The Summer of Us

ten

Johnny and I only stayed for a little bit of what we were watching to return to the oh so amazing Flowers and Chocolates. Alex noticed us gone and she seemed a little mad but she calmed down afterwards.

"I can't believe you guys. We were supposed to watch the movie with each other. Now it's almost over and we barely had any fun," Alex whined as Johnny and I sat back down in our seats. I really didn't want to hear it from her since she was the one who dragged us into that boring romance movie in the first place.

"Alex, calm down. We were just trying to have fun instead of watching this snooze fest cliché romance movie," I kicked my feet back up on the seat to see my worn out converse right for everyone to see. I didn't want to hurt Alex's feelings but she seemed irritated by what I said to her.

"Well you guys didn't ask to watch anything else when I suggested to watch this. You two both said that you would get through it," Alex frowned at the two of us but frankly, I didn't care. Brennan kept his mouth shut during the whole conversation. Classic, classic Brennan Donnelly.

"That was before we realized that we'd might be falling asleep during the whole four hours it'd be going on for," Johnny said back and her mouth dropped. I snorted, leading into an uncontrollable laugh, and then causing the people in back of us to get annoyed.

"Is it that hard to keep your mouth shut and watch a movie? Gosh, there's on about fifteen minutes left," A woman with a more raspy voice whisper-shouted from her seat. I curled my hair back with my finger and got ready to defend myself.

"Is it that hard to, I don't know, stay home and watch the movie there? Gosh, if only I cared what you thought," A smirk formed on my face as the woman simply gasped. Johnny was on the verge of smiling but he knew when it was the right time to laugh. Right now was not the right time to laugh since the lady seemed like the type to call our dear friend Jeffrey out here to kick us out.

"She didn't mean that, ma'am. We're very sorry about her behavior," Brennan turned around to speak with the woman who nodded in response. I couldn't believe Brennan. He made me look like such a kindergartener in front of the lady and our friends.

"I accept your apology. I've had many friends in the past who simply couldn't keep their mouth shut. Nothing wrong with it but," The woman scoffed, making me overly angry. I was just about to burst but Johnny told me to keep calm.

"And you seem like the type to go on dating websites. Such a shame," I put my feet back down, looking back at the woman who's eyes were now widened. I didn't want to push her too far because my dad would kill me if I got kicked out of this place.

"I'll have you know that I am married," She said sternly, showing off her pride for her marriage. "I also have two loving children. I feel bad for your parents, you know, having to raise a kid with such a mouth on them."

"Please, I don't fight with old ladies who hate the sound of laughter. That's just not my style," I chuckled. The lady finally didn't say anything back and just let it go. That's all I wanted to hear, getting in a screaming match at the movies with a lady probably three times my age.

"Annie stop embarrassing us," Brennan mumbled under his breath, not expecting me to hear.

"What was that Brennan?" I craned my neck toward him and his eyes got bigger than usual.

"Nothing," He rolled his eyes at me.

"Whatever, I'm going to hit the road. See ya later guys," I got up from my seated position and made it out of the row. I walked down the stairs and out of the theater, running down the hall.

I couldn't hide the fact that I was upset but it's best to show no emotion. I wanted to get away from them, all of them. Brennan knew how much I wanted to be friends with other people than him. Back home, my only friends were him and Nose Picking Nancy which doesn't really count since she doesn't talk.

I kept going, never wanting to stop. I saw Jeffrey standing and talking to some guy about something important with business. I couldn't get caught running in his lobby but who cares at this point.

"Annie wait," I heard a male voice call out but I didn't want to speak to anyone just yet. Brennan embarrassed me and if it were family, it would've been okay but in front of friends, he really crossed the line. Oh how I just wanted to tackle him right now. "Annie, please stop running like right now. I'm not the fastest around."

I skidded to a halt and turned around to see Brennan. He was gazing at the floor like there was something to look at. He seemed disappointed in himself which made me feel a little bit better after what he did to me.

"What could you possibly want? Where's Johnny and Alex so you can tell them how much of a juvenile delinquent I really am! Huh, where are they?" I grounded my teeth as his lips sank into a frown.

"Annie I don't know why I said that. I guess I was just a little mad. That's really all," He exhaled. He combed back his hair with this hand, looking sad but he deserved to feel that way.

"Why would you possibly be mad?"

"I've never said this at all before because I'm too afraid to. I know that I'm afraid of many things whether it's heights or getting in trouble but confessing my love to you and you not feeling the same way, is my number one fear. I loved you so much from the day I first saw you. You're not like any girl that I've met. You're not Alex at all I'll tell you. You defend yourself, you threaten people who mess with us, you make me happy Annie. When I saw you run off with Johnny, I felt jealous. I felt mad that I wasn't good enough to hang out with. You always say how much you want to hang out with them but not really just me. I love you Annie. I thought I'd finally say it," He gave a long speech and a huge lump in my throat formed. I couldn't speak.

"Brennan," I managed to speak as my heart pounded in my chest. My palms grew sweaty and my knees were beginning to give out. "I c-can't. I can't do this right now. I don't feel the same. Goodbye."

I sprinted off to get away from him. He didn't follow me, which I was happy, but something inside me wanted him to. I didn't know why I felt like this. Adding on to that, I felt like such an idiot for not knowing all of these years that he had something for me. Boy, I was so dumb.

And slowly, I was turning into some mushy girl, which I couldn't really explain. I felt like punching something, which was eventually my sister on the arm after I got home.

"Hayley, I have to stay in your room with you. Just for the rest of the week, month, possibly year until I patch things up with Brennan. I don't care if you don't want me to but I just know I can't go back into my own," I informed her. She shrugged and took a seat on her bed.

"Stay as long as you want. I really don't care anymore," Hayley answered.

"Wait. Why are you avoiding my brother?" A soft but quiet voice came out of no where and I spun around to see Katie.

"Because he likes me," I shuddered at the thought.

"That doesn't mean run away from him. He's got feelings too. The best thing to do is talk to him. Trust me, it helps," Katie forced a smile on her face and I took a deep breath. "Besides how did you not notice all these years?"

"That's what I asked myself," I laughed a little even though I knew I couldn't. "Did you know already?"

"We all did Annie. Mommy, me, Katie, and even Caleb. He always had this look that he got when he was around you. He always wanted to make sure you were alright instead of himself. Can't believe you haven't noticed," Hayley shook her head and Katie nodded in agreement.

"Well thanks for telling me now," I said sarcastically.

"We thought you knew."

"I wish I didn't."

—
ABORT ABORT ABORT
I MUST BE STOPPED EURJEJSH
SORRY GUYS
BTW THANK YOU FOR 1,000 VIEWS and 119 votes! I appreciate it!
- meg