Flares - Book 1

0.6 - Break

"Klara, look. I'm sorry." Brody sighed as he shook his head, reset obvious as he closed his eyes. There wasn't much he could say, he had no excuse or real reason why he lashed out the way he did, not only embarrassing him, but her too.

"I believe you are, I really do. But everything that happened downstairs was uncalled for and disgusting." She shook her head wetting the cloth again before moving to him and pressing it over his cut cheek. "My dad doesn't like you, my mom definitely doesn't either, Evan almost lost me due to her own blind loyalty to you, and you parents and mine all almost got into a fight. Evan tried to blame it on Tommy, did you know that?"

"Klara I get it-"

"I don't think you do, this has been going on for years and now it's blown up in everyone's faces. Maybe it's my fault, if I told Tom to come clean rather than protecting him things would end differently for us." She mumbled as she wiped his eyes next.

"What do you mean, end differently?" He asked. She didn't answer, focusing on the blood around his nose. "Klara-" he grabbed her wrist-"What do you mean, end differently?"

"I think we all need a break." She sighed as she moved the cloth, looking at him. "You, Evan, your parents-"

"Tom." He added but froze as she sighed. "Tom get's a break too, right?"

"From you, yes."

"But not you." Brody scoffed, pulling away from her.

"No, you're not going to get mad. You're going to listen, I'll explain everything, but I need you to just listen, okay?"

"Fine." He sighed. He watched her sit on the floor, resting against the tub.

"Tommy's dad walked out before he was born, that broke his mom, she turned to alcohol and drugs. Tommy has basically been taking care of his mom since he was four, they had barely any money so he didn't have a lot of food and clothes when he was little and since he never went to parks when he was little he never really had any friends."

"Until you.."

"Exactly. I Initiated the friendship but Alex latched onto him, i don't know why but it didn't take long for Alex to bring him home. My dad always wanted three kids so he thought Tom was some kind of gift. When we were twelve Alex and I saw Tommy go to a run down apartment building in the bad neighborhood, that's when he told us everything. We called our mom and dad because when he brought us inside his mom was on the floor unconscious with a needle beside her. She died, Brody." Her lip quivered as she spoke, Brody's gaze falling to his lap as he listened. "After that Tommy was put in a foster home, which sucked worse than having his mom around, so my mom and dad applied to be foster parents. That's why Tommy and I are so close, and why the school calls my parents about him."

"Okay, but why is he always late, you always cover for him." Brody asked.

"When his mom got the apartment she signed a year contract, every year she signed it and she died in the third month. Apparently death to that landlord only meant to burden the next of kin. He agreed to wait until Tommy was old enough to get a job. The contract is almost up and then Tommy will be free, but until then he's paying rent to  a home that's no longer his."

"I had no idea.. why didn't he just tell us?" Brody looked at her, tears stained her cheeks as she frowned.

"Alex and I told him not to, you guys were always mean to him, you made it obvious from the start that you didn't want him around us, so we thought it would be best to not involve you guys." She shrugged.

"Do you really think that low of me?" He swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Well you thought I was a cheating whore, so let's just call it even." She shrugged, she wiped a tear from her cheek. "His mom haunts all of us, maybe that's why Tommy is so shy, but fuck Brody, he looked up to you, even after all the taunts and all the accusations he still looked up to you and wanted to be your friend."