𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

𝟏𝟎 | 𝐲𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐡𝐚 𝐑𝟏

Micheal

"You talk a lot man."

Silence immediately fell over the crisp night air. When I turned to look at Matias, he was already staring up at me with his head tilted to the side. The small teenager pushes his thick glasses up his nose, wearing an expression that screamed that no one had ever told him that before.

Currently, the two of us were standing outside of Maya's musty, mothball-scented home. Members of the Benedict clan, alongside Celine's bimbo friend whose name I forgot, were all inside having conversations that I wasn't interested in. I really couldn't understand why this "welcome home party" was even happening. It wasn't like Matthew and his wife had just returned from the navy; they were only gone for two weeks. This was a prime example of rich people doing stupid shit just because they could afford it.

I initially came out here to escape the crowd and have some quiet time to think properly. That plan was quickly derailed when Matias followed me outside about three minutes later. For the past twenty minutes, he's been going on about some science fair project that I couldn't care less about.

"Well, I talk a lot because your quiet," Matias shrugged lazily, "I don't like being interrupted--What're you doing out here anyways?"

The last thing I wanted to do was go inside and listen to the shallow conversations happening in that house. The majority of people inside the Benedict clan couldn't even hide their distaste for one another. When one is sure that the other isn't looking, they send them scowls—sometimes from jealousy, but most times from disappointment. Luckily, I've done enough psychotic stuff that they'd rather just avoid me altogether. On top of that I hated Maya Santiago with a strong passion,

And it wasn't the type of hate that I had for Antoinette. No, the hate that I had for Maya was something rooted deep within me, from a cavernous place inside my soul.

Every single that that Maya did makes me want to kill her. I couldn't even blame that on my sadistic side because even when I was in my right mind, I still wanted her out of my life permanently.

But I was mainly out here because I need to think.

For starters, I wasn't sure if I was happy about my brother's return; I'd been enjoying a lot of freedom these past few days without feeling judged or watched. Now that he was back, my life was supposed to be centered around the mafias like his... but I suppose I am happy that his yacht didn't sink while he was island hopping.

Our relationship was a bit confusing... Even though we kind of grew up together, Matthew and I had such different outlooks on life that we didn't really connect. He was a perfectionist, always aiming for everything to be perfect and nothing less, whereas I was didn't care. On top of that, I just didn't feel like forming a bond with Matthew on any level. But I didn't hate my brother, and I believe that was sufficient.

Another thing that I was trying to think about was Antoniette,

Not surprisingly.

I've come to the conclusion that my lack of understanding of her was correlated with the vulnerability I felt when it came to her. It was like every interaction with her exposed a part of myself that I wasn't comfortable with showcasing to anyone. When I was around, her so many thoughts clouded my mind that I couldn't process the stupid shit that I did. Last night was the perfect example of this theory that I've developed. I shouldn't care that Antoniette felt like disrespected, but in the moment, I did. It was like I had no other choice but to care when she looked at me with so much oblivion behind her eyes. I really couldn't understand how she was so clueless and why it intrigued me so much. But I now realize that I still feel bad for dismissing her feelings and she's not even standing in front of me.