Nothing but trouble

13. The other guy

My anxiety was at an all time high. Harlan hadn't come home yesterday, he texted me about an hour after he left that he was staying at Jaxon's. I had no clue what happened after he walked out of the house and that scared me.

I had spent the whole night last night preparing myself for school today. I'd have to see Elliot again and this time I was planning on making it through the whole day.

When Jaxon walked through the door of the classroom I felt a sliver of relief. Maybe he could tell me what the hell was going on with my brother. I needed to know he was ok.

"You need to tell me what happened." I said when he sat down.

"He's fine Jade, I think he just didn't want to face you yesterday." Jaxon assured me.

I just had to trust him and not let myself panic over my brother.

When the door to the classroom opened again I felt my heart stop. There he was, this time he had a black eye and a split lip. No one seemed surprised when he walked in. When Elliot went to run his fingers through his hair I saw how messed up his knuckles looked.

Elliot didn't look quite as bad as I had thought he would for how mad my brother was when he left. My brother was a strong dude and I'd seen him in fights. He could've easily beat Elliot up especially with how angry he was. Minor bruising and a split lip was not what I had expected.

I couldn't take my eyes off him, it seemed so unreal that he was back. Once he sat in his seat I watched as he scanned the room. When his eyes fell onto me we got stuck in a painfully long staring contest.

I would be strong, I wouldn't let him control my any longer. I wasn't scared of him anymore.

It was a lie, I felt my whole body shaking as I turned away from him and tried to focus as the teacher walked in.

This week couldn't go by fast enough, I needed Harlan and Kieran back in school.

—

I was more than relieved to see Ava when lunch came around. Jaxon didn't seem all that keen to tell me what happened with Elliot and Harlan yesterday but I knew Ava would fill me in on all the details.

"Hey how are you doing?" She greeted me.

"I've been better." I answered sitting in the seat next to her.

"The weeks almost over and then Harlan and Kieran will be back in school and I doubt they'll leave your side." She said softly to me.

"Kieran doesn't know." I looked down at my hands.

I should tell him, he should know. But I couldn't, every time I tried I chickened out.

"He's going to figure out that something happened because Harlan just tried to fight he who shall not be named and probably will be like your new bodyguard nonstop."

"About the fight, can you tell me what happened? I haven't seen Harlan and Jaxon won't tell me anything."

Ava chewed her lip and seemed to be thinking for a second.

"Ok so you know how after fights people are like you should see the other guy? Well Harlan is the other guy. He got beat up pretty bad, it started as what you would expect. Normal fight Harlan looked livid and was easily winning and then one of the devils friends came over and held Harlan back and the devil just beat the shit out of him." Ava explained.

The devil was obviously Elliot, she never said his name. She tried not to upset me so she did her best to avoid the subject all together.

"It was 2 on 1?" My eyes wide.

She nodded.

That was so unfair. I felt the need to go and see my brother and make sure he was ok but I was supposed to be mad at him. I told him if he left to fight Elliot that I would never speak to him again. I was mostly trying to keep him out of trouble. He never seemed to listen to me.

"What are we talking about?" Jaxon sat at the table.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned.

I couldn't think of a single time that he ever sat here. Usually him and my brother sat with the basketball team.

"I'm not allowed to hang out with you two?" He asked defensively.

"No," Ava frowned.

"Harlan told you to look after me, didn't he?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

"He just wants to make sure you're ok. If he can't be here himself then I guess I'm the next best thing."

"You're like a spaghetti noodle, I could look after Jade better than you could." Ava argued.

"I'm not a spaghetti noodle."

"Sure you're not." Ava eyed him up and down.

I mean she wasn't wrong, Jaxon was tall but thin. He was good at basketball because he was fast and probably the tallest on the team but he didn't look all that strong.

"You're mean." Jaxon frowned.

"Sorry not sorry." Ava shrugged.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and when I turned I surprised to see Nate standing there awkwardly.

"Um hello." I said eyeing him cautiously.

Despite being with Kieran I hadn't ever really talked to any of his friends. I didn't even know if they knew about us at all. Kieran said they didn't but Nate standing in front of me was telling me a different story.

"Can I talk to you?" He scratched the back of his neck like he was nervous.

"No." Jaxon answered for me.

"I can make my own decisions you know." I glared at him.

"Harlan told me to keep an eye on you and keep you out of harms way. I don't think he'd want me to let you go off and talk with Kieran's bestie." Jaxon argued.

"I don't really care what Harlan wants. He didn't listen to me yesterday when I told him not to leave so I don't have to listen to him." I stood up and gestured for Nate to follow as I walked out of the cafeteria.

I didn't really want to talk to Nate and if Jaxon wasn't there I probably would've ignored him but I was really sick of my brother trying to control my life.

A/n:

My life has been kinda crazy lately, I had a COVID scare in my family but luckily the test results came back this morning and they are negative. I've also been doing a lot of cleaning lately which is exhausting but I have so much junk since I'm a borderline hoarder.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did don't forget to comment and vote!!

-Cora Leigh