𝒌 𝒊 𝒅 𝒔 || BRAD RENFRO

𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔

Dean, Carol and Casper walked back to the party which had basically dwindled down to a few drunken adults hanging about and some old ladies who were knitting on the deck chairs.
The food wasn't good but it wasn't bad. Just your average Hot Dogs, sauce and potato salad served on paper plates that said 'Happy Birthday'.
Casper and Dean made small talk while eating the mediocre meals, mostly about music, bikes and different types of cars.
Carol tried to join in by commenting that her favourite car was a Jeep Wrangler but she was ignored by Dean who continued to talk over her.
This was exactly why she hated Dean. He had a habit of taking her friends and running with them. He had weaselled his way into Tammy and Carol's friendship by asking Tammy to be his girlfriend. Carol knew that he didn't really even like her, it's just what he did. Now he was stealing her only other friend.
They continued on like this for a while, Carol was left on the outside. She didn't even realise Casper was only looking at her, only nodding answers towards Dean in a half minded sort of way. The blonde girl wouldn't look at them, her eyes far off into the distance, the light wind lifting her thin bangs from her forehead as she bit into a blackened sausage.
Carol winced at the flavour. It was like eating a hunk of coal.
"So anyway, as I was saying, we should go to the park or something. You skate?" Dean looked at Casper expectantly.
Casper snapped out of his wandering eyes. "Uh... n-no, it's never been my thing really."
Footsteps echoed over the wood of the deck and a shadow loomed over the group. "Mom wants me to take a photo of y'all." It was Carol's eldest brother.
He was nearly eight years older than her, although, like Dean, he acted almost like a seven year old when something doesn't go his way. His name was Barron, but he loved calling himself Trout. God knows why. Barron was a gang member. Not like it was a real gang or anything, but everyone was scared of their group for some reason. Carol, on the other hand, never saw her brother as scary, he was just her big brother. She would even go as far as to say she looked up to him, no matter how many fights he gets into.
Barron was hovering above them, a Polaroid camera in his hands. They all smiled reluctantly, awkwardly. He waved the photo about, trying to get it to develop under the hot sun and squinted at Casper. "Who's the new kid?" Barron asks.
"I'm Casper." He says, sticking out his hand but the older boy sneers at it and Casper recoils. "Nice to meet you too, I guess."
"Watch it." Barron muttered. "Don't get on the wrong side of me, buddy, alright?" He leaned in closer. "And stay away from that sister of mine, got it?"
He was talking to Casper as if he was just a stupid kid. Barron sauntered off, long hair bouncing on his shoulders as he chucked the photo carelessly over his shoulder.
Carol whistled a little.
"So he's always like this, huh?" He asked the girl.
"Yeah..." she sighs. "I dunno, ever since he joined that gang thing he's been acting all weird. Don't worry about it, man."
"He doesn't like me, does he?" Casper looked scared, an emotion Carol had never thought a boy like this could feel.
"I said, don't worry about it, Casper. It's not like he's gonna kill you or whatever." She said this certainly though she was far from certain. That boy could do anything.

The party carried on for a few more hours.
It was only Carol's mom and dad and Casper's mom and dad left by eight o'clock.
Carol thought his parents were strange, they looked like something from the seventies with their hippie style and tiny round sunglasses.
"Can you kids take the trash to the skip? Thanks." Carol's dad gestured to the wheelie bins near the front of the house.
"I guess..." I say. "Coming, Casper?"
He shrugs. "Why not?"
So they walked through the dead summer streets, laughing at nothing and wheeling the bins behind them.
They talked about books and movies and all the friends they used to have and family...
When they got on to the topic of brothers, Carol tensed.
Casper talked non stop about his brother Dane, Carol only nodding responses when needed.
He stopped and looked at her. "Hey, what's up, Carrie?" He asked. "Is about what I said earlier?"
She shook her head and carried on walking. "Something else..."
"What is it?" He pestered.
She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "It's just... you know how I hate Dean, right?"
He nodded.
"It's because he's trying to replace Gus, my dead brother. It's... all this talk about brothers is just making me miss him even though he died, like, two years ago." She exhaled loudly through her nose. "I'm trying to forget it and shit but it's hard, man. Real hard."
"No, no, I totally get it, Carol. Shit, I'm so sorry." He stopped and looked at her again. "Forgetting stuff like that takes time and maybe you'll think about it forever but... he's out there and he's gonna be looking out for you."
She let go of his gaze, letting her eyes focus on the slapping of her converse on the sidewalk. A boy isn't allowed to be handsome and understanding, it doesn't work like that.
"I know how it feels." He said. "When I moved here, we left my brother Tommy behind. He wouldn't get in the car or anything... he just being this rebellious teenager so my parents left him in Tennessee. We've been moving around and shit ever since because my mom always thinks that he's coming after us or something." He paused to drink out of his beer can. "My mom's nuts if you're wondering."
Carol had to laugh. "Geez, I thought I was the only one. I'd give anything to move around all the time, you know? Just so I could get outta here."
It was all Carol had been thinking about since she got here. But she never wanted to be alone so she stayed, too scared to even go down the road by herself without freaking out.
"I mean, like, running away is always an option."

"Are you sure? I mean, my mom and dad wouldn't even blink if I vanished into thin air but-"

Casper stopped her. "Neither would mine... We could if you really wanna."

So many thoughts raced through her head. Carol was seriously questioning running away with a boy that she just met?

Crushes can really make you do dumb shit sometimes.

This chapter was kinda bad.