maybe • adam banks

let's talk

i sat with danny, playing a card game, when i heard dwayne call out my name,"scarlett, phone is for you!"

i nodded, calling out to him,"one second," i narrowed my eyes at danny,"don't look at my cards."

danny simply winked, causing me to roll my eyes and get up. i walked over to the phone, taking it from dwayne and thanking him.

"hello?" i questioned, leaning against the wall.

"hey, scar," i heard the voice of my brother, causing me to sigh,"can we talk?"

i looked up at the ceiling, dreading the idea of hearing what he had to say. but i figured, i might as well get it over with,"yeah, fine. where?"

"i'll come to the dorms, give me like two minutes." he replied.

i sucked my teeth, and sighed,"yeah, okay. bye."

i hung up before he could say anything and groaned.

dwayne looked at me quizzically,"who was it?"

"my brother," i answered, looking over at the door,"gotta go, cowboy."

"okay, but remember we have practice in an hour." he reminded me.

i nodded and saluted him,"thanks, got it."

i slipped on some shoes and walked to the elevators. i wasn't prepared for the berating that was going to happen when i arrived outside, but i had to face him sometime.

it had been a few days, so i was hoping that he would just forget about it. but it appears, my luck had run out.

i pressed the down button on the elevator and when the doors opened, justin was standing on the other side. i winced, knowing this would be awkward. he hadn't spoken to me since i blew him off after his track meet. 

he looked at me awkwardly,"oh, scarlett. hey."

i smiled flatly, stepping into the confined space with him,"hey."

in an attempt to fill the awkward silence, he asked,"where are you going?"

"gotta talk to my brother." i answered.

he raised his eyebrows,"you have a brother?"

i knit my brows,"where'd you hear that?"

he chuckled, looking at the floor,"oh, i'm not sure. i know you didn't tell me you have a brother, you just don't seem like an only child."

i smiled,"well, only children are weird, so thanks... i guess."

"yeah, no problem." he answered.

the rest of the time was spent in silence, and the air had filled back up with its initial uncomfortableness.

the doors finally opened and we parted ways. i walked out of the front door and saw jack sitting on one of the benches outside the building.

he looked up and smiled when he noticed me,"hey."

i smiled flatly, trying to mask how awkward this felt for me,"hey, um, what'd you want to talk about?"

"your game."

i sighed and took a seat next to him,"look, i know i sucked, but i promise i'm better than that. it really did look like i'm awful, but i swear-"

he cut me off, clearly not on the same page as me,"scar, do you know why i left?"

i shrugged, having a pretty good idea,"because i was shit."

"no," he started, looking at me dumbfounded, "because i couldn't stand seeing my baby sister getting beat up by guys twice her size. if i had stayed i probably would have hopped over the glass and beat that guy up."