Oh Brother - S01 E09

Story 2 years ago

Oh Brother - S01 E09

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 9

“Autumn!”

I pushed my legs to move faster. Faster, so that I wouldn’t have to talk to Christian. Or even see him.

“Autumn, just talk to me,” Christian pleaded.

I stopped in front of the school’s front doors and closed my eyes briefly. Taking in a deep breath, I decided to face him. Just to tell him to screw off, I would fight my anger away.

Turning around, I smiled sweetly at Christian’s frowning face and said, “Look, Christian. There’s nothing to talk about. Our lives are better off without each other, so let’s leave it like this. Us two hating each other is for the best.”

“But I don’t hate you,” he said, sounding sincere.

I couldn’t help but look away, feeling sick. The thing I hated about Christian, ever since we met, was that he didn’t hate me. He never did and it hurt in a strange way. Probably because he had every right to, yet he didn’t.

“You should,” I said honestly. “I don’t think I’ll ever like you.”

Christian winced and I turned around quickly, knowing I didn’t want to talk to him. Didn’t want to pity him, especially. We were destined to hate each other, I knew that. It was Christian who needed to realize the truth.

*****

I exited the school with my mind racing with thoughts. For the entire day I tried to forget about my main problem, but I couldn’t. Not when it actually mattered that my mom now hated me. All of the sudden she did and I had no idea why.

I looked up at the clear, blue sky as the sun shone down on me and smiled sadly. When it came to the outside world, everything was the same. Everything was perfectly in order, which was the complete opposite of my life.

Taking in a deep breath, I decided to get going. My throat was constricted and I suddenly felt like a girl. Those typical girls that cared too much about everything in life, which had never been me. Well, until Stephen married my mom. Now I seemed to care about everything too much. Even insignificant factors such as Christian.

As I walked down the sidewalk to the bus stop, I decided to finally think about Christian. The thought of him was already making my blood boil, so I knew I did hate him. I knew I never wanted to see him again. But for some reason, I suddenly felt bad about it. Almost sick. It didn’t make sense.

“Hey sweet cheeks,” I suddenly heard a voice say.

I stopped in my place and turned around, frowning from the unfamiliar voice. My eyes soon met almost black eyes of a boy who was staring at me, wearing a sly smile as he did. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes, knowing these types of guys.

Turning around, I continued walking as I chose to ignore him. I knew these guys only wanted attention. They were lonely and idiotic, so they chose to target girls that walked alone.

“Hey, girl, I’m talking to you,” he said, sounding close.

I realized he was following me, so I rolled my eyes. I continued to ignore him though, knowing he would eventually get bored of me. Hopefully it happened soon.

A minute later, I suddenly felt a hand clasp around my wrist, forcing me to turn around to face the guy. He was still wearing a sly grin, his eyes twinkling as if the situation was funny. I scowled at him, feeling completely annoyed.

Yanking my hand away, I hissed, “Don’t touch me. In fact, get away from me.”

His smile grew into a sloppy grin. “I just want to get to know you. You’re a cute little thing.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and turned around again, making sure to pick up my pace. The bus stop was only a street away and I knew I could finally get away from the creep. I needed to, because if I saw his sly smile again I knew I’d wipe it off in an aggressive way.

Suddenly, I felt a hand smack my butt. I gasped as I instantly felt violated when the feeling of the smack remained there, causing me to know that he had touched me. The creep had dared to touch me.

Turning around quickly, I was shocked to hear someone shout, “What the f--k did you just do!”

Both the guy and I were now staring at the boy storming up to where we stood. My heartbeat suddenly accelerated as I realized it was Christian. Christian, who looked livid as he clenched his jaw and closed up on the creep.

“I said, what the f--k did you do,” Christian hissed, glaring right at the boy as he stood in front of him.

The creep rolled his eyes, but he grinned. “Is she your girlfriend? She’s cute.”

Christian suddenly grabbed the front of the guy’s black shirt, pulling him even closer so their faces were only an inch apart. My eyes widened as I never really saw Christian angry. Never, even though I had yelled at him plenty of times before.

“Shut the f--k up,” Christian hissed, pushing the guy away. “Don’t you dare touch her again.”

“Or what?” The guy crossed his arms over his chest.

Before I could do anything, Christian swung at the guy. His fist collided with the guy’s face, causing him to land on the ground hard. I winced, but my eyes widened even more. The whole situation was hard to process.

Seeing that the creep looked ready to fight, I decided to put an end to things. Rushing up to Christian, I grabbed his arm and dragged him away. He was reluctant, but he seemed to be obeying. Although, he didn’t stop glaring at the creep.

“He’s not worth it,” I said, dragging Christian meters away.

Christian looked down at me, rage leaving his eyes. “You shouldn’t walk alone. Things would have been much worse if I didn’t show up.”

I couldn’t help but scowl. “Christian, I could have handled myself just fine. I was going to tell him off, but then you came.”

By now we had crossed the street to the bus stop, and only now did I realize I was still holding Christian’s arm. Feeling disgusted with myself, I quickly let go and jammed my hands into my jeans pockets.

Christian frowned at me. “He touched you. It didn’t seem like you were handling it.”

Suddenly, I felt angry. Annoyed with Christian. I just hated how he thought I was some delicate thing, when clearly I wasn’t. Right now I was all alone – literally – and I was fine. Despite everything going on in my life, I was okay. I wasn’t some weak girl.

Christian seemed to realize I was annoyed because he sighed. He ran his fingers through his dark hair and looked off into the distance, seeming suddenly tired. And just like me, of life.

I couldn’t help but watch him, wondering just who exactly he was. Knowing him for three months hadn’t taught me anything about him, except that he was a nuisance. But from his reaction to the guy, it seemed like he wasn’t so innocent.

Eventually looking back at me, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“I am,” I said honestly. “I’m fine.”

He nodded and looked away again, seeming suddenly awkward. I felt awkward myself, knowing there was just one thing I had to say to him. Despite my feelings towards him, I had to say it.

“Thank you,” I said, looking back at him. “For helping me.”

He looked back at me, eyes twinkling with slight happiness. “You’re welcome… Does this mean we’re okay?”

I sighed. “Christian, I mean it. We’re destined to hate each other.”

“Why in the world do you think that?”

“Because of how messed up my life is. Because you stole my mom,” I said, heart clenching at the truth.

Christian’s eyes expressed pity and I looked away. I bit my lip and stared at the ground, wondering why I was even talking to him. We were supposed to act like the other doesn’t exist.

“I did nothing, Autumn,” he said. “You know that right?”

“I know that,” I said. “I just… Can’t.”

“Can’t you try to get to know me at least?” he suddenly pleaded. “Just spend one day with me.”

My eyes flew back to him, shocked by his request. From the way his eyes were wide with desperation, I knew he meant what he said. He honestly wanted this.

“Why do you care if I like you?” I asked, wanting an answer to that single question that had been bothering me.

I just didn’t understand. We were basically strangers, yet he kept trying. Trying to know and befriend a horrible person such as myself.

“I don’t know,” he replied, sounding honest. “I guess… because I don’t have much of a family so it would be nice to have a sibling.”

I looked away, feeling my heart suddenly ache at the thought. To be completely honestly, I felt like it would be nice too. Nice to have someone there for me after everyone had left me.

But despite that, my only reply to everything he said was, “I honestly don’t know. I’m sorry.”

To be continued