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Chapter Six
Last Updated:
2024-12-02 13:54:00STACY
In the past few days, I’ve learned more than I wished to know. From Elena being Marilyn’s mom to Jerome’s fresh injury and my supposed decision to go to California Uni.Was I going to the University of California? I’m not sure.Am I thinking about it? Yes and yes.I’ve burdened myself with the thought while being holed up in the same house with Mom and Dad and so I haven’t made any decision but I imagine getting ice cream with my favorite person, Lisa, will help me come to a conclusion.“Uhm…” Lisa eyed the poster from the service counter. “There is vanilla, chocolate, peanut butter, strawberry—”“Strawberry and chocolate toppings.”“O.K.” Lisa taps her finger against the corner of her lips as she mulls over a decision. “This is hard.”She always does this.“Take your time, Lisa, while I fix your friend’s order,” Nathan assured her, sneaking in a wink.I waited till he had turned away and walked to the other end of the counter beforRelated chapters
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JEROME“Hey, Ladies.” I slid an empty chair over and sat down at their table.Two pairs of eyes stared back at me, one gave me an uncomfortable stare, the other, I wasn’t so sure.Knowing Lisa, she was asking me to get up. She didn’t know if it was okay for me to join them the way I did, and to choose seating beside Stacy.Lisa blinked more than twice as she desperately tried to yell the words ‘GET UP!’ without yelling them.“Stacy and I are tight now.” I threw my hands around Stacy’s shoulder and pulled her to me. “Aren’t we?”She rolled her eyes, exhaling the anger.She wasn’t really angry with me, she just didn’t want to show how excited she was that I was intruding in their moment.“Stacy, I didn’t tell him we would be here.” Lisa tried to vindicate herself already.She wasn’t taking my word for it.“Yeah, she didn’t,” I backed Lisa. “I just happened to run into you guys at the ice cream parlor on a hot Sunday afternoon. You didn’t ha
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STACY I paced the length of my bedroom, biting my nails as anxiety crept up on me. If I’m being real, It didn’t really creep up on me. It has been here since I returned yesterday. I lowered myself onto my bed and looked around. My room was scattered with boxes of clothes and half-hung lilac curtains. My bed was a mess. I had thrown my clothes on it, trying to decide if I could do this, if I could afford to go to California. The one place I hadn’t checked was the box in my drawer. I’d saved money at every chance that I got. Just like my Mom was a hard worker, I tried my best to be the same thing. I took jobs at the library, I took babysitting jobs and I worked overnight shifts at Burgers Crown. I don’t think i’ve made a substantial amount of money to fund my school but it could be used to get new clothes. It could be used to buy a new shoe, maybe get a new haircut as well as fund my transport on campus and the likes of that. But I’ve not checked it out yet. I had a fear that
Last Updated : 2024-12-04My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Nine
JEROMEI watched the city go by through the window, head pressed onto it. It was alive and bubbling, the way it’s always been, the way I love for it to be. It was my city and it was my new home.The place that brought me the most peace.It was no one’s fault that Ohio felt like dark clouds and rainy days, it was no one’s fault that every second I spent there made me remember her.It was just my fault. Mine alone.And if I never existed, if we never existed, she would still be here and life would be plain and easy, with nothing to haunt me at every slight chance.The driver dodged a crack on the dark road, taking a turn and getting onto the last street before mine.I straightened when I could see the top of our building. Brown zinc shooting up.Because of my job at the college, I had to live close enough to make it in time for my lectures and appointments. It was a ten-minute ride from my house to the school and on days when the streets were filled with more cars, it took at most twent
Last Updated : 2024-12-05My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Ten
STACYUNKNOWN: Hi, stranger.I stared at the message, reading the words over and over again.The number didn’t look familiar at all.I could put my phone in my pocket and return to the party but it was so difficult to tear my eyes away from it.When I looked up, it was to find Lisa.I gave up before even trying, crossing my legs and reclining on the couch.The last thing I was going to do was leave here. Someone stood up and I smiled as I adjusted.The empty space didn’t exist for long. Another person squeezed their way in as they dived into some questions about who was getting in the pool.Maybe the pool was where Lisa was at.I checked my phone again to see if there was another message from the new number.I had only taken half of my beer but I could already feel it kicking into action. I’ve always been the light-headed one.Another message came in.My phone was all the distraction I had. Without it, it was just me, sweaty b
Last Updated : 2024-12-06My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Eleven
JEROMEJEROME: Just because you know one thing about me doesn’t give you the right to overstep. It’s none of your business what I do with my lifeJEROME: And stop acting like I’m a suicidal piece of meat you have to fix. You’re fucked, I’m fucked, no big deal.Every time I read my reply to her, it sounded ten times worse.What was I thinking? Oh, I know.I was thinking of how I had two people remind me not to kill myself in the space of hours. Two people who knew what they were saying because they’d seen enough of me to know me.I locked my phone for the umpteenth time and slid it into the pocket of my jeans.Fuck that. Life would be better for all of us if everyone remembered to stay where they were supposed to be.I wasn’t a child. I was an adult, a full-fleshed man. I didn’t need babysitting or people hovering around me, waiting for when I’d make the next mistake.When I needed them to hover, when I needed all of their care and talks of ‘b
