Promise. (Manthony)

Twenty-Eight

     "You are damn lucky he didn't press charges against you," Clinton says to me as we walk into the building where our interview was taking place. 

Clinton seemed to be on my side this time, not his brother's. I couldn't help but feel proud of this achievement. It was cruel, but I wanted everyone to hate Mitchel as much as I did right at this moment. 

After I wrecked his car windows and windshield, he got a lot of sympathy for the rest of the day, but it didn't last long. No one was talking to him. But then again, he wasn't making an effort to speak to anyone either. 

Amber was avoiding me after the aggressivity she witnessed from Mitchel and me. As a child, she had dealt with her father constantly verbally, emotionally, and occasionally physically abusing her mother. As Amber got older, she became another target to her father. It hadn't been often but enough to where it affected her. 

I attempted to call and text, but she didn't answer. I thought about driving to her apartment to talk to her face to face but thought that wasn't the best idea as things were still rough. 

I never expected to grow to care for Amber as much as I do, but now the thought of losing the friendship we built felt too painful. I could only hope I didn't destroy what we had. 

"He's not gonna press charges cause' he's a selfish prick," I say to Clinton. Raising my voice when I said "prick" so Mitchel would hear me. "And that's because that would mean him having to admit all that he's done to a judge and anyone else," I continue as we walk up another flight of stairs.

"That's not gonna happen," I finish, proud of myself for shoving that in Mitchel's face. 

"Chase Atlantic?" We hear someone ask. I look up and see a woman standing at the top of the stairwell. 

"That's us!" Mitchel says behind me happily. I suppress my annoyance and wave at the woman. 

"Nice to meet you guys! I'm Sarah! Please follow me, and I'll lead you to Mr. Fallon," She says as she marks something off on a piece of paper that was attached to her clipboard. Sarah turns around, her ponytail swaying side to side as she walks. 

"Can I get you guys anything? Water? Snack? Coffee?" Sarah offers. I say no, and so do Mitchel and Clinton. 

"Why are you standing next to me?" I ask Mitchel as I notice he was walking too close for comfort. 

"I'm just walking. Is that a problem for you?" Mitchel asks with sass in his tone. I abruptly stop. Holding my arm out in front of Mitchel, forcing him to stop as well. 

"It is," I reply. "Move away from me," I demand. I remove my arm and continue walking. Surprisingly, Mitchel obliged and moved to the other side of his brother without another word. 

"Ah! Chase Atlantic!" A familiar male voice says. I look around and see the one and only; Jimmy Fallon.

"Hi!" We all say in unison. We introduce ourselves quickly, and Jimmy gives us a rundown of how the show will go. There were a lot more behind-the-scenes parts than I had imagined. 

"Go over there, and someone will help you with getting your mics attached and anything else you may need." We all awkwardly nod and head over to where Jimmy had pointed. As angry and hurt as I was, I couldn't keep my eyes off Mitchel. 

His smile pained me but also gave me comfort. I wanted him to be okay, no matter what was happening between us. But it also saddened me to think that maybe he didn't care bout how badly he had hurt me. 

****

The three of us sit down in gray chairs that semi-faced Jimmy but also the audience. Mitchel is closest to Jimmy and Clinton the farthest.