☠ Nothing Like Us ☠

10. Present 1

Jai

I woke up to the smell of Rachel's perfume, surrounding the room. I lifted one third of my body up and rubbed my eyes with with my free hand. Slowly, I tossed the thin sheets of cloth off of me and walked out of the room, Rachel's scent getting thicker and thicker like I was walking into a thick cloud of smoke. I trudged into the kitchen, the moon light reflecting off the kitchen sink.

I heard her laugh and I swear I'm not going crazy. I swear. My bandages began to unravel, spontaneously and I could do nothing but panic. Red arms flashed before me and I felt sick. The red grew thicker and thicker until blood began trickling out of the cuts and dripping onto the wooden floor. My legs collapsed, crumbling like an over cooked cake. I held my arms infront of me and cried out, "FUCK! WHATS HAPPENING TO ME"

It was not long until I was sitting in a pool of blood, still shrieking and crying out for help. It was like no one was home or they were but they didn't care enough.

I felt two strong arms on my shoulders, shaking me. "Jai, wake up! Wake up!" I heard Luke's voice crack a few times. I opened my eyes and examined my surroundings. Luke sat beside me, head almost touching the bottom of the top bunk. Tears sat on his waterline and eyes stained red. I lifted my arms and saw the bandages wrapped up tight. I looked at Luke who was breathing heavily, almost hyperventilating.

I lifted myself up and hugged him tightly. He sobbed softly on my shoulder, "you were screaming," he whispered. I hugged him tighter. My family has always been there for me through everything, especially Luke. I know it scared them and it hurt them to see me like this.

"I'm sorry," I apologised, gently pushing myself away from Luke.

Christmas Day

Like any kid, I was always excited for Christmas. The feeling you got, waking up on Christmas morning and opening gifts was just amazing. Although as I grew older, the excitement wore off and every Christmas morning started feeling like a normal day.

Luke and Beau, however, will always be kids at heart. They dragged me out of bed and we gathered around the Christmas tree while mum handed out our presents.

Beau received a watch and SnapBack from mum, "Bad Jokes" book from Luke (including a sticky note on top saying "stop trying to be funny") and a new iPhone from me. Well, I pretty much got my brothers the same present. Mum bought us all clothes and hats and Nonna and Nonna gave us soo much money.

I opened up a card from Luke.

dress like you're going somewhere really formal. Wear the outfit James bought you and be ready by 5pm

***

I buttoned up my shirt and gently tucked it in, making sure the sides were even. Mum adjusted my watch on my wrist and I fixed up my hair with my free hand. I don't think Luke realised that it only took me an hour to get ready and not like him, taking almost 4 hours.

Luke was out and I sat around the house for the next seven hours, doing absolutely nothing. I chewed on my lip and made my way to my room where I rampaged through boxes in our room filled with old photos and looked back at the memories. I always found myself here, laughing beaus haircut, frowning at our family pictures with a dad missing. It amazed me, how much I grew up when these photos seemed like they were only taken yesterday.

"Jai," I turned around to see Luke holding a box (with a big label saying "present 1" on the front) filled with video games and a packet of snakes. "Merry Christmas," he smiled.

___________________________

this was kinda just a filler chapter haha it gets better, I promise