Kith hustled to finish getting dressed for school. Even though Cameron was on Spring Break, public school was still in session. In fact, her Spring Break wasn't for another month, the beginning of April. That meant she'd just be lounging around the frat house for seven straight days.
"Hold on," Cameron motioned for her to slow down. "I gotta make sure your shoes match."
Kith feigned annoyance and stopped moving. Secretly, she was thankful. Since her stomach blocked all southern visibility, she valued his actions. "Good?"
"Shouldn't you be wearing shoes that slip on?" he questioned, kneeling down to retie her left one.
"Maybe," she answered defiantly.
"Lucky for you, they do match," he commented, standing back up. "And I'm here, so you should always be thankful for that." Grabbing his keys from his desk, he flipped out the light and waved for her to follow him.
At school, Kith slowly made her way through the bodies, backpacks, and noise. Her lower back burned, and all she wanted to do was sit down. "A little less than three more months," she mumbled, breathing through her nose. After graduation, she'd never have to deal with another crowded hallway. All of it would've been a little more bearable had she been a little less pregnant. "A little less than two months..." Saying it aloud was actually quite frightening, but she pushed the fear aside and focused on her locker combination instead.
Glancing down the hallway, she unintentionally locked eyes with Sam. Spinning a soccer ball around, he gave her that head-nod. Kith smiled back and ducked back into the relative safety of her locker. Exhaling, she momentarily considered what could have been, if she'd gone out with Sam. If she'd gotten pregnant after dating him for a while, would he have stuck around? Kith narrowed her eyes and thought harder. She never would've taken that into consideration before. From the conversations and laughs they'd shared, Sam seemed like a nice guy. His backing off after hearing she was pregnant was understandable, but it still hurt. Oh well. Kith shook it off. That was way past over.
She had a semi-responsible guy in her life; a guy who made sure her shoes matched every single morning. That was enough.
"Kith."
Jumping, she nearly dropped the government book in her hands. Turning to her left, she locked eyes with him, and almost jumped again. For a split second, she'd thought it was Sam.
"What?" her voice barely came above a whisper. Tucking nervous strands of hair behind her ear, she breathed quickly to calm her heart. Austin just looked at her, backpack hanging casually over one shoulder. He looked sort of like Cameron, except Cameron would never style his hair into a faux-hawk. She wanted to tell him how stupid his hair looked, but the barb died in her throat. Shoving the book into the top compartment, she ran her hands over her purple cardigan. Why was he bothering her? "I don't... I don't want to talk to you, Austin."
"I know," he said quickly, as if he'd anticipated such a reaction.
"Cameron told you to leave me alone," she said smartly, seizing her government book again. Shaking, she considered hitting him with it, right over the head. But something like that was sure to cause a scene, and assault was definitely against school rules. And she wouldn't be able to explain her motive to the principal or anyone else. Clearing her thoughts, she thrust it into her backpack and slammed her locker shut. The sound rang down the hallway, loud enough to make more than a couple people turn around. She needed to swap more things, but fleeing was more imperative.
"Yeah, I know," he repeated. "I just..."
Instead of moving, Kith remained rooted to the spot, frozen. She wanted to run, but she couldn't. She wanted to scream that she hated him, but she couldn't. His actions had immobilized her. Just like in his room, she couldn't escape. You were my friend-my best friend, she thought. Tears welled up, but she fought to keep them down. "Leave me alone, Austin," regaining feeling in her legs, she stalked around him.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."
She froze again, arms wrapped around her stomach. Guys and girls walked around her, gossiping, laughing, screaming. She heard several other lockers slam shut. "You're sorry?" she turned around and walked back towards him. Stopping, she pressed her aching feet into the ground and left an arm's length of space between them. "You're... sorry?"
"I know it's not enough," he rubbed the back of his neck.
"You're sorry?" she repeated, swallowing. It was getting harder to keep the tears back. Sorry? That was all he had for her? It'd been months, seven of them exactly, and that was all he had to say? They'd been best friends since the fourth grade and he expected 'sorry' to make everything better? He'd hurt her in a twisted, unimaginable way and that was all he had to say for himself?
In the seventh grade, some guy called her ugly in front of all his friends. Crying, Kith told Austin after school ended, and he comforted her; they ate Oreos together and watched a movie. The next day, Austin kicked the guy's ass. He got suspended and when he relayed his act of heroism to Kith, she hugged him tighter than anyone she'd ever hugged in her life.