Last Updated : 2024-12-07My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Twelve
STACYMorning came in a fast rush of pan-smacking, loud voices, and banging wood.I groaned and pressed my pillow into my face. Everyone was being loud.Dad was fixing something in the living room, Mom was cooking, as usual. She also had to leave early for work which would explain why she was up doing it so freaking early. It was the first day of the week.And Dad, why was he still here? Wasn’t it time for him to get up and leave.Everyone who came for Thanksgiving was gone already. I mean look at Jerome, he got on a plane as soon as Friday night was done.He was the more missed Jerome, the Jerome that everyone hoped wouldn’t leave so quickly, and yet he was gone, and this Jerome, this man that Mom was going to force down my throat as my father was refusing to leave.Now he was fixing stuff as though this was a normal Monday morning and we were like every other family. Mum was fixing breakfast as the dotting wife and mother that she was, and Dad was
Last Updated : 2024-12-08My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Thirteen
STACYMy hair fell across the wooden frame of Lisa’s bed, brushing the red carpet of her room. I was looking at an upside image of her room.Mr. Smurff, a blue stuffed doll of hers was laying on his stomach, red cap sewn at the top of his head.I shut my eyes and listened to the rhythm of my heart.When I opened my eyes, Lisa was sitting down crossed leg in front of me.She almost gave me a scare.“What are you going to do?” She asked.It was messing with me to see her like this. It looked like she was hanging from her ass, the lips on her face being above her eyes.I had to close my eyes again.“Are you talking about him or you are talking about UCLA?”Lisa replied by slapping my shoulder.“Ouch!” I grabbed the spot beside my collarbone and glared at her.“What else will I be talking about?” She asked me.“Him and UCLA. There’s a million things you could be…”I dabbled into silence as her face was not very supportive.Lisa was folding her hands. She shook her head, propped herself on
Last Updated : 2024-12-08My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Fourteen
JEROMEI ate my lunch in a rush, iced tea and ham sandwiches. I grabbed them at Minions.Nattie was the one that introduced me to the cafe and I was worried that I would run into her.If I did, it would have been a waste of all I had done today.I wasn’t looking forward to running into her. I wasn’t looking forward to running into anyone that would require close interaction and so I had dodged every familar face on campus.If it was up to me, I wouldn’t have left the house until noon, noon because that’s when Lisa’s flight lands at the airport but I had to pick up one of my drafts to go over later in the day.Soon, I would be meeting with the movie producer. Everything had to be perfect before then.The script wasn’t my problem now. I stuck my neck out and moved my eyes around the hall, searching and listening for my kid sister and maybe Stacy.My communication with Stacy has been as it was last weekend.I went off on her, she recoiled and sent an ‘okay’ and no one between the both of
Last Updated : 2024-12-09
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My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Eighty-Two
JEROMEIt was a Tuesday morning, and I was expecting Lisa. She hadn’t been by in a while, and I figured it’d be good to catch up. I hadn’t been the best brother lately—too wrapped up in my own mess to notice hers, or anyone else’s for that matter. So, I cleaned up the house, cleared away the clutter of half-written scripts and empty coffee cups, and made a quick breakfast, nothing fancy. Scrambled eggs, toast, some fruit I’d been meaning to finish before it went bad. I didn’t expect anything more than a few hours of easy conversation and maybe a few jabs at me for being a workaholic.Work has been hectic on me and even on Nattie so for that reason, we had not found the time to catch up on lost times. What was even more crazy was the fact that Kingston had returned from his hometown.Normally, when ever stuff like that happened, we prioritized sitting down together and having lunch or dinner, even if it was at the staff loung
My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Eighty-One
STACYThese days, spending time in our dorm room was something I tried to avoid. The air there always felt thick and heavy silence gave way to the underlying tension, lingering emotions pooped up here and there. lingering tension.But I couldn’t run away forever, and running away was a coward thing to do so here I was, in my dorm room, instead of hanging at the library after class.Lisa sat on her bed, legs crossed, scrolling through her phone. I was at my desk, pretending to organize notes from class but really just shuffling papers aimlessly. Neither of us had said much since we got back from dinner that night, and even though we’d kissed and shared those moments, it still felt awkward. More than awkward, actually—like something had shifted, and I wasn’t sure how to navigate it.The ball was in my court, really and that terrified me to shit.I kept glancing at her from the corner of my eye, unsure of how to start a conversation th
My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Eighty
JEROMEI showed up to class earlier than usual that day, hoping to settle into a groove before the students started pouring in. My mind wasn’t exactly where it needed to be though I couldn’t place exactly where it was.This morning, I had randomly gotten a notification from Nattie and my eyes oddly moved to the date. Today was the thirteenth day of October, the day we got into the accident, the day Marilyn died.Then there was Elena with her surgery slated to happen tomorrow. And there was Nattie’s words to me about what I really wanted. I had been revising that question, spending time understanding myself.All of these issues were static in the back of my mind, being present while I did every little thing.If there’s one thing I’ve learned, is how life just keeps moving. No pause, no time to drop off and take a breather, we just keep moving.I’ve had to do everything without complaining. Go to the studio, pick up m
