Memories, Scars and Survival: High School Years

Chapter 10 - Eirik

We played video games for an hour and talked about Einar. Of all my friends, Charlie always asks how Einar is doing. I thought he was just being nice, but maybe it's more.

Unsure how I would dress to sleep, I waited to follow his lead. While it made me nervous, I was happy to see he sleeps in just his underwear too. I hate wearing shirts to bed. With the lights off and under the covers, I turned away from him to face the door.

I woke several hours later, needing to use the bathroom. I took my chance and took Einar's notebook with me to read it. After I went, I sat on the toilet and flipped through.

Finding the correct page, the first thing I noticed was his handwriting. I've seen him throw out full pages if one word crosses the line. But this was all over the place.

It took me several passes to read it clearly, and what dad did horrified me. He deserves to be in prison for this. What the hell was he thinking? He could have killed him.

I sat there mumbling and crying softly. There was a light knock at the door, bringing me back to the present. Opening the door, Charlie pulled me into a hug.

"Everything will be alright," he said.

I clung to him, feeling grateful. "I've been a terrible brother."

Charlie shook his head. "I'm sure you're a fine brother." Desperate to hold on to the moment, I hugged him tighter. "In success, we learn little. In failure, we learn much and become better people."

"Are you a poet?" I asked, still hugging him.

"No, it's something my mom says," he replied. "Do you want to go to bed, or keep hugging?"

Embarrassed, I pulled away. "Sorry."

"It's okay. You're not my type, anyway," he chuckled.

Climbing back into bed, I turned to face him. I found his eyes staring into mine. Although I knew his eyes were brown, in the dark, they looked like black holes. It reminded me of soul gazing from fantasy novels.

Could he see into my soul now? Would he see what a terrible human I am? It seemed weird to keep staring into his eyes, but neither of us looked away.

What is he thinking? What does he see when he looks at me? Is he reading my mind right now? Should I look away? Well, he could just as easily look away, too.

Charlie's alarm shocked me awake. The unfamiliar sound made me jump. Charlie chuckled and moved to reach over me. His skin of his bare chest rested on mine and it was thrilling. Too soon, he was pulling his phone back with him and shutting it off.

"Ok, out of bed," he said. "No skipping school."

He tossed the blankets off us, and I realized I was excited like I always am in mornings. As fast as ever, I jumped out of bed and crouched over my grocery bag of clothes for the day.

"Do you want to shower?" He asked.

"I'll do it later when I get home," I said.

He did shower and came out fifteen minutes later smelling of lavender. I can't remember ever smelling it on him before, but it was nice. Downstairs, we had wheaties for breakfast. I honestly can't remember ever having wheaties.

On the way to school, I texted mom asking for news. Charlie's mom drove us on her way to work. I don't know why I never knew, but she and my mom work at the same place. Mom is the senior database administrator and his mom is a data engineer.

Upon arriving at school, Charlie and I joined Joey and Simon at our table in the cafeteria before classes began. I noticed the table behind us was unoccupied, so I climbed onto the bench and walked over the seatbacks to take the back seat beside Joey.