Laws Of Siblinghood

Chapter 17

I froze on the spot. Her hair was loose and curled. She curled her hair only when she wanted to impress someone. I couldn't pay attention to the guy. I didn't recognize him which was a relief. They held hands and laughed at each other. Audrey looked happy. Happier than I had ever seen her. And that made it hurt even more.

The pair didn't notice me though I doubt it would have changed anything. Audrey would still be more interested in him than she was in me. A guy asked me to move because I was blocking the entrance to the store.

Colin looked at me through the glass walls of the restaurant. He was trying to tell me something, probably to hurry. When I didn't respond, he came outside and walked towards me.

"What are you staring at?" He asked and then looked at Audrey and the other guy.

He swore and dragged me towards his restaurant.

"You have to forget about her!" He said.

"I tried to! I almost did. You know the worst part? She's not sulking like I am. She's happy and she has moved on. I'm sad and I still think about her."

"Listen, she has moved on and it's not her fault. She is going to see other people and she's going to go out with that person in public. You guys live in the same town. You had to see her again at some point or the other." Colin said.

"Well, I don't want to!" I tried to calm down. "You know what, just forget about it."

"Zack, why do you have to always act like it's nothing. It's not nothing. You keep hurting yourself when you pile up all your emotions inside."

"Colin, I'm fine. There's no need to worry about me."

"But there is. It's like you've been hiding from your own life. You refuse to talk about anything that affects you. You give everyone bits of information. You haven't even trusted somebody fully to tell them everything about yourself."

I let the words sink in.

You've been hiding from your own life.

You refuse to talk about anything that affects you.

You have never trusted somebody fully.

***

I went home and ran up the stairs into my room. The sound of my feet running on the stairs, made Carmen come and see what was happening. She was wearing her reading glasses and looked worried.

"Is everything alright, Zack?" She asked.

"Yeah," I lied.

I went into my room and shut the door but didn't lock it.

Was I really running away?

Was I letting everybody close to me, drift away?

Was Audrey leaving me my fault?

I banged my hand on the table in frustration. A turtle shaped paperweight fell to the floor and broke. I bent down and gathered the broken pieces of glass. A knock came on my door.

Carmen came in and saw the broken pieces. "Zack, are you sure you're okay? I don't think you are."

"It's fine. The paperweight fell and broke. I was picking up the splinters." I said.

She turned her attention to my hands. "You have a cut. Put those pieces aside on your desk."

One of the splinters had made a tiny cut on my palm. I put aside the pieces and dabbed a napkin on the cut.

"Sit down." Carmen said.

"Carmen, I'm fine-" I started to argue.

"Sit down." She said again in a more firm manner. I obeyed.

"It's pretty obvious that something happened. You can share your problems with me. I don't want to take your mom's place but you can share anything with me, okay?" She gave me a warm motherly smile which made me melt.

I told her everything. I told her about my breakup and what happened at Colin's restaurant. She listened patiently.

"Audrey was the first and only serious girlfriend I've had. She is the only girl that I loved. I didn't expect her to leave. Least of all for another guy. Was I not good enough for her?"

She gave me a stern look. "The problem here isn't Audrey or the other guy she is seeing. It's something else."

She sighed.

"It's time you talk to your dad."

Author's Note

What do you think is going to happen in the conversation with Zack's dad? Any guesses? Let me know what you think of the chapter. Love you all.

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