Chasing Sunsets

45

I didn't immediately answer, and I'm sure that's why I heard his door open just seconds after he asked the question.

I looked back down at my feet as I heard his footsteps. He moved around his car, until finally he stood before me.

"Indie?" Brock asked again, his voice hesitant. "Are you okay?"

I let out a short sigh, still attempting to hide my face from him. I didn't particularly welcome the chance of Brock being able to read it, at this very moment.

"I'm fine," I muttered, my chin digging into my knee. "I'm fine."

"Well," Brock said the word slowly, "are you sure? It doesn't really look like you're fine. You're sitting on the side of the street at 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday."

"Is it against the rules to be outside at 7:30?" I let out, hearing the edge to my voice. "You're out."

"I had lacrosse practice," Brock answered instantly.

When I didn't answer, he let out a breath, before I heard him begin to lower his body onto the ground. He sat beside me, I could feel the heat from his body next to me.

"I thought we were suppose to be friends now," he tried to coax me into speaking. "You can tell me."

I looked up, turning my head towards him. He looked like he was telling the truth about just coming from practice. He had a matching grey tracksuit on, his hair wet like he had just taken a shower. Brock was looking down at me with concern in his eyes, and I actually didn't mind seeing that concern.

"My parents," I told him finally, feeling my mouth form a pout. "They're assholes."

"Oh," Brock nodded, the corners of his mouth turning downwards. "You want to talk about it?"

I chewed on the side of my lip, trying to iron out the thoughts in my head before I said them. "It feels like they don't care about me at all."

"Why does it feel like that?" Brock asked me quickly.

"They're never here. They're too busy with their own lives to care about mine. They've always been that way, but I thought after Isla..." I cut my own sentence off, it wasn't as natural talking to Brock about Isla as it was with Bella or Chase.

"You thought they would be more inclined to stick around and make some time for you?" Brock didn't seem to notice my hesitancy.

"Yeah," I answered. "That was the hope."

"I won't say I know how that feels, with... your friend or anything, but I can relate. I felt like that when we first moved here, I thought we would have more family time, especially since I didn't know anyone or have any friends. It was hard, but do you want to know what I came up with?" Brock asked me.

"What?"

"Our parents don't have everything figured out," he explained, leaning back on his hands. "I don't think they can see the flaws in their own behaviour while they're doing it, just like we can't. Just because you become a parent, you don't suddenly become a perfect person."

I didn't speak as I listened to his words, I simply nodded my head.

"So," he continued when it was clear I wasn't going to answer. "You still haven't answered why you're sitting here on the side of the street."

"Right," I said, as if I had suddenly remembered where we were. "I wanted to take a drive, I forgot my car isn't here."

"Where is it?" He asked me.

"On the outskirts of town," I told him. "We went to a party last night and... someone else drove me home."

"A party without me?" Brock joked, "do you want a ride there so you can get your car?"