Oh Brother - S01 E14

3 years ago

Oh Brother - S01 E14

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 14

We had bonded. The pizza day went great and ever since that day we talked more. We weren’t best friends, but slowly I was getting to know Christian. I was getting more comfortable around him too.

I found myself suddenly smiling at the thought of my life working out in my favour for once. That also the boy I had once hated was the closest thing I had to a new, better family. Life was f----d up, but at least this was a good f----d up surprise.

“Well aren’t you happy,” Dee commented, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Blush filled my cheeks as I realized I probably looked like a freak who was smiling at nothing. It was a bad habit many people had, but I never had it. Until now, that was.

“I am,” I admitted, still smiling. “You know, everything is alright for once.”

Dee broke out into a grin as I found my smile growing at the truth. The everything part was a lie, but things were definitely better. Well, maybe I was just used to things at this point.

“You’re gushing,” Dee commented, still grinning. “I’m happy for you.”

I actually giggled at that and shook my head, wondering what was wrong with me. For the past few months I had been a hardcore b---h, but now I was like a freshman around the senior she found hot. It was disgusting, but I decided to remain as the freshman because for once I was satisfied with everything. Nothing, could bring me down.

“Christian,” Cheryl suddenly said, reminding me she was here. “He’s the reason why you’re so happy, isn’t he?”

“I guess so,” I admitted a bit reluctantly. “He’s actually not much of a nuisance.”

“And hot,” Dee chirped in. “Now that you don’t hate him can you be my wingman?”

I scowled as I still felt slightly disgusted at the thought of any girl wanting Christian. More disgusted that my best friend wanted him. Maybe I didn’t hate him, but I prefered my friends not getting with him.

“No,” I replied, still scowling. “His attractiveness is still very debatable.”

“Fine, don’t be my wingman.” Dee frowned. “Just let me get at him.”

“Dee!”

Dee laughed, and I found myself smiling and shaking my head. It was nice being able to smile like this with the mention of Christian. It takes a lot of muscles to frown, so it had been tiring doing that for the past few months at his name.

“Anyways,” Cheryl cut in. “You two are good?”

I nodded, unsure of why Cheryl was so obsessed with how Christisn and I were. Before I assumed it was because she really cared about me and he was my biggest issue, but now I wasn’t so sure. We were good now, yet she kept asking questions about him.

“Do you hang out a lot?” she then asked.

I shook my head. “No, we just talk on the ride home.”

That was literally the only time we did, which was strange because we lived in the same house. I didn’t mind because I liked being alone at home, but a part of me wanted another day to hang out – like at the pizza place. Just another day to feel like we were actually close.

I found my cheeks reddening at the thought, knowing I was going insane. Literally two weeks ago I hated him, but now I was hoping we would hang out. Shaking my head, I realized how f----d up my life was. It was actually making me become a psychopath.

“Why are you blushing?” Cheryl suddenly asked. “Are you keeping something from us?”

“What?” I asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“Cheryl!” Dee suddenly exclaimed. “Autumn is happy. Let her be.”

Cheryl sighed and I smiled appreciatively at Dee. She was my best friend and I had loved her ever since we met. She was strange, but strange in a funny, not entirely creepy way. In a way I could accept.

“I’m happy for her,” Cheryl simply said. “It’s just…”

“What?” Dee asked.

Cheryl shook her head. “Nothing.”

Dee and I frowned at each other as Cheryl dug into her food. She didn’t look up once as she ate, so we shrugged at each other. Knowing Cheryl, we knew she was trying to figure something out. Trying to put the puzzle together in her own jigsaw puzzle. I wasn’t sure what her puzzle was of, but I was fine with it. Cheryl was that type of person to calculate everything, and I loved that about her. It made her interesting.

*****

I was sitting in the car with Christian, ready to go home. We hadn’t said much yet, which left us with this soothing silence that I was conflicted about. Conflicted because a part of me wanted to break it because I had a question. A question I had been wanting to ask for a while.

As Christian pulled out of the parking lot, I exhaled and gained some guts. Now that we talked more, I felt like I could ask him the question.

“Christian,” I said.

“Yeah,” he replied, glancing at me as he drove away from the school.

“Did you use to fight?” I asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

“What?”

I stared at him for a second, wondering if I should change the subject. The question wasn’t personal, but it would definitely be the most personal question I’d ask him yet. That was probably why I found my heartbeat accelerating, knowing I might be crossing a line.

“Like, get into fights with people at your old school?” I asked. “You were quick to throw a punch when that creep touched me and…”

At this point, I regretted asking him the question. From the way he suddenly stiffened up, my regret grew. I didn’t even know why I asked him such a question.

“Did you tell your mom about that?” Christian suddenly asked.

“No,” I scoffed. “We don’t even talk to each other.”

That was why not everything was alright. Stephen and Christian were alright, but my mom wasn’t. After the whole pasta incident we barely spoke. Other than a few words a day, we avoided each other. Well, surprisingly she avoided me at all costs. My own mother really hated me, it seemed.

“Good,” he replied, seeming to relax. “It was an accident. I shouldn’t have hit him.”

He looked at me for a second and the regret was clear on his face. It made sense though. Christian was innocent in a sense where him punching a guy right off of the bat was really surprising. Even after getting to know him more, it was the truth that he wouldn’t do something like that.

“Why did you do it?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “He touched you and I just… I don’t know. I was mad.”

Christian sighed and only then did I realize my heart was pounding. With no reason, it was. I smiled sadly, suddenly realizing something as Christian kept his eyes on the road.

Even though we had gotten closer, I still really didn’t know who he was. I knew nothing about his past, nothing about him really, and it was hard to figure him out. At this point, I realized it would take a while to actually get to know him. Maybe years. Surprisingly though, I was fine with that. With my mom hating me, I had all of the time in the world to add someone to my nonexistent family.