Quandary

Careening Callous

I jolted up from my bed. That night... The last thing I remember was Braxton's fist slamming into my face. It almost felt like a dream. But it wasn't. Was it? No, it was reality. I then caught a glimpse of a memory, a memory that wasn't real. One where I told Braxton that I like Hailey on the road back to the hotel. But that was the dream.

"What the hell happened to you?!" Cried out Barry.

The two of us stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at myself. I had a black eye and multiple cuts on the skin of my face.

"I fell off my bed in the middle of the night."

"Don, we both know that's bull crap."

I walked out of the bathroom and into our hotel room. I began folding the sheets of my cot.

"Look, if you don't want to tell me what's wrong then I won't push you to. But it would be a lie to tell you I'm okay with you being all secretive. Something is definitely wrong."

"It's fine, just leave this alone."

"Don! Whatever this is, you need to do something about it!"

I ignored him and continued to clean up my cot.

"I know whatever situation you're in must be tough. But come on, you have to do something."

I shut my eyes. I tried to push everything and everyone out of my head. It felt as if there was no end to the problems that plagued my life.

"Please Don..."

I threw the blanket in my hand to the ground.

"You think I haven't tried to do something?! You actually think that I'm just being stubborn and am trying to shoulder all the pain on myself? I'm like this because there's no other way! I'm like this because I'm selfish and arrogant."

Barry fell silent, closing his mouth before he could say anything else.

"Come on, we have to get back down to the lobby. Braxton's waiting for us."

When I said Braxton's name, it felt like poison on my tongue. He hated me for sure now. As we walked out of the elevator on the first floor, I could see him talking to Hailey. She looked worried, I could see her trying to force on a smile. It was probably because of Braxton's beat-up face. I watched his eyes dart in my direction. As soon as he noticed us he leaned into Hailey, kissing her. I could feel my hands forming into fists at my sides. Now he was just trying to spite me. I turned around, heading for the buses.

"Come on, let's go," I muttered to Barry.

"Hold on, aren't you going to say hi to Braxton?"

I pushed away from him, grunting and went on to the buses.

"Don! Don!" Called out Hailey.

I kept walking on, pretending like I couldn't hear her. I sat on the bus, alone. Maybe I could try to take my mind off of everything by focusing on the trip. Today we'd be going on our last excursion, all the way to the Jamestown Settlement. I sat there for another ten minutes, staring out the window of the bus. I then watched as Braxton and Hailey sat at the front of the vehicle together. Were they trying to avoid me? I dropped my head down and closed my eyes. I really needed to stop being such a loser. If only I had better judgment.

"Don..." Muttered Hailey.

I opened my eyes to see Braxton and Hailey had moved down to where I was on the bus.

"I never knew... Braxton told me everything."

I stared at her with silence, scratching the back of my head. Of course Braxton would tell Hailey, those two are inseparable.