Her Substitute Groom

“Are you going to continue like this, Connor? You are really not going to stop?” Chase’s voice resonated in the room, filled with anger as he glared down at Connor who didn’t seem like he gave a damn. The ground was littered with cigarette ash and butts and he didn’t seem like he was going to stop even though he was on the eighth stick.

“I’m talking to you, Connor. You are driving me nuts and I can’t take this shit anymore. Are you seriously going to be like this? You are going to get yourself killed at this rate,” Chase spoke again as he snatched the cigarette from him and threw it on the ground. He further matched on it, putting out the fire.

“Say something to me, Connor. You can’t keep being like this,” Chase went to sit on the bed with him, but he stood wordlessly and walked out of the room without sparing Chase another glance, and he sighed.

“Where the hell do you think you are going, Connor?” He sighed when he stepped out of the house and found Khan standing in front of his room like a guard.

“Get out of my way, Khan. I need to go out…”

“Go out to do what? Smoke your life away or drink your fucking self to stupor all in the name of clearing your head? Are you for real, Connor?” Khan blocked his way and spoke angrily.

“That’s not your business…”

“Of course, it is my business. You are my friend for fuck’s sake. My best friend, the only family I have. At least if you don’t give a damn about your life, you should think about the people around me…”

“There’s nobody around me! Everyone abandoned me. My parents, my girl…”

“What about us? What about me and your brother? What about Claire that’s going to go crazy if something should happen to you?” Khan yelled at him, and he breathed in deeply and out.

“Out of my way, Khan…”

“You would have to force me away, young man. No way I’m letting you out of this house to go mess yourself up. It’s not going to work,” Khan said to him, and he sighed.

“Ugh!” He groaned frustratingly as he ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

“I just want to leave this place… I just want to get the fuck out of this house and breath…”

“Connor…”

“I feel suffocated here. I need a breathing space… I need a place to clear my head,” He uttered with a sense of frustration in his voice as he crashed against the wall.

“Let’s go to the mall, and from there, we could go to the park together, and maybe to the cinema. You can clear your head by visiting those places,” Khan suggested, and he sighed. At this point, he didn’t have a choice but to agree with what he said.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

Khan dragged him out of the house and to the parking lot where they hopped inside the car and Khan drove them out in his car. Allowing Connor to drive the car was the last thing he would do. Not now that he wasn’t in his right state of mind.

“Do you have your credit card with you? I didn’t bring mine,” He asked Khan.

“Yeah. I brought it,” Khan replied to him, and he nodded.

The ride to the mall took pretty much time before they arrived, and they pulled over at the parking lot of the biggest and most popular mall in LA, The Venice Boulevard Mall.

“Should we go to the bookstore after we leave here? Reading books especially novels can help one clear his or her head. I’ve tried it before, and it helped me,” Khan suggested as they advanced toward the entrance door, but Connor just scoffed and rolled his eyes. He wasn’t a fan of reading regardless of the type of book. It just doesn’t flow for him, and he was never planning to force it. Well, that was not a good idea for someone like himself.

“I’m not interested,” He replied to Khan bluntly as they walked inside the mall after the door rolled open.

The sweet fragrance and the scent of different things welcomed them.

“Come on, let’s go to that section and check it out,” Khan held his hand, but he yanked Khan’s hand off and stepped away from him.

“What do you think you are doing? Holding hands with me in public, are you crazy?” Connor freaked as he glared at Khan.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“You know this generation. They are going to think we are fucking gays. That’s the last thing I would want anyone to think of me,” Connor replied to him as he tucked his hands inside his pockets, and Khan scoffed.

“Whatever! Come on, let’s go,” They proceeded to take a walk around the mall, picking a few things on their way even the ones they didn’t need.

Connor’s ringing phone pulled his attention, and he checked the screen to find that it was Claire calling him.

“Excuse me. I need to take this call,” He excused himself and walked away from Khan.

“Hey! What’s up?” He said on the phone as soon as he answered the phone.

“Good morning, bro. Did you sleep well?” Claire’s voice sounded from the other end, and he sighed briefly.

“Good morning, princess. Yes, I did. You?” He forced a smile. No way he could tell her he didn’t sleep well, right? That was the right thing he’d ever do.

“My night was messed up. You won’t believe Dad made me stay in the same house with some guy. He said the dude is his friend’s son. Ugh! It’s so annoying,” She ranted, and Connor’s eyes darkened.

“What! He did what? Why would he do something like that?” He huffed angrily as he tightened his fingers around his phone.

“I don’t know. He doesn’t look harmful, and if he tries shit with me, you trust that I can always handle things,” She stated.

“Call me if anything happens,”

“Of course, I will. I just called to say hi to you. I’ll be resuming school tomorrow,”

“That’s good. I went to the mall with Khan. We came to get something. I’ll call you back when I get home,” He uttered, and silence reigned on the other end.

“Are you there?”

“Ye… yes, I’m here. Alright. Let’s talk later then,” The call disconnected immediately, and he sighed. He bit his lip as he stared into space.

‘Janice’ her name rang in his head, and without thinking twice, he dialed her number but just like before, it didn’t go through.

“Did he have to cut me off just like that? I never did anything wrong to her, did I?” He mumbled and scoffed. Turning to go back to Khan, he collided with someone and the things the person was holding came crashing on the floor.

“Sorry,” He just mumbled and started to walk away when he heard the angry familiar voice.

“You should look where you are going. You just messed these up for me,” He stopped on his track and raised one eyebrow when he heard the familiar voice he’d recognize even if he was ever in a coma.

“Janice?” He whispered. So low that he barely heard what he said. Slowly, he turned around and his jaw dropped to the ground when he saw the young lady squatting on the ground and picking the things that were littering the floor. Her face wasn’t visible as she was busy picking the things up, but he could swear on his life that the person was really Janice.

Connor found himself walking back to her. His legs were weak and could barely carry him, but he managed to walk over to her. Slowly, he squatted in front of her, his hand trembled as he reached for her face and touched her cheek.

“What are you…” Janice’s voice trailed off and her heart sank into her stomach when she raised her head angrily and her eyes met with Connor’s.

“Janice?” He managed to call her name, and his mouth dropped open…