Even
AS THOUGH THE PAINFUL MEMORIES ON HER MIND AREN'T ENOUGH, her brother comes to disturb. "Aubrey, I am going out."
The five-worded sentence pushes Aubrey into an instant shock as her eyes widen; sensations of sleep disappearing immediately. She peers her eagle-like eyes at the wall clock above the TV.
11:23 PM, it reads.
"You have been acting different lately and I don't want to deal with that tonight." He completes, casually strolling towards the front door.
She snaps her head to him, watching as he pulls on his jacket. "Going where?" She questions in a saucy tone.
"To Liam's." He seems oblivious to his sister's change of mood while he carefreely puts on his jacket, tucking his phone into his back pocket.
"You're not stepping a foot out of this house." Her voice drops low, sounding intimidating. At her harsh tone, Brady turns to stare at his sister with a repulsed look. "If you wanted to go to Liam's, why didn't you go earlier? I'm not letting you walk the streets at night."
He groans, "Gosh, what has gotten into you these days?"
She stares angrily at him, "No. What has gotten into you? Can't you see the freaking time?" Her hand gestures start to turn wild. "Brady. I'm not letting you step out the door."
Although Brady may stare at his sister like she is the evilest woman in the world, she is only doing this to protect him. After walking out at 10 in the night and getting kidnapped by weirdos who claim to be gods, she is not letting Brady experience that too.
"Go back to your room. You're not going to Liam's."
Brady shrugs, "No. I'm going."
She sighs, glaring at the stubborn male in front of her. She wonders when he will listen to her and finally realize that he has no say in what he is to do until he is an adult. She feeds him; spends her money on him; she is basically his mother. She eyes him from head to toe, taking notes of the clothes he has on and soon, it comes to her notice that he is not only going to Liam's to have a sleepover, he is going to a party to meet girls, drink and waste his time away.
A small smile forms on her lips as she chuckles at him, "You're going to a party, aren't you?"
He bites his lips with a nervous look that clearly shows that he has been busted, "I'm going back to my room."
Aubrey laughs.
He simply turns and scurries off into his room, not without yelling, "You're a controlling monster." That statement cuts her laughter short but she tries to ignore him. She guesses he knows she is the boss after all; she won't let him do anything inappropriate.
After minutes, the apartment falls back into grave silence and her thoughts come to worry her next.
'You're a controlling monster.' That sentence rests on Aubrey's mind as she ponders over it. She has heard something similar from Daniel.
She isn't controlling. She is just firm and wants people to do the right thing because if not, it ends up being her fault. That is how she is raised. She can't help but do the right thing no matter the discomfort it brings other people.
Maybe that's another reason Daniel left her for that blonde girl.
"Psst. Aubrey."
Aubrey turns her head at the call of her name. She squints her eyes at Brady who is standing at the entrance of the living room, giving her a flat look; Aubrey gets sickened by it.
"What is it now? Just go to—"
Before she finishes her complaint, Brady runs at full speed, dashing out the main door. She curses loudly at him as he shuts the door hard, running off into the streets.
"Don't bother coming back into this house!" She yells at his running silhouette.
She sighs at the current situation, starting to panic about the carelessness portrayed by her brother. If her parents ever find out about this, she is going to be in big trouble—not her brother who ran out of the house. She hastily peers out the window, lifting up the blinds to see if that same grey car filled with psychos is around anywhere.
At this point, she is more terrified of them than Kidnappers or serial killers.
After seeing that the streets are completely empty and clean, she is still not rest assured. She runs to the couch she once sat at and grabs her phone, quickly dialing Liam's cell. Her heart races with each dial tone as unsettling images of Brady falling into bad hands fill her mind. But before she taps on his contact, she gets a text message from Liam's mum—
'Brady is at our house. I'm letting you know in case he snuck out without you knowing.'
She stares at the phone's screen with air knocked out of her lungs, then she sighs, plumping down on the couch. She quickly texts her back before setting her phone down and clutching her beating heart. This isn't the first time her brother has nearly given her a heart attack-- back when things with Daniel was perfect, the two of them would always spend the night out and that always kept her in an uncomfortable spot. However, she now knows why the two of them did get along; they both think she is controlling.
She looks back at her phone, picking it up to read the message that enters. She thinks it is Liam's mom texting back but she is shocked when she sees the ID.
"Daniel." The name escapes her lips.
She quickly opens it up and reads it in an instant—
'I miss you. Are you home?'
Aubrey can't believe her eyes for a minute; the boy she cried over some days ago which led to her robbery, that same boy texts her now. Aubrey finds the situation amusing, wondering if he is texting her because his new girlfriend dumped him. His words still ring in her head-- 'I'm blocking you out my life'; 'I'll never miss you. You're boring.'
Aubrey begins laughing hysterically, not sure if she should be flattered or sad. "Wow. Daniel you never cease to surprise me." She says to herself, utterly surprised by the event of the night. "But why text me by this time of the night?" She continues enjoying the hilarity of the text. "If you need someone at night, call that blonde girl you left me for."
She is not going to respond to that message and will never give him another chance; she is not stupid to make the same mistake twice.
Suddenly, there's a knock on the door and she is stunned.