Owen

Brotherhood

All that I had thought about since Mina told me Jaelyn was cheating on me was how many people actually knew. I should have asked Mina how she found out but I hadn't. Maybe it didn't matter how she knew only that she had the guts to tell me. I should have thanked her. I hadn't done that either.

My dad let out a sigh beside me as he pulled into the parking lot. Some of the teachers were filing in, a handful cars parked in the student lot, Alec sitting on the cement bench that circled a tree in the small courtyard outside the main entrance. He stood up when he saw my dad's car.

"Hey Mr. Savas." He called.

He looked more massive than normal when he wore his letterman jacket.

"Hey Alec." My dad greeted back.

I unclipped my seat belt, shoving open the passenger side door. By the time I wiggled myself into position my dad had my chair beside me.

"How's your parents?" My dad asked Alec.

I wondered if he realized he asked Alec the same questions everyday. That his life was so routine he couldn't even come up with new small talk.

"They're good." Alec always told him.

I shifted myself into my chair, lifting my feet onto the platforms, too wrapped up in my own thoughts. I needed Alec's help.

My dad said goodbye, his hand resting heavily on my shoulder for a moment before he climbed back into his car and pulled out of the parking lot. Alec hadn't even taken a step when I started talking.

"Mina knows about Jaelyn and Drew." I said. "Which means everyone else probably knows."

"Well shit." Alec said, I agreed. It was shit.

"Can you get Drew to stay after school?" I glanced up as I rolled toward the door, Alec right beside me.

"What about Jaelyn?" He asked.

Fuck Jae. I didn't even care anymore.

"Drew will tell her." My words bitter.

I could feel Alec trying to burn a hole in the side of my head but I didn't turn to look at him. There was no good way for me to get Drew alone. It wasn't like we talked anymore.

"Yeah I guess I can figure something out." He finally said, holding the door open.

"Thanks." I mumbled rolling past him.

I hadn't even thought about what I was going to say to Drew. I figured one good look at him and it wouldn't matter anyway. Anything preplanned probably wouldn't get said in the heat of the moment.

                                 ———————

I didn't make it to the end of the day.

Didn't even make it to first hour.

I almost did.

But then I saw Drew with his arms slung over Bre and Jaelyn's shoulders and any and all control flew out the window.

How could he just carry on like he hadn't done anything wrong? How could he just throw his arm around her like he hadn't committed the ultimate betrayal. Maybe he didn't think I'd see. I usually went straight to class. But something in me had told me to go find Jaelyn first. And now that I was aggressively pushing myself toward them I sure as shit was glad I had given into the idea.

That motherfucker.

Alec was hot on my heels, I could vaguely make out his voice behind me. Telling me to wait. To take a deep breath.

I wasn't really sure why he was worried. What could I possible do other than yell at him? Run into him with my chair? If I was fucking lucky maybe it'd bust his ankle and he'd have to sit out of basketball for a couple days.

"Hey ba..." Jaelyn started, her words trailing off.

And now she knew without any doubt that I knew too.

Fuck them both. Oh wait they were already doing that.

"You fucking asshole. You fucking backstabbing piece of shit, mother fucking liar!" I shouted at Drew. "I can't believe you'd do this!"

"Jesus Owen!" He yelled just as I unsuccessfully tried to ram the footrests of my chair into his shins.

That mother fucker jumped out of the way at the last second.

"I fucking hate you! If I wasn't stuck in this fucking chair you better believed I'd beat your ass. You lucky fucking bastard!" My chest was heaving, I was slightly aware of the crowd we'd attracted.

"Owen, baby this is a big misunderstanding." Jaelyn's hand landed on my shoulder.

I looked over at it, repulsed at the sight.

"Get the fuck off me." I spat.

Her hand retracted so fast. I wasn't hers to touch anymore.

"Owen, man." I heard Alec behind me.

My eyes snapped back to Drew who was pressed against a locker. I thought about trying to ram my chair into him again.

"Want to know how I found out?" I asked him, referring to his question he'd asked me the other day. "You fucking told me."

His eyes darted to Jaelyn for a second, panic laced within them.

"Come over baby, just tell him you're tired. He'll never now." I reiterated the text word for word because it was burned into my mind. "Well guess what asshole, I know."

And just like that everything between us was gone. A brotherhood broken so severely it'd never grow back. He knew it, I knew it. I'll the times we had, the memories we shared. The countless times he'd call me, telling me he was bored which actually meant he was lonely sitting in his big fucking house alone because his parents were always working and his little sister was always at his grandma's. All the nights spent up late, drinking beer into the night, both of us a little drunk and saying things we'd never actually say if we were sober. Like the time I told him I missed my mom, that I wished I could have one more day with her, ask her why we weren't enough. All the shenanigans and the pranks and the laughs. It was all gone. Just like that.

And it fucking hurt.

I pushed myself backward, my heart hammering in my chest. At least it was still working.

"Owen baby, wait. I can explain this." Jaelyn's voice sounded behind me, desperate and needy and fucking disgusting.

"There's nothing left to explain Jaelyn." I said bitterly, not stopping as Alec turned to walk with me, Bre not by his side. "Hope you got what you fucking wanted."

The crowd that had circled the spectacle parted ways like the fucking sea for me. I felt pathetic and broken and I fucking hurt. I didn't want this. I didn't want to feel like this. I didn't want to be whoever this person was that I had become.

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Well there it is. Long build up I know. I'm impossibly slow but alas it happened.

Also for those of you who don't typically keep up with my authors's notes or haven't been paying attention (I don't blame you, I wouldn't pay attention to me either 😂) I'm from Michigan. And like most Michiganders my family has a cabin "up north". Basically just a short couple hours up state. But it's in the middle of nowhere, the town now only has a bar and a fly fishing shop (the essentials right), the gas station and party store shut down. What I'm getting at is I'll be in the middle of nowhere this weekend so update will be random and will depend on if I go into a real town or not.