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STACYI was having dinner with Lisa tonight and it felt out of this world. It wasn’t the first time we had gone out to eat together, but this time was different. She’d asked me out on a date, an actual freaking date.I didn’t know if I should crash out or crash out, all I know is my body could not contain the excitement and uncertainty moving around one another, becoming a flickering, present flame in the core of my stomach. “Let’s go out on a dinner date,” Lisa had casually said.I thought I didn’t hear well.After the kiss and her confession, we had not said much about that night again.Occasionally, she would lean into me and occasionally, I would do the same but we did stuff like this even when we were just friends so I wasn’t even meting myself think it out of proportion.Aft
My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Seventy-Eight
JEROMEAttending church was not my thing to do, I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I hadn’t been to a church.For no reason, exactly, I just got busier with a lot of other things and it had never felt like a necessity to me, so today, when I woke up with an impulse to go, it confused me a lot.The feeling was something I couldn’t quite explain to myself.I just knew that i had to go, no matter what and that Sunday morning, I found myself walking into a church downtown.It was the kind of church with stained-glass windows and an old wooden sign out front.Not once last night did I make a plan to be here but as I approached the building, I aimed to understand why I was doing this.Elena and Marilyn, emptiness, sadness.I was going to church because I felt like a waste.As a teenager, when Marilyn and I were together, I had heard she abs her mom on different occasions talk about their faith and their love for God.
My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Seventy-Seven
STACYI was probably the happiest when the show came to an end. After it all, we all spilled out of the theatre, Lisa and I, leaving Nattie and Jerome to be alone.We had all gone back stage at some point to say hi to the twins and now, we had plans of getting a spot to chill at for a while.They had done an amazing job, and I could still hear snippets of Jake’s deep voice as Prospero booming in my head. Jace had been equally mesmerizing as Miranda, playing the role with a graceful strength that seemed to captivate the entire audience. I was proud of both of them, and even though the tension with Jerome was evident all through the night, they made the moment worth it by giving us a hood play.Tonight wasn’t about that. It was about celebrating with my friends. There was one thing I could be grateful to, that they didn’t invite Jerome and Nattie to come with us.“Let’s grab a drink,” Jake had suggested as he bounded over
My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Seventy-Six
JEROMEAs the lights came up and the applause for the play died down, everything o had been feeling through out the length of the show returned a thousand times more. The tension, the discomfort, the need to break something, maybe even my head.They all knotted in my chest.Stacy and given up hee chair for Nattie, I noticed that.She didn’t want to be close to me, that was all my mind told me at the moment.Nattie was still pressed up against me, her fingers trailing along my arm, her hand slipping into mine as if to mark her territory. I tried not to pull away, tried to keep everything looking normal, but the truth was, I felt suffocated. Every touch, every glance she threw my way, felt calculated—deliberate. And with Stacy just a few seats away, it felt like the walls were closing in on me.
My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Seventy-Five
STACYI hurried down the sidewalk, heart thumping beneath my coat as I mentally ran through a list of things I may have forgotten. Today was Jace and Jake’s drama show and I had promised to be there, severally.Last night, Jace called to remind me.My relationship with the twin was something I could say I cherished. They’d been really nice to me from the day I volunteered for the talk and this was my first way to prove that I was really grateful.Jacket? Check. Ticket? Definitely. Nerves? Uncheck. For some reason, I was freaking out.This show involved me going to sit with a bunch of people I didn’t know, at the theatre hall auditorium.The good thing was Lisa and I were going to be together. I took some peace in remembering that.The scent of fallen leaves wove its way into my nose, filling the crisp air.I was hurrying to the auditorium, Jace and Jake had to see me before the show would start, but I couldn’t stop thin
My Bestfriend’s Brother Is My Tutor Chapter Seventy-Four
JEROMEThe next morning, I woke up feeling sore. The sunlight filtering through the blinds woke me up before my alarm did. I squinted against the brightness, my head still heavy with sleep. For a moment, I stayed there, disoriented, trying to gather my train of thoughts about the day before, the day ahead and the present time.That’s when I felt the warmth beside me. Nattie’s arm was draped across my chest, her steady breathing confirming she was still asleep. That’s when the memories from last night came flooding back in a very heavy push.I turned my head to look at her and I wasn’t sure what I was feeling. A little bit of everything —guilt, regret, and confusion. We’d had sex. It hadn’t been planned; it hadn’t even been thought through. One minute, we were hanging out at my place, just talking like we always did, and the next, things escalated faster than I could’ve anticipated. And now, here we were—tan
