leg, "I'm listening."

"Where do I begin? I have been struggling to figure out what Callum meant when he said that there is a lot about our family that I don't know, and then he just...left," his shoe squeaks against the metal bar, "I didn't believe him when he said I would need Matt, but he was right."

"Matt? Are you two on better terms now?"

"Define better," Seth raises his brows with sarcasm, "If by better you mean the only person that has given me even an ounce of truth, then yes. We are on better terms."

"Truth?About what?"

"Callum, my father, my mother, my entire family," he shakes his head, "If I can even call it that now."

"Now? I don't understand, Seth."

"I always knew that there was something different about Callum. My mom treats him like a royal, and he has always been the golden child. He taught me and the rest of us everything we know. He has protected us and guided each of us. He has always taken care of my mother when my father is gone for months or years at a time. I don't even want to start on my father," his hands cover his face as he sighs out loud, "My family is about as fucked up as they come, Grey, and I was completely clueless."

Gently, I turn his chin towards me to create eye contact, "We are all fucked up, Seth."

His hand releases his glass and finds its way to the back of my neck, "I told myself I would never forgive you."