She'd always considered Austin her protector, her shield. Before the summer, to Kith, Cameron was the asshole. Never in a million years would she have guessed that their roles would reverse. "Go to hell, Austin. Go and burn."
"Kith, I know you hate me," he pleaded. "But I know that's not-"he lowered his voice-"Cameron's baby."
Grinding her teeth, she glared at him. Balling her fists at her side, she kept glowering at him. "Yes it is," she said darkly.
"Kith." The repetition of her name was sickening. It didn't sound right coming out of his mouth. And she never wanted him saying her name again; he'd lost that right. "No it's not." His confidence angered her even more. They hadn't spoken in months and this was what he wanted their first conversation to be about?!
"Yes it is," she said through clenched teeth. "You wanna know why, Austin?" He stared at her while anxiously running his fingers up and down the strap of his backpack. "Because Cameron was the only one there for me after-"she lowered her voice to a threatening hiss-"you raped me!" Tears snaked down her face. Austin gazed at her, mouth partially open. Kith determined that they were done, so she stalked off, wiping tears from her face and trying to breathe evenly. She didn't want her homeroom teacher asking questions.
"What's the matter?" Cameron questioned, looking up from one of his books.
"Nothing," Kith pasted on a fake smile and twirled her pencil around. Cameron ran his eyes over her face, trying to break through. Kith knew his tactics well. She hadn't told him about her encounter with Austin. He'd already threatened his younger brother's life. She didn't want him to do something crazy, like actually kill him. Glancing down at her homework, she considered the idea. Part of her wanted Austin dead, but she wanted Cam there with her more. And there was their mom to think about. She didn't know the story, and as far as Kith was concerned, she never would. How would Cameron explain killing Austin to her?
"No, there's something," he shut his book. "I offered you ice cream earlier, and you said no."
"Is that your indicator of something being wrong?" she raised an eyebrow. "My response to your ice cream invitations?"
Cameron shrugged and kept studying her. Rolling her eyes, she returned to her homework. "Pregnancy got you down?" he folded his hands behind his head and smirked. "Your hormones fucked up again?"
"No," she mumbled without looking at him.
"Alright," rising from his chair, he whipped his shirt off. "Touch 'em."
"What?" she looked up.
"My abs," he gestured to his stomach. "It'll make you feel better."
"Cam, no," shaking her head, she sighed and tried to focus.
"What do you mean?" he sounded offended. Grabbing his shirt, he held it in front of his chest. "Do you know how many girls would kill for that offer?"
"Yeah, eleven," Kith said shortly, tying her hair up. Cameron's smile flickered. Tugging his shirt back over his head, he ruffled his hair, and stared at her like an eagle over a fish.
"You're being sarcastic," he said plainly. "And along with your ice cream rejection, I will take that to mean you're upset."
"I'm fine, Cameron."
"Kith, what's the matter?" sniffing, he sat down on the edge of the bed.
Tapping her eraser furiously against the metal rings of her binder, she stared at the blue lines of her notebook paper until they blurred. "I... Austin talked to me today."
All traces of Cameron's smile faded. "I'm gonna fucking kill him." Hopping up, he began angrily pacing while clenching and unclenching his fists. "What the hell did he say?"
"He said he was sorry."
"He said he was sorry!" Cameron exclaimed, gesturing wildly. "Oh, okay. Austin's sorry, so all's forgiven. I see, I see." His strides shortened. "Austin's fucking sorry so everything is okay now, isn't it?!"
"Cameron," Kith said quietly.
"I'm gonna fucking kill him." Cameron said a little loudly. "I fucking... ugh, I warned him!" His face reddened.
"Cameron, no!" Kith pleaded. "Please? Please don't say anything. It wasn't that big of a deal."
"What? You wanna talk to him now?" Cameron stopped short and glared at her. "After what he did to you?"
"No," she shook her head quickly and set her pencil down. "I just don't want to cause any more family drama."
"He started this shit, not you," Cameron contradicted angrily. "This is not your fault, Kith."
"Please, just calm down," Kith held up her hands. He visibly deflated beneath her touch.
