A Month To Live

A Month To Live (30)

‘What was that about?’ Bradley asked when I was seated and clipping my belt in.

‘He just started talking to me when I was taking out the trash,’ I said. ‘Nothing interesting, actually.'

‘Oh,’ Bradley replied. ‘You forgot your phone in my car when I dropped you off last night,’ he added, nodding his head at the dashboard. ‘I turned it off to save the battery,’ he said.

That was the most interesting part of my morning. The rest was filled with teachers droning on about how close the exams were and how desperately we needed to revise. None of this concerned me so I really struggled to pretend to care as I took scribbled notes. I did find out, however, that Remi got pretty shaky with exams.

‘I just don’t know how to revise properly!’ she hissed as we left the classroom. 'Nothing sticks in my brain!'

‘And luckily for you, you have a really nerdy older brother to fall back on,’ I said pointedly. ‘Why don’t you ask him for help?’

‘And have him rub it in my face that he’s the smart one? No thanks!’

‘What about Kyle?’ I asked.

'Whenever I’m with him I just get distracted...’ she smirked.

‘I guess that's fair,' I laughed. 'But please, spare me the details for now.'

‘I wasn’t going to give any,’ she laughed, shaking her head. ‘So, I heard you were looking into Tommy’s life?’ she added. 'Apparently he’s your neighbour?’

'He sure is.'

‘Woah,’ she said, pulling a face. ‘I mean... d’you think he’s weird?’

‘Yes!’ I exclaimed. ‘Everyone else keeps saying ‘oh he’s just trying to keep himself to himself like everyone else’. But don’t you think that after high school and middle school and maybe even elementary school, that at least one person would know something about him?’ I ranted, realising I probably sounded a bit obsessive.

‘Well... didn’t Bradley tell you?’ Remi asked hesitantly.

‘Tell me what?’

‘Hey you know what? We should eat at a different tree this lunch,’ she said, switching the topic smoothly. I was very used to Bradley doing that, though, so it didn't work.

‘Remi-’

‘And did you hear about that storm that’s supposed to come around at the end of the week? Boy, I don’t like thunder-’

‘Remi,’ I said again, more firmly.

‘Is that Kyle-’

‘Remi!’ I exclaimed. ‘What hasn’t Bradley told me?’

‘I – er.’

‘Come on, you’ve got to tell me now that you’ve mentioned it!’ I complained.

‘Maybe you should talk to Bradley about it,’ she said with a wince. ‘Besides, I don’t know the whole story...’

‘Can’t you just tell me the basics?’ I asked her. We approached the end of the hallway and I pulled her to a stop before we could go join the others outside.

‘I – well basically... I don’t really know. I guess Bradley and Tommy were pretty close in middle school, they used to hang around all the time actually,’ she said.

‘Really?’ I asked in surprise. ‘But... why didn’t Bradley mention it?’

‘I don’t think he wanted to. A couple years back they had a huge fight, as in huge! I don’t think they’ve ever had a proper conversation since,’ she added.