My Brother’s Best Friends

“Shut up, Reagan! I don’t want to hear it. You’ve all been lying to me and I want nothing to do with any of you right now. Be out of my house by the time we’re home from the lake tomorrow.”

I watched him storm into the house and slam the door shut behind him. My chest ached painfully and I cried harder, feeling like I’d just lost my brother, the only person in the world I had left connecting me to my parents. I felt the guys surrounding me, each of them stroking my hair and holding me in turn.

“Unfortunately, I have more bad news for you, Reagan.”

“Go the fuck away, Jenny!” Theo’s loud demand felt like it shook the ground, he yelled it with so much conviction.

Jenny wasn’t leaving without pushing in the final knife, though. “How does it feel to know that you just lost your family for these three and that you were just a bet to them?”

I couldn’t make sense of what she was saying, but the guys had stiffened around me. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Yeah. They made a bet. Whoever got you would get to avoid stocking and cleaning this place, something I know how much they hate from the time I spent here with Theo. No wonder they worked so hard to get you. So, who won?”

“Fuck off, Jenny. Jesus.” Charlie didn’t sound like himself.

“You’ve done enough.” August even sounded worried.

I looked up at them and saw it. There was guilt in their eyes. My stomach cramped and I put my hand over it. “You made a bet about me?”

“It wasn’t like that, Rea.” Theo glared at Jenny. “It wasn’t some dirty thing.”

“Poor Reagan. You were a joke to them back in high school and you still are. Do you want to know what they used to call you?” She laughed. “Russ’ kid sister. You didn’t even get a name. And when I told everyone there was no way that they’d ever touch Russ’ kid sister? They laughed along like it was the most ridiculous thing in the world. You’ve always been a joke to them. A joke and an easy, freak lay. Now, they just learned to put something worthwhile on the line. Cleaning and stocking this place.”

“She’s full of shit, baby.” Charlie bent forward so he could look me in the eye. “You know what we have isn’t fake.”

August wiped tears from my face and roughly kissed me. “Stop listening to her. She’s trying to hurt you, Rea. You’ve spent every night with us for weeks. You know this isn’t a joke to us.”

“Looks like the bet isn’t over yet, Reagan. Better tell them who you pick and put them out of their misery.”

I held up my hands and stepped forward, closer to Jenny. “I saw it earlier, you know?"

She rolled her eyes. “What?”

“How sad you really are. I don’t know what caused you to be so nasty when we were kids, but I can see it now. You lost the best thing that will ever happen to you and it hurts, doesn’t it? You pushed Theo away and let him go and now you fall asleep every night, knowing that you can do everything in your power until the day you die, but nothing will ease the pain of losing him. For a woman who thinks so highly of herself, it must kill you to know that you don’t deserve him. And everyone knows it.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and took another step closer. “And maybe you’re also sad because you were just never what any of them were truly looking for. Maybe it isn’t me, Jenny, but it’s never been you, either. How bad it must hurt to know that you’re no better than the girl you think so lowly of.

“I hate that you’re in pain, but you should know that you’re going to be stuck in this ugly place until you stop trying to bring everyone down to your level. You may be happy in this moment. You hurt me. Congrats. You also hurt my brother, who did nothing wrong. You hurt the guys behind me. You hurt the girls who had to see that. So, celebrate now, because tonight? Tonight, Jenny, you’re going to be just as alone as you were last night. And the night before.”

She glared at me with tears filling her eyes and her hands balled into fists. “You’re just a bitch. What do you know?”

“I know that you should leave now.”

She shoved past me without another word, leaving Iris inside the house. The guys surrounded me again after she left, ready to comfort me again, but they didn’t understand that Jenny’s poison had gotten to me.

I pulled away from them and looked at my feet. “I’m going to take a walk. I’ll be back to get my stuff.”

With no room to argue, they stayed behind and watched me walk away, unaware that I couldn’t think of anything but running. I didn’t care about my stuff. I didn’t care about anything but trying to outrun the pain.