Mikah & Hakim (✅)

Chapter Twenty

You really are fucking clueless.

It's like an epiphany explodes inside my head as Grandpa's words play over and over again, acting like a key that opens my eyes to all the stuff I missed since the beginning. I feel sort of selfish actually.

It was just easy to blame it all on myself at the time, not that it was all really my fault--

Heh, heh.

--but I feel as if I blinded myself to the fact that my whole family had been suffering. The city and our peers influenced Hendy's cocky behavior, but they also put a lot of pressure on him to be the best and succeed in everything from a social life to academics, and even sports.

Nobody really paid attention to me, but when they all sudden did after what Kiki posted, I just couldn't handle it.

Even Mom and Dad, though staying home and not working that often, weren't as outgoing as they are now.

Not being used to the freshly born Hakim, I chalked it all up to me, me, me, and refused to shine the spotlight anywhere else. I guess that crippling suffocation wasn't from Hakim...

It was from this city and the people in it. I never really bonded with anyone like I did with my friends now and I silently watch as Kirby roughhouses with my brother, Grams observing them from a chair with concern on her face.

Kirby and Hendy bonded pretty quickly when we first moved to Black Hollow, even though Kirby spent more time with me and is in the same grade as the rest of us. To be honest, Hendrick spends more time with the rabbit than he does with Cole.

It makes me really happy and also pretty upset with myself for not noticing such a significant change in my family, but my family life didn't really change that much. We were always happy and we still are, except they're even happier now.

Minus you.

Still pressed into Gramp's side I can't push away Hakim's words from my mind, curling up a bit tighter.

I'm not unhappy, am I? I have Mom, Dad, and...

My gaze lifts to rest on Hendrick again, feeling my chest tighten.

Is Hendrick happy? He always looked happy, but lately it seems like life is just punching him in the face. He worked so hard for Wildwood and I took it away from him. Yeah, Wattacon was probably bad for him, but both the move and losing his scholarship wasn't his choice.

Maybe Hendrick misses Wattacon. Is that why he stopped talking about Cindy? Is that why him and Cole seem distant all of a sudden?

What about Mom? Dad? They had to sacrifice seeing Grams and Pops everyday just to take us away. Do they miss Wattacon too?

It seems like everyone worked so hard for nothing.

What...?

Yeah, just look at it. Your parents slave over a barely successful store, Hendrick lost all direction, and you, heh, you've never cared enough to even pick a direction in life. Your family worked so hard to be able to set foot in Wattacon just to be forced back into the boonies.

That's not true! Grandpa said--

Who cares what he said? It's still your fault. If it isn't, then why did they wait so long to move, huh? You guys could've moved at any time, but they just happen to wait for you to break? If everyone else had a reason to leave, they would've at least mentioned it sooner.