11. Leo
LEO
As much as I didn’t want it to, my mind kept going back to the rooftop with Eliza, and even further back to the phone call with my brother.
Colin had complained that Eliza had taken forever to tell him about her parents and what happened to them. One moment remained engraved in my brain that was a prime example of why he didn’t deserve her opening up to him.
I wish I’d brought it up when I talked to him on the phone, but I doubted he’d remember, anyway.
I couldn’t forget it, though, and my mind easily went back to the memory.
“Eliza, you’re being dramatic,” I heard my brother say as the door closed behind him.
My teeth ground together, but I kept my head down, minding my own business. Or, at least, trying to.
“And you’re being a prick.” I didn’t have to look to know the voice belonged to Eliza.
Words were muffled as they unzipped their coats, but I could tell the conversation hadn’t gone well over the last few minutes when Eliza scoffed and said, “I’m going for a walk.”
“But dinner—”
“I’ll only be gone a few minutes. Need to cool off.”
My brother sighed, and I imagined him carelessly shrugging. Would he watch her leave, follow after her, or come straight to the kitchen? I got my answer when he strolled in casually, opening the fridge and grabbing a soda.
“You’re not going to go check on her?” I asked, setting my knife down on the cutting board and turning toward him.
“Nah.” Colin hitched a shoulder, bringing the can up to his lips, like he had all the time in the world.
“She said she’ll only be gone for a few minutes.
She gets this way sometimes. Better to just let her do her thing.
” He nodded toward the direction of the door.
“I’m gonna go find Mom. You think she set the table already? ”
I poked the side of my cheek with my tongue, knowing he was asking not because he wanted to help but because he was hoping he wouldn’t have to help. That our mom would have done it for him. Like a lot of other things in his life. “Yeah, she set the table already.”
Colin walked out with a grin, calling for our mom.
I drummed my fingers on the marble counter, my fingers flexing to pick the knife back up to finish the salad I was making, but…I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.
I pushed off the counter, grabbed my coat, and stepped outside before it was even on.
The sharp wind hit my face, and I had to squint as I looked around.
Just when I thought she’d already started her walk, I heard the squeak of my mom’s porch swing.
I rounded the house, spotting Eliza. She had one leg folded close to her chest while using the other to push her off the ground.
Her arms were wrapped around herself as another gust of wind hit us.
“Hey,” I said as I came up behind her, draping my jacket over her shoulders before sitting next to her. My eyes flicked to her phone, seeing the name of her best friend Lily pulled up.
When she followed my gaze, Eliza let out a sigh, pulling the jacket tighter around her shoulders. “I was going to call her. See if I really was being that dramatic.”
“Do you still want to?” I tipped my chin toward her phone. “I can leave.”
Eliza locked her phone and slid it into her pocket, shaking her head. “No, it’s okay. I’ll talk to her later.”
“For what it’s worth, you weren’t being dramatic.”
“You don’t even know what happened.”
I shook my head. “Don’t need to.”
I looked out in front of us, but I could feel Eliza’s eyes on me. It worried me what would happen if I looked her way. What I would do. What I’d say.
It wasn’t the first time I’d overheard an argument between them, and it wasn’t the first time I’d wondered why she put up with my brother’s shit. From the little I knew about Eliza, I’d come to learn that she held her own. She was confident and spoke her mind—and yet she stayed with my brother.
I started swinging us, and Eliza brought both her legs up to her chest. When I finally looked over at her, she’d tipped her head back, eyes focused on the starry sky.
“He was texting on the drive over. I asked him to stop. That whatever text was so fucking important could wait or that I could respond for him.”
I could imagine what Colin’s response was without being there. Being overly confident, like he had everything handled. Like he was invincible.
I stopped the swing. My nostrils flared and jaw clenched. “That fucking asshole.”
Not only had he put Eliza, himself, and others in danger, but Eliza’s parents died in a car accident from a distracted driver.
Eliza looked over at me, her dark eyes glossy with emotion. “Maybe he doesn’t remember that’s how they died. I mean, he still shouldn’t be doing it, but…”
“He should fucking remember, and you asking him to not do that should be enough,” I countered. “You shouldn’t be making excuses for him. Why are—”
“I’m not making excuses for him,” she shot back, eyes blazing with frustration, but I couldn’t tell if she was frustrated with me or with herself.
“Right,” I said with a shake of my head, scoffing. “I was wrong earlier when I said you weren’t being dramatic. I don’t think you were being dramatic enough.”
She parted her pretty lips, but no words came out. Instead, she shrugged off my jacket and dropped it on my lap before walking back into the house, the door slamming behind her.