Between Two Eternities || Travis Hamonic

(40) Knew It Would Be Tragic

"The depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."

-Albert Camus

"I'll get him," Travis says, and hands me Duke's leash before running around the same corner as Matt.

I lift Duke into my arms, so I can follow faster. As I turn the corner, I see that luckily Travis has caught Matt just across the street. I sigh of relief and cross the street to meet them.

He must be feeling so betrayed. I lied to him. Travis lied to him. The two people he looks to for protection lied to him.

I can tell that Matt is hurt and confused. He looks so upset, and to think that I, his older sister, made him feel this way ...

"Were you just being nice to me to get to my sister?" I hear him question to Travis just as I get to them.

"Matt, no -"

"Well then how come you were kissing her? Are you together?" he exclaims, voice getting higher and louder. I swear he's about to cry.

"Matt -" I begin, but he cuts me off.

"What happened to Bobby? Are you cheating on him? You said you would never lie to me, Arden. You promised," he pleads. The dejection in his voice crumbles me. I peer at Travis, but he's looking at me with the same eyes.

"I never cheated on Bobby," I choke out. "He cheated on me, remember? And that was a couple of months ago."

Matt looks away from me in reluctant apology. "What about you, Travis?" he asks, "Did you only give me tickets so I wouldn't get mad at you when I finally found out?"

"Matthew!" I interject.

Travis puts a hand on my back. "It's okay," he whispers.

"C'mon Matt, you know that's not why. Remember when Arden was away, and I would pick you up from school so you wouldn't have to take the subway? And we would play one on one at the rink? Why would I do all those things if I didn't actually wanna hang out with you?" Travis says, his eyebrows raising on his forehead.

Matt doesn't budge. "You still lied to me," he mumbles. Me and Travis both sigh, thinking of what to say to appease the situation.

"I'm just gonna go to Drew's house," Matt says, but I grab his arm to keep him put. He shrugs me off roughly, as rough as a strong fourteen year old can.
"Stop it, Arden. I don't wanna talk to you!"

He runs off down the sidewalk, in the complete opposite direction of Andrew's house, and I accept Travis's tight embrace. Duke hops at our feet in the snow.

"He hates me," I cry.

"Nah, he's just surprised is all. And if he hates you, he hates me more," Travis jokes.

"That doesn't make me feel better," I mumble, but smile inadvertently.

All of a sudden, we hear a huge screech of tires on ice and then a crash. I pull back from Travis and look down the block. It's the same way Matt just ran off to.

"Matt," we both say at the same time and take off running. I've still got Duke's leash, and his little legs aren't very good at keeping up yet.
Travis gets to the scene first, along with anyone else whose been outside within a two block radius. All the way there I just pray that Matt isn't hurt.

"Oh, shit," I hear Travis say to himself. I'm surprised I hear him at all; the whole scene is one of chaos and terror. A car's hood is popped up and smoke pours out of it like a mudslide. As a result, there's not much to see. And paired with falling snowflakes, it's a shock that I can see that much.