***Chapter Twenty-Two***
“He told you about that, huh?” Dillon sighed as we sat at our favorite spot in the Coffee-House.
A couple of days have passed since I got my tattoo. The pain showed up after like I expected, but only when I’m doing my after care. It still looks great and definitely makes me want to wear crop tops a lot more often. Just so others can see it, otherwise I’m happy Drew convinced me to get one. I would have never thought to otherwise.
On the flip side, Dillon and I were in between classes once more as we sat at our favorite place. I brought up what Drew told me at the tattoo shop because I wanted to get her perspective on the matter. She doesn’t always want to talk to me about the way she’s feeling, but this subject was different. It had nothing to do with love or anything mushy like that. This was her brother. Someone she was supposed to look up to and instead, they had little of anything. Drew told me he hates it, but what does Dillon think about it?
Sipping my latte, I try to get her to delve into more detail. “You have to feel some way about it. It’s your brother,” I say.
She giggled. “What do you want me to say Anna?” She questioned.
“I want you to tell me how you feel!” I yell. “It’s not like you can avoid the elephant in the room forever.”
She put her straw to her mouth. “It’s a helluva a lot easier that way,” she mutters.
I roll my eyes, frustrated she won’t say what’s on her mind. Dillon is a very blunt and honest person. She has no problem telling people how things are and when they are. It’s only with her feelings does she completely shut off. I complain about my life a lot more than she does and despite being well off, we kind of got the short end of the stick. Which is why I felt it was important for her to talk to me. There isn’t much that could be done, but at least we could fix their relationship while we’re here.
Sighing, Dillon was reluctant to say anything about it. When you look at it, she technically was the favorite child. Her parents always catered to her whenever she needed them, too. Although Dillon dismissed them. It makes sense if she was trying to impress Drew. I guess to get him to pay attention to her. Protect her the way big brothers do. It’s a wonder he hasn’t complained about Dre taking an interest in her. They don’t have a relationship where he feels as though he could do that. It’ll never get fixed if Dillon doesn’t confront her feelings on the matter.
Snickering, she looked at me, annoyed. “Look, Annabelle, I’m not as much of a sap as you are,” she snapped at me a little.
I knew she was just frustrated, so I didn’t take it to heart. “It’s not about being a sap, Dill.” I try to reassure her.
“Then what is it?” She asked. “You want me to tell you I wish my brother liked me a lot more? That I wish we could go to each other whenever we need advice on anything? Huh, or is that I love him and wish that he would see I’m not trying to be the favorite child? I just want my big brother to look up to!” She yelled.
Sensing the aggravation, I backed off a little as she aired her grievances. This was the most emotion I ever saw Dillon have. Not only could I sense the angry, there was a sadness behind her voice too. The emotions in her voice mixed with her getting teary-eyed told me it bothered her as much as it bothered Drew. They were both jus too stubborn to do anything about it. Even with us all hanging out every day, they barely communicate with one another. It was sad, but they only had their parents to blame for that.
She sat back in her chair, taking a long, deep breath. “In another world, I’d hope our relationship would turn out differently,” she admits. “But in this one, it is what it is.”
I disagreed. “There’s always room to repair.” I say. “You go in with that attitude like you tell me you’re never going to get anywhere,” I tease.
That got a chuckle out of her as the surrounding air settled. “For now, I’m going to give him his space. He has been doing so much better.” That was true. At least from my understanding.
Though it made me curious what exactly was going on with Drew. It’s the ominous thing with Dillon where she again doesn’t want to talk about it. As much as I stayed at their house growing up, it never occurred to me that anything other than normal teenage drama was happening with him. He seemed so mellowed out that I guess it just slipped past me. I also wasn’t spending as much time with him as I am now. Though, he’s also alluded to changing himself too. But from what?
I couldn’t stop myself from asking her for more details. “What exactly happened to Drew back then?”
Dillon shook her head. “It’s not my place to talk about Anna,” she said.
“Is it that bad?” I wondered.
She shrugged. “For a teenager, I suppose. You should just ask him yourself,” she suggested. “You’ll have a better understanding if it came from him since he experienced it.”
She is right, but I can’t just come out and ask him to tell me his whole life story. I already asked an abrasive question about his family. What would he think if I continued to press for more information? Then he could get mad at Dillon for even slightly mentioning it to me, and we didn’t want that. I felt like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Not having much time to dwell on it, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Juliana looking frantic as ever, racing to get out of the building. She had so much on her plate she looked stressed out. Being a captain of a dance team and taking up a super hard major had to be stressful. Though I still couldn’t wait to see her perform. It was going to be great!
Almost walking past us, I stopped her before she could get far. “Hey Julie, you ok?” I asked. She really didn’t look well.
She greeted at Dillon and me before speaking. “Yeah, I’m just on such a tight schedule right now,” she explains.
“Is that why you’re running around her like a madwoman?” Dillon raised a brow.
Julie nods. “I have to run this to Drew, who’s sick on the other side of campus, then run back in time so the team isn’t looking for me again.”
Drew was sick? That explains why I haven’t seen him for a few days, but I didn’t expect Juliana to be doing all this running around by herself. She already had enough on her plate. Now this happens. Despite what happened with the hat, I didn’t see an issue with me offering to bring Drew his soup and tea. It’ll save her the trouble of having to run back and forth between the buildings. While also allowing me to send well wishes to Drew. It’s just lending a helping hand.
“Umm, do you want me to run that over to him before I go to my next class?” I asked cautiously.
She looked at me with this weird expression on her face. “Well, if you don’t mind. I do have to get back,” she thought.
I can tell she didn’t want me to do it, but it was going to save her the trouble. “It’s no problem, really.”
Contemplating some more, she finally handed me the stuff before thanking me. “You are a saint, Anna. I’ll see you guys around,” she says before taking off in the other direction.
I wouldn’t exactly call myself a saint, but I was trying to help her out. Even though the added benefit of seeing Drew was in the back of my mind. The main goal was to lessen the stress Juliana must be feeling right now. With everything going on, she had to be under a lot of pressure. I’m sure being around Drew while he’s sick wouldn’t do her any favors, either. Luckily, she had me!
Dillon smirked as we stood up to leave. “You’re going to use this time to get close to Drew, aren’t you?” She giggled.
My cheeks flush. “What? No, I’m just helping a friend out.” I say. It’s not a lie.
She crossed her arms, not believing a word I said. “Yeah, ok Annabelle, tell Drew I said feel better.” She waved before going to her next class.
Ok, maybe she was on to something there, but I’m sticking to my guns.