Suffocate

Chapter 4

My phone rings while I'm in class. Stupid me for not putting it on vibrate. The device explodes with noise as the song "Hood Gone Love It" plays in my chemistry class. All eyes are on me. The teacher just shrugs and chucks a thumb towards the door.

"Answer it, then finish your lab work," Mr. Denar says sluggishly. I crack a nervous smile at him.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks," I hurry out of the room to answer the call before the rings finish. "Uh, hello?" I ask into the phone.

"Little brother!" a voice says ecstatically.

Oh no.

"Bryson," another voice says.

Fuck no.

"You got our letter, right?" someone asks. There's shuffling over the phone and a bit of banter before the other person on the line speaks.

"We're moving into Henry's place. We were renovating it since he died."

"Henrique," I correct them. I hear a scoff.

"What the fuck ever."

"Listen," the other person says, "Dad's also coming."

What.

"But don't worry. Yveve and Rosca aren't coming."

Who?

"Are the girls excited?"

"How's Mom?"

"Wait, what time is it?"

"Are you in school?"

"Are you in college, kid? Shit, we don't even know, haha."

"I wonder if he can afford college."

"Hm, maybe not."

"Yeah."

"Bryson," both voices say in unison. I hang up the phone. Unable to stop myself, I bash my head into the nearest locker.

"No . . . No, I-I can't do this . . ." I whisper frantically to myself. Taking a deep breath with my eyes closed, I lean my forehead against the cool metal of the locker. I rub my eyes with my hand. Looking at it, I notice that I'm trembling. A sigh escapes from me. "Shit . . ."

"Hayden, are you all right?" I don't turn around when a hand clamps down on my shoulder. The voice belongs to Mr. Denar. I take another deep breath.

"I'm fine. I'm fine, Sir," I whisper out. Aw, dammit. I hope he doesn't pester me. Don't ask, please.

Mr. Denar shakes his head at me, his round glasses scooting slightly down the bridge of his nose. "You don't look fine, son." I shrug. Just great. Son.

"It doesn't matter if I'm fine or not," I say. I shrug his hand off of me. Quickly, I return to the classroom to finish the rest of this stupid chem lab.

Mr. Denar enters the room quietly, but I feel not only his eyes on me, but others' as well. Can't people mind their fucking business?

I only look away from the paper in front of me to glance at the clock on the wall above the classroom door. I curse myself for forgetting that I have a watch. I don't even see the time because I accidentally catch a pair of eyes on me. Now several, and now I know. My eyes are fucking red and I feel something wet along my cheek.

Salt enters my mouth.

Fuck. I'm crying.

What a bitch.

I look back down to my paper and sniffle for the hell of it, because I have to. I finish the rest of the lab quickly, not caring if I messed up some of my answers. Standing up abruptly, I grab my bag off the floor and fling it over my shoulder. I unnecessarily slam the papers onto Mr. Denar's desk, continuing to hastily exit out of the room.

"God, help me," I plead quietly, rushing down the long, silent hallway.

***

Sapphire meets me by my car forty minutes later. It is almost lunchtime for her, but I have been sitting out here the entire time, since I left class.

She enters the car through the passenger side; giving me worried looks, her burgundy eyebrows furrow in concern. Immediately, she puts her soft hand on the back of my neck and rubs against the knot that placed itself there.

"Baby, what's wrong?" she asks me. I look down at my hands, balling them into fists and uncurling them, seeing the skin turn from a dark pink to a light yellow in a matter of seconds.

"I don't even know where to start," I get out shakily. I smile a crooked smile that only breaks apart once I take another deep breath.

"I've never seen you so upset like this," Sapphire murmurs. She leans forward to press a kiss to my forehead.

"I know, I'm sorry." She shakes her head at me.

"Stop being sorry and tell me what's going on," Saph urges gently. She's not the type to bump into my business, but that's because she thinks she knows it already.

I've got a fucked-up mom. I'm poor as shit. I have four fucking sisters who I love to death. And my dad left us. She knows that.

She doesn't know that I have two older brothers. She doesn't know that my dad was with them all these years. She doesn't know that he was fucking some other woman and had a fucking kid named Rosca.

"I . . . I never told you," I start, my gaze meeting hers. ". . . I have two older brothers."

She's quiet for a moment, then nods. "That's none of my business, I understand that, Bry." I nod at her. Okay. She's okay with it. She's okay with this. I'm not okay with this. At all.

"They are complete fuckers," I tell her, like that's the best description in the world. She cracks a small grin which lightens up my mood just a bit. "And so's my dad."

"I can believe that." Sapphire smiles at me and this time, she leans in to kiss me softly on the lips. I hold onto her just to feel her warmth because it comforts me.

"Saph, I'm scared," I admit against her. I bury my face into her neck, breathing in her flowery scent. She inhales, almost beginning to say something, but I interrupt her by saying, "They're moving here. All of them. Next door."

"Oh shit," she says in surprise, her lips brushing against my ear. I sniffle again. "Bry, I'm so sorry," she whispers to me. I close my eyes as she rubs my back in small circles. Saph kisses my head and whispers again, "I will always be here for you, you got that?" I nod. "I am always here. Always." She kisses me again. "I love you."

I sit up straight to give her a long kiss on the lips. Our foreheads touch. Once more, I stare into her dark blue eyes. "I love you, too."