The Summer of Us

2. ~ Learning

Shawn puts a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. I didn't expect to get this deep this quickly.

"I'm on this trip with my parents, but it's like they forgot about me. I'm on my own, my own room and shit. I miss having family time together, but at the same time I don't because they talk about how I'm such a failure." he adds and his eyes are looking out at side of where we are, a metal railing with the ocean waves crashing against the side of he ship.

"You aren't a failure, you know that?" Rylee says quietly and he nods.

He nudges Shawn, catching his attention. "Your sob story next,"

Shawn sighs, leaning back on his chair. Kai looks interested in his story and I lean on the palm of my hand.

"Well, I've been going on this ship every summer for 6 years. I used to have a British accent but I lost it when I was thirteen because I moved here with my family." he starts.

"Why did you move here?" I ask.

"I was getting hella bullied at school for being quiet and being focused on academics. My parents thought it would be best for me and my sister to live somewhere else. Plus, my sister is 16, living her best life not giving a shit about school, yet my dad still wants me to work on hard on school but doesn't give a shit when my sister doesn't."

I can sense the hurt in his voice because I know he loves his sister very much, and he misses the UK.

"Enough of mine," he quickly says, changing the topic. "Rylee?"

Rylee looks up from the table and realizes it's her turn to speak. I turn to face her and give her an encouraging thumbs up. She smiles but that smile flops upside in an instant.

"My grandfather died when I was 12," her voice was quiet and emotionless. "He was my role model when I was younger and he was a better dad to me than my actual father."

"What happened to your father, if that's okay to ask." Garrett asks her.

She nods, "My father left my mom when I was born. He's a sick guy who only cares about himself." her voice is now full of disgust and hatred. Her eyes have fire blazing in them and her leg bounces rapidly.

"He left my mom because once he saw me, he realized he couldn't be related to this family. He said that he could've found a better family." I put a hand on hers and I squeeze it assuringly.

"My mom is on the ship with her boyfriend now who's okay. I hate my father, you know." she chuckles and we all nod in understanding.

I sit there in silence. We're all a broken group somehow. We're from broken families, broken lives, broken hearts and mind. We have more things in common than I ever did with people at school.

"How about you, Donnelly?" Shawn nudges Kai's arm and he looks up from his lap.

"Hm?"

"What's your sob story?" Garrett asks. Kai laughs, staring up at us, lingering on my hand a bit longer.

"You guys don't wanna know," he says and Rylee chuckles.

"I just talked mad shit about my family, come on we won't say a word." she says and he hesitates.

His eyes tell a million different stories, yet he doesn't want to tell any of them.

He wants to tell us but he also doesn't think that it's worth the time to know. It's like he thinks it doesn't matter. He looks at me again but this time he looks away quickly.

"Both of my parents want me gone." was the first thing he said to us. Silence, dead silence.

"My dad is from Japan and my mother was born and raised here. They both had me and my older sister Karina who died last year." he continued. I put a hand on his shoulder and he looks at it confusingly.