Chapter 7

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I swear it won't be this long again. Also, it's late, so sorry if there's spelling or grammatical errors. I'm just too tired to proofread, but I wanted to get a chapter up. Thanks for the patience!










As the plane flew at however many thousands of feet in the air I wondered why the hell I’d agreed to go home for Thanksgiving. It wasn’t like it was some warm family holiday like in most houses. It held memories of my parents fighting, my grandparents fawning over Kellen, my aunts and uncles trying to one up each other, and me sitting alone wishing someone knew I existed. Only McKenzie had ever made time to talk to me and she wouldn’t be there.

The landing was smooth and I waited patiently for the cabin to clear out so I could grab my carry on and get off the plane. As long as things had been on time, Kellen should have arrived at the airport from his flight from Montreal about 20 minutes before me. I headed to where we’d decided to meet, excited to see him.

Kellen and I had never been close as kids. He was the athletic, popular older brother and I’d been anything but. I hadn’t even been the annoying tag-a-long little sister because I’d always known my whole life that I didn’t fit in with him and his friends. I knew our distance had nothing to do with his treatment of me and everything to do with my intentional avoidance of him. Kellen had never made me feel like he didn’t want me around, I did that to myself.

When Kellen had left for school he’d made sure to send me emails separate from any conversation he had with Mom and Dad once in a while, but that still hadn’t done anything to make us any closer. It wasn’t until I went away to school that I realized I didn’t want to be a stranger to my own brother. Our relationship grew with my new outlook on life and now it was strange if we didn’t talk at least once a week, with multiple emails and texts exchanged between us.

As I approached our meeting place I spotted Kellen sitting down. I began to smile as I walked, excited to see him. He turned his head and smiled back at me when he saw me coming. I watched as he stood up, and I picked up speed to reach him. That’s when I saw the attractive blonde with bright blue eyes stand up along with him. My smile began to fade when I saw her. Who the hell was she?

“Bryce! You look amazing. How’s Pittsburgh?” Kellen greeted me with a hug. I took my eyes off of the beautiful stranger as I hugged him back.

“Pittsburgh is interesting. Look at you, big bro. Not too shabby yourself,” I replied looking him over as we pulled apart.

“I want to introduce you to someone. Bryce, this is my girlfriend Raina. Raina, this is my sister Bryce.” Girlfriend?! How, in all this time, had Kellen never told me about a girlfriend?! He was getting it later.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Raina said as we shook hands and I smiled back at her. If Kellen liked her, she had to be a good person.

“You too. How was your trip out?” I asked.

We began to walk as we talked and I found myself liking Raina as well. Either she was a hell of an actress or the sweetest person on the planet. I winked over at Kellen and nodded my head in approval at one point behind Raina’s back. His face flushed a little, which I’d never seen, and I knew he’d marry her someday as long as she didn’t do anything psychotic to screw it up.

“So do Mom and Dad know that you brought Raina?” I asked Kellen when we pulled up in front of our old house. He gave me a look that told me he hadn’t. I couldn’t help the little bit of joy that rippled through me when I realized that my mother might be too caught up with the Raina surprise to give me trouble about not choosing a better career.

We walked through the front door, and I made sure to be last in. If I was lucky my parents wouldn’t even pay any attention to me. As luck would have it, I managed to get only a passing hello as my mother fussed over Raina and exclaimed her surprise over and over again. If nothing else, my mother was dramatic.

I snuck upstairs to my old room and closed the door as soon as I could. I looked around before sitting down on my bed. I hated who this room represented. I made a mental note to do my best to convince my mother to transform it into an office or guest room or something so I’d never have to see this stuff again.

I began to unpack the little I had brought with me for these few days when there was a knock on my door. My mom didn’t even wait for me to say it was okay to come in before she opened the door. She still had absolutely no respect for my privacy even now in my adult years. She glanced at the shirt I was holding in my hands and smiled.

