Push and Shove

Aubrey glanced at the door as she placed a pair of headphones over her head to block out the noise coming from her parents in the living room. She blinked back the overwhelming tears coming from her eyes, and she blocked out the feeling of her heart exploding out of her chest.

She turned away, stepping over the items that were scattered around her messy room, and walked towards her bedroom window. She opened it, slowly crawling out to prevent noise, and closed it from the other side.

The yelling was muffled where Aubrey was, but she didn't care if anyone else heard them or not. At this point, she'd be surprised if her neighbors didn't know of their constant arguing.

She turned around from the window and carefully climbed down from her roof, putting her hood up when she felt droplets of rain gently platter onto her. She tucked her hands into her pockets and fiddled with her music player.

Aubrey wasn't sure where she was going, she just wanted to get out of the house for some fresh air. She could go to Kim's house, but then she remembered they were away for summer vacation. She didn't want to be interruptive with Kel and Hero's baby sister, so that was a pass. She doesn't even know if Basil feels safe around her anymore…

She sighed, slightly shaking her head. She wandered around the neighborhood for quite some time, alone. The rain came down harder, more aggressively. She glanced around the area to find a place for shelter, but at first, nothing caught her eye. Most of the houses had no light. Most people were sleeping by now.

She let her feet take her wherever they wanted to. The only sound that accompanied her was her music, which was soothingly in her head, the faint background noise of the rain contributing to the vibe. The tips of her hair sticking out from under her hood was starting to become wet.

She kept walking and glancing around, until she stopped in front of a certain house. The lights were off, but the "For Sale" sign in front of it was taken down. That's right…Sunny's mother cancelled their move. Recently, his parents got a divorce through their phone call after a heated argument about Sunny revealing what really happened to Mari...his father wasn't forgiving. Sunny obviously couldn't live with him.

She stared at the house before her eyes widened, an important day popping into her mind. That's right… Sunny's birthday is today. It was around early morning at this point, so she hasn't missed any of it…She wondered if anyone else remembered it. She wondered if he'll do anything for it. After the reveal and expressing his guilt and self-hatred, it was hard to imagine that he's been taking care of himself.

Aubrey flinched, but turned and walked to the other side of the house. The confession of Mari's death was only a few days ago, and she hasn't been feeling anything but stress. She always knew something didn't seem right with Mari's death. She should have known before that she would never do this to herself.

And Sunny…Aubrey REALLY wanted to be mad at him, but she couldn't bring herself to. After accidentally killing his sister, afraid of the world's reaction, and years of isolation, it must have been so hard for him. She shouldn't have compared herself to Sunny, saying that it must have been so nice to be alone and in his own world. She didn't know what he was going through at the time.

She felt her skin boil. She was mad at herself. She was mad at everything—why did things have to be this way? Why was the world treating her so unfairly? Everywhere she goes, everything she witnesses, it's all chaos. It's all infuriating. She wouldn't be surprised if the world ended tomorrow.

After a moment of hesitation, Aubrey walked around the house to the back. She made sure to keep quiet, her soft steps against the grass washed away from the racing rain. She was soaked at that point, her hair and clothes drenched.