34

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

Tyler

I stared at the spot Hunter occupied not even a minute ago.

Why would they just throw it on him like that?

He hadn't responded the way I thought he would.

He hadn't really responded to the news at all. It was like he was more fucked up about whatever he had to say rather than what he was told.

"Tyler, can you..." Mom started to speak, but I cut her off.

"Yeah, I know." I mumbled. "Go get Hunter and make sure he's okay. I mean, it's not like he's my kid or anything, but I do have to look after him constantly while you two ruin his life."

"Don't talk to your Mother like that." Dad jumped in.

"You don't talk to me." I glared at him. "She doesn't need you to stand up for her. She's more than capable of telling me to get over it."

I looked at Mom.

"Do you want me to get over it?" I asked.

She bit her lip and glanced at Dad.

This was new for her. Usually she was the nice parent. The one that took you for ice cream after Dad sent you to your room after dinner with no desert.

"What? You're alone now. It's time for you to play both roles because I doubt Hunter will be seeing much of Dad after he leaves this house." I said. "Tell me to get over it."

Silence.

"What're you waiting for Maya? Tell the boy to shut the hell up." Dad said crossing his arms.

He was becoming annoyed. They always used to argue about how Mom was turning Hunter and I into girls by babying us.

"I'm not." Mom shook her head. "He deserves to say how he's feelings. I'm not going to ignore his heart."

Dad shook his head.

"This is..." He couldn't even finish his sentence.

He just shook his head and walked away.

"Go find Hunter." Mom said quietly.

"I will." I sighed.

I watched her chase after Dad and wondered if she'd really sign those papers.

What would happen if she did?

Who would get Hunter?

If Dad said he wanted Hunter, I like to think that Mom would fight him on it. But I know my Dad and I know how manipulative he could be. He just has to catch Mom at a low point and tell her that things would be better with him. I also know my Mom and I know that she only wants what's best for us. She'd hand over custody if she felt that Hunter could do more with Dad.

I grabbed my keys and headed out the door to get Hunter for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

Amari

After two hours of being gushed at for being 'the cutest couple' and having older men hit on me, Jake and I left the luncheon and found a big room all the way at the top of the building. It looked down upon the entire skyline. Stars illuminated the sky and gave a peaceful feel to everything.

"Did you see that guy take his teeth out or am I tripping?" Jake laughed walking over to me.

"No, I saw it." I said turning to look at him. "It was right before he blew me a big wet sloppy kiss."

I smiled up at him and he flashed me his perfect smile.

"Can you blame him?" Jake asked. "You do look amazing."

"Yeah, I know." I flipped my hair over my shoulder.

Jake laughed and leaned down to kiss me. This kiss felt new. Foreign. It didn't feel like it was satisfying some need to be close, but like it was leading to something else.

Jake's a virgin, though. Is this really where he wanted to change that? Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful up here, but I know what it feels like to regret your first time because you rushed into it. I didn't want him to feel like that.

Not to mention I still had Tyler on my mind. On my heart. Suddenly, it wasn't Jake Who wasn't ready for this. It was me. I couldn't give him all of me, yet.

"Jake..." I sighed pulling away. "We can't do this."

He studied my face before nodding.

"I get it." He said stepping away. "I really do. I get all of this. I see the scene unfolding before me."

"What're you talking about?" I asked watching him sit on the couch that faced towards the skyline.

"Amari, I'm a nice guy. Not an idiot." He mumbled running a hand through his hair. "Believe it or not."

"Wait." I shook my head. "I'm confused. Are you mad at me because I don't want to hookup with you?"

"No. Not at all." He said quickly grabbing hold of my hands. "Don't say that. Don't even think that. I like you because of who you are. I don't care about getting laid. I can wait. I can't really say the same for Tyler though."

"Oh my God." I groaned pulling my hands out of his and sitting beside him. "What does Tyler have to do with this? He isn't even here. What's your obsession with him about?"

"I'm not obsessed with him!" Jake argued.

"Then why do you have to constantly compare yourself to him?" I asked. "Why is it that every time something goes wrong between us, you have to bring him up?"

