Kent
"You're gonna like it better here." Dad said.
"No I won't." I said.
"It's gonna be the same." Dad said.
"No it won't." I said.
"Aunt Karen misses you."
"Aunt Karen hasn't talked to me in two years."
"Hence why she misses you."
"I don't miss her."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY."
I did shut the fuck up.
Aunt Karen greeted me as if I was her long lost son. She was so fake. I hated her. It felt so weird being crushed by her hug, and she smelled like cleaning supplies.
"How are you doing, Kent my love?" Kent my love? What the hell? She officially lost it now that she was on her third marriage.
"I'm doing just fine." I said, sprinkling a salty attitude. "Would've done better if I came here willingly." my mouth just couldn't handle the unfiltered responses my brain thought of.
Before anyone had the chance to say anything, I stormed to the guestroom which we stayed in whenever we visited aunt Karen. Dad visited her often since she was his only sister.
"Uhm..." A girl was sitting cross-legged on what looked like her bed, while a boy was sitting on the floor by the closet. They were around my age and looked equally confused. I mean, I too would be confused if a strange kid barged into my room. They were visibly siblings.
The second thing I noticed was that the room's furniture was different; different wall paint and beds.
"I'm sorry I didn't-" I stuttered.
"You must be Kent." The girl jumped out of bed, quite happy to see me. That was a rare incidence. She shook my hand with visible enthusiasm. "I'm Marisol!"
"How do you know who I am?" I was kind of stunned.
"We've been expecting you since last week." The guy said. It passed my head for a second until I realised what he actually said.
Last week.
Dad had been planning this for a while and I was so damn clueless being all wrapped up in my life, not knowing how little control I had over it.
I gave up and sat on the floor next to the guy. "I'm Mario." he said.
"Oh I'm sorry." I couldn't stop myself before I said it. "I mean-"
"No no, it's fine. I get it. Ha-ha it's me, Mario." He spoke in a very monotonic voice, devoid of any actual humour.
Marisol scolded him even though I was the one who started it. She was looking at me like I was a talking doll. Considering how dad had been controlling my life behind my back, quite literally, I might as well call myself a puppet.
When she looked like she was gonna burst any second, she spoke. "Did you unpack?"
I went over the ordeals of the past few minutes. Talking to Marisol felt like catching up with an old friend you never knew you lost. "So yeah, I don't even know where I'm gonna sleep. This used to be the guest room."
Mario was kinda still upset with me, but he didn't say anything or act upon it. I didn't care right then, but I knew I was gonna think about it all night.
"If I remember what dad said correctly, you're sleeping in my room." Mario said. I flinched. I hurt him and he was forced to room with me. Shit.
"I'll just sleep in this room." I said hopefully.
"Yeah like hell you are," he said. "Get up, champ." He mocked.
We got up and he practically dragged me towards his room. It was a nice bedroom, not gonna lie. Unlike typical hormone driven wattpad stories, it had two beds instead of one. We weren't going to share a bed.
Thankfully, we didn't stumble across Aunt Karen or dad.
"Please lock the door." I pleaded desperately. I was slowly starting to panic because I didn't know what to do. Nothing made me more anxious than uncertainty and being lost.
'You're a lost soul, Kent Sinclair.' Noah would've said had he were here. I tried not to think about Noah because I didn't want my first impression to be an ugly crying mess. Ugly mess was more than enough.
"Okay..." He locked it and didn't ask any questions. He plummeted on his bed and went on his phone.
The bedroom didn't fit him. Solely based on looks, he didn't seem like someone who'd listen to orchestra music like the poster on the wall. He didn't look like a superhero fan like the shelf of action figures. Then again, I could be wrong. Looks were overrated, anyway.
"Stop looking at these, they aren't mine." His words mimicked my thoughts, but he didn't reveal much about it. I left it at that.
I didn't unpack. I just stacked my duffel bag against the footboard of the bed.
"Dad and Maricruz will be home soon. We'll have dinner afterwards."
"I don't want to eat."
"Dad won't like it." he didn't lift his head up from his phone. "I'm supposed to show you around town tomorrow morning."
"I don't wanna see the town." I knew I was being pissy, but I had every right to be.
He hummed.
Not long afterwards, I heard the front door closing. It was either his dad, whatever his name was, and Maricruz, or my dad had left. I hoped it was the latter.
--
I hated grey. Grey annoyed me. It was an ugly colour that meant so much in different ways. I hated how indecisive it was. I hated how it meant nothing and everything. I hated that it wasn't white or black.
I'm sorry Noah Grayson, but I was the gray son tonight.
I felt more restrained than I did when I was still in Rivertown. I wanted to be in Rivertown, not here in Ripplemills. I wanted to go to Rivertown High, not EastMill Secondary.
