The leaves were just beginning to change on some trees, but this year, Kyle wasn’t looking forward to fall. For one thing, it was the longest time before summer vacation… and for another, it was hard to be excited about anything when he didn’t even want to get out of bed in the morning.
With a frown, Kyle plucked a leaf from a low hanging maple branch and turned it over in the palm of his hand. Just as he was about to look away, a rain drop splashed in the center of the leaf. He dropped it, letting it fall to the ground.
"Enjoying nature?"
He looked over his shoulder to see Evie in a purple windbreaker. "Are you following me or something?"
"I’m on my way back from the library," she said, turning slightly so he could see her backpack. "What are you doing?"
"As if it’s any of your business," he told her, "but I’m on my way to the cafeteria."
"I’m sorry about before, Kyle, I really am, but I don’t know why you have to be so mean to me."
The rain started to come down harder, drenching Kyle’s curls and the shoulders of his jean jacket. The two of them stood side by side in the rain as the bells from a nearby church chimed, signaling that it was now six o’clock. Kyle wiped what could have either been rain drop or a tear from the corner of his eye as he started ahead.
"I’m only returning the favor," he muttered, and then began to walk away from her. When he didn’t hear her following, he wanted to stop, to turn around and tell her that he didn’t mean it, but his legs kept going. He pushed the cafeteria doors open and leaned against the cool metal. It was then that he realized that it hadn’t been rain in his eyes; he was crying. Knowing that he couldn’t go back outside for risk that she’d still be there, and practically scared stiff that one of his friends might walk around the corner at any moment, he opted to find makeshift sanctuary in the men’s room.
The short walk there seemed like a lifetime, but he made it, and locked himself inside a stall. Oh, Lord, how he wished he was home; safe in his room with only Nicki, and possibly Justin to pick on him. Even though he’d spend most of his summer fighting with his brothers and arguing with Nicki about school and work, he’d give anything to be back there compared to this. Even though he’d been miserable at the time, deep down he knew that they loved him and only wanted what was best. But now he knew that nothing hurt more than watching the girl he thought he loved with another man.
He could almost imagine what Justin would tell him. He’d point out that Kyle had only known Evie for a week, and that he shouldn’t be so down on himself over some girl he barely knew.
Kyle wiped the tears from his face and took a deep breath as he leaned into the stall door. Maybe Justin didn’t know, but Kyle wanted to pretend that he did. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and punched in his brother’s number, praying to God that he’d be home from running his errands.
"Justin?" he said when he heard his brother’s voice. "I saw her."
"Kyle? Is that you? You sound terrible."
"I’m in the bathroom at the cafeteria. If I decide to drop out of school, can I come and sleep on your couch until Nicki decides that I can come back to her place?"
"What’s wrong?" Justin wanted to know. "I thought you were doing well so far."
Justin sounded concerned, and Kyle felt even worse about calling him. "This isn’t about school. I just can’t be here with her for another second! And if you say I told you so, so God help me-"
"Calm down, Kyle. Everything is going to be okay."
"Tell me how to get over her. I need some sort of remedy or I’ll seriously go nuts!"
"Kyle..."
"Just make something up! Tell me you know exactly how I feel and then tell me a story about how you got over a girl… and how she doesn’t matter to you at all anymore." Justin was silent for a moment.
"Please, Justin... you’ve gotta help me fix this! Remember how you used to help me out of my problems? Remember!?"
"Kyle, those were silly stories I made up to make you feel better. All I gave you was confidence."
"I don’t care," Kyle insisted. "I want you to make me feel better," though he knew that Justin’s stories would be less effective on an almost twenty-year-old than they were on a seven-year-old little boy, he didn’t care. He wanted to close his eyes, lean his head against his brother’s shoulder and listen to him talk.
"Okay, okay," Justin gave in. "But do something for me first."
"What?" Kyle wanted to know.
"Get out of that stall and go somewhere else. The next person who comes in is going to think you’re talking to the toilets if you’re not careful."
"Can I come over there? You’re not busy, are you?"
Justin sighed. "I guess, but you can’t stay here every night. You’re supposed to be living there."
Kyle picked at some white paint that was peeling from the stall door. "I don’t have class till one tomorrow," he pointed out, feeling almost like a little boy who was homesick, calling his mom and begging for her to come and pick him up from the sleep over.
"Okay," his brother agreed. "We’ll have another movie night or something... and this time, you better not fall asleep during the first ten minutes."
"I won’t! I promise! I’m on my way, bye!" He hung up before Justin had a chance to change his mind, shoved his phone back into his pocket and then quickly wiped his face with the backs of his hands. For some reason, he didn’t feel quite as miserable anymore.
Justin hung up the phone and set it down on the kitchen table. "You know I can’t say no to him," he told Adelyn, who had heard his side of the conversation. "I hope you don’t mind... he was crying, Adelyn..."
"You don’t need to convince me that he’s worthy of your attention. I know how much you love your brother."
"I’d do anything for him," he confirmed as she stood up and took their plates to the sink. "It’s almost like..."
She turned her head toward him. "Like what?"
"Like he’s afraid to be an adult, yet he wants to be one at the same time."
Adelyn turned back to the dishes. "All kids are like that. It’s hard to grow up. Kyle just wants to know that you’re there for him whenever he needs you. You’re like his security blanket. You’re not his parent, yet to him, you know all the answers. He relies on you, Justin."
Justin sighed. "I know. Even though I love spending time with him and helping him with everything, I can’t help but wish he were more self-sufficient. I worry about him a lot. Especially when he calls me in tears almost every day. It scares me to think of what he might do if I tell him no."
She patted his head and gave him a kiss on the side of his face. "Just hold onto him tight," she advised. "Be his support system if he needs it."
"I’m not his father," Justin pointed out.
"No... but you love him as much as any father would love a son. Let’s face it, Justin, you took care of him when your dad left you. You’re his role model. He’s afraid right now, and being around you is the only thing that makes him feel any better."
He felt his throat getting tighter. "I want him to be happy," he said. "It kills me to see him so sad."
Adelyn sat down in her seat and looked across the table at him. "This is because of my sister, isn’t it. Did she hurt him?"
Kyle’s hurt easily," Justin assured her. "He’s trying to fit in somewhere and he gets frustrated when he can’t. He liked Evie, but..." he trailed off, deciding not to splurge the details to Adelyn.
"But what?" she prompted. "What did Evie do to him?"
"Maybe he’s overreacting," Justin mumbled. "My brother is pretty emotional."
She held his gaze. "Justin, what did Evie do to Kyle?"
Justin sighed once more, placing his hands flat against the table top, and then looking away from her. "Your dad apparently set her up with one of his younger employees, and Kyle was hurt that she went along with it. He said he didn’t want to be her ‘secret boyfriend.’"
"Oh, God," Adelyn moaned into her hands. "Maybe I should have a talk with her. She has to know that she can’t push people around like that!"
"You’re too late," Justin said. "I already had a little chat with her. I told her to stay the hell away from Kyle if she wasn’t going to give him a hundred percent."
She looked over at him with sad eyes. "I wish you would have talked to me first," she said. "I know my sister better than you do."
Justin opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, there was a knock on the door. "Kyle sure didn’t waste any time hopping in his car and driving over here," he said as he got up to answer the door.
Chapter 18
Keeping the Peace
Family: Timberlake
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email Me (irishgirl982@yahoo.com)