Generation 2, Chapter 1

I sat on my bed in my room at the frat house, my absent mind completely forgetting that Samantha was over and hadn’t left yet as she gathered her clothes from the floor. Her presence was known when she cleared her throat sarcastically as she stood behind me, but I didn’t bother to look over at her.

“Hello? Earth to Jason! Are you going to call me later?” She wondered and I rolled my eyes without her knowing.

“Yeah, yeah,” I replied casually, stretching my tired body and Samantha sighed heavily behind me.

“That was real convincing, Jason,” she said sarcastically and I quickly grew angered.

“Get off my ass, I said I would. Don’t you have class or something?” I asked with an irritated tone, already annoyed with her nagging and wanting her to leave.

Samantha grabbed up the rest of her clothes quickly and made her way out of my room, “You’re such an ass!” She insulted before shutting my door harder than I would’ve liked her to.

It’s been years since the explosion at the house. The explosion consumed my parents room, Hitomi’s, and also Anya and Julia’s room that they shared. The fire spread rapidly, eventually taking my room as well and the firemen managed to finally extinguish the flames before the fire spread across the grass to Arnica’s barn. I never saw Archor again after that day..

Hitomi ended up marrying John and is a pretty well known Composer, although she’s been taking a break from that to take care of their daughter, Helena. Anya has a boyfriend, but nothing serious so far; another doctor that works with her at the hospital and she’s on her way to becoming a successful surgeon. Julia has no idea what she’s doing with her life; she doesn’t have a boyfriend and is always on the search for jobs. I feel a little sorry for how shitty her life seems to be. Julia and I took our parents death the hardest, while Hitomi and Anya, though still mourning their death as well, live successful lives and manage to get by seemingly without a struggle.. I’m a Junior in college, trying to get my Business degree and I’m surprised I’ve made it this far.. My grades are always bad and I’m always surprised when I get my report cards back telling me that I passed to the next grade; I barely make it by every time. 

Running clears my mind a little, helps me forget things and helps me calm down whenever I’m feeling stressed or angered; which is quite often, if I’m honest.. I don’t exactly have the best temper management. The worst days I have are when I think of my mother. When they investigated what caused the explosion, I overheard the firemen talking to Hitomi while Anya, Julia and I sat in the back of an ambulance. He told her that the oven was leaking gas, and something in the living room triggered everything to ignite. The more and more I thought about what he had said; I remembered when Hitomi and I were rushing out of the house to see Archor with Anya and Julia, I smelled something strange, and when I forced myself to remember more, I could’ve swore we had passed a candle holder with lit candles.. My mother would’ve never been so careless about something as serious as leaving candles burning, let alone leaving the stove on.. The firemen said that it looked like someone did it on purpose. From that moment on, I was convinced my father was behind it all, and I knew in my gut that he tried to kill himself and take us all with him.. Why? I still have no clue..

Even though I skipped class, the University seemed rather empty today; no one walking around, no study groups sitting in the grass, no hacky-sack sessions that I occasionally would join in on while on my runs.. Nothing. It was kind of nice. The silence was rare and soothing, it made my run more enjoyable. I was getting to be rather popular within the campus; some people found out about what happened to my parents and rumors spread, and I was even a little famous because of my mother and how well known she was for her paintings. My phone was filled with almost all girls, the only guys in my contacts were the guys from my frat house and a few friends around the campus; the ones around campus weren’t really friends, though, I mostly used them to get discounts on things and get into bars easier than everyone else. Right now I’m seeing Samantha, but only so I can get at her younger sister, Bettie; she was the cuter one.

My frat house threw the best parties by far. We would only invite over a few cool dudes we knew and the rest would be ladies; it was normal for the ratio to be one guy to every three girls. Getting into fights was nothing new, either, although a lot of guys tried to steer clear of us. We sometimes had party-crashers that would find their way into our parties and they needed to be dealt with, especially whenever it came down to them talking to the girls we invited over. I guess we were the most rebellious frat house out of all of them, but still the most known; and sometimes feared. 

When I got back from my run, I noticed Dean at the table on his laptop, probably looking at porn instead of studying like he should be doing judging by the stupid grin on his face; his grades were surprisingly worse than mine. He had almost the same personality as me, though less successful when it came to hitting on girls. I think he had a self-esteem issue.

Auturo was in the kitchen, looking at the books on the shelf and he stopped his browsing to look at me and give me a sarcastic stare.

“You skipped class again today, didn’t you?” He asked and I rolled my eyes, though he couldn’t see behind my sunglasses. Out of the four of us that lived at the frat house, Auturo seemed the most out of place, but I liked his attitude and he was smart, so whenever I needed him to help me with school, he would help me. He was a dick about it, about a lot of things, actually, but it impressed me that he was able to focus so well on his schooling and he even brought home chicks that I never thought he could get. He just seemed to fit in here.

“Shut up, today’s class wasn’t even important,” I replied with an irritated tone.