I was so damn frustrated. I didn't have my phone, half of my wardrobe, and the last part of my dignity was missing.
It then hit me that Mario left his phone on his bed when he went for dinner. I hurriedly grabbed it and was met with a pass code. I wanted to try some random phrases but I knew absolutely nothing about this guy. I gazed randomly at his lock screen as I realised that I don't even know Noah's number. I took it for granted as being saved in my phone.
Mario came back unexpectedly. His dark eyebrow was raised in a questioning manner as to why was his phone in my hands. It was then when I found the last piece of my dignity: right under his foot.
"I wasn't-"
"I don't wanna know. Just put it back where it was." He said. I complied. A man who could only be Aunt Karen's husband walked in. He looked a lot like Mario, but lacked his tan skin.
"I don't wanna be rude, or come off as ungrateful, but I really, really, don't wanna meet anyone else. In case you haven't noticed, I'm here against my will, I'm humiliated into this whole thing, and I would really appreciate it if you leave me alone.".
He didn't say anything. Nothing at all. He curtly nodded and patted his son's shoulder before leaving the room.
Mario thankfully locked the door without being told. I didn't feel like talking anymore.
The clock on the wall read 11:24pm when Mario turned out the lights and went to bed.
I had been thinking and overthinking for a good few hours. My feelings were a slice of toast, and guilt was generously smeared against it. Panic was a nice topping.
"I'm sorry about your pho-"
"I'm not mad." Interrupting people while talking was annoying, but Mario knew how to get away with it. "It must suck, I don't blame you." I was relieved I couldn't see him, and vice versa. It would've made the situation a lot tougher than it was. Count on darkness to provide a veil of comfort. "Though you should give dad a chance. I know you hate your aunt, I'm not a big fan either. But dad likes you."
I didn't believe anyone liked me at this point. "Why would he? He doesn't even know me."
"Your name is more than enough for him to like you." I was very confused. My name had no significance.
"Where does my name fall in all this?"
"I'm 17, but I wasn't the eldest son until recently." His voice was alarmingly shaky. "You and my brother almost share the same name. He was called Kenton."
At first I was confused. But when it registered that he said his brother 'was' called Kenton, I felt like the room got a little tighter.
"How long has it been?" I hesitated. "Of course, if you don't mind me asking."
"Nearly three years. Cystic Fibrosis." he sounded like he was gonna cry, and even though I didn't urge him to talk, he kept going on. "He loved superheroes so much and classical music was his favourite. He wanted to go see The London Symphony but he never got the chance to. Life fucking sucks."
I needed to comfort him somehow but I didn't know how to comfort myself. Noah would've made his sadness beautiful.
I got out of bed and sat at the edge of his. "I'm sorry." his tears apologised for him.
"If anything, I'm the sorry one. I started out by making fun of your name and being angry at your father and tried using your phone behind your back."
He let out a chuckle. "I was never upset about my name." That was a relief. "I was just messing with you."
He was joking but I could still feel he was very much shaken.
"Didn't you say you're gonna show me the town?" My eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness, and from the way he was looking at my face, so where his.
"I said tomorrow, and you said you don't wanna see it."
"I changed my mind," I lied. I still didn't wanna see it. However, Mario needed to turn this memory into something the beautiful. The best way to forget something sad is to attach it to a beautiful memory. "I wanna tour Ripplemills right now."
We had to jump across two fences and run down a hill to reach the part where the town becomes a city. Across the outskirts of the town, it was more of a suburban area (at least where aunt Karen lived). I had been here quite a few times, but I've never been old enough to roam around the town, and when I became of age, I was always too angry to do so.
He took me through a few busy streets, and some that were devoid of human life. We were guided by the streetlights and brightly lit shop windows.
We passed by Eastmill Secondary and I shuddered at the thought that it was going to be my school. I pushed the thought aside because I didn't want to cry.
I pushed every thought of Noah aside.
I didn't think of him not one bit, until we reached an arcade with the bluest neon sign I've ever seen. I stopped in my tracks and just gazed upon its colour.
"It's very blue." Mario said, a little out of breath.
"This is not just any blue." I teared up. "It's cerulean. The prettiest shade of blue to exist."
A/N: Hey what's up you guys. First of all Huge thanks for everyone who's reading this. It's hitting 100k soon and I'm not ready not one bit.
Thank you for reading, voting, and commenting. More books in the Rivertown series are on my profile, they're related sequels but they can be if you read them in succession.
To my sleepy girlfriend who fell asleep, hope you're having a good sleep sleepy head. But it's okay I know you're tired.
To my readers, comment your opinions because I love them.