Anger Issues

two

Austin

I woke up to my brother shaking me violently. "Austin wake up," he said. I opened my eyes and turned over.

"What time is it?" I asked. "7:30."

I jumped up and ran into the bathroom, taking a quick shower and proceeding to throw on random clothes.

"Mom!" I called. "Downstairs," I heard her say.

I ran down and saw a plate of pancakes already sitting there. I grabbed one and shoved it into my mouth.

"Where's my phone?" I asked, still with my mouth full. She pulled it out of her pocket. I reached for it but she retreated.

"Don't do it again," she said. "I won't."
As she gave it to me, I grabbed my bag and ran out. Caleb, my brother was already waiting in the car.

"Hurry up!" I heard him yell.

I ran down the pathway and collapsed into the passenger seat, as he took off.

"This is why I need my damn phone," I angrily said. "Chill, we have ten minutes to get you to school," he said.

I sighed and sat back, seeing a text from Jessica.

Jess
Did you get your phone back?

Me
Yeah. On my way to school now

Jess
Kk 😝

We got to my school with five minutes before the bell. Caleb drove off as soon as I got out, leaving me to run inside.

I swiped my ID and luckiky did not get late. Running upstairs, Jess was with her friends by the lockers.

"Hey," she smiled at me. "Hey, I'm sorry I couldn't text you last night," I apologized. "Don't worry about it."

I opened my locker, only to hear the bell ring. "I'll see you in a bit," she said, pecking my cheek.

She walked off as her group of friends dispersed into their separate ways.

--

Lunch rolled around and I sat by my friends, Anthony, David, and Sasha, while I waited for Jess and her friends to join us.

"You hear about the fight?" David asked. "What fight?" I looked at him.

He pulled up his phone and handed it to me, with an Instagram account shown.

Friday: North Hill 1 AM

Fight nominations (Guys):

Austin Chanel
Damian Holbrook
Jack Patterson
Michael Johnson

Fight nominations (Girls):

Gianna Oerti
Nicolette Simmons
Justine Banks
Lori Fox

No-show = No cash

Prize: $100

Nominees comment "👍" if you're showing

"That's tonight," I noticed. "What's tonight?"

I looked ahead of myself to see Jess sit down with her best friend, Kayla.

"A-" David began, but I cut him off. "A new video game stream," I lied. "Oh," she lost interest.

--

All day, all I could think about was the fight. If I won the money, I could take Jess to a nice restaurant without having to be on a budget that was set by my mom or dad.

But finally, the day ended and I thought I could escape it, but everyone was talking about the fight.

"Do you want to come over?" I asked Jess. "Sure," she agreed.

We said goodbye to everyone before leaving the school. Since she had her car, we got in and drove to my house.
"You can go up to my room, I'll get something to eat," I told her.

She nodded and disappeared into the stairwell. As soon as she was gone, I pulled out my phone and went to the Instagram post, commenting "👍"

"Babe!" I called. "Yeah?" I picked up a can of soda and a bottle of water. "Soda or water?" I asked. "Water please."

I gathered everything in my arms and went upstairs. "Thank you," she said.

She was oddly silent as I sat down. "Are you okay?" I asked. "Were you going to tell me?" She retorted. "Tell you what?"

She showed me her phone. The same post, but with my comment. She said one word and I knew something could go wrong.

"Why?"