Our indelible pasts|✔

ten - bryson

"YO, NOAH IS your sister still coming over?" Mason shouts from the living room.

I laugh as I spot Noah roll his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure she's not coming to see you." I tell Mason.

"Yeah exactly. And when is this obsession you have with my sister going to end?"

Mason makes his way to the kitchen, eyeing the sandwiches we're making. "I am not obsessed with her."

"Liar." Noah swats Mason's hand away from the bacon.

"I'm just appreciating the piece of art that she is. I mean, she's obviously the twin that got the good looks."

"First of all, she's not an object and two, you're making your own sandwich now." With that, Noah plates his sandwiches and leaves the kitchen.

"Did you forget that you're not her type?" I laugh before biting into my own.

Mason shrugs. "Maybe she's bisexual. Or pansexual. Or..." I can practically see the rusted chains turning in his head as he scrambles to find other sexual orientations to spew out of his mouth. He's about to say something stupid, I can tell by the stupid smirk on his face.

"She's not Mason-sexual." I stop the stupidity from escaping his mouth. "Give up." I shake my head and join Noah in the living room.

"I was not going to say that." Mason lies.

"Sure." I sarcastically answer, chewing at another bite.

"She might be Mason-sexual." I hear him silently mutter to himself, causing me to laugh at his idiocy.

"Why'd Sandra leave so late last night?" Noah asks and just like that, my appetite plummets. "I was in the kitchen when she practically snuck out, I guess she didn't see me."

"Wish I knew the answer to that too." I voice my thoughts, putting my sandwich to the side. "She texted saying something came up. Left out the details."

Noah eyes me suspiciously. "Is she coming later?"

"I don't know. She hasn't said anything since then."

"Trouble in paradise?" Mason asks as he slouches into a beanbag.

"It's not mandatory to text 24/7 you know?" I say pointedly, failing miserably at masking the hurt I feel.

Noah puts his plate on the coffee table in front of him. "It's not even that. You've just been off since morning."

"More like since her ex came back." Well, Mason hit the jackpot.

"You think that's why she left last night?" Noah asks the question I've been trying to avoid thinking about all day.

She could have honestly. I've been nothing but supportive since he came back so I'm sure she'd think I wouldn't mind her going to see him at fucking ungodly hours. I did this to myself. I got too comfortable and let her get too comfortable and now things are falling apart. I don't see how they couldn't.

"I hope for your sake that I'm not right." Noah says.

"Yeah, me too."

If he's right, I don't even know what I'll do. I've never gone this deep with anyone. Never in my life have I felt this way for someone. If this is true, if she's out seeing him, doing God knows what, I'm going to fucking lose my shit.

Since losing Hazel, no one had made me feel safe again...until Sandra. There's no way she's doing this to me. There has to be some sort of explanation. Maybe...maybe we're wrong. I really hope we're wrong.

Mason opens his mouth to speak but is interrupted by the doorbell.

I quickly get up in case it's Sandra. I'll go outside with her and we'll talk about this. And she'll tell me the truth and it won't be hard to hear. I'm sure she's done nothing wrong. This is Sandra we're talking about here. The sweetest person to ever exist. Cheating isn't even her vocabulary.

"Oh." I say in disappointment when I open the door to see Nia and two dark skinned girls I don't recognize. "Hey." I say softly, replacing my scowl with a fake smile.

"Ah, you're here." Noah says in mock disgust from behind me.

I gesture for them to get in before closing the door. As Noah and Mason greet the girls, I pull my phone out of my pocket to check if Sandra's texted me. With no text from her still, I find myself wanting to throw it against the wall, but I pocket it instead.

"Is Sandra here?" I hear Nia ask.

Mason and Noah briefly look at me before shaking their heads.

"Well, she's the reason I'm here so I hope she didn't forget." Nia says before shock fills her face. "Kim and Kiana have you guys met Bryson before?" She points at me.

The two girls she's referring to look at me. I feel like I've seen one of them before, the one with her tight afro curls pulled into a ponytail.

Nia turns to the two girls, pointing at them respectively. "Kiana, Kim. This is Bryson. He's friends with Noah and Mason." She then turns to me. "Bryson, Kiana and Kim are my friends." Nia introduces us and we smile at each other and exchange greetings.

"Oh and he..." Nia points her slender finger at me again. "...is Sandra's boyfriend." She finishes.

Why is everyone just talking about Sandra today? Of all days.

I smile again, this time awkwardly. "Yeah. Right."