Chapter Eighteen

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*Lauren's POV*
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"I'll call you later Thomas." I say through the phone pressing it to my ear. Johnny just walked through the door and darted up to his room. He's been doing this just about everyday, I want to know what's up.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Okay, bye I love you." Thomas says through the phone, causing a smile to form on my lips. He told me he loved me a couple days ago for the first time, but it still make me get butterflies every time he says it.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Love you too." I whisper still grinning, as I pull the phone away from my ear. I end the call, and place my phone down on the coffee table that sits in the middle of our living room.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀I walk around the couch swiftly, because Johnny will probably be getting in the shower soon, considering he just got home from football. I need to catch him before then. I stride across the room.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Once im at the bottom of the stairs, I start going up them two at a time. If I don't talk to him soon he'll just keep shutting me out like he has all the time anymore, we used to be so close but now it's like I barely know him.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀I make it to the top of steps, and then there's a small hallway. There's two doors on each side, and the first one is Johnny's.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀I walk over, and bring my fist up to the wooden surface, and knock hard. I immediately hear shuffling inside the room, but he doesn't come to the door. I knock again, does he not realize I can hear him?
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"John, open the door." I say loud so I know he hears me. I can hear him sigh, and then there's light footsteps towards the door.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀The door knob jiggles lightly before it's opened up completely. Johnny is standing there still in the clothes he wore to practice, he even still has a grass stain on his knee.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Yes?" He asks annoyed. If you know Johnny you know he has a very uplifting personality, but lately he's been so down. He rarely talks to my mom and I or our dad. He cut Kenzie off, as well as Hayden whose his best friend, and I don't know what's going on with him and Nadia. I do know he had a good reason for dropping Hayden, but it doesn't explain the others.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"I want to talk to you." I say determined to find out what's going on. Johnny looks up at me, and he looks so exhausted, and just sad.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"About?" He questions as if he doesn't already know. Johnny is smart enough to know that I'd pick up on his odd behavior.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"You, you're being so unlike yourself John." I explain as Johnny takes a step back, allowing me to take a step into his room.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"So? People change Laur, that's life." He answers not making eye contact with me. My eyes dart over to his night stand for some reason. There's beige a lamp, his iPhone 7, but most importantly Mackenzie's 'M', necklace is laying there. He may be trying to act like he doesn't care but I know he does.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"No, not like this Johnny this isn't you. We used to be so close, but now you won't even tell me what's going on." I say kind of loudly getting frustrated with him. Whatever is happening that's causing his behavior, how is it a good idea for him to push away all the people who care about him?
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Laur I'm fine okay?" Johnny tries to reason with me calmly, but I still don't believe him. He's my brother, and I know this isn't him.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Just please tell me whats going on or at least why you picked a fight with your best friend. Johnny she makes you so happy, why would you push her away?" I ask genuinely curious. These last few months Johnny has slowly become different, but at least for awhile he still had Kenzie. She would always put a smile on his face, but now he has nothing.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Because...I'm not talking about this." He shuts back down right when I almost got him to talk. Johnny has been extra stubborn lately as well.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Will you at least tell me why you pushed Nadia away?" I plead with my brother. He sighs, shaking his head.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Because she's a bitch, and I didn't just push her away we're done...for good" He explains, but he's still driving me insane. There's still so much he's not telling me, I can feel it.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"She's always been a bitch John, it never bothered you before." I exclaim getting mad that I can't get through to him. He has to realize all I want to do is help.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Okay, well I was tired of dealing with it okay? The reason I finally ended it was because she told me to chose between her and Kenzie, she was jealous and I just couldn't take it anymore." Johnny tells me a bit more calm, and I feel like he might actually be telling me some meaningful information.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Okay, that makes sense, but what about Kenz?" I question slowly, trying not to seem to eager, maybe that will make him feel more comfortable to talk. Maybe that's all he wanted this whole time, was for someone to care enough to get this out of him.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"When Kenzie and I got in that fight, it was the night Nadia told me to chose between her or my best friend. I was beyond pissed off and I took it out on her. It was messed up what I did....Kenzie deserves someone better than me in her life." Johnny sighs not looking at me. I know it's not because he's lying, but because he's ashamed of what he did, and what he's put Kenzie through.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Johnny, Kenzie loves you more than I think she'd ever admit. She needs you so don't beat yourself up over a little argument." I tell my brother in a comforting tone. For a second I see a smile tug on his lips but it almost immediately disappears.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"I hope your right." He sighs, and I feel like it's the most real things he's said this whole conversation.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Me too, but anyway is there anything else going on you want to talk about?" I ask one last time before I leave, because I feel like there could be more.
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"No, I'm good." Johnny spits out almost too quickly, but I figure I've bugged him enough for one day, so I leave.

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