The Release

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

An unbelievably loud noise shook me awake. It blared through my right ear, vibrating through my mind. I lifted my head and squinted at the object the sound emerges from. My phone bore my brother's contact.

I curse under my breath, clear my throat, then answer.

"What do you want, Simon?" I said in the most awake voice I can muster.

"Beth!" He yelled so loud I had to move my head away from the speaker. "One of my friends is coming over and I haven't done my chores yet."

"Well, that sucks. Anything else?"

"Could you do them?"

"Why don't you do it yourself?" I asked Simon. I bet he is just using this as an excuse for me to do his chores.

"I'm not going to be home until 6:30 because I'm running around with him right now. I also told Mom that it was done so she would agree."

I groaned into the speaker. "What's in it for me?" I checked the time and it was noon, but it's always too early for Simon's bullshit.

"Get her those muffins she likes," I heard a separate voice whisper.

"I'll get you those muffins you like," Simon said.

"Fine, I'll do it. Who are you with?" I tried to say nonchalantly.

"Hey Freeman." I know who that is. The only guy who addresses me by my last name. Wayne Anderson.

"Oh great, Anderson's coming over," I said sarcastically. Wayne is one of those boys where you really don't care if they are a complete douche sometimes, you still like them.

"You better be nice," Simon said. "He just got his heartbroken."

I guess he finally got rid of that annoying ass girl he was dating. Honestly, I didn't even bother remembering her name. One time, she called me "Meth". How drunk she was is beyond me.

"Alright, we have to go." Simon changed the subject.

"Bye, Simon."

"Bye, Freeman," was all I heard right before they hung up.

I hate that I have to do Simon's chores. I'm not doing it for him; I'm doing this for muffins. It's a little weird that Wayne knows my favorite food. What a stalker.

~

A couple hours later, I finished cleaning the kitchen, bathroom, living room, and Simon's bedroom. I could barely see the hardwood floor in his room, so it took the longest. Any money I found in his room was mine to keep, as a tip, obviously.

Mom came home shortly after. It's just Mom, Simon, and me. I can't even imagine our house with a dad.

Mom made wings in the pressure cooker. She talked about her job as a real estate agent and how a guy sneezed into a kitchen sink today. Mom likes ranting about the crazy people in the houses she shows in the suburbs of LA.

Sometimes, she gets wannabe movie stars, wealthy businessmen, you name it. One time she got a large group of teenagers that were high the whole time. Now, they go to my school.

Right after Mom finishes talking, she goes into her room and I don't see her until dinner the next day.

By the time I finished my wings, Mom had left. It was about 8:16 and the boys hadn't come back yet. 10 pm and then 12 am came and they never showed. Our curfew is at 11, and Simon never breaks it. Did Wayne take him to a party or something, on a Thursday? Where are they?

Another ringing on my phone woke me up at 4:45 am. What is it with people and calling me when I'm asleep? It was an unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Open your back door," a stern ominous voice ordered.

"Who the fuck is this?" I whisper-yelled.

"Come on, Freeman, you know exactly who I am." Wayne. The infamous dickhead.

"What do you want?"

"For you to open the back door, I'll explain later." Then he hung up.

I rolled my eyes and got out of bed. Was Simon bringing him home from drinking away the thoughts of his ex-girlfriend? Did they get in a fight or something? What did Wayne do?

I opened the back door and cold air made my shoulders and legs shiver. But what was in front of me made my blood boil.

Simon was slumped up against Wayne with a distant look on his face. He's drunk. Wayne, on the other hand, looked down at me with guilty eyes.

"The hell did you do to him?" I asked, stepping outside, putting my shoulder under Simon's other arm.

Wayne didn't say anything as we dragged Simon inside toward his room. I am going to beat Anderson's ass.

I opened Simon's bedroom and Wayne and I plopped him on his bed. I put my hands on my back and breathed heavily. That alone is my workout for the week. I bent down in front of Simon's face. He opened one eye and slurred his explanation.

"Kelsey got rid of this little guy," he pointed to Wayne. Oh, so her name is Kelsey. "So, we went drinking. And we met girls."

"What did you dri- and he's asleep." I stood back up and stared at Wayne. "What did he drink?"

"He drank three apple martinis and also tried beer, all of which he threw up in your neighbor's dandelions." He said quietly.

"What about you, what did you drink?"

Wayne smirked. "Why do you care?"

"I care because I don't want my brother being driven home by a drunk driver." Wayne pursed his lips.

"I had 2 Jägerbombs," he whispered. "That's a type of shot, if you didn't know."

I squinted my eyes at him. "You can go home now, just don't kill anyone on the way." I told Wayne while I sat on the floor, leaning against Simon's bed.

"No, I'm not going. You should go to sleep, Freeman."

"Oh, I'm not leaving him with you."

Wayne sighed and sat in a desk chair. We both just sat in silence for a while. Slivers of moonlight came in from the window. I tried to ignore how cold my body was. I avoided looking at him, but out of the corner of my eye, I thought I could see him looking at me.

"Why did you two break up?" My stupid mouth broke the silence. I should really put on my filter when I'm around Anderson.

"You heard Simon. 'Kelsey got rid of this little guy.'"

I turned my head, looked him up and down and gave him a cheeky grin. "Aw, did she get rid of you because your guy was too little?"

Wayne bit his lip, smirked and shook his head. He met my gaze and raised an eyebrow.

What is he thinking?

"I'm hungry," he said.

"For what?"

"Breakfast."

"Well, we can't cook anything, it would be too loud."

"We could just go somewhere," Wayne said, standing up.

"We can't just leave Simon here," I told him, sitting up on my knees. "What if he wakes up and breaks something or texts someone?"

"He has barely stirred in his sleep. We can put a glass of water and a bowl next to his bed." He really wants me to go with him. Or maybe I'm reading too much into this and he is just really hungry.

"Okay, but only because I'm hungry too."

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