I knew Penelope hated me and I had accepted the fact that she did. I didn't exactly hate her but I disliked her a lot at the moment. She didn't even call me or text me the day of my birthday. Her and I used to talk a lot about what she would do on my birthday. Things change though.
-
Things between Molly and I got weird. I didn't understand it, if she was so dependent on me and into me then why was she distancing herself so often?
Two days after the New Years party, I found my brother drunk in his room. I walked in on him stuffing two Jack Daniel's bottles in a box and then he proceeded to push it under his bed.
"What are you doing?"
"Get out."
I did only because I didn't want to wake up our parents. I kept his problem a secret until one day my mom decided to use the swiffer around the whole house. As she pushed the swiffer under his bed, she hit the box and heard the Jack Daniel's bottles hitting each other. I heard her sit on his bed and begin to sob.
I think my brother was the way he was because his girlfriend of eight years had cheated on him. The words 'pussy' and 'you're not a real man' didn't come to mind when I thought of her cheating on him. It wasn't his fault, he did all he could for her and she took it for granted.
I thought about how heart broken I was when Penelope left me, how much it hurt to be me after it. I wondered how my brother was coping with it or how he would continue to. Penelope and I talked about having a life together, moving in together and doing so much more. Our plans fell through. But my brother bought a house with this girl.
-
I decided to get drunk one night with the bottle my brother stuffed in his sock drawer. Little did I know, it contained a drug in it.
That night I called everyone who was irrelevant to my life, even Penelope. On top of that I smothered Molly through texts, claiming I was in love with her.
When I woke up that morning, I put off talking to anyone. I regretted every action I did, especially because most of the things I said weren't exactly true.
As I checked my texts, I realized Molly was hinting at breaking up with me. I told her if she was going to do it, she should at least call me or let me come over.
When I got to her house later that day, she took me up to her room and we sat on her bed. She explained to me that she didn't exactly want to "do this anymore."
"Do this? Like us?"
"Yes."
"But all those things you said not even a week ago?"
"I'm sorry."
I didn't think it was fair for her to break up with me. Not like this and not right now. I had so many things to do with Molly, so many places to take her. I wasn't done getting to know her in this way. So what did I do? I sat there pleading my case. I told her if she was afraid to be with me that it probably meant good things would come from this. I told her we had a lot more to do together and she listened.
I don't know what it was but maybe she was weak for me at that moment.
I took her out for a drive later that night for hours through the city and than out in the suburbs. Her window was open and her blonde hair battled with the wind. I was driving her car, that's how much she trusted me. I got upset when it started to rain, only because I couldn't watch her laugh and struggle with keeping her hair in place. The rain caused us to close our windows. She was getting sleepy and I knew that me taking her out like this made her realize almost breaking up with me was a bad idea. Her hand slipped over and into mine. She fell asleep in the passenger seat holding my hand.
-
With things between Molly and I going back to normal, I knew how excited she was for her birthday. It was only days away and Katherine was a perfectionist. I wondered if this was how she acted with my surprise birthday party.
"Jordan, here's a list of things you need to buy" She demanded.
I glanced at the list, my eyes widening.
"I was expecting ten things not a thousand."
"Suck it up. This is for your girlfriend. Now leave."
I quickly turned to James.
"I don't think you're hitting it quite right lately. Bring happy Katherine back please."
I wish my remark made Katherine and James laugh but it didn't. Instead it made Luca and Stefan smile and Juli scream. It wasn't my fault, I didn't know James and Katherine had been fighting lately.
I left and came back late, late that night at Katherine's house with all the things. She explained to me that her and James aren't exactly on the same note about a bunch of things. She had lots of friends from different parts of the city and James was a low-key kind of guy. He didn't like drama and Katherine had so many people in her life that drama was just a routine. James kept Katherine away from a lot of drama. Sometimes I found it nice because I enjoyed peaceful moments, other times I hated it. Katherine had a lot of power, lots of insult that stabbed people. She was a good friend to have around to stick up for you but lately when anything went down, she sort of drifted away.
Stefan often stepped in and stood up for each one of us in the group when anything went down. He wasn't afraid of anything anymore. We gave him that confidence.
