DELICATE / Brandon Darrow

thirty four

thirty four
brother and sister
THIRD PERSON

"Hey," Cynthia said, startling Rowan and Elisia.

"Are you okay?" Elisia asked Cynthia, her voice lacing with worry and seriousness.

"Yeah. Sean told me the only reason he was there was because Zoe set up Brandon, and put him in jail," Cynthia informed the two nonchalantly. There was no use to get worked up over it so she forced herself to move on.

Rowan and Elisia gave each other a look. But as much as they knew it wouldn't, it didn't brush past Cynthia, who was know looking at them with furrowed brows.

"What?" Cynthia questioned them, confused.

"Nothing," Rowan told her, her face not making her word believable to the other girl.

So, Cynthia went in front of them both so they couldn't continue walking. "Seriously, guys, what?"

"Cynthia, you can't get mad at us because we only did this to keep you safe," Rowan's words only made Cynthia more concerned, feeling her feet slowing down.

"What? You guys are scaring me," Cynthia managed to let out, her features faltering.

"We set up Brandon," Rowan confessed, her face staying blank with no expression.

Cynthia gasped in shock. She didn't know what to think, let alone what to say. A part of her knew where they were coming from but part of her that was feeling angry at them for not saying anything took control.

"Are you kidding me?" Cynthia let out, her chest bubbling in anxious anger, not knowing how to feel.

"Cynthia, we knew you wouldn't pull through if we told you," Elisia began to back up her and Rowan's reasoning behind their secret sabotage.

"Well, you never gave me the choice, Elisia," Cynthia spat, her voice raising as she stared at the two girls in front of her in disbelief. "Look, I'm not mad that you did it— I'm mad that you didn't even tell me? I mean, what kind of friends are you?"

She walked away from them.

♡

"Are you sure it was Zoe, Sean?" Brandon asked him through the phone.

"Yeah, it was pretty obvious," Sean told him once more to confirm his suspicion.

"Okay, okay," Brandon rambled out while continuing a couple seconds after. "What school did she transfer from again?"

"I think it was Montgomery Prep?" Sean declared, confusion trailing in the end of his sentence.

"Alright," Brandon said, pausing again as he treaded slowly for his next question. "How's Cynthia?"

"She's doing fine," he answered, still very iffy when it came to his cousin dating his friend, but he had managed to deal with it over the year. "She doesn't trust us anymore."

Brandon hummed over the phone, hating to end the conversation at the sour note. "Ok, I have to go, please...watch over her for me."

After he ended their call— hearing Sean's hum as an 'okay'— he walked away from the telephone. Heading over to one of the cell mates and questioning them about Montgomery as Sean informed him.

"No, but Jeff did," he told him lightly.

Brandon then ventured over to his table after staring a bit, announcing his presence. "Do you know a chick named Zoe Desaul?" He questioned him. "She went to Montgomery."

"It's a big school," Jeff answered almost as if he was trying to avoid the question. "Why?"

"You should work on your poker face, Jeff," Brandon told him teasingly, mocking him with a smirk.

"Blow me."

"You should be so lucky," Brandon played along with his remark before slamming the table and leaving.

♡

Cynthia was walking to her mom's since she just moved into a new place with her boyfriend. Cynthia could care less, she had to move in with her mom since her dad thought it would be best for her to spend more time with her mom. Apparently her mom missed her.

It wasn't that she didn't like her mom, it was just that she was used to living with her dad, also because she was still bitter of her mother's recent actions.

"Hey," Trevor's voice startled her as he came walking from behind her, giving her an awkward smile.

"Hi," was all Cynthia said back, being the fact that they really haven't spoken like normal people before.

"Walking home I see," he observed nervously, the air starting to become uncomfortable.

"Yeah, my mom moved into a new house," Cynthia told him, hoping it might strike a sort of conversation that wasn't as painful as the one they were having now.

"My dad moved into a new house too," he told her as well, which made her give him a raised brow expression in interest.

That's when Cynthia met her destination. She stood out front and couldn't believe her eyes.

"That's your mom."

"And that's your dad."