Austin Carlile Is My Father? (#Wattys2015)

The Irony Of Choking On A Lifesaver

“Shit,” he mumbled, leaning down to pick them up. He placed them back in his bag and shook his head sadly. He never liked to see anyone in pain. During the meet and greets one time, he noticed a girl who had a heavy sweatshirt on in the middle of summer in fucking Ocalla FL. When he confronted her about it, she burst into tears, brandishing her arms which were full of red and white horizontal cuts. Austin had flinched back and stumbled, causing him to fall into a trash can. She went to help him up, but he stood up and grabbed her arms, kissing each cut, tears in his eyes. 

Austin shook his head, trying to get rid of the memory. He also remembered when he was fifteen and a half, and he met Lucy. Austin sat in his bunk and let his legs swing out from the bunk. He always thought she was pretty. He actually never stopped thinking she was pretty, but when she was fifteen, he had a massive crush on her. Lucy was a brunette, of course. Brown wavy hair, waist length. Her skin was soft and flawless, her eyes a dark green color. At the time, she was dating this douche bag, Anthony, who also happened to be his best friend at the time. 

When they broke up, Austin saw his opportunity and took it. 

They dated for six months, until they had sex, then just like that: ‘we should break up.’

Lucy never told him that she was pregnant, with his baby, or someone else’s, but when she pulled out of school, Lucy’s friend had told him that she was knocked up with some random guy’s kid. 

Austin was heartbroken. It was just a series of downhill events. Austin and his father got into more arguments, Austin’s mother passed away, he was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome, he was bullied-

“Austin?” asked Sienna’s voice. Austin sat up quickly, then grunted as his forehead collided with the underside of the bunk. “Shit! Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Austin muttered, trying not to scold her for swearing. “Yeah. I’m good. What’s up?” 

She rubbed the back of her neck and Austin rubbed his head, trying not to swear himself. “Uh, we should start putting food out, and setting up. Right? We’ll make dinner in an hour?” 

“That sounds good.” Austin nodded, standing up. She smiled at him and he returned the gesture. Alex and Jack walked back into the bunks and tossed their bags in an empty bunk. 

“Did I hear the wood food?” Jack asked, rubbing his stomach. Austin nodded. 

“We’re having a party!” 

“Liquor?” Alex hoped. Austin chuckled. 

“Of course!” 

“Hide yo’ bitches!” squealed the Lebanese man. “Drunk Jack is coming out to play!” 

-------

Sienna

-------

“Heart’s on fire tonight, feel my bones ignite, feels like war, feels like war.” sang Vic and Alex. They were grinning like nothing else. Sienna was curious at why this didn’t happen when Sleeping With Sirens was here. The only thing that actually happened was a party, and Sienna was a killjoy. “We go together or we don’t go down at all.” Alex smiled while he sang and strummed.  She liked this song. It was catchy. 

“Sienna!” mumbled Jaime. “Daance with mee!” 

“You’re drunk, Jaime.” She reminded him, pulling away from him. He frowned and looked like he was going to cry. 

“I’ll dance with you!” offered Jack. Instantly, Drunk Jack grabbed Jaime and started rubbing on him. Jaime made a face of disgust and started whining in Spanish.