No End

Ow! What the Hell?

My parents still needed to get him new clothes so for now he's still wearing mine. As soon as the both of us were ready we ran downstairs. At some point my mom had woken up and was already dressed for work and making breakfast.

She heard us coming down the stairs and turned to greet us, "how are my two boys? Have a nice sleep? Your father told me that there was a little fiasco this morning?"

I got a bit scared that she would get mad at us but before I could say anything, Brendan said to her, "don't worry Mrs. Morgan, we were just making some jokes and forgot to be a little quieter."

I looked at him for a brief moment when she spoke again, "aw... Brendan honey what did I tell you? You can call me Mom. You're a part of this family, you don't have to call me 'Mrs. Morgan' that's so formal. Even Jack doesn't call me that." In reaction to the last sentence Brendan looked at me wondering who Jack was but my mom continued talking. "Oh Chad! That reminds me! Jack's mom called me last night, he will be coming over tonight while she and Frank have a date night. She wanted to know if you wanted him to spend the night."

"What? Mom! That shouldn't even be a question anymore! Whenever possible Jack ALWAYS should spend the night! I've told you this!" I was so excited. Jack hadn't come over in almost a week, which for us is about an eternity.

"Who's Jack?" Brendan interrupted, his curiosity besting him.

"Oh yeah. You don't know do you? Jack's just my best friend. I've known him awhile. You'll meet him on the bus ride to school."

Mom was finished making breakfast, pancakes, and was serving it to us now.

"Can I have syrup, please!" I looked over at Brendan and laughed because we said it at the same time.

Eating is usually pretty uneventful, so after we ate we said bye to my mom and ran out the door to get to the bus stop. We were in no hurry but without thinking about it we were racing each other.

The bus stop is only 2 blocks from my house so I'm ashamed to say that I was already winded half way there. I'm not athletic okay? Brendan stopped to wait for me to catch my breath since he had no idea where he was actually going.

He laughed at my pathetic out-of-shape-ness. "Wow! That is sad!" He walked towards me and pat my back. "It's like you've never ran in your life!" He laughed some more and I attempted a punch at him, but I was so tired that it was more like I poked him with my fist. "Aw... Am I making you mad?" He made a pouting face, obviously mocking me.

I stood straight again and growled, "can you stop making fun of me damn it! I get enough of that at school already! I don't need it from some stranger my parents decided to take in!" I immediately regretted everything I said. More so the last part than anything. "I'm sorry... I just- I'm sorry..."

We walked to the bus stop quietly. The wait was brief yet awkward.

The bus is usually nearly empty when I get on so I can always choose where I want to sit which is nice. I usually sit up front so I can talk to the bus driver while I wait until he picks up Jack. I probably annoy him but I usually don't think too much about that until later in the day.

Today I didn't really feel like talking so I sat in the back of the bus. Brendan still followed me quietly. Honestly the silence felt nice but I felt guilty for some reason.

We sat down and I looked at him quietly. I opened my mouth to speak but couldn't think of anything to say.

"I'm sorry."

My heart jumped as Brendan's voice broke the long silence. I still avoided eye contact, "why are you sorry?" My voice was harsher than I meant but I couldn't take it back now.

"I was being really mean. You're my brother now so I don't want to hurt you. I was saying things without thinking. So I'm sorry."

To this day I still don't know why he was sorry. I was to blame really... I still didn't say anything and stared out the window. Watching everything blur pass calms me, I can't really explain it, it just does.

I have no idea how long I stayed like that but I was brought back to reality by a punch to the arm. I thought it was Brendan and yelled "ow! That hurt! What was that for? I thought you said you wouldn't hurt me!" Holding my arm I turned and saw someone hovering over me.