AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sorry, kid,” Gem mutters. “It’s your birthday!” she sings. “We wanted to surprise you.”
Gemma spent a year attending New York University, hoping to find her place in the bustling city. However, she soon realized the fast-paced lifestyle and crowded atmosphere were not for her. She missed the comfort and familiarity of her small hometown, ultimately deciding to return and complete her business degree at a local community college.
I glance around the kitchen and groan, taking in the mess I’ll have to clean up before heading to work. Pans and bowls full of pancake batter and flour cover the counters, and I spot cracked eggs in the sink.
"We made you a cake!” Shaun says enthusiastically, waving his mini dinosaur-shaped spatula in the air.
“You did?” I wipe the flour off his face.
“We wanted to make you a birthday breakfast and a cake for later tonight,” Gem says.
“Yeah! Pizza and ice cream!” Shaun cries out, clapping his hands together.
“I love it, and I love you guys,” I sincerely say with tears building up behind my eyes.
I grab a plate of pancakes with whipped topping and strawberries from the stove. “And I amnotcleaning up this mess.”
* * *
After the best breakfast I have had in a long time, we open presents. Shaun helped Gem make the candy poster board and brought me a new set of sketchbooks and colorful pencils.
“Happy birthday, sweetheart.” Mom walks to the porch and kisses my cheek.
“Thanks, Mom.”
She sits beside me with a cup of coffee. We sit in silence and watch Shaun color over the lines and hum the song “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles.
“Have you spoken to Maverick since we ran into him in town?” Mom asks as she takes a sip of her coffee.
“No. That part of my life died the day Seth did.”
“Scar…” Mom sighs with sadness. “He is part of your childhood. Do you think it’s fair to punish him for something that was out of his control?”
“Punish him?” I look over at Mom incredulously. “I’m not punishing him. He left and made his choice.”
Disheartened, Mom shakes her head. “You couldn’t be more wrong, Scar. That boy cherishes you. He only wanted to be there for you, but you shut him out.”
After Seth died, Mom was disappointed in me when I cut Maverick out of my life, but she didn’t know how much pain he caused when he left.
“Honey, he was just a kid who lost his best friend. He didn’t abandon you. It was his way of moving forward instead of living in the past. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
It doesn’t matter anymore.
What’s done is done.
A few months after Seth’s death, something horrible happened to me. When I called Maverick for help, he hung up on me as my half-sister’s giggles echoed through the phone.
I can’t change the past, but I sure as hell can keep himandanyone else from changing what I’ve built and fought for to keep my light shining.
TWENTY-EIGHT
FLASHBACK
MAVERICK AGE 18, SCAR AGE 12
“Ah, come on! Scar, you got this.” My brother was an idiot. I hated him. Not literally, but for today, I hated him.
“Shut up! I can’t do this with you screaming at me,” I shouted back, holding on for dear life to a wall with different colorful shapes that looked like the used gum kids stuck underneath their desks. My legs were spread apart, my butt was in the air, and the side of my face was squished against the gray wall while I held on to two pegs.
