audacity // kryoz

twenty-eight

He picks it up, "Orange juice?" he asks.

I pull a glass out and pour him some before putting the orange juice back in the fridge and walking the glass over to him. By the time I'm near the couch, he already has his hand out for the glass. I hand it to him and he hastily tosses the pills into his mouth and chases it down with the orange juice.

"Now where is that food?" he asks after swallowing the pill-juice combination.

***

It was summer now. My graduation was a week ago and it was amazing. To see 4 years of hard work, late nights, and mental breakdowns culminate into something was so satisfying.

John was the only one to turn up at the ceremony. I wasn't disappointed or surprised to see that my family didn't show up. I skipped every family gathering I was made aware of and I barely talk to them so it wasn't a shock to only see the tall, brunette cheering me on.

They were calling our names so we could walk and I stood a few feet away from the stage. I was up next. I looked into the crowd to see John grinning at me. He looked so happy and proud of me that I couldn't help but smile. Next thing I knew, my name was being called and I walked up the steps. The crowd erupted in mandatory applause but I heard something that stood out from the rest. John was screaming my name and cheering me on incredibly loud. In any other situation, I would have been embarrassed but I wasn't. It felt so nice to have someone who had my back. I nearly cried right then and there but I made sure to hold the tears back until I got off the stage.

The rest of the ceremony went by pretty quickly and before I knew it I was being scooped up into a hug.

"Look at you! You are now an official college graduate. I'm so proud of you," John gushes as soon as he sees me.

"Thank you," I say quietly, tearing up a bit.

Hearing my slight voice crack, John releases me from the hug and looks at me, "Is something wrong?" he asks concerned.

I shake my head, "Don't worry, they're happy tears,"

He smiles at me, "C'mon, let's get outta here and find some food. I'm starving, that ceremony was so long,"

Trying my hardest to not mess up my make-up, I dab at my eyes to rid them of tears. I return his smile, shaking my head slightly at John with his one-track mind on food again.

It was by far one of the best days of my life and now, I have to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. I'm still working at Cafe de Bonheur but I don't wanna work there forever. I have plans but I'm not sure what they are yet. For now, though, I want to just look at my diploma and relish in the completion of my education.

Looking at my phone, I see that I'm due for my shift in 20 minutes. I shrug my shoulders, might as start walking there now. I grab my bag and keys and head out the door. Once the door is locked behind me, I make my descent down the stairs and onto the street.

In no rush, I take my time walking the few blocks to work. With no music in my ears, I examined the world around me. The lush trees and warm air made me smile. I enjoyed not having to rush.

I was in my own little world when my phone suddenly buzzes. I pull my phone out of my pocket expecting it to be John but it wasn't.

It was my older brother calling me. He never calls me. Why now? My thoughts whirl around my head a mile a minute. I was seconds away from not answering but before I could I pressed 'answer' and held it up to my ear.

"Hello?" I say hesitantly.

"Anna?" I hear him say.

"Yes Aaron, it's me. What do you need?" I say roughly. He hasn't spoken to me in such a long time. I'm in no mood to play besties with my estranged brother. What does he want?

"How have you been?" he asks.

"I'm doing great, just graduated college but you didn't call to check up on me so, what's up?"

I hear him laugh lightly, "Straight to the point huh?"

"That's how it's always been,"

"Well, I'm getting married next month and I want you to be at the wedding,"

Woah. I was not expecting that. My brother, married? "You want me to be there?" I ask not sure if it was a joke.

"Yes, Anna. I want you to be there. I want you to meet Claire and besides, we all would love to see you,"

I narrow my eyes even though he couldn't see me, "Did Mom put you up to this?" She was always trying to get me to go to family gatherings here and there but it had stopped for the most part a year ago.

He laughs lightly again, "No, she didn't,"

We both fell silent for a few moments before Aaron speaks up again, "Well, I gotta go but I'll text you the information and you can just tell me if you can make it or not,"

"Okay," I say quietly still in my thoughts.

"I hope to see you there, bye," he says before hanging up.

I stop walking to pull the phone away from my ear and look at it. What just happened?

I look up to see that Cafe de Bonheur was just up the block and that John had beat me to my own shift as his truck was in the parking lot. Seeing his car makes me smile but then I remember the phone call I just got which dulls it. I push the front door open and I see John on the line to order.

Melody is behind the register and she smiles at me before looking back at the register. John doesn't notice me as his attention was on his phone so I take this opportunity to scare him a bit.

Walking right behind him I say, "Whatcha looking at?"

He jumps slightly before laughing and looking at me, "Nothing important, just scrolling through twitter to pass the time,"

I nod with a smile.

He looks at his phone again before talking again, "You're here early,"

"Yeah, I was ready and just decided to get a head start over here,"

"You know I saw a spider today and," John had started talking but my attention got pulled away from him when my phone buzzed again. After the phone call with my brother, it couldn't be anything good.

I lift my phone to look at it and see a text from my mother. It said that my brother's wedding was an event I could not skip and if I tried to she would find me and bring me there herself.

I huff loudly. Oh boy.

A/N

it's getting good. stay safe. until next time. love u.