Lowering his eyes to the carpet, he took a few deep breaths before looking at her again. "Fine," he consented, flopping back down into his computer chair. "Fine. I'm calm. Look, I'm reading." He shook his book at her. "I am calm and reading my macroeconomics book."
From Kith's perspective, he didn't look calm at all. But she didn't want to say anything else, for fear he'd flip out again. Shooting him a fleeting look, she returned to her textbook.
Cameron allowed hours to pass. He knew that stalking from their room to Austin's would only upset Kith, so he built a relaxed façade. Then, like a vicious, bloodthirsty predator, he waited.
He actually read his macroeconomics textbook, for a while, but images of pounding Austin's face in distracted him. He'd warned that asshole; he'd been ridiculously clear. What was so difficult about not speaking to Kith? They wanted nothing to do with him. In a few years, they wouldn't even have to see his face because they'd have their own place.
"I'm hungry," Cameron shut his book and smiled serenely. "I'll be right back."
"Okay," Kith didn't even look up from her book.
Perfect, Cameron mused. Tossing his book to the side, he walked calmly from the room. Sliding around the doorway, he leaned against the wall and waited, checking to see if Kith had her own agenda in mind. Five minutes ticked by, and she didn't appear. Even more perfect, he thought. Peeling away from the wall, he stalked down the hallway and marched into Austin's room. Shutting the door behind him, he leaned against it, arms folded. Taking his headphones from his ears, Austin eyed him strangely and sat up on his bed.
"Look, asshole, Kith doesn't want me threatening your life again, so I won't," Cameron began rudely. There was no room for niceties between them. The guy before him was not his brother. "But I will point out that I told you to leave her alone."
"I just talked to her, man," Austin answered, shutting the lid to his laptop. "I-"
"Leaving her alone means not talking to her!" Cameron snapped, cutting him off. "What part of that didn't you understand while I was choking you?"
"I needed to... tell her I was sorry," he replied, jaw set. Cameron didn't like the way he was looking at him. Austin was glaring at him like he was the bad guy, like he was the one who'd done something wrong.
"Oh, you're sorry?" Cameron hissed, thrusting his hands behind his back. Struggling to breathe normally, he resisted the urge to stalk across the room and punch him in the face. If he started, he wouldn't be able to stop. Kith didn't want him hurting Austin again. "You're fucking sorry? That's good to hear, Austin. But, unfortunately, 'sorry' isn't going to fix anything."
"I know, Cameron. I just-"
"Stay the hell away from my girlfriend," Cameron's eyes radiated disgust and anger. Turning around, he wrapped his hand around the doorknob. Their 'chat' had been mildly satisfactory. Violence hadn't even been involved; Kith would be pleased.
"She wasn't even your girlfriend first."
Air caught in Cameron's throat. What the hell did that mean? Was he telling the truth? No. No, no, no... he'd seen Kith and their little gang of friends hanging around their house enough over the years to know that couldn't be true.
Plus, Kith had said, on several occasions, that she'd never had boyfriend before. Kith was too good for the both of them, but she was definitely too good for Austin. Releasing the doorknob, he whirled around and stared angrily in his direction. Austin looked just as pissed for no good reason. "Kith was never your girlfriend, idiot," he challenged.
"Yes, she-"
"She was never your girlfriend!" Cameron fired back, seething. "She was your friend, your best friend, and you hurt her!" Raging, he glanced at the ceiling and then back at Austin. Cameron was doing his best to contain himself, but just looking at Austin was enough to send his testosterone levels sky-high. "And people think I'm the bad one! You're a piece of shit, Austin! You forced yourself on her. I don't even want to acknowledge you as my brother; that is how much I despise you! The only reason I haven't choked the shit out of you right now is because it would upset Kith, and Mom."
"Cameron," Austin said menacingly.
"Stay. Away. From her," Cameron enunciated. "In a few years, we won't even be here, and you'll be lucky if we allow you to have contact with our son. Ultimately, it's up to Kith. But as far as I'm concerned, just like Dad, you're dead to me."
Cameron made a face and exited his room. He wanted to slam the door so badly, but that would let Kith know he hadn't actually gone to the kitchen. Covert mission complete, he unclenched his fists, took a few breaths in the darkness, turned his lips into a smile, and proceeded to his room.
Vicious, bloodthirsty predator, indeed.
TEASER: "What? You don't want me to know?"