Page 9 of Letters From a Broken Heart
“Was that sentence confusing to you? I like her, Jack. I want to ask her out.”
“You can't ask her out!” He slams the door and whirls around to face me. He’s so angry and I don’t even know why.
He’s always been protective of Taylor, but he didn’t act like he was harboring a secret crush on her, so why does he care? He knows I’d never do anything to hurt her. She means too much to me.
“Why not?” I glare at him. I don’t like fighting with my brother, but I'm not backing down from this. I’ve been in love with Taylor for years. I'm tired of standing by. I want to ask her out before some other guy does and I lose my shot.
It’s only a matter of time before one of the stupid jocks at school realizes how amazing she is. I don’t want them to swoop in and steal her before I have a chance to ask her out myself.
“Because she’s my best friend!” Jack roars. He tries to shove me, but I step out of the way. I'm not going to fight him. This is stupid.
“So? She’d still spend all of her time here.”
“Yes, but she’d be spending it with you! Not me!” He motions wildly to me like I don’t know who he’s talking about.
“So, what? I’m just supposed to pretend I feel nothing for her because you don’t want to share Taylor with me? She’s not a toy, Jack!”
“I know she’s not a toy,” he hisses. “But she’s mine and I don’t want you to have her.”
I stare at him in disbelief. He can't be serious right now.
“I don’t think you really have a say in that. She doesn’t belong to you.” I fold my arms over my chest and stare him down.
Jack doesn’t do well when he doesn’t get his way. Everything is always a competition for him. It doesn’t matter if the other person doesn’t want to participate, he still wants to win.
It’s been this way since we were little. If I came home with a good grade, he needed to make sure he scored higher on his next test. If I made it on the varsity team when I was a sophomore, he made sure to make varsity when he was a freshman. I never wanted to compete with my brother, but he made sure I didn’t have a say in the matter.
“We’ll see about that.” He flings the door open, letting it bounce off the wall. Tools tumble from their spots on the peg board and clatter to the ground.
I let out a long sigh and bend down to start picking them up as Jack stomps across the yard, straight for Taylor’s house.
Sometimes I wonder what it’s like to be Jack. I wouldn’t say he gets things handed to him, but he has an easier time than I do. He knows exactly how to charm people and get his way… Most of the time. His charm doesn’t work on me though. I know the type of man he tries to hide from others.
He’s always the center of attention no matter who’s around and it’s something I’ve learned to deal with. It’s fine, it’s just who Jack is. Am I jealous I don’t have the same sort of charm? A little, but I don’t want everyone paying attention to me. I only need one girl to see me.
Once everything is picked up and put back into their places, I step out into the afternoon sun and pause in my tracks.
Taylor is sitting on the porch swing with Jack next to her. His hand is clasping hers and there’s barely any space between their bodies.
He wouldn’t… Would he?
I slowly make my way across the yard and climb the three steps to the porch. I stuff my hands in my pockets so I don’t punch my brother in the face and lean my shoulder against the pillar.
“What’s going on?” I keep my tone steady and try to pretend like I don’t know what’s happening.
Taylor glances up at me with a big smile on her plump lips. Her eyes are sparkling with excitement and I know whatever she tells me next is going to break my heart.
“Jack just asked me to be his girlfriend!” Taylor squeals. “Isn't that great?”
“Yeah, sounds amazing,” I say, my voice completely void of emotion. “Well, I’ll see you later, Tay.”
I push off of the pillar and only get one step towards the front door when Taylor’s voice stops me.
“Easton? What’s wrong?” The concern in her voice almost breaks me. Jack doesn’t realize how lucky he is to have her. I don’t even think he wants to date her; he just doesn’t want to lose her to me.
I peek at her over my shoulder, wishing things could be different. Now that she’s dating him, she’ll never give me a chance. It doesn’t matter if we’d be perfect together. It doesn’t matter if I’ve been in love with her for years. Jack got to her first and ruined everything.
I don’t know what I'm goingto do. Can I really continue hanging out with them and pretend it doesn’t bother me? Can I stand by and watch them kiss and hold hands when I know she should be doing those things with me, not Jack?
