Sugarcane Chronicles Volume I: One and Lonely (ryden)

Guess Who's Family

I healed and stuff and forgot mostly, but never forgave. The days slipped into months and the regular routine was back. All seemed to be good, but I was always fearful of what (or who) was waiting around the corner.

So one day I was walking around a (different) local supermarket (the one I used to shop at with Mom) when I bumped into another shopping cart turning around an isle to get to the cereals.

Oh, God, no, I thought, closing my eyes and wincing away, preparing myself for the worst. Please don't let Him have found me.

"Brendon?" a familiar adorable voice asked.

I looked up, immediately relieved. "Mikey?"

"Oh, my God!" Mikey exclaimed, smiling widely. "I can't believe it!"

We ran around the carts and hugged, then realized we were blocking the isle, so we moved back into the isle he had come from and I was going.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Buying cereal," I answered, gesturing to the boxes lining the shelves.

He smacked himself in the forehead. "Of course. This is a grocery store. You came here to buy groceries."

"Yeah, but bumping in to you is the best thing that could've happened," I said.

He chuckled. "Wait until you see Gerard."

"Did I hear my name?" Gerard asked popping up behind his brother. Then he saw me and covered his face with the container of coffee he was carrying. "Oh, God, no, please don't look at me."

"Why not?" I asked. "The blond looks good on you."

"I look like a soccer mom," he said, giving up and lowering the coffee. He kind of was right, I realized, with his sunglasses pushing hair out of his face and his pretty features mixed with a tired expression.

"It's just the sunglasses," I offered, trying to make him feel better. "They're what's summoning your inner soccer mom."

"And the color of your hair," Mikey added. "It screams mid-life crisis."

"I thought I told you that this so I can dye it brighter," Gerard defended, tossing the coffee in their cart sassily. "I can't show up at art college with black hair; it's unartistic."

"Wait," I interjected, "you're going to art college? That's great!"

"Yeah," he agreed unenthusiastically. "Full scholarship. New York. Whoopdie doo."

"Why aren't you excited?" I asked him, feeling quite excited myself. I turned to Mikey. "Why isn't he excited?"

"Full scholarship doesn't include Franks," he answered.

"And he doesn't want to move with me," Gerard added. He sighed and looked into the distance. "I just have to tough it out on my own."

"Yeah, sure," I scoffed, then made air quotes. "'Tough it out'. Full scholarship to do something you love? I mean, I know you get that with Frank, but I'm working two jobs just to pay my medical bills." (Did I mention hospitals overprice everything?)

"What happened?" Mikey asked.

"Fire," I answered shortly.

"Ouch," Gerard empathetically winced. I noticed he began rubbing his wrist where his only bracelet was placed. "Know how that feels."

I furrowed my eyebrows at him and was going to ask, but their mom walked up. She was happy to see me, told me she missed my presence in her house eating all the food, then left with the boys, leaving me contemplatively staring at the Raisin Bran.