(Photo of Jett above: Dylan O'Brien)
Eli's mum had cooked all of us a lovely dinner that I enjoyed much more than the dinners I had at home. It was hot, the steam still trailing through the air but I wolfed it down anyway, ignoring my tongue burning. I was very hungry and it was the best meal I'd eaten in a while.
"Thank you for this meal." I smiled at Eli's mother, who smiled in return.
Eli, on the other hand, said nothing and glared daggers at his brother from the other side of the table. Jett was sat beside me and I guessed this was to annoy Eli in some way. Sometimes I caught him looking at me out of the corner of my eye and I found myself getting a little nervous under his stare.
I waited for a little while, taking occasional sips of my drink until their mother left the room to clean the dishes. By this time, the tension was crackling like electricity around us. It was a time bomb, ready to go off at any second.
"I get that you two don't like each other." I stated bluntly. "Why?"
The two siblings looked at each other awkwardly, Jett moving his cup around in a circular motion, watching the drink inside it swish about.
"I'm a bad influence." He answered finally, a little humour in his tone as if he found that funny. "I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm going to take you away from him as well."
"Well that isn't going to happen." I said, watching as his face fell in disappointment for a second until he put on that smirk again. "Why is he a bad influence Eli?"
"Jett enjoys alcohol a bit too much. Along with drugs." Their mother said for him as she came back into the room. This startled both boys. "I turn a blind eye since he's my son but Eli is the smarter, unforgiving type of brother."
"He's a cruel brother." Jett whined playfully, pretending to be upset by this. "It isn't my fault I'm constantly the bad brother and the failure of a brother. He's had it all ever since he was born. And me? I get no credit even when I do something right."
That's when I understood him. His facade had sort of vanished along with his smirk. Everyone had been so focused on Eli that Jett had been forgotten about and everything he did, Eli could do better. This caused Jett to do regretful things just because he'd been pushed out.
"Just because you don't get the attention you deserve doesn't mean you should turn to drinking and drugs." I said simply. "I understand you feel left out and alone but that isn't the answer to your problems."
"And how would you know, Little Miss Perfect?" Jett sneered, turning his icy glare to me. "I'm sorry I don't live up to your high standards since you're life must be full of perfection. You know nothing about me so don't act like you do."
This silenced everything and created that awful ball of tension in the air again. His harsh words angered me.
"And obviously you know nothing about me if you think my life is perfect. Maybe if you didn't do the things you do, you would get the respect you earn." I answered back to him, my voice rising in my fury. "If you want respect and attention, you should give it."
For a second, he looked guilty, his eyes sad and disheartened. This didn't last though because he then leaned back on his chair, chuckling.
"Eli, my naughty little brother. You didn't tell her did you?"
I frowned in confusion.
"Tell me what?" I looked at Eli expectantly but just saw that he had gone a bit paler and he didn't look me in the eye. "Eli?"
"I may be the failure and disappointment but at least I have the guts to tell her if something is wrong-"
"Jarrett Barnes! That is enough!" His mother snapped, standing up and raising her voice at him. "Go to your room and don't come back down."
"I wasn't planning on it." He smirked to himself, sauntering away with his hands in his hoodie pockets. So his full name must have been Jarrett but he preferred Jett.
"What was that all about?" I asked, feeling a little concerned about what Eli was hiding from me.
"It was nothing." Eli said finally. "He was just overreacting, nothing new."
"Oh, okay." I felt a little disappointed with that answer. "I just need to go use the bathroom."
Mrs Barnes nodded and pointed upstairs so I smiled and headed up there quietly.
Instead of continuing down the corridor though, I hesitated at the door with a sign saying "Stay The Hell Out" stuck in the middle of it. This was definitely Jett's room so I knocked.
I heard a mumbled reply from inside and opened it. Inside was Jett sitting on his bed with music blaring around him and his curtains closed to keep the room dark. His hair was slightly messy from where he'd been running his fingers through it.
I sat down next to him silently while he stared at me, not knowing what to say.
"Why are you in here?" He asked at last.
"I wanted to know what you meant downstairs when you said he hadn't told me about something." I replied, staring at the dark blue carpet below me.
"It's not really my place to tell you. Elijah will open up eventually, he always does. But for him to tell you, you need to earn his trust. It's pretty important after all." He opened a packet of cigarettes and took one out, lighting it up.
At seeing this, I scrunched up my nose to show my disgust. He smirked at this and put it in his mouth to annoy me. I glared at him and took it out, stamping it out in the ashtray on his bed. He pouted angrily but it didn't last long.
"That damages your lungs, you know. It's dangerous." I stated quietly.
"Good. If I smoke enough of those it will kill me one day." He smiled but I wasn't foolish enough to believe that it wasn't fake.
"You don't mean that."
"I do."
"If you wanted to die, you would have done it by now." I said, my voice wavering towards the end as it reminded me of my own situation. I said this to Jett but I still hadn't killed myself yet, despite how much I wanted to die.
"Hypocrite." He smirked. At my confused expression, he spoke again. "I heard Elijah speaking to my mother about you. I know about last Friday. You want to die, Ash. And yet you're here telling me not to smoke because it damages my lungs."
"Just because I want to die doesn't mean I shouldn't be allowed to tell you not to ruin your own life." I tried my best to sound confident but it failed and I sounded even more like a kid than ever.
"Don't try to fool me. If you want to die so much, then why haven't you killed yourself yet?" He questioned, knowing exactly what he was doing. "Is it because of that little brother of mine?"
"He stopped me on Friday."
"I know." He smiled. "One thing I don't understand though is why you want to kill yourself so badly. You're beautiful, in case you didn't notice."
"We all have our flaws and secrets, Jarrett. I'm not sure I'm ready to tell you about mine." I grinned and got off the bed. He wrinkled his nose at how I'd mentioned his real name. "I'd better go before they question where I am."
I walked towards the door but as I reached out to grab the handle, he quickly stopped me, pulling me back.
"Stay strong, Ash. Whatever your flaws and secrets are, stay strong for those who care about you." He whispered quietly from behind me. I felt his breath on the back of my neck, sending chills down my spine. "Don't kill yourself and I'll try to be a better person."
"Promise?" I smiled even though he couldn't see me. "And that means no drinking, smoking or drugs. Oh, and a better relationship with Eli and your mum."
He sighed reluctantly. "I promise."
