Everywhere Everything - Cole Walter

Revolutions (2)

-

"You okay?" Bex smiled at her sister as they walked away from the car Danny had dropped them off in.

"I'm so nervous." She breathed out, fixing her hair for the tenth time in an hour.

"You're gonna crush it." Bex reassured, stopping outside the entrance to the Lark as Jackie moved to go inside. "I'm more excited about going to the concert tonight." She teased.

"So I'll meet you there?" Jackie asked.

"Yep. Danny's picking me up after my run with Erin. You'll crush it." She insisted, before turning to find Erin waiting at the other side of the road.

-

"Next up is Alex Walter, number eight, who made an impressive debut run. Let's give him a loud welcome back." The announcer called out as the crowd cheered.

Alex took to the arena as Cole watched on, his arms resting on the fence as he crossed his fingers for his brother to have a good run. Alex made his way through the course, reaching the final jump when the reins snapped and his horse came to an abrupt halt as the crowd gasped. Cole straightened, running to the trailers to catch his brother when he returned. "Oh, no, what a disaster. It looks like a broken rein. Such a promising start earlier in the competition for this newcomer, but that's gonna be disappointing for Alex Walter."

"Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey. It's okay." Cole calmed the horse down as Alex fumed at his side.

"You trying to kill me?" Alex yelled causing Cole to turn to him in disbelief.

"What?" He scoffed back.

"You didn't double-check the rein. It snapped." Alex yelled.

"I checked it three times." Cole countered. "It's the rider's responsibility to check it too." He added harshly.

"I did."

"Then you know it was fine." Cole gaped.

"Whatever. You can go. It's over, so I don't need your help anymore." Alex grumbled.

"Look, right here." Cole presented Alex the rein. "The leather's worn thin. Okay, it probably snapped around the turn, but you're not gonna admit that, are you? Not when it's much easier to blame me."

"Oh, that's rich, coming from a guy who takes zero responsibility ever. " Alex barked back.

"I know you don't think much of me, Alex, but I hoped you'd know that I would never do anything to deliberately hurt my own brother."

"Oh, seriously? Well, that's exactly what you've been doing my whole life." Alex laughed darkly.

"What are you talking about? The Paige thing, right? That was ages ago."

"She was my first girlfriend. How could you?"

"I didn't know about you guys!" Cole yelled, stopping and taking a breath. "Why can't you just... just give me the benefit of the doubt for once instead of always assuming the worst? I didn't know! I was gone all... All summer."

"I know! I know." Alex droned.

"You're with Jackie now, right? So then what does it matter?" Cole countered.

"Oh, it's about so much more than the Paige thing, and you know it." Alex groaned, his voice raising. "It's about how everything is effortless for you. It's about how every single time anything good happens to me, you destroy it. It's about how you just waltz in and conquer and plant your flag without considering who the casualties are. I've lived my whole life in your shadow. Do you know how hard that is? You get all the attention. You are the charming one. Everyone wants to hang out with the football star, the most popular kid in school. Even Bex drops everything to help you when your dumb ass is drunk and ruining Mom's night."