Double Jinx (Wattys2017)

Chapter 27

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"Fuck this medieval torture device, it's impossible." Ace grumbled, pulling unsuccessfully at the tie hanging loosely around his neck yet again.

Jason rolled his eyes then stood up from where he had been sitting on my bed. He crossed the room to where Ace was standing in front of my mirror, "Deep breaths, man. We're all gonna get through this."

"I don't know, I might not make it." Ace informed, genuinely concerned. There have only been a handful of times where I've seen Ace actually nervous. It wasn't a common look on him.

My brother reached up to expertly knot the tie around Ace's neck in a matter of seconds, "It's something millions have gone through, okay? Trust me, graduation is not that big of a deal."

"Speak for yourself." I heard a gruff voice declare from my doorway. The three of us turned to find Bobby standing there, dressed in a pair of clean jeans and a black dress shirt. His hair was combed back and the perpetual dirt was scraped from his wrinkles. He looked like a new man, like a father. When Ace saw him, he beamed. Bobby smiled too, "It was a big deal for me. I was the only one of my seven brothers and sisters to graduate high school."

Ace crossed the room and enveloped him in a tight hug, "Glad you could make it, old man."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, boy." Bobby replied, clapping a hand to the back of Ace's head. He closed his eyes briefly, a proud smile playing over his face, before he cleared his throat and stepped away from Ace. He nodded towards me, "Evening ma'am. If I'm not mistaken, the ceremony starts soon. You best get to moving if you plan to make it on time."

I opened my mouth to answer but Ace beat me to it, "No use wasting your breath on her. She has decided not to go."

This took Bobby by surprise, "Whatcha mean she ain't gonna go?"

Jason moved to stand by Ace's side and nodded, "They're right, pipsqueak. You really should go."

My brother looked nice, dressed in a pair of dark slacks and a grey dress shirt, but Ace looked absolutely mouthwatering in his own dark slacks and maroon dress shirt with a black tie. If it weren't for Bobby and my brother, I'd probably be helping Ace removed his clothes instead of putting them on.

I stood from where I had been hunkered under my blankets in my favorite pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt, "I've already told the principle that I'm not coming, there's no sense in changing my mind."

"There's a lot of sense in it actually." Ace fired back, crossing his arms which caused his shirt to tighten, "It's graduation for crying out loud. You're seriously just going to sit in this house all alone and miss the most important moment of your life so far?"

I didn't want to be the one to tell him I probably wouldn't be alone since the shadow has been lingering quite closely as of late. I also didn't want to tell him that the most important moment of my life was finding him again after ten years. That was a can of worms I didn't feel like opening right now, so I settled with a shrug which received disapproving grunts from all three of the men in front of me.

"Oh come on, just drop it." I instructed as I shooed them out of my room towards the stairs, "You all need to get going, you'll be late if you don't hurry."

"She's tellin' the truth, boys. Let's go." Grandma called from somewhere downstairs.

A herd of elephants passed through the house as we all made our way to the first floor, arguing loudly as usual. Once down the stairs, I saw both grandma and Elena dressed elegantly as they waited for the men to sort themselves.