Bent (Merome)

Chapter 6

 “Do you really think I'm just some person? Didn't you get a text?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. Jerome tilted his head.

“Oh, yeah. Let me check.”

I nodded. He jogged to the island of the kitchen to grab his phone. I looked at Jason and Adam, who still hadn't said anything.

“Hey, Jason, Adam,” I said, grinning at them. Adam returned my grin, and Jason nodded back at me.

“So... It's Cat, right? That's a cool name. Short for Catherine?” Jason asked.

“Nope. It's just Cat. My parents were a little weird.”

Jerome walked in, holding his phone.

“I've met Mitch's parents, though. They aren't that weird,” He said curiously. I shrugged.

“Mitch got lucky. He's got a pretty normal name,” I said, shrugging again.

“Speaking of Mitch,” Ty added, “How is he? He just left without telling us. Do you guys not get along or something?”

I shook my head.

“No, we've never had any problem with each other. I mean, he's my twin. I know what he's thinking- pretty much all the time. I just think he needed a while. He's got to go through some changes.”

Jerome tilted his head.

“So you know why he left?”

I nodded.

“Well... Can you tell us?”

I paused.

“...He doesn't want me to. It's personal.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do. Trust me. Like I said, we're twins. I know how and what he thinks, all the time.”

It was quiet for a minute before Jerome broke the silence.

“It's just not like him. He wasn't acting weird yesterday.”

“Yeah, it was a split-second decision. He wasn't expecting it either.”

Adam laughed.

“What do you mean?” Jerome asked, confused.

“Nevermind.”

Jerome looked at me, then shrugged.

"Whatever. If Mitch needed some time, he needed some time. I just think it's weird that he'd take off without telling us. I would'a liked to say goodbye, at least."

I felt my cheeks flush one shade deeper. It wasn't even a flirt- it was a normal thing for a friend to say, but my heart skipped a beat nonetheless.

"Oh, just so you know. Ryan's coming today too. Knowing Mitch, he didn't say anything about it," Jason informed me.

"Oh, yeah! I remember. Mitch told me about that a while ago, I completely forgot."

Adam smirked at me.

"So... Can I head up to Mitch's room?" I asked, turning toward the stairs.

"Sure," Adam said quickly, blocking any different responses. I smiled and nodded, then started up to my room.

Three hours and a lot of Minecraft later, the doorbell rang. Jerome slammed his desk.

"YOU BEAT ME AGAIN!" He yelled. "WHAT DID MITCH TEACH YOU?"

I laughed.

"I know all your tactics, Biggums." I smirked.

"It really is creepy how much you're like Mitch, and different in a lot of ways, too."