𝐀 𝐃 𝐔 𝐒 𝐓 ༼ ᵗᵐʳ ᵐⁱⁿʰᵒ

01 ☼︎ 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙾𝚗𝚎

❤︎

*𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕*

Today is my first day at school. In almost three months, and I'm probably miles  behind everyone else. My education isn't doing good - not after the incident. I'm only going back for a week, and then I'm moving to Denver. 

To Denver. It still doesn't sound right.

The first thing I think about is them. When they left - I don't like the 'd' word - my life crumbled to pieces. Bren and Jorge picked them up again.

My life was in fragile shards of glass, and with cut and bleeding hands, they handed me the pieces to meld together again. I owe them my life.

I know that if they weren't there, I wouldn't be alive.

And now I'm moving away to an aunt I've never spoken to in my entire life. I want a new beginning.

"Hey, B." I look up to see Brenda hanging at the door frame. She has a neutral expression on her face, and when I see it, I want to cry.

"Hey, B." I say. She smiles sadly. The joke still hasn't ended.

When I was fifteen, and Jorge offered I live with them, Bren decided we needed nicknames. Annoyingly, neither of our names was particularly diverse in the category.

"Doesn't really look like you're finished packing." She crosses the threshold and  sits on my bed.

I look up at her from my place on the rug. She's right. My stuff is spilling out of my suitcase. It's a mess.

I join her on the bed, stretching and lying back on the duvet. I stare at the ceiling.

She breaks the silence first. "You're really leaving us, huh?" I don't miss the crack in her voice.

I sniff, "Yeah."

"An aunt. In Denver. You've never even talked to her."

"No." A frown pulls across my lips. "I love you guys, but I know an extra mouth to feed has never been easy."

She opens her mouth to butt in, but I continue.

"Come on, B. I know you'd never say it, but I've overstayed my welcome."

"Stop!" She sits up and throws a pillow at my face. It catches my jaw, and I sigh through my nose. I'm gonna miss her. It's gonna hurt like hell.

"No, I know I'm right. You do, too."

Instead of saying anything else, she wraps her arms around my shoulders. I hug her back tightly.

"I haven't put my mascara on yet."

"Don't bother, you'll just cry it off again."

"Bren! I have to get ready for school."

"Sorry, I just can't believe you're leaving. In a week."

"Yeah, me neither." I change the pitch of my voice to something a little happier. "Let me get ready, please."

"Okay."