“You know that’s why you fail sometimes.. Your attendance matters for some classes, in this case, this one matters. But, you missed it. Again,” he continued to knock me and I continued to grow annoyed. 

“Don’t piss him off, Auturo, he hasn’t got laid in almost 9 hours so he’s testy,” Dean teased in his smooth southern accent and I lightened my mood a little, Dean and I chuckling and Auturo only grew more weary.

“I’m just looking out for you, you shouldn’t miss this class again. Try to remember to go. Finals are in two weeks and if you miss this class two more times, you’re going to fail and you won’t pass this year,” Auturo warned and I rolled my eyes once more, though Auturo now could tell I did from the rest of my faces expression, “Fine, don’t listen to the straight A student,” he finished.

I smiled and patted his shoulder as I walked to the fridge to get something to eat, “Well, thanks for looking out for me, I think I’ll be okay though. The teacher has the hots for me anyways, she wouldn’t fail me after all the attention I’ve been giving her,” I replied with a smile, walking to the microwave and heating up my meal.

Auturo sighed in annoyance, “Ugh.. I don’t even want to know what you mean by that,” he replied and I laughed once more, Dean laughing as well before going upstairs.

“Where’s Sabastian?” I asked, wondering where the fourth member of our pack was.

“I don’t know, probably in class, like you should’ve been today,” Auturo pressed on and left the kitchen. I sighed once more and grew irritated quickly, but he was already out of the room before I could bicker with him anymore. 

I ate my meal alone, my mind going absent as I blindly ate my food only to refuel myself even though I didn’t even have an appetite. 

I took a shower after my meal, brushing my teeth, gussying up and trying to look presentable as I contemplated going out to the bars tonight. I stood there fixing my hair and trying to make it lay how I like it; how I know the girls like it. I tried to remember this morning, thinking of what Samantha asked me to do, but the longer I tried to think about it, the less I cared to figure it out and I shrugged it off, deciding to completely wipe her from my mind.

The more I looked at myself in the mirror, the more I resented myself. My brown hair is one thing that I hated the most and I had even broken a few mirrors in the house when looking into them, my mind forcing me to think of my father and sometimes getting so upset that I lash out and punch the mirror. The only thing that I liked about myself was my eyes, I was thankful to have received the best part about my mother’s many perfect features. She had always been so beautiful, even as she aged, and she always had this angelic glow about her. It amazes me to think back to when I was as a child; the mere sight of my father enraged me, but whenever I looked at my mother, it was always a complete mood change and she made me happy again. 

I don’t have any pictures of my mother, no pictures of the family at all were salvaged from the fire. The only thing that we kept was all of my mother’s favorite paintings that were stored in the barn; I brought a few to my frat house to decorate with, but I leave my favorites and the rest of them at my house back at home in the city. It pained me to look at them sometimes, but it also made me tranquil; my mother always painted such beautiful, colorful things that anyone could stare at for hours without getting bored. She could project such powerful emotions in her paintings, all of them different and unique in their own way. I noticed that Sabastian had finally gotten around to framing them for me like I had asked, which made me smirk slightly since they looked even better now.

My mind went blank as I starred at her paintings, but my phone started to ring, wondering if it was Samantha calling to yell at me for something stupid, but I was surprised to see that Hitomi was calling me. I let it ring a few times while trying to think of why she would be calling me. I sighed and my insides twisted a little, knowing now what she was calling for and I answered it after about six rings.

“Yeah?” I answered.

“Wow, nice greeting, asshole..” She began and I rolled my eyes.

“Wha’d you call for?” I asked.

“Wow, no ‘hey, how are you, haven’t seen you in almost a year?’ ” She asked in an irritated tone and I only grew less amused.

“Hitomi, come on, you do this every time you call this time of year..”

“Then why’d you ask why I called?”

I sighed in frustration and didn’t answer, soon hearing Hitomi sigh as well on her end before continuing.

“It’s the anniversary of their deaths soon.. You know we always go to their graves together,” she finally answered and I stood there for a moment, thinking about what she just said and I hated visiting our parents graves with my sisters; I liked to go alone..

“Yeah.. I know. I don’t know if I’ll make it on the day, though.. I have finals coming up in two weeks, too..”

“You always have finals around this time and you always give me an excuse! I’m not stupid, Jason, your finals are over a few days before the anniversary. Just say you’ll be there, okay?” She pleaded and I sighed heavily, “Please, Jason? It would be really great to see you,” she continued and I hesitated for a few more long seconds.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I replied.

“God, Jason, you can be a real jerk sometimes.. Mom would be really disappointed,” she added and hung up on me, my heart sinking into my chest and Hitomi always knew how to get under my skin and get me to do what she wanted..

After collecting myself and getting rid of thoughts about my mother, I left my room and came out to Dean playing pool by himself in the living room.

“Aye! Come on now, join me,” he said in his twang. I wanted to go out, but then again I didn’t feel like it anymore after my phone call with Hitomi. 

“Yeah, why not,” I replied with a grin.

