Too Much to Chew/More Than I Asked For

Chapter Six

She fainted, shortly after the crying and hyperventilating started, and my brother put her in my room, seeing as his room was a gathered dust bunny. "Why? Why was it so important?" he paced back and forth outside the door. I sat with my head in my hands, exasperated, feeling bad and for the first time, like an asshole. If that's even possible.

I couldn't look at him, "Remember when I was little, that movie I liked to watch..." he nodded, "MirrorMask." I nodded, "Yeah, I was obsessed with steampunk every aspect of it caught my eye." He nodded frequently, "Yes, yes, I remember." I got up. We stood still, "We'd draw things together and dream and talk about all the stuff we'd invent, all the things we'd do. She made me these awesome sketches and outfits for me, I didn't know back then..." I shook tears from my eyes.

Men didn't cry no, not like this, for something like this. "When I thought you were dead and gone, I threw it all away in front of her, she was crying, wailing, and hyperventilating. I left her there, I got madder and madder and then I heard you were just in a coma, but I didn't want to take it back. It was her fault, she had done it.

So, the next day I got the boys and we went down to the Reading Tree. She was waiting for me and she was beaming, and saying 'I'm sorry', she didn't even know why I didn't believe that though. Then she saw the boys and they were cheering me on and I really wanted to do it, so I hit her...again and again..." I couldn't hold back the tears, " and then I pushed her."

Brian looked at me as I collapsed in a chair, "Calm down little bro, this tells me nothing." I wiped my eyes, "I know, I know, I'm getting there." I cleared my throat he slid down the wall, prepared for a tale. "The watch is important, because I designed it, we designed it, the idea of it should be buried in a trash yard somewhere. It shouldn't exist." I handed it over to him, for his inspection. "This is a pretty badass watch. But if you guys were just drawing this stuff, how'd you get it made." I shook my head, "That's the thing, there's no place to make a watch like that I think, it looks really old, but not like centuries old, just like years old, you know?" he was clearly puzzled.

" Yeah, you're not following me at all. Well the watch, shouldn't exist. There's stuff there too I'm sure I didn't have in the design when we were little. That and I threw it all away, every last bit, and I know for sure she didn't get it, because her sister came and got her... And I sat there for hours daring her to come back."

"My sister gave it to me." She was leaning on the doorframe, she slugged over and grabbed the watch warily, "She gave me the designs and whatnot, said she'd found it all in the trash and thought that it'd be something I'd like." She looked lovingly at the watch with eyes dark and secluded, "She's the greatest." She handed me the watch. "I made it. It gets boring at my house. Don't work you're pretty little head about it. You shouldn't fret about the details." Her voice dripped with hate and snark. She opened the door to my room and strolled off.

I opened my mouth to apologize before she got out of hearing range but the words got stuck in my throat, I wasn't ready instead I said, "Yeah you say that, but it's not that easy." I stood up pocketing the watch.

They spent the night in MY room like this was fucking summer camp, I mean she's in my bed. I'm on the floor in my own room. Why am I on the floor, you ask? That's simple, because Brian took the inflatable, yeah. So I'm stuck with the floor, even though my bed could fit a family of five. I could hear her rustling around, making my blankets smell like girls and flowers and what my dad will translate as pedophilia.

My warm and comfortable bed called to me and so apparently did she, "You can come up here, Alex, if you want." I sat up on my elbows, "Really, I can sleep in my own bed? Thanks." I said with fake enthusiasm. She let out an equally over-exaggerated huff, "Fine, you don't have to." I could hear her turn over. "No, wait." I got up, and sat down on the edge of the bed. "You don't remember anything about the watch, the paper?" I turned towards her, "It hurts to think about it." She said simply. "Oh, it hurts." I said mimicking her monotone disinterested voice.