Page 77 of Rebellious

“Beer?” Drew offers to Aspen.

She turns to look at me.

“I’ll have one,” I tell her, knowing she won’t drink if I can’t. We’ll have to check my blood sugar when we get back, but one should be okay. It’s not like I’ve eaten any carbs today. After the night at the grocery store, Aspen made an actual list, and we went back (with her fully dressed) and got everything we needed for healthy snacks and meals. We’ve had to go back several times a week since no one can ever agree on dinner. Also, we clearly misjudged how much Fenn and Drew would eat with all the alcohol and swimming.

Aspen takes the beer, passing it back to me, and in a matter of minutes we’re all settled with beers in our hands, laughing and ribbing each other like we’ve always done. It feels like old times. Times before I dreaded the day Aspen graduated. Times when I wasn’t considering transferring schools and delaying my football career by an entire year.

No, this moment feels like it used to—before the day I changed everything and created the rules…

“Theo, don’t!”

Mom is sobbing into Aunt Anniston’s shirt while Uncle Theo glares at my father.

“I won’t let him do this alone, Anniston! I don’t give a flying fuck what that crack-pot therapist of yours said.”

“Daddy?”

Aspen reaches for her father, but I pull her back. At ten years old, I’m already taller than her twelve-year-old frame.

“Take care of the girls, Bennett.” Her father clips angrily, his jaw twitching like it does when he needs to go outside and smack around a few baseballs with my dad.

“Yes, sir.” I nod, squeezing his daughter’s hand tighter.

When our parents took this trip to Arlington, Aspen and I weren’t supposed to come. But Drew and Fenn came down with a stomach bug, and our parents brought us along so we wouldn’t catch it.

As it stands now, I think I’d rather be home with my brother, conning Uncle Hayes into taking me for a spin on his motorcycle. Seeing my mother and aunt crying is not how I prefer to spend my weekend.

Theo kisses my mom on the top of her head and smooths a hand down her back. “I need to be there, B. Let me do this for him—for you.”

My mother nods just as another sob shakes her entire body, watching as Theo walks away.

Everything in me wants to go to her—to ease whatever pain she’s going through. But I don’t. Aspen’s mom is her best friend, and I know if anyone can calm her, it’s Aunt Anniston.

“Bennett, baby,” Anniston says over the top of my mom’s head. “Why don’t you and Aspen go back to the car and turn on some music?”

Aspen stiffens in my arms.

“Yes, ma’am.”

I take a step back, pulling a reluctant Aspen down the path headed towards the car. “I’m not leaving,” she grits out, pulling us to a stop just as we’re out of sight from our parents.

“We have to,” I argue.

She rips from my grip. Aspen hasn’t been my biggest fan for a couple of years now. It’s my fault. I’ve been an angry brat to her. Or at least I tried. Aspen is pretty stubborn when she wants to be. She didn’t care that I pushed her away or said girls were gross. She just kept pushing, and I kept leaving my window unlocked as an apology.

I was torn over my friendship with her.

When my father was good, I seemed to be good. When he struggled, so did I. It was a vicious cycle. One that destroyed mine and Aspen’s friendship.

I missed hearing her laugh, seeing her smile. I missed being her friend.

Instead, we fought. All. The. Time.

Aspen challenged me at every corner, needing answers as to why I suddenly decided I wanted nothing to do with her. I couldn’t tell her. Yet, my silence didn’t stop her as she crawled through my window every night, wrapping her arms around me. It was the only way I could sleep, and she knew it.

I felt guilty how I behaved toward my best friend and how I was betraying my father by loving Theo’s daughter. Something had to give, and I decided it would be me and Aspen. We were young. She would find someone else.

Except she hadn’t. She still considered me her best friend. “Go then.” She pulls from my grasp. “But I’m not. Uncle Cade needs all of us and if you’re gonna be a little bitch and sit in the car, then go right ahead.”

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