“Yeah, that’s the spirit!” He replied happily and started a new game for us.

“You ready for finals?” Dean asked and I chuckled.

“Hah! Hardly.. I’ll just get Auturo to give me the answers from his finals before I take mine, we have a lot of the same classes,” I replied and he laughed.

“Yeah, that was kinda my plan too,” he teased and laughed softly, “So who was that sweet lil’ number that left your room this mornin’? Samantha?” He asked. I could tell he was thinking dirty thoughts about her, seeing as she stormed out of my room half naked this morning and everyone probably got a good look. I didn’t care in the slightest that he was thinking about her like that, though, I didn’t care about her.

“Yeah, Sam still.. Getting to her sister is harder than I thought. She never invites me over so I can maybe chat with her a little, and we don’t have any classes together so it’s hard to get any face time,” I replied and he chuckled.

“Bettie’s goin’ to be hard to get regardless.. You could count how many guys she’s been with using one hand,” he answered and I cocked my brow.

“The chase is what makes it all worth it, my friend,” I added and we laughed together.

“I’ll still never understand how you can keep track of all them girls. At least ten a day try to get your attention and you’re able to juggle it all, makin’ it look so easy all the damn time,” Dean complained a little and I snickered.

“Not all of us can be gifted when it comes to the art of romancing,” I replied matter of factly, Dean’s face getting slightly sour but he couldn’t help but shrug, agreeing with me slightly, “Feel free to go after Sam if you want,” I offered and he looked intrigued, but soon shrugged that off, too.

“Nah, I don’t want your sloppy seconds, man. Maybe I’ll just go for the untainted-by-Jason Bettie,” he threatened with a grin and I grew angered instantly.

“Back off! I got dibs, I’ve been working on this forever it seems and I won’t let you ruin it.. Not like you even could, anyways,” I reply with a warning tone.

“Hey, now, I was just messin’, you don’t have to be a jerk. You know I wouldn’t butt in,” Dean paused, “Not unless she came on to me first,” he continued and I let out a genuine laugh.

“Hah! Yeah, like she would ever do that..” I teased back and Dean grew irritated.

“‘The hell’s that supposed to mean?” He asked with a short tone and I chuckled.

“Calm doowwnn, I’m just messin’,” I repeated his words back to him and he kept his frown, moving on then to a more sensitive subject.

“Well.. There’s always one of them three sisters a’yers, I for one have noticed the way that lovely little Julia looks at me.. And Anya? Phew!” He teased and my blood began to boil, giving him a death stare before I took my shot.

Dean then held his hand up and acted as if it was Julia, “Oh, Dean, you’re so cute! I wanna do all the things in the world to you!” He continued in a girly voice, then began making kissing noises as he kissed the ‘mouth’ he made with his hand. 

“Dude.. Shut the fuck up before I beat the living shit out of you,” I threatened, only needing to do it once and Dean soon got the picture, securing his hands around his pool stick again and deciding that it was best not to continue on.. He just saved himself a world of hurt; had he mentioned Hitomi as well, knowing that she was married and even had a kid, I would’ve really lost it.

“So.. What r’ya gunna do after your finals?” Dean changed the subject, though it was just another thing I didn’t want to talk about. 

“Going back home for a little bit probably.. Maybe for the summer, I’m not sure how long yet,” I replied, taking my shot and missing my chance to make the orange ball in. I sighed heavily after I missed; I was usually really good at this, but my mind was a little distracted at the moment as I dreaded the thought of going home.

“You don’t seem all that excited. How long has it been since you’ve seen your sisters, anyhow?” He wondered and I pondered for a moment. 

“I don’t know.. I haven’t seen Anya since I started college.. Haven’t seen Julia in two years, and I saw Hitomi last year. A lot has changed, with me and all of them too.”

“Why do ya go home every summer? Why don’t you just chill here since you make it seem like you dread goin’ there every time?” Dean suggested.

I sighed, waiting for Dean to take his turn, “It’s.. Kind of a tradition for us all to visit my parent’s graves on the anniversary of their deaths.. I usually try to avoid them and visit my parents alone, though,” I reluctantly replied, knowing he would only pry more if I avoided the question.

“Oh, I’m sorry, man.. Must be rough,” Dean said with an uneasy tone and I shrugged, acting like I didn’t care about going there.

“Eh, it’s whatever.. Only gotta do it once a year, so it’s not that big of a deal,” I replied with little care and he shrugged, believing my lie and my mind began to wander. I miss my mother so much.. The pain I feel whenever I thought about her is hard to endure, especially now knowing she was murdered by my father.. I hope she didn’t feel anything, I hoped and preyed that she was fast asleep, unable to comprehend even for a second what was happening to her as she was engulfed in the flames..

I manage to last until our game is over to hold my composure and as soon as Dean wins, I excuse myself to my room where I bury my face in my pillows to help hide my pathetic, gentle sobs as thoughts of my mother refuse to leave my mind for the rest of the night. Even after all these years, it’s still difficult for me to move on.