You Light Up the Sky Like Lightning

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

I walked back to the hotel, more or less with my arms wrapped around myself. It was sort of cold, which didn't help me, considering I was in yoga pants and a thin T-shirt. 

The wind was blowing outside, which made my get even colder. How is it cold when it's summertime? That doesn’t make any sense to me. 

Anyways, I walked into the hotel and went to the elevator. I pressed the up button right as my phone vibrated. 

Three new texts. 

The first one was from Chaz.

              To: Landry

              From: Chaz S.

              *hey . . . uh what was up with that? Where are you now?

Ignoring it, I opened the next. The second one was from Ryan.

              To: Landry

              From: Ryan B.

              *Justin hasn’t said anything since you left . . . where are you? He’s starting to scare us

Sighing, I decided to reply to both of them saying that I was at the hotel. Hopefully that way, they won’t keep trying to text me.

The elevator finally came, and I hopped in. On the way up, I opened the third text.

It was from my brother. 

              To: Landry

              From: Blake

              *hey sis . . . I don’t know where you are right now, but please call me. We need to talk . . . it’s about mom and dad. 

I furrowed my eyebrows and immediately pressed ‘call.’ The international roaming charges are going to be hella high, but I knew that whenever my brother talks about my parents, it was serious. 

I put my phone to my ear as the elevator opened on my floor, and I stepped out. I walked to the room as the phone rang. 

Blake answered on the fourth ring.  “Hey,” he said. The sound of his voice made me depressed because he sounded so sad.

“Hi,” I replied, sticking my key into the slot and pushing the door open. “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” he said, clearly lying. It was easy to tell that he was wanting to talk about something else before he told me the reason he wanted me to call. “How’s the tour?”

I walked to my room- the one I have by myself, thank god- and shut my door behind me. “Well, its okay, I guess. Except this Bieber kid annoys the hell out of me.”

“No shit,” my brother laughed. “Heard his songs? They’re so annoying!”

I laughed. “Since when do you listen to his songs, Blake?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Uh, well, I don’t.  It's just . . . my ex-girlfriend used to listen to him.”

“Okay,” I joked. “Whatever you say.”

“So,” he said. “What have you done today? I can hear it in your voice when you’re stressed, and you definitely sound stressed right now.” 

I told him about everything. From everything that went down on the plane, all the way to what happened at lunch. 

When I was done, he huffed. “Stay away from him, Landry. He is a no-good, stuck up superstar who thinks he can get anything he wants. He’ll use you and then throw you to the side like you don’t mean anything.”

“Okay Blake, trust me. I don’t want anything to do with that asshole.”

There was another pause on the line, but it was longer this time. 

“Blake?” I asked. 

There was no answer. 

“Hello?”

“Mom and dad are legally divorced,” he said quietly. 

My heart sank.  “What?”

“Mom and dad are divorced,” he repeated.  “Everything I’ve tried to do for them has failed.”

I sighed, and a single tear rolled down my cheek. Everything that I didn’t want to happen was coming true. See, Blake is this weird family guy. He always wanted the perfect family, and he tried everything he could do to keep my parents together. He wouldn’t tell me exactly what he did, but he said that he spends a lot of his own money on getting them help and stuff like that.

All he wanted was a family that wouldn’t fight. Our parents were seventeen years older than him, and nineteen years older than me. We were both ‘accidents,’ and they weren’t afraid to say that. 

I knew this was coming, but it broke me to think of how Blake is taking it. He said that if they got divorced that he would never go back to see them. I just think he’s overreacting, but it just means a lot to him. He loves both of them a lot. I never could relate to him with that because for all I care they can go rot in hell. But I love Blake more than anything. He's my brother, so I'm pretty much entitled to. 

"Hello?" Blake said. 

"Oh, sorry," I muttered. "Just thinking."

"Look," he said. "I know you don't care, but they called to tell me, and they said that now that they are separated, neither would be able to provide for you . . ."

My heart stopped. "Wh-what? What am I supposed to go when this summer is over?"

I heard Blake sigh through the phone. "I don't know Lan. I talked to Carin and Scooter already, and they said that they would love for you to live with them. You could apply to a college down there next year, or maybe audition for something."

"Yeah," I muttered. I probably could've guessed that. "Whatever." 

"I'm so sorry Landry. I have to go, but will you call me later please? I know you aren't okay with all this right now. It's a lot for an eighteen year old to handle."

I agreed to call him later, and we said our goodbyes. 

As soon as I hung up with Blake, I burst out crying. I guess I was just holding in stress and it comes out in tears. From the shit with Justin, to the shit with my parents, to the shit with my not being able to live with my parents anymore. I guess it was all just too much to handle. 

I laid down, and put my phone next to me.  

Blake had texted me saying that he was sorry and that we'd figure things out. 

No. I didn't believe that. My parents are just screwed up in their heads, and it was their fault because they caused all of this. Fuck them.  

I closed my eyes, silently letting tears run down my cheeks.  

And then I eventually cried myself to sleep.