Page 6 of Fueled Hate

My eyes close as I picture my little sister’s smiling face. “Tell her I’ll be there as soon as I can.” It kills me to be away, but this is where I need to be. Clutching the phone to my ear, I open my eyes just in time to spot Kyle headed my way.

The bastard stops about two feet away, an angry stare on his face as he remains silent.

“I’ll call you later. Love you,” I say into the phone then disconnect the call as soon as I hear my mom tell me bye and she loves me too. Shoving the phone into the front pocket of my jeans, I keep my eyes glued to the douchebag in front of me. Sadie is nowhere in sight, but I have a feeling she will be the topic of conversation.

“What were you doing with Sadie last night?”

Yep. She is the key. “I wasn’t with her, just watching her.” I’m unable to suppress the smirk as his rage grows.

Kyle stalks forward, eliminating the distance between us to get in my face. “Stay the fuck away from my girlfriend.”

“Why are you so worried if she’s yours?”

“I’m not worried, but you should be if you go anywhere near her again.”

“I’ll try to keep that in mind next time.” His threat, whether empty or not, doesn’t concern me in the least. I have experience with pain, and the greatest pain of my life wasn’t inflicted physically. That’s the sort I can take. It’s the internal torment that I can’t handle any more of. Maybe that’s why I’m enjoying the suffering he’s experiencing—he’s wondering if someone he cares so much about—or at least thinks he does—is going to be ripped away from him.

“There won’t be a next time.”

“Then why are you so worried?”

“You’re right.” Kyle takes a quick look over me then meets my eye, taking a slow step back. “I don’t have a fucking thing to worry about.”

The cocky smirk doesn’t match his stiff body language as he finally saunters off. He’s worried. And if he’s not, he should be.

4

Sadie

Concentration. I need to concentrate. It’s been my goal for the last hour, but my mind refuses to cooperate. Leaning back on my bed, I survey the books scattered in front of me. The history textbook is still open to the same page it’s been on for the last twenty minutes. Simple reading and note-taking doesn’t seem to be within my ability at the moment. Slamming the textbook shut, I toss it near my feet as I lightly tap my head against the wooden headboard. It’s official. Any hope of starting fresh this semester is out.

Grabbing my phone, I call my brother, and once again the call goes unanswered. What turned out to be a quick call to check in has turned into an all-day ordeal because Levi can’t answer the phone or send a text that he’s good. He’s fine. I know he is. But I want to talk to him. Maybe because my senior year was the hardest of my life, and it had nothing to do with school.

Finally giving in, I tap my phone’s glass screen to call my dad.

“Hey, Sadie.”

A slight smile tugs at my cheeks when he answers. It’s not in response to his greeting but rather that his voice sounds more relaxed than the last few conversations we’ve had; there’s definitely an easiness that has been mostly missing, but if something were wrong, I’d hear it in his voice no matter the words he spoke. Why do I always listen for it? Why do I always expect the worst? “Hi, Dad. I was just calling to see how everything is going there.”

“It’s going. Can’t complain. How’s everything on your end?”

“No complaints here either.” None that I want to share with my dad, anyway. I listen as he tells a customer her car will be done shortly. He’s always spent a fair amount of his time at the shop, and after Mom died, he stayed there even more. We all had our ways of coping. His was burying himself in work to distract from burying his wife.

“Good deal,” he says, telling another customer that she’s up next and it shouldn’t be much longer.

“Is Levi around? I tried calling him but haven’t heard back.”

“He’s not here, but I’ll tell him to give you a call. He’s been keeping busy since football practice started back.”

“Really? He’s back on the team?” I’m unable to suppress my excitement at the news. Football had been Levi’s passion until our lives were flipped upside down. After that, my brother’s way of coping was causing trouble whenever possible, which resulted in him getting kicked off the team. And the thing that worried me the most was he didn’t seem to care at all. I could relate. The things that once brought me happiness seemed pointless, but eventually I decided to go through the motions. Levi didn’t go through any motions unless it involved something illegal or dangerous, or both.

“Yep. But I’ll tell him to make some time to give you a call.”

“Okay. Thanks, Dad.” I pause as he continues speaking to everyone around him. I know he’s listening to me but there’s still something lacking between us. I’ve felt so detached since Mom died. I thought time would get us back to normal, or at least we could find a new normal where we existed as a family. Instead, it’s like we’re all on separate paths, heading in different directions only straying further from each other … further from being a family. “I know you’re busy, so I’ll let you go.”

“Later, Sadie,” he says, quickly disconnecting the call.

“Bye, Dad,” I whisper even though I know he’s not there anymore. I’m only an hour away from home, but sometimes it feels so much farther. Dropping the phone on the bed, I cross my arms over my chest as I gaze across the room. I should be studying or doing something productive. Instead, I stare into space until a soft knock on my bedroom door catches my attention.