HEAD RUSH | A.K

3

I'M GONNA FIGHT HER

Of course it had to start fucking raining when Awsten was on his way home. Now, he's frantically running from his car up to the porch of his house, fumbling with the keys to open the door. He gets inside, wiping his sneakers along the door mat to dry them off a bit before stepping out of them.

Lifting his head, his eyes find a picture of him and Josephine that his mom took a week ago. They were sitting in his backyard facing each other but looking up at the clouds, their converse interlocking while they gazed at the clouds. Awsten presses his head against the wall and sighs.

"Awsten?" Gracie questions before coughing a few times.

"Oh, hey. Why are you home?" he asks softly, turning to face his sister who's wrapped up in a blanket with a tissue in one of her nostrils.

"Mom made me stay home because I feel like shit," she mumbles. "What's up with you?"

They move over to the couch, Gracie sitting and putting her legs on the ottoman while patting the spot next to her. Awsten scrunches up his nose, opting for sitting on the opposite side of the couch. He doesn't want to get sick. Gracie scoffs, crossing her arms.

"So uh, you know Josephine?"

"No, I don't know the girl you've been pining after all year. Who ever could she be?"

"Shut the fuck up," he groans, rubbing his face with his hands. "Nevermind. Feel better."

"Woah, woah, woah, you can't just start talking about the only girl that's ever looked at you and then leave. What happened with Josephine?" she asks sincerely.

"Well, she kinda broke up with me but we weren't even dating. It was weird," he starts to explain. "But, uh, don't tell mom, I snuck out to see her last night and then she was supposed to call me but she didn't. Then she said something like 'I like you but I can't be with you' which makes no fucking sense."

Gracie furrows her brows together. Her face clearly shows exactly what she's thinking. Awsten can tell she's pissed off from how tense she is now.

"I'm gonna fight her."

"No, Gracie, you're not," he says with a small laugh. "It was stupid of me to think I could be with her in the first place."

"Listen, dumbass, you may be annoying and stupid and gross but you're my brother. I know you're the coolest guy ever, despite everything I said before. She's even dumber than you are for doing that."

"Thanks Gracie. I'm gonna go in my room."

"I love you, Awsie."

"Love you too, stinker," he grins, ruffling her hair before running up the stairs.

"I'm not 5 anymore!" she yells back even though she has a wide grin on her face.

Once he makes it to his room, his feet carry him to his bed and he falls onto the unmade sheets. His head pops up when he realizes he hears music. He gets up and walks over to the desk where his cd player sits. Realizing there's still a cd in there, he pops it open to see Josephine's name on it. That almost breaks him.

What really breaks him is the little heart she drew on it. Awsten feels the tears fall onto his desk and he frantically tries to wipe them away to no avail.

Finding himself back to his bed, he crawls under the covers trying to pretend that he never met Josephine Hale.