“It’s so nice to see that you’ve finally come out of your shell,” she said. I fought back the urge to send a sarcastic comment her way.

“Thanks,” I replied instead. I continued to finish putting things away while she stood there watching me.

“So Raina seems like a sweet girl,” she commented. I knew she didn’t come up here to talk to me about Raina, but I waited her out like I knew she wanted me to.

“Yeah, she does. I can’t believe Kellen didn’t tell anyone he was bringing her.”

“Well, the more the merrier for holidays.” She was quiet again and I knew I had only about another 30 seconds left before she dropped whatever she’d come up here to really say on me. “Is there anyone in your life?” There it was.

“No, Mom, there’s no one right now.”

“I just don’t understand. You’re such a beautiful girl now.” I gritted my teeth at the fact that she had to throw the ‘now’ in there.

“I’ve been really busy with the restaurant lately, that’s all.”

“Right, the restaurant.” She heaved a dramatic sigh and I rolled my eyes at the obvious distaste in her statement. She wouldn’t be happy unless I was doing something prestigious and making a lot of money. “What about that Crosby boy from down the street? Isn’t he in Pittsburgh?”

I looked up at my mother in surprise. I hadn’t expected her to bring up Sidney at all. It wasn’t like our families were friends or anything. I thought about Sidney for a moment and debated how much to tell my mother. I couldn’t exactly tell her what my plan for him was. In the end I decided to avoid telling her anything at all.

“Yes, he is.”

“You should get dinner with him or something some night.” She said it like Sidney and I had been best friends growing up and it would only be natural for us to get together like old friends.

“I’m sure he’s plenty busy with the season.”

“I always thought Troy and Trina were very sweet people,” she continued, and I had to bite my lip to keep from openly scoffing at her. She didn’t know the last thing about the Crosby’s.

“I’m sure they are.”

“You know, I think you and Sidney would make a cute couple.” Great, my mom didn’t want me to be a doctor or lawyer, she wanted me to be a trophy wife. Thanks, Mom.

We made our way downstairs and I couldn’t believe only an hour had passed since I’d gotten into town. I didn’t know how I was going to handle another couple of days of this. Unfortunately for me, Thanksgiving wasn’t just a one day event in our house. Family was in and out for days and before I knew it, two sets of aunts and uncles, and two sets of grandparents were spread throughout the house.

I was currently sitting in a chair stuck into a corner of the living room right next to the kitchen, as far out of the way of everyone else as possible. It was uncanny how often this was the chair I ended up stuck in. I was also listening to my grandparents take turns giving Raina the third degree and telling Kellen how great she was, my aunts and uncles talk about who was more stressed about work, and my parents arguing over the texture of the mashed potatoes. No one was acknowledging me. Yep, it was Thanksgiving in the Sirota household alright.

By the time Thanksgiving morning rolled around two days later I was stressed out and desperate to get away from my family. I was about ready to explode, and before I could even think about what I was doing, my phone was in my hand and the number was already dialed. I listened to it ring and then wanted to smack myself when I heard the voicemail pick up.

“Hey, this is Sidney. Sorry I missed your call. Please leave a name and number and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.” I listened to the boringly generic voicemail before realizing that there had been a beep signaling that I was now being recorded.

“Hi, Sid, it’s Bryce. I forgot you had a game tonight. I just…..I don’t know, I guess I just wanted to talk. Don’t worry about calling me back. Good luck tonight and I’ll just talk to you later sometime.” I hung up and wondered why the hell I’d called him.

I leaned back against the wall as I sat on my bed and let out a long breath. There was only one other thing I could do to keep myself from snapping right now. I grabbed the keys to my mother’s car and snuck out the back door, not that that was necessary. I’d hardly had three words said to me in the last two days that wasn’t my mother getting on my case about either the restaurant or being single.

