Vincent Kinsington

I sat at the little table in my apartment that was by the front door and near the small kitchen. My laptop was open in front of me and I scrolled through Mateo's social media.

It had been a few weeks since Alex had gone to Mateo's family dinner. They obviously hadn't broken up so I had tried something different. I had made a fake social media account and made negative comments on Mateo's social media hoping he would reveal himself a coward and break up with Alex. But that hadn't happened. In fact, I wished I hadn't done it in the first place as it had emboldened others to do the same and it wasn't only Mateo's social media that was being attacked, but Alex's too. As soon as I had seen that happening, I had stopped my fake comments completely, but it hadn't stopped other trolls from keeping the comments going.

I had never wanted Alex to be targeted. Alex and Mateo had more people defend them than not and soon the mean comments almost stopped completely. One guy was stupid enough to use his own name when he attacked Mateo's social media and he was still getting hate for it.

There was a light knock on my apartment door. I closed all the accounts and went to open the door. Alex stood on the other side. He stepped inside and headed straight to the bedroom. I closed the door and followed him.

He already had the t.v. on and was turning on a gaming console.

"Don't you have a date or something?" I asked.

"No," he said as he sat on the couch with a controller in hand. I sat next to him and took the other controller. We played for at least a half hour, before Alex started a conversation about something other than the game.

"What time is your family dinner?" he asked me. He killed me in the game. Why was he so good at first person shooter games when he hated real life violence?

I put down the controller and picked up my phone to see the time. "I should leave in about an hour," I said. "Want to come with me?"

He snorted. "No. If I never go to another family dinner of yours, it will be too soon."

"I wish I didn't have to go," I said.

Alex shot someone else in the game. "So don't. Stay here and we can kill people."

"You have to leave when I do," I said. "I don't trust you in my apartment alone anymore."

"Since when?"

"Since you told me you wanted to borrow my apartment to have sex with your boyfriend."

"It's been weeks since then," he said. "I'm not going to do anything in your apartment. Don't worry. He's out of town anyway."

"Another away game?" I asked as my character spawned back to life.

"Yes," Alex sighed as he killed another character. "They've had a lot of away games lately."

That would explain why I hadn't seen Chet around. I wasn't looking for him. I was glad I hadn't seen him. He was annoying and I hated him. I only noticed bus stops now to make sure he wasn't at one of them.

"Thank you by the way," Alex said.

"For what?"

"For joking with me when I first mentioned borrowing your apartment instead of reminding me of my experience with Jason. You could have tried to dissuade me from continuing further in my relationship with Mateo."

I died again in game.

"Thank you also for not doing anything else to break up me and Mateo."

Uh...I wasn't about to admit I was the mysterious user who first posted mean things on Mateo's social media. I hadn't given up breaking them up though. I had a new plan - something I knew Alex wouldn't like if Mateo tried my suggestion. I could be patient and wait until I saw Mateo again.

"So you two still haven't...?" I asked.

"No and it's frustrating, but also, maybe it's for the best. I rushed into things too quickly with Jason and even though I trust Mateo, taking it slow might still be best for me." He stopped paying attention to the screen and his hands relaxed over the controller as he looked up at the ceiling. Someone in the game killed him. Their character did a little dance as if they were skilled enough to kill this great player that no one had been able to touch instead of Alex just taking a moment to not pay attention.

But with this information I knew my next plan could still work.

"I miss him," Alex said as he refocused on the game. "I'll be glad when soccer season is over. Although, I do like watching him play. They just have too many away games."

"Maybe I should tell my family I can't make it tonight," I said. "We could stay here, order pizza and keep killing people."

Alex gave me a side-eye. "You have to go. Your grandma called to invite you herself."

He was right. I had to go.

We played a little longer before I hesitantly asked, "Have you heard anymore from Jason?"

Alex stiffened beside me. He died in the game.

"He posted part of the video," Alex said. His quiet voice was strained. "Just the beginning when we were just kissing and stuff. He said if I don't pay him by the end of the month he'll post the rest of it."

