eyes of the mind

chapter 13

When we walk into the pool house we see Carol but no August.

She has a bottle of vodka in her hand with an annoyed look on her face. When she looked up and saw us she squealed and hugged us both.

"Oh I'm so glad you're here! I didn't know how long I could stand to be with them" Carol says as she takes another shot.

"Speaking of, where are they?" Brock questions as he sits on the couch.

"Bianca had to go "use" the bathroom so he went to take her" Carol says using air quotes with the word use.

"Bianca ... that's her name" I whisper to myself.

Brock and Carol friendly bicker back and forth as to why she is using air quotes and she needs to stop stealing his shit.

While they are doing that I hear the door open to the pool house and see August and his supposed girlfriend Bianca.

She is stunning beyond compare. She has a brunette bone straight bob along with big brown eyes. She is wearing a beautiful sundress with Augusts jacket covering her shoulders.

I then look to August shocked expression at my appearance and then a yearning look in his eyes.

"Oh my, you must be Brock" Bianca says as she goes into hug Brock.

"Yeah, nice to meet you" he says politely.

"Oh and you must be?" she questions me genuinely while smiling at me.

"Lavendar, a friend of Brock's" I say shaking her hand.

"Oh really, you guys look a bit more than friends" she jokes.

I felt Augusts eyes snap at me. I look at Brock to find him already looking at me. Brock then walks up and hugs me from behind while smiling.

"You're very observant" Brock says giggling. I could tell the gummy is kicking in for him.

"Yeah we've actually been together for so long at this point we're basically married" I joke giggling feeling the gummy kicking in.

"Yeah and I married them" Carol says as she put the bottle down. Then us three end up laughing while Bianca looks confused and August fuming.

As our laughter has calmed down I tell the group that we have to eat in here but we should get our food now.

—

We're all seated in the dining area table in the pool house.

Me and Brock sitting across from Bianca and August with Carol at the head of the table.

Nothing but the sound of utensils scraping plates and giggles between me and Brock.

"If I didn't know any better y'all are baked like a damn cake" Carol says waving her fork around grinning.

Me and Brock burst out laughing. So hard that Brock had spat out his ice tea on Carol.

I laughed so hard that my eyes watered. Then I felt a warm substance on my face. I look up to see Carol smiling.

I reach up to my face to feel mashed potatoes.

I grab a handful of food and threw it at Carol first and then grabbed some green beans and threw them at Brock.

All of a sudden we're in a full fledge food fight. Everyone joining in, even August.

For a moment, you wouldn't have known there were animosity within the group.

—
After the fight Carol was worn out and said she'll go find a guest bedroom to sleep in. Brock went up to take a shower, Bianca had went home to go change and promised to be back in time for dessert.

So in the pool house it was me and August cleaning up the best we can.

"Didn't take you and Brock to be smoke buddies. Let alone to be in a relationship" August said while cleaning up.

"Well I didn't take you as a liar, so I guess we both had wrong assumptions" I say while cleaning up as well.

I heard a clink of dishes and looked up to meet his eyes. He walked over to me, his strides with determination.

"I never lied, no you LIED. You told me you would let me tell Brock about me and Carol on my own terms" he says with hurt in his voice.

"Well maybe if you would've asked what happened I would've told you" I say with annoyance in my tone.

"What happened? Let's hear it" he says as he moves to the sofa and pats the seat next to him.

I go to sit next to him on the couch and made sure to put a respectable amount of space between us.

"Well when I went to change Carol thought you were in there. She then saw it was me and then basically pulled a mean girl to make sure I knew you two were meant for each other" I say and I can see hesitation in his eyes as I continued.

"We then were in a verbal argument that we didn't hear the door open. In that argument I threw the affair you had in her face and Brock heard me" I clarify.

"I never told him directly, I only confirmed it after I saw the look of complete devastation in his eyes. He was hurt, and the last thing I needed to do was deny and keep him in a sham relationship with Carol" I say desperate for him to understand my point of view.

He froze and looked me in the eye with so much emotion. His eyes tearing up as the clock ticks by.

He starts bawling his eyes out and puts his head in my lap hugging my waist.

I kiss his head and whisper it's okay.

"I'm so sorry, IM SO SORRY! Please forgive me. I need you, I missed you!" he wails out.

I continue kissing his head and comforting him the best I could.

—

Everyone went into the main house for dessert, seeing as the pool house was a mess.

We all go into the backyard not wanting to be surrounded by parents and the screams of little kids.

As we're eating the tension isn't as heavy as it was when we first arrived.

I sat between Brock and August with Carol directly in front of me. As she's chowing down her dessert and talking with Brock I feel Augusts pinkie touching mine on the grass.

As we're sneakily having innocent touches of the hand we get interrupted by Bianca.

"So sorry I'm late babe" she says as she rushes to sit on his lap.

I quickly pull away.

He then starts spoon feeding her.

I look over at Carol staring at them with loss and despair.

I then see Brock looking at Carol with heartache and betrayal.

I then take note that we are a group of hurt people who love hurt people.

And that's fucked up.