*Brasen’s POV*
“Chicken fettuccini alfredo please.”
It was my turn to order now and I was still trying to figure out what I wanted. I’ll just wing it. “The um Tuscan chicken and save yourself some tomatos. Thanks.” The waiter walked away but not without giving Amberlynn a lustful look and me well a dirty one. I brushed it off because if she didn’t notice then I shouldn’t have either.
She looked at me, “so you can start explaining now.”
I took a deep breath, “well they were in some classes together, Jackson and Kheyenne were, and well yeah.” She sipped her sweet tea and kinda picked at the bread.
“And?” She asked.
"They were perfectly happy." I stated it like it was a well known thing because for a while it was. She stared at me for a second and I started picking at the bread in the middle of the table.
"Brasen what happened?"
"Our parents died."
I knew that she knew about it but I'm not sure she knew exactly the effect it had on everyone around them. She was obviously waiting on an more details, but I wasn’t sure what to say.
“So...what happened next?” She asked and I had all the answers but did I really want to lay everything out on the table right now?
“And basically Jackson went crazy. Wasn’t like a depressed-crazy, I mean that’s how it started but obviously not how it ended. He didn’t talk to anyone for like a month, which didn’t help me any. Then he started coming around again and had a short temper all the time. It was like he was always on edge.”
I looked at her and I could tell she was taking it all in and processing every word I said. “So who is Kheyenne though?”
“Oh she was his girlfriend, everyone knew about them. It was one of those relationships where they didn’t actually like a couple, they acted like better-than-best friends. Like I said everyone knew they were together but no one was in their business.”
Knowing she understood I continued. “So Jackson and Kheyenne started arguing a lot, then she came up pregnant and that was that. Jackson didn’t want it so he left, but you see that wasn’t the old Jackson. He changed. It would have been pretty cool if you’d known him before, the Jackson you know isn’t really Jackson at all. He’d have done anything for anyone just to make sure they had a smile on their face. Now he hardly speaks and is really well mean compared to the old him. He was that guy that should have been in the movies about high school. The guy who had the perfect girlfriend, nice to everyone. That guy. That guy was my brother….but that guy is long gone and I don’t think he’s ever coming back.”
I took a bite of my half-eaten Tuscan chicken and as the waiter walked by I threw my hand up, “check please”.
He quickly brought the check back and I laid the card on it while Amberlynn was still sitting there in silence. I think she was shocked by the fact that Jackson used to be such a different person.
“Hey uh I’ll be right back I’m going to the bathroom, can you stay here?” No answer. I figured she heard me so I walked past a couple tables and into the bathroom. Did my business and washed my hands. No one walked in while I was in there, surprising really. While I was washing my hands I looked at myself in the mirror and thought about what I had said. I opened up about everything that happened with the exception of a couple details that Amberlynn was yet to receive. A couple tears fell as I reached for the paper towels, I wiped them away as quickly as they fell. I did another quick look in the mirror to make sure it wasn’t obvious that I had kinda cried and walked out.
I walked down the same hallway and past the same empty tables all the way to my now empty table. “Shit.” Where’d she go? I figured it wouldn’t hurt to look in the car as I slid my card back into my wallet, thanks for just leaving my card on the table by itself. I grabbed my black jacket and walked out to see her just sitting in the car. I opened the door, threw my jacket in the back seat, and sat down.
We drove back to my house in silence.
A/N To celebrate finally updating With Luck, I gave you a picture of Brasen!
