Chill Out

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and just like every year, I'm all alone. Except this time I'm even more alone than usual. This year I won't be getting the chance to spend the day with Alina, in my room, playing video games and eating junk food while joking about all of the people who don't have someone for this day. Hell, even Afia and Keita are spending their day with someone tomorrow. I don't know who Afia is hanging out with, after all, I rarely even see her around school, but Keita is spending his day with his buddies who are also single.

I never thought that this day would come, the day that I would have to be alone on a day when people come together. The day where Alina has a boyfriend and has to spend time with him instead of me. Why is she with him anyway? What does he have that I don't? Her and I have been friends since fourth grade, but then Daniel comes into her life out of thin air and now all of a sudden he takes priority? What about me? What about everything her and I have been through? Now I'm not even invited to spend lunch with them in my own house. I bet this is his goal. Have Alina all for himself and make sure she has no more friends to turn to.

"Knox," Afia peeks her head through my door. First she looks to my chair for me then her expression shifts to surprise once she notices that I'm instead laying in my bed.

"What do you want?" I roll my eyes, moping.

"I can literally feel the tension flowing out of your room," She continues, ignoring my tone. "Do me a favour and chill the fuck out okay? I understand that Alina isn't putting up with you for Valentine's Day this year and it's pissing you off that she is with someone else, but seriously? You're the one who put yourself in this situation."

I sit up, glaring at her. There's one sentence that I know I shouldn't say, hell I never said it to Alina and I've been with her through it for years. But at this moment, I can't help myself, "Are you on your period or something?"

She pauses, glaring at me with a mixture of shock and hatred. Her voice is nearly a growl as she speaks, "What the fuck is up with you lately?" Her hands curl into fists by her side, her arms shaking with fury.

"I can ask you the exact same thing," I shout in response, shooting lasers of anger straight at her. How dare she speak to me like that! Who the fuck does she think she is? She is such a bitch!

"Eh!" Keita appears outside of my door, standing over Afia like some sort of gladiator. "What the fuck is going on here?"

There is a wild mixture of voices and arguments as Afia and I attempt to explain to Keita what is going on. My throat chokes for a moment, luckily nobody seems to have noticed due to Afia's annoying yelling cancelling it out. I can't cry. Especially not right now. If I cry then I will be admitting defeat and my entire family will end up making fun of me.

"Alright, both of you shut the fuck up!" Keita shouts above us, instantly silencing us both. He's flexing his muscles in order to appear bigger, but he's forgetting that since we're his siblings we know that move all too well and it won't affect us. I sit up in my bed, glaring at him and sitting straight up in order to appear bigger as well. Though I refuse to stand up right against him, I don't want to go anywhere near either of them.

"You shut up!" I yell in response, feeling a vein in my neck.

"You wanna fucking go?" Keita steps into my room, nearly lunging at me until Afia steps in the way and pulls him back. "Let me go Afia, I'm gonna kick his ass!"

"Oh I'm sorry, I thought you were just gonna give him a hug," She responds sarcastically, and he pauses to glare at her. "That's why I fucking stopped you dumbass!"

"Why the fucking are you stopping me?" He shouts in her ear and she winces. "It's not the first time I put him in his place!"

She grips onto his shirt and yanks him back out of my room, standing in his way with her hands on her hips, "Because tomorrow is Valentine's Day and our parents are going on a date! Remember?" She explains.

"So?" Both Keita and I ask in a shout.

"So, how do you think mom and dad are going to react to their sons beating the shit out of each other the day before they're supposed to go on a date for the first time in fucking months?" She looks at both of us like we're stupid.

Both Keita and I go quiet, dropping our attention to the floor. "They'll probably call off their date," Keita mumbles.

"But why would they have to do that?" I point out, not seeing the point in skipping a date just because their kids got into another fight.

"Would you go out on a date knowing that there's a chance that your kids will end up ripping each other to shreds?" Afia retorts, continuing to stare at me like I'm the stupidest person she ever met.

"Yeah right," I grumble, slouching and crossing my arms.. "I bet they'd just skip their date to make us feel bad."

Afia tosses her arm and rolls her eyes, "What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you seriously this upset that Alina is happy with someone else and isn't going to waste her Valentine's Day with you this year?"

"Shut up!" I shout, choking back the tears again. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Whatever, man, just chill the fuck out, you're making everyone tense," She rolls her eyes and steps past Keita, slamming her door behind her.

Keita doesn't say anything, he just shakes his head and goes to his room, shutting his door behind him. Leaving me in my anger and sadness.