Levi Winchester

So this is George's room? All the photos in his room were with his grandmother and his dad. It looked like a normal room with a bed and a desk, but it smelled stale. Like no one had been in here for a long time.

I looked at a notebook sitting on his desk. Bucket list was written in bold marker on the front.

Opening it was an immediate shock to my brain. "To safely graduate without any problems." I read out loud. I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. This accountability shit is painful. "Go on a cross country trip with Liam. Confess to Liam. Live on an island for a year with Liam. Run a marathon. Get full marks on my college exams. Raise a big dog. Go on a trip with Grandma. Live happy for a long time..."

"Levi?" Liam limped into the room. "Why are you-"

"George! Why are you crying?!" Grandma Peterson rushed past Liam to give me a giant hug. Her warm hug felt made me want to throw up, because I knew she was genuinely concerned for me.

"Grandma?" Shamelessly I hugged her back. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes George, what is it?"

"What kind of person was George?" I asked.

"Oh, George was a kind child. His mother passed way to early in his life, and at a time when his father had gotten promoted. But not once has he gone astray. He always said he's going to take me around the world one day but I keep telling him to just focus on school and God will handle the rest." Grandma Peterson started to cry herself. "But God doesn't care, he never did anything wrong but he still took my Georgie so early."

My family has destroyed this one horribly. They didn't even know my family and yet they were affected. Just like Chris, just like Liam, just like everyone else I hurt.

I couldn't understand why people returned to the scene of the crimes they committed. The aftermath is just to sad to witness.

"Grandma, we're going to get some fresh air, ok," Liam suddenly spoke up. Grandma Peterson nodded and let me go from her tight hug. I watched her look around George's room and burst into tears as Liam dragged me out of the house. "Stop thinking about it. I didn't think her condition had worsened this badly."

"I'll tell you whatever you want to know." When we were far enough, I told Liam everything.

I told him Jay was responsible for George's death and why things have turned out the way they did. And I had no choice but to tell more about myself to make sure everything that I said made sense to him.

"It may be a surprise, but this is the reality of it all. There may be no point in trying but what happened to George shouldn't be allowed to happen again. I'm going to do everything I can to-"

"Are you going to tell Tyler everything you told me?" Liam asked suddenly.

"I have to, he's the one most tangled up in this. The reason I even told you about George is because you two were best friends and I could tell he really loved you. But you shouldn't get involved further."

"We're still friends right?"

"What makes you ask that suddenly?"

"You seem like you're about to disappear. You also look like you're trying to make your mind up about something. You're only a teenager like me, we don't make good decisions! Good friends worry about each other!" Liam looked me dead in my eye. "Look....Tyler's a complete mess! I'm worried about him!"

"What can I do about that?"

"You can see him, ya coward!"

"I'm going to tell him," I stood firm. But I didn't even know how or when. He would seriously hate me if he knew how much of a pawn I actually turned out to be. That basically, us getting together, might have to do with my father, who's also trying to kill him.

"You have say something!" Liam insisted. "Tyler is my best friend too! You better figure this out. Or I'll have to tell him myself!"

I had no plan now. How do I save both Kanstantinos and Tyler? Think! Think! Think! "I just-"

"Have you even thought about Tyler!?" Liam snapped at me. I'm constantly thinking about him. I just don't know how to go about it. "I thought you were a genius who could do anything!"

"I'm not that fucking smart!" I snapped at him. "Everyone thinks I know everything and what to do and I don't! I'm fucking clueless on what to do! I have no idea how anything will play out! I'm not a fucking genius! A genius would know how to handle this situation!"

"Levi-"

"It's fucking Levi that's smart! But I'm not Levi! Nikolaos isn't smart! He's a fucking coward that goes crazy with anxiety and panic attacks if one little thing is out of place! Nikolaos doesn't have any value if it's not about schoolwork!" I snapped back at him. "I'M FUCKING STUPID!!! I'm emotionally retarded and I'm fucking stupid!! For the first time in a long time, I don't think I can do something! I'm scared as fuck!"

"Well first just breathe. Point out some things around you."

"Why are you even helping me now? I don't understand? Aren't you scared of me?!"

"I am, but I don't think you're really that bad of a person anymore. If you were a bad person, Tyler wouldn't go so hard for you. Now calm down and look at the facts. You are seventeen years old, a minor! You're not supposed to know what to do in a situation like yours! But what you shouldn't be doing is throwing yourself a pity party!"

"What?"

"You decided not to run away and take responsibility! It's an uncomfortable thing to do! And it makes sense that you wouldn't be able to process your life story now, but you've always had an identity crisis! Accept there's things you can't control and that you can't change the past and do your best to save Tyler!" Liam shook me a bit. "If anyone is number one at that it's you!"

"What if he doesn't like Nikolaos."

"Levi is just a fake name for Nikolaos! Even with your shitty personality, Tyler still fell in love with you! Do you really have so little faith in him that you don't consider his feelings as real as yours? Are you that arrogant?!" Liam took a few deep breaths before speaking to me calmly again. "You decided to take responsibility, for your entire family, even though most of what happened isn't all your fault. That's exactly how Tyler will see it."

"I still killed Chris, my brother-"

"Shut up! I'm telling you what you have to hear! Why can't you just shut up and just let someone be a good friend to you! You fucking prick!" Liam gave me an awkward hug. "Solutions matter more than the problem."

For a while I stood letting him hug me until my breathing returned to normal.

"I still don't know what to do, but this talk might help me out a bit," I  told Liam. "Now please get off me."

"Sorry," Liam let go and brush himself off. "I'm just trying to help somehow."

"I know. Just don't touch me. Thank you. I'll make sure he pays for George and his father too," I assured Liam.

"Well, that's something only a true friend would say. If only you weren't such an asshole before, we could've been really great friends already. But, if you ever need help with this, you can come to me." Liam assured me. "You just have keep yourself composed and a way will present itself."

I thanked Liam sincerely.