Prompt Writing

Alienated/Outside

Alienated/Outside

He is two years older than her. She is in the same year as his brother. He was always quite jealous of that- how their friendship seemed to be solidified by the fact that they shared classes and lunch hour.

He remembers seeing the moving truck in front of her house, her grandfather lugging a couch out with the attempted help of her cousins. He never knew why her whole family lived in that one house. Even if said house was an enormous mansion down at the end of the elongated coldesac. He remembers her hopping out of one of those expensive cars you never see driving around, just parked. She was young, maybe eight, and her bright red hair was braided and swung behind her ahen she trotted up to the house. He remembers asking his mother to go and greet them. His brother had already gone to say hi, and as he approached she had been chatting enthusiastically with the younger sibling.

He is watching, secretly, from the kitchen of his home as his brother slips his hand into hers and whispers something in her ear. He sees her giggle, sees his brother lean in and he looks away just in the moment that his heart breaks. He never says anything about it, just locks himself in his room and watches old television on his laptop in the dark for a few days. Its his senior year anyway, who cares if he misses a few days.

He sits at his brother's wedding, a few years down the road. He was chosen as the best man, and now has to speak. He stands when the microphone is passed to him. His throat closes up, he feels singled out. He chuckles, runs a hand through his hair, glances everywhere but at the couple. He can't recall what he actually says; something about how glad he is that his kid brother has got a girl that he loves and he's sure once they have kids they will be beautiful. He sits back down, but only for a moment before he ex uses himself to the restroom, but sits outside with a cigarette instead. He hears her, the bride that he's always been in love with, calling his name, but he stands up and walks away, hoping she won't find him.

He gets drunk a few nights later, so drunk that the bartender places a big hand on his shoulder and gruffly tells him to get a move on. He stumbles out, into the crisp midnight air, into the cloudy dark where he can't see. He walks for what seems like hours, but is really only about fifteen minutes. He sees bright lights, maybe yellow, perhaps red? He trots foward, inspecting the lights as best he can. He hears shouting, maybe somebody doesn't like him staring at the lights. He tries to leave the lights but they flash green and he's so entranced, wow, arent the light lovely-
and then his vision is black.

She stands over his coffin, throwing her handful of dirt down. She knows he loved her, but there wasn't anything to be done about that, not when she felt so blissful with his brother. She sighs. She only wishes she'd had the time to tell him he didn't have to be so far outside.