"I don't know." He said sarcastically. "Probably because you're supposed to be trying with me, but you're sleeping with him, Amari."

I froze and just stared at Jake who was nodding his head.

"Yeah, I know." He nodded. "I figured it out the night he and Naomi came to my Aunt's house. When he was talking about how he wanted you to his self and when I saw how close you two were standing when I took Naomi to the bathroom."

"Jake..." He cut me off.

"Then it was confirmed at the Cabins when Naomi told me. She took me downstairs and I saw you two laying there with my own eyes!"

"It's not..." He cut me off again.

"No. Forget it!" He stood up and stepped away from me. "I didn't care because we weren't together. Because we weren't exclusive. We hardly knew each other, but I liked you! I wanted to get to know you and I still do. I thought maybe if I stuck around and showed you that I would be great with you. No. Great for you, you'd stop being so caught up in a guy who only thinks of you as a liability option."

Those were the same things I said when I wanted Tyler.

I'd be great for him.

I didn't know what to say. What could I say? Was I supposed to apologize for the way I felt? That wouldn't compensate for what he was feeling right now. He probably feels the same way I felt that day Tyler told me he just wanted to be friends. Nothing more. Nothing less. That didn't feel good.

"You know, there was a point where you became all about me and I bathed in the attention." He started again. "But that went out the window the moment you made up with Tyler. I thought maybe if I could give you what Tyler was giving you, you wouldn't be so attached to him, but here we are. You're in a completely different state with me and Tyler is still somehow on your mind. Shit, he's on mine too."

"Tyler and I have a history, Jake." I said quietly. "He treats me like I'm the main attraction at his favorite show."

"I know that." He stared down at me. "But the actions mean nothing when the intentions aren't pure. He's only treating you like that to keep you around, Amari. How are you not seeing that?"

"Because I don't want to see it like that." I shook my head. "I've liked Tyler since I first laid eyes on him. Why aren't you understanding this?"

"No, I get it." He said. "And I don't blame you for how you feel. What I'm not getting is why you'd pull me along if you knew you felt like this. Why wouldn't you just come out and say it? How hard could it have possibly been?"

"Tyler was with Naomi and I..." He cut me off.

"Wanted something to dangle over his head too?" He asked. "I don't appreciate being used as a pawn in your games. The time that I spent chasing after you, I could've spent elsewhere."

"Jake, I never meant you any harm." I shook my head grabbing his hand. "You're a nice guy and I really do like you. Just not more than I like him."

"I get that." He sighed staring at our hands. "I really do. I just wish you would've said something earlier so I wouldn't feel like this right now. So I wouldn't feel so empty. Exhausted. Hurt."

"I'm sorry." I said quietly.

"Sure." He nodded and gently pulled his hands from mine. "I am too, but what can we do about it?"

He started to leave, but looked back at me.

"I still like you a lot." He said. "When you realize that I'm a better fit for you than Tyler, you can call me."

"And if I don't realize that?" I asked.

"Still call." He shrugged. "You can never have too many friends."

He left the room and I sighed.

How was he still so charming after an argument like that?

Tyler

Slowly I made my way to my brother who was sitting on the park bench in the dark. His head was hanging as he stared at his hands. I knew this was coming. Why did I feel so unprepared? I cleared my throat and sat beside him, but he didn't react.

"Hunt..." I sighed. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

He didn't reply.

"I know this may be hard to accept, but it's for the best." I continued watching him for a reaction. "Mom was hurting within that marriage and she tried to keep it going for as long as possible, but she just couldn't."

What do you say to your brother who was blind sided by your parent's divorce? What do you say to anyone whose parents are going through a divorce? Mom and Dad had pretended to be the perfect couple for so long, even I believed them at one point. Hunter was never lucky enough to be exposed to it before now.

"Look on the bright side. You get two of everything now." I nudged him. "Two Christmas', two Birthdays, two Thanks Givings, you could probably guilt one of them into buying you another car."

No reaction.

"I can't do that because I knew they were fighting." I said. "They wouldn't feel guilty enough."

He sniffled, but didn't move or say anything.

