Fifty-six

Minutes after we come downstairs to eat, I play with the cereal in my bowl, spinning the colourful brunch before raising a spoonful of it to my lips. Brandon chuckles at my sulking, I frown, how can he be so cool with leaving me here? He will be gone for a week. The thought makes my stomach knot, I stab the cereal and nearly chew the spoon off.

Brandon pries the spoon off my hand, I don’t realise my cheeks are wet with tears until he swipes at them. I sigh, it must be my period, I am being unusually emotional and over stupid things. He pulls me to his laps, I tuck my head into the crook of his neck and bawl my eyes out while he strokes my back until my cries quiet to sobs. I want him to stay.

The massaging of my scalp causes me to moan. "If you didn’t have school, we would have gone together, you know that, right? But your studies come first," he murmurs.

My voice comes out muffled when I say, "I hate school."

He chuckles. "No, you don’t."