Page 14 of All Roads Lead to You

Nick found an interesting spot on the floor and stared at it. “Uhm… I’m sorry.”

I pulled the vinyl out of its paper sleeve, and there it was—a large scratch along the surface. My eyes started to sting as I stared at my ruined record, wishing away the damage.

“I took it off my record player, and… it dropped, hitting some shit I had on the floor. I’ll get you a new one, I swear.”

The anger burned straight into my soul and grew so hot that my skin flushed over my entire body. “A new one? Do you have any idea what you’ve fucking done?”

He raised his hands. “Whoa, I said I was sorry. I’ll replace it.”

“You can’t replace this one! This was an original, and it was… Mom’s.” The last word choked out from the thickness in my throat. She’d given me her record six months before she died. We used to dance to the songs when I was little, and she used to sing ‘Black Bird’ to me at night before bed sometimes.

Oh, god.

I looked at the record I held with trembling hands that itched to hurt something. The flush on my skin ignited to fire. My ire and pent-up rage suddenly turned onto Nick. “Run,” I gritted out.

“W-what?”

“Fucking run, because I’m going to kill you where you stand if you don’t!”

“Oh, shit…”

Nick spun on his heels and took off, and I was close behind. We tore down the stairs like thunder, and Nick burst through the screen door, yanking it off its hinges, and ran into the backyard. He didn’t get far before I jumped onto his back, and we tumbled into the grass.

“Wait, wait!” he yelled, but there would be no waiting. I wanted him to fucking hurt as much as I did.

Nick was no lightweight, though. He was leaner than me, but he had a lot of muscle from tennis. We thrashed and clawed at each other while I tried to find a way to smash his face in.

Everything in my mind blanked out other than the visions of Nick’s bloody face. When my fist connected to his jaw, pleasure coursed through me, but it didn’t last long when his fist hit my nose. I saw blackness for a second as pain radiated through my face, but that didn’t stop us from grappling and trying to find anything to hurt each other.

“How could you?” I yelled.

“I said… I was… sorry!”

“You ruined it!”

“I didn’t mean to!”

“It was mine!”

“Oof,” he grunted when my knee landed in his gut.

Nick suddenly got the upper hand, flipped me onto my back, and straddled me. He clocked my face again, and when he came in for another, I blocked him.

“You’re such a dick!” he yelled. “You’ve always hated me!”

“And you’re an arrogant prick who thinks he can do whatever he wants!”

“Fuck you!”

“Fuck you, too!”

I finally got leverage and rolled him onto his back, but when I tried to punch his smug face again, my fist got stuck. Then someone suddenly yanked me off Nick.

“That’s enough! Both of you!” Dad yelled.

Once I was out of his reach, Nick stood and came at me, but Dad grabbed a fistful of his shirt, holding him back.

“Nice face,” I snapped, smirking at him as he bled from his nose and a split lip.

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