My hands tightened around the controller and playing the game was now useless. I tossed the controller down on the little coffee table in front of the couch. I almost volunteered to take care of him before I remembered that Alex said he wanted to handle it himself. My fingers trembled slightly with the effort it took to just not do anything to help him.

He put the controller down gently, got up and turned off the game console and the t.v. "I should get home," he said, "and you should go to your family dinner."

I followed him to the living room.

"Have you decided what you are going to do yet?" I asked him. "About Jason?"

Alex nodded, but didn't look at me. "I'm going to go to the police. I'm prepared for the video to come out." He said it, but when he looked at me tears were in his eyes. Maybe I should just take care of it myself and not tell him. But he was correct that if I did, Jason would just come back later to blackmail him again.

I nodded. "When?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Soon. Mateo said he would go with me to the station."

I didn't say anything to that. It was obvious I'd rather Mateo not go with him.

Alex rubbed roughly at the tears that spilled onto his cheeks before he faked a smile. "Have fun at your dinner," he teased.

"Yeah, right," I said.

He left and before I knew it I was on my way to the family house. The leaves on the trees were now turning. Fall was my favorite season for this reason. There was something peaceful about the few weeks of the year where the leaves turned yellow, orange and red. The moment in between when they were green and when they were dead on the ground.

I arrived at the house, saw all the cars in the garage and knew I was the last to arrive. My hands tightened over the steering wheel. It was okay. I would go in, see grandma, have a yummy dinner because Theresa and Priscilla were great chefs and then go home. It was going to be fine.

I stretched my fingers out, but left the palms of my hands over the steering wheel. Then I roughly opened the car door and got out shutting the door loudly behind me. It wasn't on purpose, I was just anxious.

I went in through the front this time instead of going through the back. Everyone was sitting in the living room.

"There's my little brother," Aiden said. Jasmine sat by his side. I didn't know she was going to be there. Conflicting emotions ran through me as I was genuinely glad to see her again, but I also wanted her far away from my toxic family.

She smiled at me and stood to greet me along with my brother. My mother and father sat across from them. My mom got up to greet me with a kiss to the cheek. My dad didn't even look at me. My grandma sat in the large chair by the fireplace. She came over to me after my mom kissed me and hugged me tightly. I returned the hug gratefully feeling true warmth since I had entered the house that evening.

She broke away from the hug and patted my cheek. "Let's eat," she said. She took my hand and led the way into the dinning room. Salmon was the main course for dinner. And it was delicious just as I knew it would be.

I only half paid attention to the conversation around the table. No one engaged me much, except grandma did ask me how school was going.

Dinner was almost finished when grandma cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "You all know I've been giving more and more of the business duties to Gregory over the passed few years," she indicated my father with a slight nod of her head. "I've decided it is time for me to officially retire. Gregory will officially take over the business. This means that, Aiden, you too will get a promotion."

My brother beamed as he sat up proud in his seat. Jasmine took his hand in hers under the table.

"And Vincent," she said to me.

"Yes," I said.

"When you finish school, you will join them."

"Yes," I said. A heaviness pressed on my chest, but Grandma smiled grandly.

Aiden shifted his hand so he could better grasp Jasmine's under the table, but that caused Jasmine's napkin to slip from her lap onto the floor. My brother let go of her hand and bent to retrieve it. He placed it gently back on her lap. She smiled at him. He smiled at her and then it hit me. My brother truly liked her. He wouldn't have dated her if her family's wealth had been less than ours, but whatever reasons he had started to date her now he really truly liked her. The sincerity in his eyes was one I had never seen in him before.

And from the way she looked at him, she really liked him too. How was that possible? How could my brother genuinely like someone and how could they like him back?

Grandma turned the conversation to other things. I didn't understand the strange pressure on my chest. I had always known I would join the business. My path had always been clear. A part of me did not want to work with my father and brother, but another part of me wanted their true acceptance and maybe there was a way for me to prove myself through work. I had always wanted to make Grandma happy and this would make her happy. So why did I have this trepidation?