The Boy Next Door

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The next morning, I woke up at noon. I had spent the previous night talking to Will in his studio, and I didn’t get home until late. I got dressed and went downstairs to make breakfast, and I heard people talking. My instincts told me to start to freak out, but I tried to remain calm.

I looked around the corner and saw my parents. I was shocked, and my heart jumped a little when I saw them, but I wasn’t going to act like nothing happened. I walked over to the counter like I hadn’t seen them. I heard my dad clear his throat.

“Aren’t you going to say hello to your parents?” he asked while walking toward me.

“Oh, so that’s what you are? I thought there were strangers in my kitchen.” I snapped at him. I was a little shocked at how mean I sounded, but I quickly put a mask on my face so they couldn’t read what I was thinking.

“Honey, we are sorry. We wanted to stop by before we flew off to Paris.” My mom said while hugging me. I didn’t hug back, instead, I squirmed away.

I scoffed at them. “You are stopping by before you go to Paris? Wow, how thoughtful.” I mumbled sarcastically.

“We are your parents young lady, and you will not speak to us like that.” My dad warned. I laughed again.

“You call yourselves parents? You never loved me; it was all about Michael. When he died, didn’t you think that I was sad too? He was my brother. I was crushed and you didn’t even comfort me. I had lost my best friend, and you left me all alone. And now after I told you what happened with Jace, you didn’t even care. You have no right to call yourselves parents, and Michael would be so disappointed in you two.” I growled, while trying to hold back my own tears.

My father came up to me, and I felt the back of his hand connect with my face. I grabbed my cheek, stunned. Before he had a chance to explain himself, I exploded.

“Get the fuck out of my life! I never want to see either of you two as long as I live! Go have fun in Paris. I hate both of you, now leave!” I screamed at them. They were both shocked, but they listened and left the house. I slammed the door behind them, and then I fell to the ground crying.

They were never my parents anyways, I kept telling myself. They never liked you. Michael was the golden child. At the thought of Michael, I started crying harder. He was my best friend, and he would never have let those jerks treat me like this.

“Michael, if you can hear me, I miss you, and I love you.” I prayed to the ceiling. I knew it was hopeless, but there was a part of me that wanted to believe that he could hear me, and that he would come back just so I wouldn’t have to go through this without him. “I hate it here bro, I want it all to be over. I just want to crawl in the covers and stay in my room.”

Images of my friends flashed through my mind as the last words escaped my lips. Then Will’s picture popped in my head. I wanted to believe that it was Michael giving me hope, and to show me that I had people in this world that actually cared for me.

“Thanks Mikey.” I said through my tears. I managed to crawl back upstairs, under the covers. I heard my phone go off a million times, and the same with the doorbell. I knew it was Will and Taylor, but I didn’t want to talk to anyone about it; not even Will.

This was something that I had to deal with on my own. He was my brother, and they didn’t know him. I knew he died years ago, but I didn’t have a proper grieving then, so I was going to have it now.

I turned on my music, and I let the words take over my body. I eventually let the words bring me to sleep.

I was woken up the next morning by my alarm clock. Crap, I slept all Sunday? I groaned and climbed out of bed. I looked into the mirror, and saw that my eyes were blood shot from crying.

I sighed and hopped back in bed. I was grieving, and I deserved a day off school. I grabbed my phone and called the school to tell them that I was sick. I crawled under the covers, and I drifted off to sleep, yet again.

This time, I awoke to someone standing over me. I jumped and knocked heads with the person hovering over me.

“Ouch, what the hell?” I screeched at the figure.

“Well isn’t someone Queen Bitch today?” I heard Taylor smirk.

“Sorry Tay, I’ve had a rough weekend.” I mumbled. I laid back down on my pillows. “So what’s up?”

“Will and I have been worried. We tried calling you all day yesterday, and when you didn’t show at school, I started freaking out. Our friend telepathy told me something was up.” Tay replied.

I laughed when she brought up the telepathy thing. Apparently since we were best friends, she always knew something was wrong with me.

“Hey don’t hate on the telepathy; it never fails.” She winked at me, and I erupted in laughter.

That was when I saw someone shift in the corner. I looked harder into the dark to see Will.

I smiled. “Hey Will, get over here.” I said. He plopped down on the bed next to me, as did Taylor.

“So what happened?” Tay asked.

Will just waited for an answer, like always.

“I kinda don’t want to talk about it right now. I’m sorry.” I mumbled, not looking either of them in the eyes. I heard Taylor sigh.

“Ok, but you know you always have us.” She said while rubbing my shoulder reassuringly.

“I know, and you guys are the closet things to family that I have left.” I said while giving them a hug, and holding back the tears. I looked up at the ceiling and mouthed a “thank you” to my brother. I felt a tear threaten to escape, but I quickly swatted it away.

They didn’t push any more questions, and we just sat in the dark. Nobody talked. It was dead silent, and I was grateful for it.

“Well we better get going, you look like you need to rest.” Taylor said, as she practically dragged Will from the spot on the bed. He looked at me with pleading eyes, signaling that he didn’t want to go until I told him I was ok.

“Go, I’m fine.” I smiled at him, which he gladly returned.

“Oh, and Sky. Tryouts begin Saturday.” Tay yelled as she walked out of my room, still dragging Will.

I groaned. I hated tryouts; they were worse than all the practices combined. Coach Wilson pushed us until we couldn’t go anymore. I knew for certain that I didn’t want the weekend to come quickly.