An Aftermath Of Many Years (CrankGameplays)

5

4th November 2016

The stupid shirts. The stupid fabric that they were made from and the fact that I could see Mark's nipples through his shirt. Why did he make me join him in the first place?

Of course, we had to get food first. McDonald's was for some reason what won the draw and I made sure to let everyone know that I wasn't going to eat any of it. I'd wait till I got home to make an actual meal that my roommate and I could both find sustainable. She was a vegan and I just didn't like my food soaked in grease. In my head that seemed like an acceptable reasoning for not wanting to partake in their fast food endeavours. They weren't even going to eat it until we got out of the car. Ethan pointed the camera at me.

"Hey Ki! What are we doing today?" Tyler was driving and Mark was in the front seat, leaving me in rather close proximity to Ethan, which I was not pleased about.

"Stop calling me that."

"Sorry, Kiara. What are we doing today?"

"Dancing in the park." I was looking at my phone. The group chat, more specifically because it was always funny and bubbly. I heard the camera lenses zoom in and I knew Ethan was filming my phone. I automatically shut it off.

"Hey! I was filming that."

"Well, you shouldn't have been."

We sat quietly for a while until Tyler eventually stopped the car. Ethan handed me the camera and Mark briefed me on what he wanted. I smiled. I understood exactly how to make it work, starting with Mark. With the three of them and some clever camera shots, we had what would be, when strung together, an opening sequence to a video that wasn't quite a let's play.

I started up a conversation with Tyler while we walked to the park. He had forced a drink into my hands to make sure I was taking care of myself to some degree and had an arm wrapped around my shoulder because he was good at telling whether I needed a hug or not. He was like a third brother for me and Mark respected that aspect of him like it was the only thing that mattered.

"It's stupid, to me, that I have all these things that are supposed to fix me, yet what's it doing really?"

"It's not supposed to fix you. You don't need fixing. It's just helping you be you to be a healthier version of yourself."

"Isn't that basically what fixing something is? Making it a healthier version?"

"Arguably. But you're not broken. You only fix broken things."

I sighed and pulled his arm off me, taking a second to catch up with Mark who was walking two paces ahead of everyone. He liked to lead in some sort of way. He smiled at me, then looked back at Tyler, probably giving him a physical thank you for sticking a drink in my hand, even if I hadn't taken a sip of it.

Ethan wanted to walk on the other side of me. Our hands were almost touching and I wanted to shove him forcefully into a shopfront display. I took a half step crossed with a limp to the side and smacked into Mark's shoulder. He, out of an old reflex, shoved me back into Ethan, who caught me as I almost fell onto the concrete.

"Watch yourself, there," he laughed and stood me back on my feet. I brushed myself off and groaned.

"Let me fall next time." I grabbed the cup from the ground, surprised to see that the lid had stayed on and continued back in line with Mark as Ethan fell a step behind. I didn't want to make him feel bad for just being a nice person, so I turned my head to look at him and smiled. Not a smirk. Not a sarcastic smile. A nice one. I turned back to Mark, who had his eyes looking directly Infront of him like he was some kind of robot. It was a little odd, but I just sighed and slid my headphones on from around my neck.

For a while, we were just standing around and waiting for people to show. The shirts, now as Mark was getting to realise, were beginning to seem like a bad idea. I was glad to not be wearing one. My denim shorts and T-shirt were perfect for the temperature, and as they practically sweated themselves out in their metallic plastics, I just smirked.

Things seemed to get slightly more exciting for some people. Not me. I had to stand there and film my brother poorly dancing around unsuspecting fans. If the shirts weren't enough, the fact that they were just repeating Cool Patrol by Ninja Sex Party was just the cherry on top. I was smiling. They looked so stupid that I wanted nothing to do with them, but every time they got an odd look from an adult walking by, my smile just got a smidge larger.

Mark kept talking. About all sorts of things. People wanted photos with the group, despite most not really knowing who either Ethan nor myself were. They were still happy to pose in photos with us and I wasn't sure if they were trying to make us feel better about being unknown, or just so they could say they took a photo with us. It's like the idea that if you see a celebrity, you're going to want to take a photo with them, even if you aren't a fan. Not that any of us were celebrities in the slightest. The point was, that while people didn't know who the two of us were, they were still more than happy to take photos with us.

We ended up walking around for a little bit before heading back because something in my mind told me that Ethan liked his shirt just a little too much. It was weird that to me he was some kid when he was technically a year older, as I had learnt from Mark when we were walking back to the car. I was never going to hear that information from Ethan himself. He was just a little too frightened to hold a real conversation with me. And that was fine. I kind of preferred it. Not having to talk to him.