The Art of the Anti-Hero

The Art of Viola (pt 2)

The human bond is a fickle thing. Friendships, relationships, enemies, friendships with certain benefits, marriages, kinship, siblingship and parenthood... all fickle and fragile constructs that can crack at the lowest amount of force. These constructs are rather high maintenance especially of they were built on desperation, routine and simply convenience; and when the smallest pebble even touches it, the glass house shatters. Nevertheless, no one knows when or how the fickleness of the human bond will tumble and topple over.

I stared at my supposed best friend as he leaned over his vintage car. It was a gift from his late grandfather who left it to him upon his untimely demise. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard in frustration and his thick, yet naturally manicured brow furrowed in intense concentration. Beads of sweat rolled down his toned bronzed skin as he was scorched by the summer solstice's sun. It was almost enough for me to reignite the flame that almost burned our bond as friends to the ground. The burn of passion would only take a spark for me to fall for him like a toddler taking his first steps into this human bond construct thing. And even now, the smell of smoke and impending flame still lingered in the air.

"Allen, do you want to go to the meteor shower thing next week?" I asked as I clasped my hand behind my back. His green eyes scanned me up and down then back to the engine of his car.

"Is Lira going?" he sighed without looking at me.

I shrugged. "She's your sister, ask her."

You see, as far as human bonds go, Allen and Lira had this almost unnatural siblingship where one would not do anything without the other. You'd expect that from a set of twins, but Lira was two years younger than Allen. Moreover, they weren't always like that. It wasn't until the death of their brother, Michael, that this obsession started. It was annoying especially with Allen and my friendship being strained and Lira's basic toleration for me to begin with.

"If she goes, I will go," he grunted then bent over to continue to fix his car.

I ran a hand through my curls and tied it up, "Need any help?"

Allen groaned and stood up again to look at me. With a glare glossing over his green eyes. "Don't you have anything else to do? Any other friends? Anyone else to bother?"

A pang of pain blossomed in my chest, "Oh, sorry." With that, I turned heel and left him to his devices. Rocks bounced off my shoes and pavement as I kicked them while walking to an unknown destination. Allen's words picked at me more and more. Why was he so mean to me? He hasn't been mean like this before... well before Michael died.

"Oy! Curly Sue!"

Shifting my gaze from my next rock victim, I spotted Lira waving at me with much vigor which caused me to go on high alert. I then shifted my gaze to the person standing next to her and my breath became trapped in my chest. Standing next to her was someone who too could squeeze my heart in my chest like Allen. I waved and smiled more to him than I did at Lira. "Hey, Erin! Lira."

"Hey, girl," she drawled out while batting her eyes. "Are you going to the thing next week?"

I crossed my arms and stared at my feet, "I was thinking of going, if Allen was going." My brown eyes then locked on to Erin. "Or Erin... or you!" I added in.

"Well, since Erin and I are going... together..."

Together? I toned Lira's annoying, high pitched voice out as my brain tried to process what she had just said. "Together?" I asked.

"Haha!" she squawked while slapping my arm. "I wanted you to be the first to hear it from me. Erin and I are dating!"

"But... But..." My mouth ran dry. She was supposed to be my friend... of convenience, yes, but nevertheless, I would have expected for her to have some loyalty to me. After Allen and I had barely settled on being friends, I had decided to move on from that silly childhood crush anyway. Erin was from my art classes, and we were each other muses. In no time, my crush on Allen faded into romance for Erin and Lira, being one of my few friends was told about the romance.

"Yes, I told Erin about your little thing for him, and he was like oh, yeah, I liked her as a friend!" she squealed way too happily. "Right, babe?"

Erin's eyes darted all over the place refusing to meet my already stinging eyes. "Mhm," he grunted.

"Anyway," piped up Lira, clearly not reading the room, "I will get Allen to come so we can double date. You still like him, right?"

A wave of numbness crashed on my soul and I just nodded.

"Okay, I'll see you around," she dismissed. Grabbing Erin's arm, she pulled him in the direction to her house and bumped into me as she walked by.

With my fists clenched and shaking, a thick, hot tear rolled down my sweaty, bronze cheek.

Friendship is a fickle thing. One small pebble is enough to make the entire thing break away from its already crumbling foundation. Friendships of convenience and desperation already start on a bed of sand and are built with fragile glass. Fogged glass, yet fragile. And when knocked down, those shards will fly and impale someone.