Page 60 of Organized Chaos

Brandon closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “To be honest, prom’s not my thing. This is more my speed.” He gestured around the room.

Brandon was lying.

He was barely paying attention when Liz asked him to prom. At first, he said no. After she pressed a few times about going as friends, he said ‘fine.’

Sometimes Brandon said yes to people so they’d stop bothering him. He didn’t like being nagged and had done things like this before. I bet he forgot about the date and came straight here without giving her a second thought.

Liz looked sad. “You could have just told me that instead of blowing me off. Why didn’t you bring me here with you?”

Brandon lifted a shoulder. “Looks like you still made it here by yourself.”

I cast him an irritated look. I hated that Liz liked him, but what Brandon did was mean.

One time, Mom and I went shopping. At some point, she forgot about me and wandered away. I waited for hours and was in hysterical tears by the time a frantic Milo came looking for me. Apparently, Mom couldn’t remember where she saw me last and called him in a panic. He searched every store in the mall before finding and pacifying me.

Afterward, Milo was so angry that he refused to speak to Mom for weeks. Milo could hold grudges like no one else, and to this day, Mom wasn’t allowed to take me places without his permission.

Milo was Mom’s favorite, so the whole situation made her sad. But I understood his anger. It sucked being left behind. No one should do that to you.

Liz’s bottom lip trembled. “I should have never asked you to prom. Everyone told me to stay away from you. I should have listened.”

Brandon’s eyes flipped to Liz’s again, bored. “Yeah, probably.”

Shaking her head, Liz stormed off.

I stood from the sofa as well.

Confused, Brandon glanced at me. “What? You are done telling me all about the melting ice.”

“I should go upstairs before Milo comes back.” For the first time, I didn’t feel like telling Brandon about what I had learned. And for the first time, I feared Milo might be right.

Brandon wasn’t a nice boy.

Chapter 15

Six Months Later