A Not So Typical Tea Party

Chapter 2

"Not now Riles, I'm not in the mood," he stormed passed me, his guitar case barging me into the wall. He slammed the door behind him as he entered his room, not saying a word to leave me out of the dark shadow of confusion I was under. Lincoln stepped out of his room and quirked his eyebrow in confusion.

"That's weird, Chase never brings his guitar home." He said before gasping in sudden realisation "unless..." He went into his brothers room and I could hear the sliding lock click into place. Great. Why was it that Lincoln instantly knew what was the matter and I didn't?

I mean sure they were brothers but my quick wit should have let me understand the situation just as easily. I hate not knowing things, it makes me feel guilty even when it's not my fault, well hopefully not anyway.

We ate dinner in silence that night. Where we usually would flick cutlery across the table, instead the forks, spoons and knives remained either in our hands or by our own plate firmly on the table.

What was actually about 20 minutes felt like hours, in the empty depressing atmosphere that on usual occasions would be filled with random conversations or foolish arguments.

In sync, the two brothers stood up and excused themselves from the table, leaving their dishes by the sink as it was mine and Ashley's turn to wash up. Knowing for sure that she knew what was going on, I began to ease the topic in to our conversation, cleverly trying not to blatantly state the question in a rude manner.

"I've never seen Chase bring his guitar home before, is there something the matter with it?" I knew in all certainty that this was far from the case but the more oblivious I sounded in the situation the better.

Ashley's bright blue eyes seemed to dull to a pale grey as I asked said question. It was clear I'd hit a sensitive subject but when Riley Gondola wants to know something, one way or another, she would find it out.

"There's no light way of saying this so I'll just say it straight up how it is," she began, taking a deep breath and collecting her words. "Chase was kicked off his band." I couldn't have been less discreet as I gasped loudly, the sound reverberating off the walls and down the hall.

"He's thinking of trying to get back into uni or getting a job as an attorney as his parents originally wanted. The only problem with that is that he'd neglected his education by dropping out of school 4 years ago and with little to no qualifications and a bad reputation at school, the chances of this happening are so slim I could call them impossible."

I felt a pang of guilt hit me hard in the chest. I had mocked him for choosing music over law school saying it was better for him this way as he hadn't a chance in such a prestigious place. It finally occurred to me that all his nights at clubs and concerts weren't just in vain but because it was the only way he could pursue a sustainable career. One that would allow him to pay off rent and keep him and his little brother healthy and alive.

I hated it when I got involved in sentimental issues and new that to get rid of this annoying darkness there was only one thing I could do:

Find Chase a new band to play in.

I had a restless sleep that night. Guilt started clogging my lungs and my breathing became raspy. I had mini depressive attacks like this whenever I felt extremely sad or angry, it didn't happen often but when it did, I knew it would be (or feel like) a long while till it cleared.

I decided that since a sleepless night was inevitable I would make myself a cup of tea, in order to settle my nerves. Notice I said tea not coffee, proof of my Britishness and also because it was 3am and I didn't think caffeine was going to do me any good.