Appleberry(Completed)

Ch. 17: Phoenix & Kal

Phoenix was driving in to check on Sloane when he saw Kal walking up the back road to the main highway. Phoenix came to a stop and got out. He walked over to Kal.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Phoenix was angry.
Kal stopped looking up at his brother. "I should be asking you the same question."
"You shouldn't be here. Stay away from her Kal." Phoenix pointed a finger at him.
"Phoenix, you know I can't do that. I'm an Appleberry. I have a right to know if I am the one or not." Kal's face was red.
Phoenix threw his hands up in the air. "You lost that right when you left. You lost it when you changed your name to Nash."
"You know very well that Nash is my middle name. I didn't change anything. I just dropped the last name. I was only gone for 2 years." Kal started to walk towards the highway.
Phoenix pulled him to a stop. "You are four years older than she is Kal. She is in high school."
Their veins in their necks were popping. "Don't you think I know that you idiot. I am going at it very slowly. All I have to do is wait until after graduation."
"It's not going to happen. Just leave." Phoenix got in his car and left.
He couldn't believe his brother was there. He seemed obsessed with her. She had only been here for a little bit. Kal didn't have any claim to her. No one did. That is what he didn't like. As soon as Sloane showed up, the guys who were interested wanted to claim her.
Bowie was the only one to act like he hated her. Which also pissed Phoenix off. There was no happy medium.
***
After the run in with his brother and talking to Sloane after she almost killed herself by jumping off a cliff. Phoenix just wanted to get home. He wanted to escape the world. Why did he have to be the one to feel like this? Gwendolyn, the angel child, never done anything wrong. But Phoenix knew she was a spoiled brat. Kal, well, he only done what suited him. He never thought of anyone else.
Yes, if Sloane did fall for him the curse would be lifted. But it couldn't be him, could it? Phoenix didn't want it to him or have her fall for Bowie. As selfish as that may be. He wanted it to be him. He felt like there was a connection. He could also be wrong.
Phoenix knew all those nights talking to Sloane wasn't going to pay off unless it was him talking to her in person. He loved those nights. They had been happening a lot lately.
He would channel himself there. It was like he was there but really, he was sitting by his window with the window open talking to her through his mind. Maybe it was weird of him to do. Who was he kidding? It was weird. Phoenix just couldn't help it. He had to talk to her.
He loved talking to her. They felt the same way. They wanted to be free. Wanted things to settle down and not be so complicated.
After every conversation, he would let go of Sloane's mind making her forget everything they had talked about. Maybe it was something he shouldn't be doing. But ever since the day at the grocery store. It was like a magnet for him. He felt right and comfortable. No one else could make him feel more at ease than Sloane could.
Gwendolyn wasn't too happy about it. She hated Sloane and her family. Gwendolyn was also a spoiled little winch most of the time. She knew it would lift the curse if Sloane would fall for one of the brothers. She did not care. She wanted the families to stay at one another because she lived for the drama.
Phoenix was the middle child which made him the one that his parents always nagged. He was a hot head sometimes, grumpy all the time, and full of this inner desire to be good. All of it balled him into a melancholy damaged artist.
Being an artist was the only way he knew how to get away from the world. He would paint hours upon hours just to get away from everything. Phoenix always wanted to be free. That let him. Along with illegal street racing.
He wished it was night time already. He wanted to talk to Sloane. Phoenix wanted to know why she had jumped. He was worried about her.