I started up the car, double checked to make sure I had the stuffed gorilla I’d brought from home, and then pulled out of the driveway. I drove the familiar route in silence and stopped at the gate. The doors were open and looming in front of me and I paused like I always did at them. After taking a few deep breaths I pulled through the gates and slowly drove down the path, stopping in the same spot I always did.

I grabbed the gorilla and got out of the car. Just like every other time I’d been here, I put on the proverbial blinders and focused only on my destination. If I thought about the other areas around me, it just wouldn’t feel right being here. I walked the short distance and stopped in front of the gravestone reading ‘McKenzie Sirota’. I knelt down and leaned the monkey against it.

“Hey, Kenz, it’s Bryce. I’m sorry I haven’t been here in so long. It’s just tough coming back here without you, ya know? I brought a gorilla with me. I know you can’t actually physically have them, but I can’t help but bring one each time I come. They remind me so much of you, Monkey. I still have the gray one you gave me when I was 6. I don’t go anywhere without him.”

I choked back a sob as my eyes filled with tears. A few spilled over and I watched them slide off my cheeks and onto the ground in front of me. It had been three years since McKenzie had died, but I’d never get over it. She’d been so much more than my cousin. Really, she’d been my only friend growing up. She’d been the only person who made me feel like I was worth something.

“Things are still the same around here. The only thing that’s different is that Kellen has a girlfriend named Raina. She’s really funny. Not quite as funny as you, Monkey, but you would have loved her. Your Mom and Dad are doing okay. I can tell they still miss you a lot, but they’re doing their best to be happy like you would have wanted. I know you always hated when people were sad. It’s only because we all loved you so much.”

A strange buzzing sound filled the air and I jerked my head up and began to look around. I couldn’t see anything making the noise until I felt a vibration on my leg. It was then that I realized the buzzing had been coming from my phone. I’d turned the ringer off, but it was on vibrate. I glanced at the screen and saw that it was Sidney. It was the afternoon of a game, but he was calling. For just a second I let myself think that it was because he knew I needed someone right now.

“Hey, Sid,” I answered after clearing my throat.

“Bryce, are you okay?” he asked. He must have heard how choked up I was despite my best efforts to hide it.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t expect you to call with the game tonight and everything.”

“It’s not a big deal. I guess I just wanted to talk to you too,” he told me, repeating what I’d said to him in the message I’d left earlier. I felt myself smile at that.

“So how are things?” I asked.

“Pretty good. It’s the typical busy start of a season, but nothing I’m not used to. How’s being home?” he returned. I sighed.

“My family is stressful,” I told him truthfully.

“Aren’t they all?” he joked, and I laughed. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’m just reliving some memories.”

“Okay. Hey, I should get going and start getting ready for the game tonight. I’ll call you after?”

“That would be nice.” And strangely, that wasn’t a lie.

“Okay. Good luck with your family. Talk to you later.”

“Hey, Sid?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for calling.” I meant it. I didn’t know why, but just having him call, hearing his voice, had made me feel a little bit better.

“No problem. Bye, Bryce.” I hung up the phone and looked back at McKenzie’s gravestone.

“Monkey, I have something to tell you…..”

I began to tell her all about my plan for Sidney. She’d been the only other person besides Harmony that had known what Sidney had done to me on prom night. When I was done telling her all about the scheme I felt a small pain in my chest.

“I hope that’s not you trying to tell me not to go through with it, because I am. He’s not the person he makes himself out to be. You’ll see the truth when I’m done, I promise. I should probably get back to the house before someone actually realizes I’m missing. Ha, we both know that’s not going to happen, but Mom will notice her car is missing. I love and miss you, Monkey, and I promise I won’t go so long without coming to see you again. Happy Thanksgiving.”

I stood up and began to walk back to the car. Just like every other time I’d been here, I ended up turning and glancing over my shoulder at the place where McKenzie was laid to rest. My eyes locked on the stuffed gorilla and tears filled my eyes again. I sent out a silent goodbye to her and then got into the car and drove back home.