Page 27 of Brandishing Beginnings

Jason

Ifeltmyheartconstrictas Maya climbed into the backseat of her car. Her boyfriend said goodbye to Kara and their friends before he got behind the steering wheel. Another girl, one of her friends, climbed into the passenger side, and then they were gone.

I stood motionless with Nico, as Marcos slowly walked toward us. The three of us stood watching Maya’s car until it was out of sight. “We fucked up,” Nico mumbled.

“Yep,” I said.

“How did we not notice she was sick this morning?” Nico asked, as Marcosreached them.

“We were all in our own heads.” Marcos sighed, running a hand over his buzzed hair.

I shook my head. “We shouldn’t have had the sluts come today.”

Marcos jerked his head to the side to meet my gaze. “You think we had something to do with her being sick?”

“Not what I’m saying.” I shook my head again and sighed.

“Stone’s right,” Nico groaned. “We were too focused on being petty because she’s dating someone else, and didn’t see that she was barely holding things together today.”

“We should be the ones taking care of her,” I said.

“She shouldn’t be driving two hours just for a bed,” Nico tacked on.

Marcos sighed, rubbing at his brow. He nodded slowly, realization sinking in. “So what do we do?”

“We text her later, apologizing about the skanks,” I suggested. I ran hand through my messy blond hair, messing it up further. “And pray she forgives us.”

“We’ll make her forgive us,” Nico said.

Marcos shook his head. “She’s not some skank we can just throw money at. Maya has integrity. She’s a badass, she won’t take our shit.”

“Which makes our fuck up even worse. We shouldn’t have invited the skanks today,” I shot Marcos a glare.

“I know, OK, I know! I was hurting, and she wouldn’t fucking touch us!” Marco exclaimed.

Kara and her friends walked over at that moment, Kara pausing to glare her brother. “What the fuck?” she asked him.

Marcos whirled around and flinched when he saw his sister. Kara had been strong all day, only shedding tears while at the gravesite service. She’d held Maya’s hand while Marcos clung to the slut at his side. Now I could see how that had affected her as well.

“You invited those fucking skanks to my mother’s funeral ON PURPOSE! To HURT my best fucking friend? You stupid motherfuckers!” Kara spat, glaring at the three of us. “I can’t fucking believe you would intentionally hurt MY BEST FRIEND!”

Nico and I winced, hanging our heads in shame as Kara scolded us.

“Kara—” Marcos started.

“Don’t,” Kara snapped. “I’m so fucking disappointed in the three of you. After I encouraged her to be with you, after I practicallypushed her into your arms!” Kara was shaking with rage.

“Kara,” Marcos tried again.

“Don’t you fucking say a god damned thing,brother!” Growing even more enraged than possible, she was practically growling the words she spat the three of us. “I’m going tell her exactly what you did, then I’m going to warn her to stay the fuck away from the three of you.”

I flinched again.

“Kara, please,” Nico tried. “We weren’t trying to bemalicious—”

“Bull fucking shit!” Kara snapped again, turning on Nico and me this time. “Of course you fucking were! Why else would you purposely invite those hideous fucking skanks to my mother’s funeral?” She was growing more inconsolable by the moment. “Too fucking butt-hurt over the fact that Maya met someone else? Had to act like petty ass little bitches?!” She turned back to Marcos, tears pouring down her face. “I fucking NEEDED you today!”

Guilt settled hard into my stomach. Nico shifted uncomfortably next to me. Neither one of us had thought of Kara in all of this. Every damn word she’d flung at us had been the truth. Marcos hung his head, shame rolling off him.

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