Jett

25

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*Unedited*

"Do you think Mark is okay?"

Chelsea's voice was a faint whisper as If she wasn't sure whether she wanted to be heard or not. She was looking out in front of them with her lips faintly pursed and her eyes vacant, not seeing anything presently in front of her.

"It's Marlow's birthday." He deadpanned as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back to catch the dying sun's rays. It was the very same reason the two had found themselves seated on the weathered parked bench, overlooking an empty playground. The equipment had obviously seen better days and would probably be torn down and refurbished in the near future. Regardless, Kayden could quite clearly remember the summer day he had menacingly pulled on a little girl's pigtail and had unintentionally sparked the friendship he had with the blonde beauty next to him. His eyes remained closed as he tried to pretend that he was back there, under the blinding sunlight, surrounded by delighted squeals and chaotic laughter.

A time long before everything went to shit.

"I know," came Chelsea's muttered response as her head rested on his shoulder. Her voice was heavy, like the two words had unloaded a burden onto her that she couldn't quite bear to carry. As if she wished she could do anything but know.

In a way he understood, sometimes he wished he didn't know either, especially when he could clearly picture her dark eyes and bright smile as if she were sitting right next to them. Just like she used to.

He let out a long drawn breath; he wished he didn't feel half of the things he did. He was sick of being this irritating walking sore spot. He wished he could be like the regular assholes you read about with unforgiving charm, astounding wit and intellect and the ability to fight like nobody's business. He wanted to be more than whatever he was at that moment. He was too average for Jett and her friends yet he knew too much to be satisfied with just Chelsea and Mark.

He was selfish as fuck, that's what he was.

He wanted the world yet he didn't really have anything to grab it with. At the end of the day he was just a guy who tried his hardest to appear callous and thoughtless in hopes that one day he'd become so.

'Fake it till you make it, right?'

Though, it became harder when he was constantly thrown into the paths of temporary people. Marlow, his father, Jett, it was like the universe enjoyed giving him a proverbial middle finger.

'Life's hard when you're someone who easily gets attached to anything with a heartbeat.' He thought bitterly as he opened his eyes and tried to take his mind off of whatever dark hole his mind had managed to stumble into. If it had a social security number Kayden probably felt some sense of attachment towards it. Marlow's birthday always seemed to intensify whatever negative feelings he tried to trap in a little box somewhere in the very back of his thoughts.

"You know," He started, attempting to sound laid back as he changed the subject "it feels like we haven't hung out in ages."

"Yeah... I guess life just got in the way," Chelsea muttered with a sigh. He could feel loose strands of her hair tickling his neck. The blonde locks had been hastily thrown up into a bun, which had already started to unravel itself, leaving a lopsided little mountain perched on her head looking as if it were a second away from a landslide.

"Though, I did go to see you after I found out about the kidnapping," she admitted quietly, "but you weren't home."

Kayden bit his lip, the guilt climbing its way up his throat from the heavy pit in his stomach. The two had always leaned on each other for comfort and Chelsea had never failed to deliver when he had needed it.