Bionic Chaos [Leo Dooley]

Chapter Twenty Four

The TV flashes colors across my vision, bright and beautiful. A haunting piano melody plays through my ears. I have no idea what's going on in the movie my parents, Kian, and I are watching together, though, because I haven't been able to pay attention to it. All the sounds, all the light -- it means nothing to me anymore. I can hear everything. I can see everything. I just can't feel anything. 

The past few weeks have all been a blur. It's like I've been going through the motions: wake up, go to school, come home, sleep, do it all over again. Bree and I have talked here and there, but we haven't hung out in a while. Leo's been avoiding me, and if we happen to be in the same room as each other, like our shared class, he just ignores me and acts as if I don't exist. It's payback for the way I treated the Davenports and Leo, isn't it? It has to be. 

I thought I was doing better, especially when Bree and I apologized to each other. We both had the time of our lives together at the winter dance last week after her date ended up leaving because he was actually dancing with Chase under the guise of a cybermask. After that, Bree, Emmie (who was supposed to be there with Chase), and I all danced together for the rest of the night, laughing and having a great time. I would have wanted to go with Leo, but he wasn't there at all. It also didn't help that I asked him to go to the dance with me, but he immediately turned me down. But, overall, I had a great time.

Now, though, it's all gone downhill. I really don't know why my mood has shifted south. Is it because I applied to that performing arts school yesterday? I had been so nervous the entire time while filling out the application, and those nervous butterflies haven't left yet. Or is it because something feels off? It could be my parents, my brother, or something else that is making the energy around me feel off. There's so many things that have gone wrong lately, and I hate it.

I glance around my living room. Mom and Dad are sitting on the other side of the sectional couch, both engrossed in the movie. They have been much quieter around Kian lately, but we all have. They also haven't gotten on my back as much about this performing arts school because they want to support me in any way they can. I am glad that they're supporting my acting dream, but it feels so far-fetched right now that I don't really feel grateful just yet.

Turning my gaze to my brother, I roll my eyes. Kian has been scrolling through his phone the entire time since we started watching the movie together. Ever since he came back from Los Angeles, he's been more removed from us than ever before, especially when he found out that Mom, Dad, and I are on better terms now. Soon enough, I think he's going to leave for good. I think Mom and Dad have given up trying to convince him to stay.  Am I okay with it? No. But it's not my life, so I can't ask him to stay when all he needs to do is leave.

The noise from his phone overtakes everything from the TV, making me jump slightly. "Kian, do you really have to be watching something on your phone right now?" I hiss at him. Mom and Dad glance over at us. "I'm trying to watch this movie."

It doesn't bother me to lie to him about the movie. I've told enough lies to not feel anything anymore. 

"There's a protest happening right now," Kian says, his eyes never leaving his phone. That's alright with me because now my own eyes are glued to his phone, too. "Something about . . . bionic people who caused an explosion? Those things are actually real? What did I miss while I was in Los Angeles?"

Bionic people. The only bionic people I know are Adam, Bree, and Chase. "Can I see your phone?" I ask him, taking it out of his hand before he can even answer me.

"Sure," he says sarcastically.

I press play on the video he was watching again. My heart sinks in my chest at the sight of the crowd walking down some random street in Mission Creek, chanting about the bionic people and how they needed to disappear. I assume the people in this protest are making their way toward the Davenport house to make their concerns known.