“Yo, bro. You good?” I look over to see a very wet Brayden walking my way.
I’ve always been pretty good at masking my emotions, leaving people to guess what I’m thinking or feeling. But I guess it just so happens that when you spend nearly every day with someone, they start to see through the bullshit.
The last thing I want to do is burden him with my problems though, especially on his birthday. And to be completely honest,I don’t think Brayden would really know how to handle the shit I’m going through. Not that he hasn’t had struggles of his own but I feel like what I’m going through gets a little more complicated than what I’m willing to actually divulge and I wouldn’t expect him or anyone else to understand, so it’s best to just keep it bottled up.
“Yeah, man. Just kinda tired,” I lie. But really, that’s not much of a lie. I am tired. But it’s kind of bone deep; not just body tired but maybe a little mentally tired too. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s why I’m constantly working out, trying to keep myself distracted from feeling too exhausted even when I feel like I have no real reason to be.
“Well, you can head out if you need. Don’t have practice for once tomorrow so you can even sleep in if you want to.” He lightly slaps me on the back, and I appreciate his gesture. But I know that going home to sleep isn’t as easy as it may sound. I’ll be up for hours just overthinking every little thing until the only thing that can pull me under is my nightmares.
I smile at Bray, just as he’s about to turn and walk away. But then a light commotion takes place behind him, and that’s when we both turn to find his sister storming off through the doors and up the stairs, presumably toward her room. She looks angry, or upset and I almost chase after her, but I have to stop myself.
“Is she okay?” I ask Brayden, wondering if he knows why she’s upset, worry caressing me.
“Who knows…” he trails off as he peers around to see if he can spot anyone that might have caused his sister to become upset, and I desperately want to go after her, but I know that would set off an alarm so I do my best to stay puy.
“Hey! Ryen!” Brayden shouts and I turn my head as I watch Cadence’s best friend shoot a disgusted look at Bray. She walks our way anyway but stops before she gets too close.
“What the hell do you want?” she shouts at him over the music as she crosses her arms over her chest.
“Damn,Elvira. Just wanna know what’s wrong with my sister,” he says, trying his best to ignore the attitude she’s obviously throwing him.
Ryen turns her head slightly, now pointing her heated glare at me. If Brayden notices it, he doesn’t react and I act clueless as we wait for her to respond. Because I really am clueless. What the hell did I do to earn the daggers she’s shooting at me right now?
“Just somejerk. That’s all,” she states in a tone of irritation before she stomps past us and disappears into the house after Cadence.
Bray turns to me and shrugs his shoulders. “I didn’t even know my sister was talking to anyone,” he says and my stomach drops. Not only is she kind of talking to someone, but that someone also happens to sort of be me.
Guilt swarms me, but Bray doesn't seem too concerned about the fact that his sister is upset over a guy. A jerk, as Ryen put it. Now would be a great time for me to tell him to go check on her. Or for me to suggest that I should go check on her. I mean, this kind of thing falls under the pact of protection, does it not? But I miss my chance when one of the guys from the team calls Bray’s name. “I’m sure she’ll be okay,” he tells me before he walks away. Meanwhile, I’m left wondering what the hell Ryen was trying to hint at, clearly having made it a point to stare at me while she said the wordjerk.
But is Ryen even aware that Cadie and I are . . . talking? Of course she is, they're best friends. They tell each other everything.
The irony of that thought hits me and again and another wave of guilt washes over me.
And that’s when I remember . . . the photo that Carissa took. It must have already been posted just as I suspected and sureenough, when I click into Instagram, the first thing I see is the snapshot of me and Ashley, her arms wrapped around me.
Fuck.That doesn’t look good.
I decide to head into the house, thinking of how I can make my way upstairs without anyone noticing, but then my phone chimes.
It’s a text from Cadence.
Why is Ashley here? Why was she all over you?
Whoa, Cadence. Is that why you stormed off so suddenly?
Listen, I didn't know she was coming, swear.
It’s none of my business. Never mind.
It can be. You know I want nothing to do with her.
I was blindsided by that photo, I swear.
I only know what you tell me and what I see. And she was all over you.
Okay first of all, I told her to get off me. Second, I am telling you now that I want nothing to do with her. We broke up months ago.
So then why did she show up with you at my house the day you got back from camp.
