Bionic Chaos [Leo Dooley]

Chapter Six

I settle into my office chair, staring at my laptop sitting in front of me. One of the many scripts I'm working on is staring back at me, looking a little sad. It's been a while since I worked on this particular one, but I've been thinking about it recently, so hopefully I can finally finish it. The script is for a short film, and is about the world ending and these two spirits are finally getting together. It's a tragic love story, which is one of my favorites to write. My computer is full of scripts and ideas for tragic love stories.

But, as I stare at my computer screen, I think about the bionics and Leo Dooley. 

It has been a couple of days since I last kept an eye on the bionics. A part of me feels bad for them because Bree seems like such a cool girl, and her brothers are . . . interesting, to say the least. But, then there's my future staring at me, and I know that if I want to become famous, this is the way to do it. Plus, I have Caitlin to help me with figuring out and reporting their deepest, darkest secret, so it's not like I'm doing this myself. 

Speaking of Caitlin, she's been texting me nonstop about her needing me to hang out with one of the Davenports or Leo. She's become more obsessed with this thing than me, which is saying something. I don't know why she's acting like that, though. Maybe it's because Bree has a new best friend, basically replacing Caitlin with her. Caitlin did seem a little tense around Bree the other day, but Bree didn't notice and I really didn't want to ask Caitlin about her bad attitude. I did not want to be on the receiving end of one of Caitlin's impassioned yells.

I've been wanting to try to talk to Leo, but every time I see him, he's with the bionics. I know that I can't become his friend with the three of them around, but Leo is never alone, so it's been hard trying to befriend him. I believe that we share a class together, so I can wait until then to talk to him. That gives me time to think about what exactly I'll say to him.

There's a shout downstairs, making me jump in my office chair. I glance behind me and look out my open bedroom door. My bedroom is on the landing at the top of the stairs, so I have a perfect view of the first floor. For some reason, Mom is standing at the bottom of the stairs, yelling at someone standing in front of her. Her hands are placed on her waist and she's bent forward slightly, facing the person she's yelling at. She's probably yelling at Kian, my older brother who dropped out of college. 

My heart drops in my chest. Lately, my parents have been silent around Kian. After the night he came home, it was like they couldn't even bother with talking to him. Kian moved back into his old room like nothing happened, which angered me. Mom and Dad used so much of their retirement money to send him to college, and this is how he repays them? Why couldn't he just tell them that he didn't want to go in the first place? That would have solved this whole mess. Kian's always been like this, though. With the rest of our older siblings, he's been the most . . . troubled child, so maybe it really isn't a surprise that he dropped out of college.

Tonight is one of the few nights that Mom has spoken -- well, yelled -- at Kian. She has every right to be mad, but it gets tiring to only hear yells when she speaks to him. Dad doesn't even try to calm Mom down, but there's no stopping that woman when she gets angry. Most days, I just go to my room after school ends and only come out for dinner. That way, I don't get caught in the crossfire. Kian has tried to rope me into the argument, but I end up slipping out when no one is looking at me.

I slowly stand up from my dark office chair, padding across the small, fluffy carpet toward the door. I placed a hand on the wood, shutting the door. It blocks some of the noise, but not all, so I head over to my bed and grab my headphones from off the bedside table. I turn my music up loud and get back to the script I am writing. Maybe I'll finally finish it this time, even with the noise of my family breaking apart in the background. Perfect soundtrack for a tragic love story, right?