On the walk home, I thought about everything that happened today. I guess in many ways, Bradley wasn't horrible like I thought. And at least I'm not alone in this.
I was about a minute away from my house when I realized I forgot Charlie's doughnut. I quickly turned around and speed walked back to the coffeehouse. When I walked in, I didn't expect to see Bradley still sitting at our table, that so happened to be where the line ended to buy food. "Am I finally getting some answers?" he said with a chuckle.
"In your dreams." I said before realizing the horrible timing of that statement. We both laughed nervously. "I just forgot to pick my brother up a doughnut."
"Oh, cool." he said as he sipped his drink.
"Yup." I said awkwardly while I nodded my head. Within a few minutes, I was at the front of the line. I ordered a chocolate glazed doughnut and paid. "See ya later Parker." I said as I walked past the table.
"See ya JJ."
As I walked home, again, I couldn't stop taking glances at my arm. It hurt, and looked like a pretty bad burn, but I couldn't exactly tell people about it. If I did, who knows what would happen.
I walked in the door to see Charlie sitting in the same position I left him in. Except this time there wasn't any trail mix. He turned around the second I closed the door and looked at me with pleading eyes. "Yeah yeah I got it." I said to him as I raised the bag and tossed it to him. His face lit up when he saw the doughnut as he ate it in three bites. I cleaned up his mess, knowing my aunt would be home soon.
When I was done, I grabbed my phone and decided to text Bradley, feeling slightly awkward about our previous encounter.
Me: Hey
Parker: hi?
Me: What?
Parker: idk its just weird that u texted me just to say hey
Me: Am I not allowed to?
Parker: No no u r
Me: you're texting grammar stinks btw
Parker: Ok???
How's your arm?
I looked around to make sure my brother wasn't looking. I then lifted up my sleeve, revealing the burned words. They were starting to fade.
Me: the words are starting to fade
Parker: thats good
Me: yea, it still hurts a little
Parker: you should ice it or smthn
Me: I can't. If someone asks why I'm icing it I wouldn't have a good answer. And what if they asked to see my arm??
Parker: lol tru
Me: This isn't a laughing matter Parker
so shut up
Parker: Jeez ok
I put down my phone, already tired of talking to him. I glanced at my arm again, seeing only the littlest bit of words outlined in red skin. This whole situation terrified me. Thousands of 'what if' questions ran through my head as my aunt walked in the door and tried to get my attention. When I realized she was home, I quickly pulled down my sleeve, hoping she hadn't noticed my quick movement.
"Hey Jill." I said in a slightly monotone way.
"Hey Jenn. How was school today?" I walked over to the fridge to get a snack as I tried to act as if my life wasn't turning upside down.
"Nothing special." I said as I grabbed a pudding cup. "Just the same old same old." She nodded in response and walked into her office. She spent most of her time there, working on designs for living rooms and such. However she always managed to come out for dinner, and occasionally to watch a movie with me and Charlie.
I sat on the couch and ate my pudding cup as Charlie played with one of his lego sets. Every once and a while I would grab a handful of pieces and just mess around. The house was quiet, with only the faint sounds of clicking lego pieces and kids music coming from the TV. "Jenn?" My brother asked as he was building a lego car.
"Yeah?" I responded while scraping the inside of the pudding cup with a spoon.
"What day did mommy and daddy pass away?" I froze instantly at my brothers words. He never really got the chance to know them. He was only three years old when they got into the car accident. They were on their way home from a date.
I tried to contain my tears as I responded. "February 11th. It was their twelve year anniversary I think." He nodded and went back to his legos. I set my pudding cup down and headed towards the stairs quickly, not wanting my brother to see me burst into tears.
I was about half way up the stairs when I heard a knock at the door. I turned around to answer it, knowing that my brother wouldn't.
I opened the door, revealing a Bradley with a worried expression. "Jenn? Ar-are you crying?" I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes and shook my head 'no', even though I knew he didn't believe me. He nodded reluctantly and took a deep breath.
"I went home and-um- I went home and I-I-I fell asleep and um-" he was a stuttering mess. His words grew louder as he pushed his way into my house. When I noticed that's what he was doing, I placed my hand on his chest and pushed him outside as I followed, closing the door behind me. He stopped talking when he noticed my actions.
"Okay listen, I know that this whole situation is insane but you cannot just show up at my house like this! What if someone heard?! Why didn't you just text me?" I was mad, and it was very obvious I was. I felt bad for yelling at him, but I didn't want him to keep randomly showing up.
"I thought it would be better to show you instead of text you." His voice was shaky and he couldn't look me in the eyes.
"Show me what?" I said in a quieter tone.
He pulled up his sleeve, revealing the words "I can't lose you Jenn" burned into his arm.
A/N--Hot diggidy dog i actually did this. Im super proud of this chapter and i hope you guys enjoyed. See ya next saturday!!
