Step Brothers

1

EDITED

My hands covered my ears, wanting to escape from the loud voices of my parents coming from down the stairs.

"You liar! You told me you were going there for your business meeting!" Mom's voice boomed throughout the house. And in return, Dad roared in frustration. "For heaven's sake, I'm not lying!"

"Than, what were you doing there with her?" Why was she there with you?" She inquired, and no matter how hard I tried to muffle their voice, I still heard every word.

"It was just a coincidence! We met, and we were talking." My feet automatically led me out of my bedroom; I didn't even realize when I was standing on the staircase. Looking at them, standing close to each other. Nearly breathing the same air.

"Yeah? What a coincidence! Meeting with your ex-wife behind my back!" Her hands landed on his chest, pushing him. "I'm going to leave if you don't shut up!"

"You have a daughter! You will leave her for that " She exclaimed. "I'm not leaving her or you for Nancy! It's your behavior that's pushing me to do it." His hands pinned her to the wall behind her. "What's wrong with you? Why are you being like this, babe? I love you. Why don't you believe me?" His voice turned to a light whisper, almost pleading.

"But you were with that bitch." But her voice was anything but light; it made me slightly flinch. "You know what? I'm done with you."

"Where are you going?" She was cut off when my dad shouted in frustration as he took steps away from her and in the direction of the main door. "I'm leaving you and this house! I can no longer put up with you!"

And I heard the front door being slammed shut. He didn't even see me standing there. I heard the sound of the car pulling out of the garage. The car that belonged to dad was my favorite. And a few seconds later, I heard another loud voice about something shattering. When I looked in the direction where she had been standing, I saw her favorite vase shattered into pieces. It was a gift for her from her dad.

I reached my room, but I heard her crying voice as I was about to close the door. "He will come back. He's my dad; he would never abandon me." I gave myself hope. Which was the biggest mistake of my life because he never returned.

.....

I waited for him. Every minute, every day. But he never came. It had been a month. But he never contacted me, nor did Mom. I tried to call him, but he never picked it up. I even left him some messages, but there's been no response from him. She has been depressed for the past few weeks. I rarely see her. She's always in bed. Either crying or looking at the wall with a blank look.

My feet carried me downstairs. Skipping two stairs at a time. I'm getting late for school. It was already 7:30 a.m., and I needed to be there before 8 a.m.

Putting my bag on my shoulder, I entered the kitchen. But then I heard Mom's voice, which surprised me. "Hurry up, Y/N! You're going to be late. How many times have I already told you to go to sleep on time, but no, you stay up late playing that thing?" I felt happy to see her standing by the counter, waiting for me. "That thing is called a guitar, mom. And I need to practice. You know that." I smiled.

"I can never understand your obsession with playing it. Whatever, just finish eating this; I'm waiting in the car." She placed a plate of pancakes in front of me. "Okay."

After that, she left, and I dug into my plate of pancakes, taking big bites and drinking my orange juice hurriedly. In two minutes, I was done, but as I was about to leave, my eyes fell on the brown envelope sitting on the counter.

Curious I opened it, but when my eyes fell on the papers, I felt the breakfast coming up. My eyes moistened. The car honked, and I quickly put the papers back in the envelope. And went outside. Throughout the 10-minute ride, my mind was occupied with what I had seen. Every few seconds, I would look at Mom. Sitting casually beside me, driving.

The little hope I had left that my father would come back was crushed. stepped on and left broken like pieces of broken glass. They were getting a divorce. Mom pulled up at the front of the school. As I opened the door. Mom spoke in her usual soft voice. Which I had missed since the day dad left.

"Y/n, I want to talk to you about something today. So don't make any plans for today. Okay?" I nodded at her, already knowing what she wanted to talk about. "Now give mommy a kiss." I groaned. "I'm not a child anymore, mom!"

"For me, you will always be a child. My child. Now hurry up and give mommy a kiss, or you're going to be late." Still groaning, I gave her a kiss on the cheek, and she returned that. "Eww mom! I'm a big girl." I made a disgusting face. "Yeah, yeah, now go to school, big girl." She playfully rolled her eyes at me.

......

On my way to the class, I met Scarlett, my best friend. She and I have been friends for two years now. "Hey Y/n. How are you?" She gave me a hug. And I also wrapped my hands around her. "Not good." I told her honestly. "Why? what happened?" She pulled away, looking at me with concern.

"I'll tell you later during your lunch break. We'll be late for class." I said that we would surely be late. "Okay, and Y/N?" I hummed in response. More concentrated on pushing through the student body in the hallway to get to the class.

"I also have something to tell you... during lunch break." I replied with an okay, and we both went to our classes after saying goodbye.

......

We put our lunch trays on the table. Talking about anything and everything while eating our lunch. But halfway through, I remembered she wanted to tell me something.

"Hey, you said you wanted to tell me something."

"Oh yeah.. but first you tell what happened?" My face dropped, and once again the divorce papers flashed through my mind. "Mom and dad are getting a divorce." Scarlett instantly pulled me in for a hug. Whispering encouraging words that did nothing for me.

"Everything will be alright, Y/N." I wiped the few tears that escaped and then asked her what she wanted to say. "Hmm.. Y/n.. actually.." she hesitated. So I put my hand on hers and asked. "What's the matter?" Tell me." Squeezing her hand lightly, I encourage her to tell me.

"I'm moving away," she said after taking a deep breath. "What do you mean by moving away?" I asked, confused and with a little anxiety. "I'm leaving this town, Y/N." Dad got a promotion, and we have to move to a new town."

"You're joking, right?" Not wanting to believe her, I asked her. So that maybe she will burst out laughing and say, "HAHA got you." But instead, she shook her head, indicating it wasn't a joke.

"What will I do here, alone, Scarlett? You're my only friend."

"I'm sorry, Y/n. We will talk every day. I promise." I just looked down. Why was everything falling apart for me? But I put on a smile for her, for I didn't know that in the future we would fall apart even after promising each other to stay in contact.

.....

two years later.

It's nighttime. I sat in the car beside Mom. I'm fidgeting with the half-heart-shaped necklace; I don't know who gave it to me. But I've had it with me since childhood. And for some reason, I have always felt some sort of attachment to it, even though it was nothing special. It had initials written on it. But I never understood what it meant. Because they were just some random alphabets. I once asked Mom about it. But she had no memory of it either.

"Mom, who gave this to me?" My mom glanced at my locket. "I don't remember, honey."

Today is my birthday. I turned 17, and mom was taking us back after spending a day at the amusement park and having dinner at a fancy restaurant. Every now and then, she would glance at me. I knew she wanted to ask if I was alright because, throughout the day, I wasn't as happy as I used to be. And I knew it was worrying mom.

"I miss dad." I spoke, wanting to ease her. And she exhaled a breath of relief. "It's alright, Y/N." People are meant to come and go. You have every right to miss him; he's your father. But remember to have fun and to live your life. I'm sure he wouldn't want you to be sad on your birthday." I gave her a small smile. And she also looked at me. And caressed my cheek, lovingly.

"I love you." She said that, and I clearly saw the love in her eyes. But before I could say it back, we heard a loud honk, and a bright light fell on our faces. A shout escaped from my mouth when I saw a truck coming in our direction. Mom's hands wrapped around me, pulling me into herself.