365 days • e.d

VIII

i woke up messily laying on my bed.
my hair was everywhere, i was sweating and my vision was blurry.
i rubbed my eyes and lazily got up, dragging myself to the bathroom and down the stairs, to make myself some breakfast.

while i poured the syrup in my pancakes, grayson came downstairs.
'good morning, eth'
he said, as he laid on our dark blue couch.

'where's mom?'
i asked him, putting my plate down and sitting in one of the wooden stools behind the counter.

'just left for work'
he responded, not even looking at me, and turning on our tv.

'what about dad?'

'you know the deal'
he sighed, and so did i.
my head hung low and i slowly ate, disappointed and sad.
my dad had been spending nights and nights away.
no one knew where he was, who he was with or what was he doing.

'grayson, do you know where my shirt is, i don't know where i-
ethan?!'

i looked up to see aaliyah, wearing one of grayson's old lacrosse jerseys.
her long caramel hair was messy and her face was a little red, almost unnoticeable because of her tan skin.

'shit, liyah! i told you i'd give you a sign!'
grayson buried his face on his hand.

'i'm going for a walk.'
i pick my keys up from the counter i was eating at, and left my empty pancake plate there when i left our house.

that day was an absolute mess.

first, something happened to alexis the previous night.
then, my father spent the night out, probably cheating on my mom.
and lastly, my brother was fucking our best friend.
i didn't know for how long that went on, but i'm pretty sure it was going on for a while.

the cold breeze hit my face as i jogged around the streets of our calm neighborhood.
there was barely anyone on the streets, due to the fact that it was nearly 8am and i had woken up way too early that morning.

i looked around myself, appreciating the cuteness of the little town we lived at.
the little coffee shops and libraries took over the streets.
there weren't any expensive and cool stores, just small shops that weren't known.

the sun had already risen, but it was still a little dark outside, hence the reason the street lights were on, making the town look as pretty as ever.
except when it was the sunset.

the sunset from our town was the best i've ever seen.
i hadn't gone too far, but i knew that would always be my favorite thing to watch.

grayson, aaliyah and i used to go to the hills every afternoon to see the sun setting.
we would often bring snacks and drinks and sit on the green grass appreciating the view and listening to some good music.

but when grayson started dating aaliyah, or whatever the hell they had,
they both became distant.
they never had time for our friendship anymore.
they only had time for their relationship, academics and sports.
and i pretty much started to hang out alone at home, going to the movies alone or even concerts nearby.

i got used to it, because grayson said he had lacrosse tryouts and liyah said she had college interviews.
but once i got to know the reason behind it all, it frustrated me.
i lost all the friends i had and it really sucked.

the only person i had left was alexis.
i didn't even know if she was actually my friend or not,
but i really hoped she was.