Consequences

⟡ six ⟡

     Isn't it amazing how family can be your biggest supporters at times, but other times, they are the reason for your struggling. That is what Brinley was feeling on a slightly chilly Friday night. The cool night wind swept through the open window of the motel, which prompted Connie to find as many blankets as possible, spreading them out on the couch and chairs.

    Connie, Brinley, and Carter sat among the piles of blankets and pillows while watching countless Disney movies that Carter was ecstatic over, even though he had seen them hundreds of times. Brinley cuddled her baby brother close, cherishing the time she spent with him. She brushed his curly blonde locks to the side and rubbed his back softly.

      Thinking about family made Brinley emotional, especially with the recent events. Before the divorce was officially announced, Brinley often thought about the possibility of a divorce. Would she go with her mom and her brother would go with her dad? Or would it be the other way around?

    Now that she was in the reality of a broken family, it was much simpler than she assumed it would be. Her father decided it was best that he gets to see both Carter and Brinley once a month, rather than making the long drive multiple times a week. They would meet halfway between Monroeville and Fairborn, do something together for the day, and then go their separate ways. Brinley was slightly pained at the thought of her father making a whole new life without her. Would he get a new girlfriend, eventually get married, and have kids that he loves more? Would he forget about her and Carter and focus on his new life?

     Brinley hated the idea of it all. She selfishly didn't want Will to find love again. She wanted him to only have Carter and Brinley. She didn't want new people taking over her family. And that's all she could think about on that cool September night.
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     Holden, on the other hand, was thinking about very different things. Holden spent his Friday night at another party full of wasted teenagers. This had become a routine for him. Every Friday night he would find another party. Holden would look anywhere, even miles out of town, for a good party. The intensity of the party life seemed to calm him down. Maybe it was the burning sensation of the alcohol, or the smoke from the cigarettes, both which numbed his senses just long enough, but this Friday night was different.

     The alcohol only raised Holden's anxiety. The cigarettes did nothing to calm him down, and no one at the party had access to any stronger drugs. Holden couldn't escape to a blurry, intoxicated version of himself, rather everything was becoming more clear to him. He hated it.

     Girls would come up to him, calling him all sorts of enticing names, and he would do the same back. Holden was an attractive man, and many women in this town would agree. He had been involved with many of his female classmates, most of that resulting from drunken nights like these.

     Holden Bell had been going to these parties since he was fourteen. He had begged his oldest brother, Alfie, who was eighteen at the time, to bring him along, and Alfie agreed, as long as he didn't drink. Since then, Holden had become like his oldest brother, addicted to the nightlife. Which was a stark contrast to his nineteen year old brother, Theodore, who preferred staying in and hated the drugs that his brothers had gotten into.
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     As the clock ticked away and midnight passed, Holden found himself pressing a brunette girl against the wall of the first bedroom they could find. The obviously intoxicated girl came on to him first, but he couldn't blame her for his seductive actions that followed.

     Kissing her wet mouth, he regretted starting this with her. He couldn't lose himself in the heated makeout, but rather he just felt more guilt with every sloppy kiss. Holden gripped the girls hips and she grinded into his hips.

     She began to pull at the hem of Holden's gray t-shirt, and he could tell she wanted more, but he couldn't give that to her, not tonight. After Brinley left him last week, even after nothing intimate happened between the two, he couldn't bring himself to do the same to another girl.