"The weather's lovely, isn't it?" Emma asked.
"I know. I wish the weather would be like this all the time," Rachel said.
We're hanging out after school on Wednesday at the playground, alone with Brian and his friends. Some of our siblings also came with us. It was nice to get to know some of my friends' brothers and sisters, besides Seth and Brian's.
"So what are you guys doing for Thanksgiving next week?" Paul asked.
"Going to my aunt Joanne's house in Red Lake Falls," Austen said.
"Staying home as usual," Jane said.
"My whole family's coming," I said.
"Oh, shit, really?" Seth asked.
"Yeah. I haven't seen my entire family for almost ten years," I said.
"Whoop dee doo," Xavier said.
I glared at Xavier. He's been acting like this all day. What is his deal?
"I have to leave on Wednesday after school to see my grandma in Little Falls," Emma said.
"Xavier, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?" Paul asked.
"None of your business," Xavier snapped at him.
"Sorry," Paul said.
Emma put her hand on Xavier's back. "He was just asking, Xavier."
Xavier grunts and pulls out his phone.
"What are you doing for Thanksgiving, Paul?" Rachel asked.
"My sister and her fiance are coming home," Paul said.
"Ooh, that's good," Layla said.
Brian and his friends came over to us and sat down. "What are you guys talking about?" Spencer asked.
"Thanksgiving," Seth said.
Brian sat down next to me. He wrapped his arm around me and put his arm around me. "Hey you." He placed a kiss on the top of my head. Then I heard a click. I looked to see Danielle with her camera pointing at me and Brian.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Just taking pictures," she said. She pointed the camera to Mariah and Tara, who's pushing the two year old twins Aiden and Jonah on the swings.
"So, Rachel and Layla, how's basketball practice going?" Jane asked.
"Going great so far," Layla said.
"Layla, you should tell them the good news," Rachel said.
"Oh,um..." Layla scratched her head. "I might be on the varsity team."
"Oh that's good," Emma said.
"Yeah. Coach Tanner said that I'm one of the best players on the—Finn, quit hitting Jordan with the stick!—team. I'll probably be on varsity, but she'll only play me in the second half if we're losing by a lot of points."
"Good for you, Layla," Michelle said.
"Yeah, congratulations," Xavier muttered under his breath.
"Brian! I have to go to the bathroom!" Abigail yelled.
"Tara, take her to the bathroom," Brian said.
"I'm pushing Aiden," Tara said.
"I'll take her," Mia said. She took Abigail by the hand and they both walked to the bathroom.
"Isn't she like in the third grade?" Tristan asked.
"She's not a huge fan of public bathrooms," Brian said.
"Well, who wouldn't be?" They're so disgusting," Kalani said.
"Pretty sure they cleaned it up," Xavier said.
"Anyways, how was Finn's birthday party yesterday?" Rachel asked Layla.
"Pain in the ass. Four year olds are too young to have birthday parties. Obviously you guys don't know what that's like," Layla said with a laugh.
"Well gee, Layla. Most of us have siblings that were also four—and so were the rest of us—so of course we know what that's like," Xavier said with an angry tone in his voice.
I turned to him. I have enough of his attitude. "Hey, Xavier. I don't know what your problem is, but you've been acting like an asshole all day!" I yelled at him.
"Chris!" Emma yelled at me.
"Chris swore," I heard Nate said.
Xavier gets up. "I'm leaving." He started to walk away.
"Xavier! Wait for us!" Preston called. He and their eight year old sister Julia ran behind Xavier.
"What was that, Chris?" Emma asked me.
"What? He was being a dick all day," I said.
"You don't know why."
"Oh yeah? Why's that? Are his mommy and daddy having trouble with their marriage? There's a lot of worse shit going on. I'm sure he can handle it." I stood up. "I'm leaving too."
"Chris, wait..." Seth said.
I ignored him and walked away from everybody else. Why the hell does Emma think that Xavier has a good reason that he can be an asshole today? He was talking back to the teachers, pushed a seventh grader onto the wall when the kid wouldn't get out of his way, flipped off Mrs. Gray, and got into a fight with another one of our classmates. So I had a good reason to call him out on his attitude.
As I walked home, I kept thinking about Xavier. Maybe I was being a little hard on him. Maybe I should apologize to him and see what his deal is.
I stopped where I was and looked around. Crap. I've never been to his house, so I don't know where he lives. I'll apologize to him tomorrow at school.
I turned to see someone taking out the trash. I tried to figure out where I'd seen him, but then I recognized him as Xavier's brother Lucas. I took a deep breath and walked over to him.
Lucas looked up and smiled when he saw me. "Hey. Chris, right?"
"Yeah. Is Xavier home?"
"Yeah, he came home upset and Julia and Preston don't know why he is. What's that about?"
"Well, Xavier was kind of... grumpy today, and I kinda blew up at him.
"You don't know why he's acting like this?" he asked.
"No."
Lucas ran his hand through his hair. "You know I was in a car accident, right?"
"Yes, Xavier told me the story."
"Did he tell you what day it happened?"
I shook my head. "Why does that matter?"
"Today is the day it happened."
Oh damn. That's what this was all about? Now I feel like an asshole. "Are you serious?" I asked.
"Yeah, and you know his birthday is tomorrow?"
"No."
"Well, that's because on his birthday...he spent it in the hospital."
"Oh my God."
"Yeah, I know. He'd take his anger out on everybody. One day, he broke my grandparents window with a baseball. My grandpa took him into the house, gave him a pencil and paper to make Xavier draw how he feels. When Xavier gets done, he realizes how much he likes it. You know, I thought he would get over what happened in a year or two—but I guess I was wrong."
I feel bad for Xavier. I mean, I was so mad that he was being a dick today—but at the same time, I feel for him. His brother was in a tragic accident and sometimes, it's hard for someone to get over something like that. But my grandma once told me that if you stay in the past, it will haunt you.
"Can I see him? I need to apologize," I said.
He nodded his head. "Sure. Come on in."
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