Confused Much? // l.t

26: Barefoot

“Fuck. You.” I finished.

The line was then, cut dead. Without thought, my phone was thrown across the room, the joints in my arm screaming in shock. There I stood, no sign of what just happened visible in the room… other than the small dent in the wall.

I felt like screaming, crying, cursing even more at the stubborn girl who I was now ashamed to have ever called a friend. She was now nothing but the past, someone who I had met and left. Just like I was to her. In the end, Danni Pennington – the girl whom I relied on for so long – wasn’t worth it.

Normally, I would have – once again – said a solid ‘fuck you’ and left everything behind. But in all honestly, letting someone you used to love go without being able to stop them… it was hard.

Needing to get some fresh air, I reached for my coat and pounded out of my room. Multitasking, I flew down the twenty-four flights of stairs while hauling on my jacket, until I got to the front door of my house. Exiting, I left. Instead of leaving all of my problems behind like I wished I could, I just brought them with me.

My bare feet thudded against the rock filled sidewalk. Previously – and now – the thought of bringing my shoes with me was forgotten. Honestly, the feeling of harsh pebbles being somewhat flattened by my foot didn’t hurt. My thoughts were elsewhere.

Why must life be so damn complicated? One thing, whether it be a mistake or choice, leads to another causing a horrible domino effect. Most cases, for me, it’s a horrible. As if I was being knocked over with every domino that fell. These past few months have been nothing but awfully depressing.

Every time I attempted to fix something, another thing went wrong. As if I was playing a real life version of the game whack-a-mole. Each time a little critter was slammed down with my hammer, a new one popped up – mocking me to come and catch it. Nothing ever seemed to stop. Whether it be good… or bad.

Suddenly, a large horn was blown at me causing my feet to immediately stop in their tracks. Adjusting myself into the scene, I noticed I was at the end of the sidewalk with a four way intersection glowering ahead. Cars were honking for me to stop before I was road kill. Heaving in a breath and internally saying a ‘thank you’, I turned back around, continuing my bare feet thud.

“Amanda!” My name was shouted from in front of me, eyes focusing on a person running towards me.

Shit, I really am road kill. Or… sidewalk kill.

“Amanda!” Once again, I heard the six-letter word being shouted into the world. I almost felt exposed.

In the shrinking distance, black hair was becoming more prominent. A body that was getting larger by the second was estimated to be a few inched shorter than mine. A jacket was lazily thrown upon this boys back, being slightly shoved off the more he moved. All in all, he looked incredibly familiar. Already, I knew who it was.

“I’m here!” I shouted in response, waiting to see the figure’s details to confirm my suspicions about who the hell this person was.

“It’s Jett,” finally, my younger brother was heavily breathing in front of me. Both of his hands were perched on his knees as he struggled to regain what used to be a steady air-cycle. “You’re boyfriends on the phone.” Suggestively, even with his shortage of breath, Jett managed to wiggle his eyebrows. I was confused until I noticed my phone glimmer in hand, it looking somewhat prominent.

“I don’t have a boyfriend.” My voice came out in a muttered manner. “Give me that.”

Before he could back away, I took my phone out of his grasp. Not bothering to ask him how he found me – or why he bothered to run out and find me – I dismissed him and brought the device to my ear. Watching my brother run away back into the house, I resumed my walking a mere 14 feet behind.