Jump | Zach Mitchell

fifteen

"YOU guys been here before?" 

"Ugh."

Zach turns to give me a look, as if to ask 'what?'

I just roll my eyes and face the seat in front of me.

We boarded a few minutes ago, finding Gray sullenly staring out the window of a three-person seat. Zach took the middle, leaving me stuck on the outside.

Of course, a group of pretty girls sat behind us. Of course, Zach had to take advantage of that.

And of course, he has to use the most cliché lines in the book.

While Zach turns back to his groupies – they all giggle whenever he smiles or touches his hair – I lean across his torso to check on Gray. "Hey," I say softly. "What's wrong?"

Nothing.

"Please talk to me." I reach out to put a hand on his knee. "What is it?"

Gray turns to me with watery eyes.

"When parents get divorced, do the kids get split up?"

My eyes widen. "Um..." I use my elbow to dig into Zach's inner thigh.

He jumps slightly, shoving me off him. "Ouch! Jesus Christ, Jonelle, watch where you dig that thing-"

"Do you wanna ask Zach what you just asked me?" I ask Gray pointedly, in a forced level voice.

Zach rubs at the now-tender spot on his leg. "That was a little too close," he tells me vehemently.

"Doesn't matter." I snap. "Listen to your brother for five seconds. Then you can go back to making goo-goo eyes at the pretty girls."

His little entourage giggles at my shout-out. I roll my eyes.

He sighs angrily. "What?" He turns to Gray with impatient eyes.

"If Mom and Dad get divorced, will one of us be with Mom and the other with Dad?" His voice is tearful.

Zach shakes his head, face taunt. "What? Why would you even think that?" The muscles in his shoulders tighten.

"Because they are," Gray moans.

I bite my lip. Zach has been trying to keep this from Gray for so long...

"No, they're not getting..." His cheeks flush and he becomes more aggressive in his words. "They're not getting divorced, okay? Look, you haven't been around long enough. They've always been that way-"

Gray lets out a small sob and shakes his red face. "They're getting mail from two different lawyers."

Zach clenches his jaw. "That doesn't mean anything, Gray." He looks around to see if anyone is paying attention.

"I Googled. They're divorce lawyers." He struggles to get the words out clearly.

"All right, whatever." He shrugs like it's no big deal, but I can tell that Gray's words are affecting him. He crosses his arms.

Zach's weakness is comforting. He's terrible at it, and he knows it. I can tell he's really trying this time, though, trying to find something good for his little brother to pull out of this sticky situation. There's only so much denying Zach can do. He knows that his parents are more than likely splitting. He can't lie to Gray about it forever; the kid is too smart and too old for that.

"You know what? It doesn't matter, okay? You're going to get two of everything, right? Two birthdays, two Christmases..."

"I don't want two of everything," Gray whispers.

My heart feels like it's been hit by a mallet. Gray has always been a happy kid. I've never seen him upset about something. And to think he was having such a good time on this vacation...

"Yeah, well, that's not up to you." Zach's losing his patience.

I sigh. "Zach..." I put my hand on his chest. "Stop. Let me talk to him." Originally, I thought that having his brother speak to him would help Gray – even if Zach isn't the best at being nurturing. Now I'm quickly seeing how bad of an idea it really was.

Zach shakes his head, pushing my hand away from him. "Knock it off, Gray." He glares at his blubbering baby brother, whose tears have finally started to fall. "Are you seriously going to cry?"

"Zach!" I snap, smacking his chest.

I don't even get a reaction.

"There's a point when you need to grow up, okay? You have to learn to be a man and not cry like a baby whenever you don't get what you want."

His words have become passionate, like he's speaking from experience.

I grab his ear and yank, pulling him over to my old spot. I sit next to Gray, prepared to give him a big hug.

I don't get to do that, thanks to Zach thumping me hard on the ear.

"Ow!" I shove his shoulder as hard as I can. He doesn't even budge. "Fuck off, Zach!"

"Would you not butt into whatever the fuck I'm doing for five fucking minutes?"

"How about you learn to be a nice fucking person first?" My arms go around Gray. He cries against my neck, hot tears staining my shirt. "Your brother doesn't need to be yelled at right now, damn it. He needs reassurance and you're shit at that."

Zach takes a deep breath, throwing his arms up and shaking his head. "Fine." He gets up. "Whatever."

I crane my neck as he walks down the aisle. "Where are you going?" I hiss.

He doesn't answer me; he just moves to go sit by the girls he was talking to earlier. As he sits down, he greets them with a flirty smile.

My stomach churns.

I face forward, fighting back tears of my own.

I hate it when Zach and I get into it. I hate it. And it's usually over stupid shit that doesn't even matter. This isn't stupid, though. This isn't something that is going to blow over within the next few hours. This is about Gray and their parents' divorce.

My cheek rests on top of Gray's head, his thick blond curls tickling my face.

Best friends are supposed to be able to tell each other anything, right? They're supposed to be there for one another no matter what. They're supposed to be involved in the other person's life.

Why does it feel like our friendship is one-sided sometimes?