Spiritual War

CHAPTER 3

"Aye, you coming to the basketball court with us, or nah?" Bret called out to Sean- who was already walking down the sidewalk towards Evergreen Middle.

High school had already been dismissed, and Sean needed some place to rest for an hour until his sister got out from school.

Sean hesitated to turn around, but pushed past the feeling and saw Bret walking towards him with slumped shoulders and his hands in his jean pockets.

"Well..." He started. "See, I have something very important to work on-"

"Homework?" Bret interrupted with impatience.

"Nah..." He giggled. "Just wanting to get some fresh air..."

"Fresh air, eh?" Bret laughed at that. "You sound like something's up with you!"

"What..?!" Sean chuckled. "A man can't get any air?!"

"You sound so stupid, Sean. Be quiet..." Bret urged. He walked beside him and placed his arm around his shoulders like a big brother would to his little brother.

"Everybody says that. Even my little sister says it too!" Sean admitted.

"Wow...!" Bret laughed to himself and kept silent. "I'm glad you have multiple people telling you that- because it's so true."

Sean stopped in his steps and faced Bret as if he were the little brother that very round.

"Are you just calling me stupid to belittle me so that you can feel like you're mich more older and wiser?"

Bret chuckled at his words. "This is why..."

Sean sighed heavily and then returned to walking. Bret then placed his arm around his shoulders once again.

"Everything about you is just-" Bret started Before Sean interrupted him with irritation.

"I know the word! You don't have to keep saying it!"

"Alright! Alright... All you need to do is change, Sean."

Everything around Sean lit up. The word, "change" was what had been lurking around his mind for quite a while.

"Well, change- how?" He asked with curiosity.

"Well, change yourself." He replied, vaguely. "Go home and just look at yourself in the mirror and then reminisce on what makes you stupid- and then come back and join the group."

After Bret had finished saying these things, he spun around and left, walking back towards their high school.

Sean looked up at the sky and then on to the ground.

He moaned to himself, "I guess so.."

Although, he never felt any different from how he felt before he joined the group.
That voice that was within him- telling him that he was an outlier- spoke even louder than before.
It was as if the voice could become audible and speak into his ears like a human.

Keeping his head down, he saw a pair of pink sparkling dress shoes on the ground, before him.

He quickly looked up to see his sister standing before him.
She looked at him with a, "Guess who's here" look. She held on to her book bag strap and stood there, tiredly.

"Hey, sis." Sean greeted her with a crooked smile.

"What were you doing just standing there with your head down?" She asked, walking slowly beside him. "People make fun of me enough- and I don't want them to make fun of me even more if they ever saw that my own brother had issues."

"Don't worry, Amy." Her brother assured to her. "I feel embarrassed to walk down this very sidewalk by your middle school- for the sake of you. People will be surprised that a sixth grader still has to walk home with her older sibling- and not by herself."

Amy slowed down her walking and started to tear up, silently.
Sean did not realize what he had done until his sister brushed past him and down the sidewalk, to their house.

"Oh-my-God..."

"Oh my God- is right!" Mrs. Sawyer admitted. "Just look at how much lose of self control you've got! Enough to hurt your own sister..."
Amy was hugging her mom tightly, as she sobbed into her arms.

"Well, maybe you guys need to train her up to be an adult and not be a little baby, still!" Sean raged.

Mr. Sawyer stood up and pointed at his son with sternness.
"If you have nothing good to say- shut up! And if you're not here to help anyone- get away!"

With that, Sean didn't give what his dad said- any second guesses, but just walked away and into his room.

He tossed his bag to the side and sat on his bed, facing the window. In the pure silence, he could hear his heart hammering against his chest, and the cry of agony that his sister was crying.
Those two sounds reminded him of himself just hammering her down into something little rather than bringing her up as an older bother would.