Define Trying... Read online

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  “Dad!” Breslin screamed as he sat up in his bed. He had the same nightmare almost every week. He would be sitting in the car with his dad, and they would get hit by the truck.

  He could never get the car accident that took his father’s life out of his head. It was becoming so frequent to the point to where he started writing down the number of times he had the dream. He was up to twelve.

  His father passed a little over two years ago, and with him died every ambition Breslin had.

  Freshman year, he was on it. AP classes, football, journalism, he just couldn't be stopped. Now he was a high school junior, he was supposed to be a senior, and didn't truly know where he belonged. And after a year away, he was back in Clearveil. Back to place that held all of his memories. And the place that held most of his pain.

  He didn’t want to come back, but his mother, Elise Eliot, wasn’t listening again. She managed to get there old home back, and she wanted things to return to normal. Or whatever was left of normal that they could get to. She was going to force him to go to Clearveil Academy. Be normal. Fit in. She didn’t have time to be his constant guardian anymore. He had to learn how to take care of himself.

  “Whatever.” Bres whispered to himself as he rolled over and closed his eyes again.

  He would rather feel the pain than be awake in this town; he was starting to like the pain.

   

   

  Starting

    

  “Heaven’s gates won’t open up for me…”

  Savin Me by Nickelback

   

   

  “Get up!” Elise screamed at Bres while throwing the sheets off of him.

  The yelling didn’t break his slumber, but the cold chill did. Jerking upwards, he managed to make sure the rest of his body was covered. “The hell?”

  “Do you want to fail? Again?” He heard her say as she was heading for the door. He sneered at her and slammed his door.

  After two years of moving around, lots of things tend to change.

  Breslin Darcy Eliot had gotten taller, for one. Elise lost weight. The death of her husband made her look at least ten years younger. However the front door of the Eliot’s family home still sounded like a police raid every time someone knocked on it. Today being no exception.

  Bang Bang Bang.

  Bres ignored it at first.

  Bang Bang Bang.

  Giving the door a tug, it gave way to a skinny blonde with a huge smile.

  “Slugbug” Avalon Clark screamed as she slammed her left fist into Breslin’s right shoulder.

  “Ouch Ava.” Breslin said as he rubbed the bruise that was starting to form. “There are no beetles around here.”

  “Not necessarily.” She redirected as she pointed to her yellow 2011 Volkswagen on the street in front on Breslin’s house. “So are you going to invite me in or do I have to stand outside all day?”

  “Sorry, come in.” Breslin said as he stepped aside.

  Avalon’s smile hadn’t changed. Avalon’s laugh hadn’t changed. She was the same girl that used to pick on Breslin in elementary school. The same girl that Rory and Bres fought over constantly. The same girl that both of them ended up losing in the end.

  “Are you here to beat me up for not telling you I was back?” Bres said while closing the door behind him.

  “I should.” Ava started.

  “But?” He said as he tried to fill the silence.

  “But nothing.” Ava said as she hit him again. “So what were you doing anyway?”

  “Writing.” Breslin said as his eyes automatically began to roll. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

  “Don’t get smart with me.” Ava quipped while punching him again. She really missed this boy. But before she could explore that thought, the glimmer of a shiny notebook caught her eye.

  “Oh I remember this,” Ava said, picking up the book. “You probably still haven’t written anything in this.”

  “I’ve tried.” Bres cut in. “Just waiting to get my second wind.”

  “Or you’re first.”

  “Hey I’m working on it.”

  “Come on Bre-Bre, this book isn’t going to write itself”

  Breslin chuckled a little bit but his facial expression gave away how he truly felt, as it always did. And like the great friends she was, Avalon picked up on this without even trying.

  “I’m going to kill it.” She said as she closed the notebook.

  “Kill what?”

  “Whatever did this to you? Was it a girl?”

  “Why does it have to be a girl?”

  “When isn’t it a girl?” Ava says as she sits down on the couch next to Breslin.

  “It really has nothing to do with any girl anywhere. Well beside my mother.”

  The second Elise’s name entered the conversation, Avalon backed out of it. “I’m not getting involved in that one; she hasn’t like me from the start.”

  “She just doesn’t understand us.” Breslin said as he slung his bag over his shoulder. “So are we gonna do this thing or not?”

  “After you.” Ava said as she followed Breslin out of the door.