"Hunter, marriages don't always work out." I sighed beginning to wing it. "Sometimes the first person you marry, isn't the right person. Sometimes people change and so do their marriage. Sometimes people don't change at all, but their partner..."

He shook his hand in front of my face causing me to stop.

"I know all of that stuff." He mumbled. "I get why Mom and Dad want a divorce. I'm not deaf. I can hear them fight sometimes."

"So what're you so upset about?" I asked.

"When I walked into the house, I wasn't expecting to hear that." He said staring ahead of him. "That's not how I expected our conversation to go..."

"What're you talking about?" He had my full undivided attention.

"I had something on my mind when I walked into the house. Something I wanted to say. To talk about with you guys." He shrugged. "But there was already bad energy in the house and I didn't want what I was going to say to add onto that or be blown out of proportion."

"What was it you were going to say?" I asked causing him to stare at me.

Tears welled up in his eyes and he looked away.

"It's dumb. Nothing." He shook his head. "Forget I mentioned it. Let's go home."

"No. Let's talk." I grabbed his arm forcing him to stay beside me. "What's wrong?"

"Promise you won't say anything to anyone until I do." He said finally giving in. "Promise that you won't look at me or treat me any differently."

"I promise." I nodded.

Hunter looked away. He took a deep breath and I saw a tear roll down his face as he readied himself.

"I um..." He shook his head. "I really really..." He thought about it. "Really," He added on. "Like Angel the way I'm supposed to like girls. The way you like Amari... Or Naomi. I don't know which one you're feeling right now."

More tears rolled down his cheeks as I studied his face.

"Is that wrong? Is there something wrong with me?" Hunter asked.

I could hear his words get caught in his throat. I could see the worry and fear drown his face. My brother who was once so confident and sure of himself, needed reassurance. I wasn't used to this.

"What will Mom think? What will Dad say?" Hunter asked. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to disappoint anyone. I can't help that this is how I feel. I don't know where this came from it's just here. I don't know how to get rid of it. What about Amari? What if she hates all of us because of me? Tyler, I don't want to ruin anything for you. Besides, you need all the help you can get. I was looking stuff up and there's shock therapy and conversion camps, but I think those are illegal..."

I cut him off by pulling him to me. I hugged him tightly as he cried into my shoulder. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to react or how to calm him down. I had never been put in this situation, but I hoped Hunter could see how hard I was trying. No one would hate him for being this way. How could anyone hate Hunter anyway? I didn't know how people would react to this, but I knew that I'd support him no matter what. That I'd fight any war he asked me to if it meant he'd be okay.

Hunter

Tyler is the worse at calming people down, but, for some reason, I didn't want anyone else to tell me that things would be okay.

When word got out about this, I knew that a lot of things would need to change. I also knew that Tyler would help me if I needed it.

"I'm sorry I made that dumb joke about you and Angel." He said.

"It's fine." I mumbled pulling away from him. "I'm sorry I almost took Amari from you. Back then I thought I might have actually liked her like that."

"You never took Amari..." I cut him off.

"I said almost." I said.

"Yeah, okay." He patted my back. "So... Angel?"

"I don't know." I shrugged.

"Is he gay?" Tyler asked.

"I really don't know." I looked over at him. "Oh my God." I buried my face in my hands.

"What?" He asked.

"What if he doesn't like me?" I looked at him. "I mean, I'm fine, but a guy has never hit on me before. What if I'm only sexy to girls?"

"And we're leaving." Tyler stood up and started walking away.

"I'm being serious!" I chased behind him.

—————————

After a long Hiatus, I have returned.

I've been super busy with finding outfits and getting my hair done for Senior Pictures, not to mention my Prom Dress and my birthday outfit.

This year my birthday falls on the day before Prom. So I really gotta be stepping on necks all Month.

Also, my boyfriend downloaded wattpad to try and find my account, so I've been on my other account just incase he tried to look in my phone. Due to this, it may be a while before the next chapter is up, but I've already started typing it on my laptop. It really just depends.

So... yeah.

Sorry for the 'not-as-dramatic-as-it-should've-been' chapter, but I don't know.

I didn't want to offend anyone or anything, so I tried to get the emotions across without going deep into feelings or facts.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net