Untrustworthy - Chapter 6/Bryson

After school we went to my house, and while she dawdled in the living room I asked mom if Elysa could stay the night. It was a weekday, but knew she couldn't refuse since it was my birthday.

"Why don't you have her over for you birthday Friday night?"

"Because dad's coming that weekend, and he promised me father-daughter time. Pleease?"

"Okay birthday girl." She was making taco salad, slicing up onions with goggles on her face. Even with the bulky, work goggles on, she still looked gorgeous. My mom had a heart shaped face with Asian eyes and short, stylish hair. She normally wore a business suit but today she had gotten off early for me and just wore jeans and button up shirt. She was always neat, in control, and never got messy. "Bryson's coming over."

My whole face lit up. "Aurie too?"

"Not this time." She answered shortly. "Aurelia and I didn't hit it off well the last time we talked." Aurelia was my older sister from a previous marriage. She and mom met once in a while to work on being friends again.

Bryson was mom's pet. While Aurie and I had dark eyes and hair, he had light brown hair and dad's strong chin. Her cutting onions reminded me of something she had once said. "Do you think Bryson is still having trouble with his rot spot?" I asked.

"I hope not."

"Bryson's like this." She'd said holding up half an onion with a brown spot near the core. "Perfect, except for his problem. If he doesn't get rid of it, it will grow and consume him." Her eyes had gotten red, but she'd clamped down on her emotions and continued firmly. "He can either get rid of it himself, or he can ask someone else to do it. But it must be his decision." Then she'd cut away the rot spot and flicked it into the trash.

Elysa and I went up to my room before I confronted her. "So um, do you have a thing for Royal now?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, not looking at me.

"Don't play dumb with me! You know I saw you two kissing yesterday! What was that all about, were you drunk again?"

Her head came up and she glared at me through a green-yellow eye. "What do you think I am, a slush? It was midday, no...I..." She stopped abruptly and broke eye contact. "I wasn't drunk."

"Well you were something." I said accusingly. I remembered how she had looked, leaning against the doorway with her blond hair framing her face. She'd looked like an African princess with those high cheekbones, long neck and pointed chin. Her hair had caught the light and thrown a glow around her sculpted features, illuminating her and making her look like a bemused angel. I was on the stairs heading towards her room, but paused when I saw the way she was panting, like she was trying to catch her breath, and the way her fists were clenched. She'd turned away from me, towards Royal who was approaching on the other side.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly, his cornflower blue eyes roaming her face.

"I'm fine." She purred as he reached out to touch her. She's definitely drunk, I thought when she smiled at him. I pushed the other thought away. That couldn't be it, I wasn't ready for that option. Not again. I stood and stared as Royal took her in his arms and kissed her, just like that. No preliminaries. When he began to lick her face I stomped up towards them.

"Elysa!" This wasn't like her...

They'd both looked at me, and Elysa had shaken her head to warn me away. "Sara, you should go home." Hurt and angry I'd fled back to my house, thrown myself on my bed, and stared stonily up at the ceiling. I yanked a book off my bedside table by its cover and beat it against the wall, raging as I ripped its pages and finally flung it against the wall. I sat up, breathing heavily and stared down at the battered book as I mentally conjured up the unwelcome image again; Elysa's unfocused eyes, her ragged breathing...I closed my eyes. No. Not my best friend.

I emerged from my memory to hear Elysa asking a question. "I'm sorry, but I overheard you saying something about your brother having a rot spot. Not that I was eavesdropping," she added quickly, "I just happened to overhear and I was curious. What did you mean by that?" She was changing the subject, but I decided to tell her. She was my best friend and I would probably tell her anything, I just hoped she felt the same way.

"Bryson had an addiction. Heroin. He started when he was my age and he thought he could handle it, but then it escalated out of control." I stated this matter-of-factly, but it still hurt like an open wound. Like Max he had begun stealing from my mom and dad, no longer able to control himself. "He was caught by the police twice and nearly expelled from school, before he finally agreed to go to rehab. It almost destroyed him." Like mom and dad's marriage, the damage inflicted by Bryson's addiction had never been healed. "He's uh, he's been clean for six months." Elysa looked up, her face full of sympathy and some other emotion. Something that looked like regret.

"Sara, I need to tell you something. I...uh...I..."

Mom's voice broke through Elysa's as she called from downstairs. "Sara your brother and your friends are here!"

I saw Elysa's eyes light up when he came in, and hers wasn't the only one. Melanie and a few other girls were there, and they also admired my brother. Now in college, he was nineteen with well-defined muscles, and an ever present sense of self-confidence and masculinity. I ran and hugged him. I didn't get to see my brother that often. It was a great birthday, with lots of jewelry and new clothes and no time to think about what had been going on lately. Bryson got along great with all my friends and gave me a pair of earrings and a gift card to Starbucks. "Imperative for highschool students." He said with a wink. I totally forgot Elysa had been about to tell me something.

When he left that night I saw him look over at Elysa. I followed his gaze, and for once, saw her like he might. She was sixteen already, but she had maturer features and a fuller body than I did, with sensuous lips and gorgeous coloring. She looked like a woman, whereas I still looked like a skinny adolescent brat. I felt a flash of jealousy...and then I let it fade away. My bombshell mother had said she had looked a little like me when she was young, and look at her now.

I saw Elysa and Bryson share a smile before he hugged me goodnight. "Call me if you need anything."