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MidReal Story
My Brother's Hot Bestie
Scenario:My brother's best friend is Gabe, and Gabe is really hot, but the thing is, we don’t get along, so I simply never talk to him. Simple, right? No! It's so fucking hard to stay away from him! For one, he's in EVERY SINGLE CLASS with me at school, and he's always with my brother, and they're always at the house playing video games. Another thing that annoys me is when he talks in that deep, tired, HOT ASS voice. God, I hate him; God, I hate how heat pools down there when he talks to me in that tired voice, and all he says is “mmm” and “mhmm.”
One Saturday, I had plans to go to the pool and hang out with my friends. Thank god I wouldn’t have to be around Gabe.
But there was a problem: I couldn’t find my hair tie, and at the pool, I didn’t want to get my hair wet, so I wanted my hair tie. I asked my brother, and he said that Gabe was last seen with it.
I rolled my eyes and went to find him. Did this motherfucker dare touch my stuff?
Then I saw him in the kitchen making a snack, and I saw my hair tie on his wrist… that means one thing…
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Scarlett Harlow
high school student, attracted to Gabe, younger sister of Alex, long brown hair, green eyes, determined and conflicted.
Alex Harlow
high school student and brother of Scarlett Harlow, friends with Gabe since childhood, protective of his sister.
Gabe Weston
high school student and best friend of Alex Harlow, object of Scarlett's attraction, tall with dark hair and deep voice, laidback and unaware of Scarlett's feelings.
I have loved him for so long.
I can’t even remember a time when I didn’t love him.
My heart beats for him and him alone.
The problem is, I don’t think he will ever feel the same way about me.
Gabe Weston is my brother’s best friend.
They met in kindergarten and have been inseparable ever since.
They are now seniors in high school and attending the same college in the fall.
I am only a junior, but next year, I will be joining them on campus, making it even harder for me to conceal my true feelings for him.
"Earth to Scarlett. Are you listening?"
I hear my brother Alex’s voice, bringing me out of my daydream.
My cheeks flush with embarrassment as I smile weakly at him.
"Sorry, I… um… was lost in thought."
He looks at me skeptically.
I know he doesn’t believe me, but thankfully, he lets it drop.
We are at the local coffee shop and he has just finished ordering our drinks.
I slide into the booth across from him, running my fingers along the rim of the cup.
"Two mocha lattes and one iced coffee," the barista calls out.
I seize this opportunity to steer the conversation in a different direction.
"So, have you and Gabe picked your dorm rooms yet?"
I ask casually.
Alex’s face lights up with excitement as he pulls his phone out of his pocket.
"Yeah, we did. We are in room 214."
He shows me a map of the campus on his phone with their dorm building circled in red.
My stomach flips when I see that they will be roommates.
I lean forward, pretending to study the map, but in reality, I am trying to commit it to memory so I know which window might be Gabe’s.
"We’re going to set up a sick gaming station in there. We will have a PS5 and an Xbox," he says excitedly.
I grip my cup tighter at the thought of Gabe sprawled across his bed, controller in hand.
"Speaking of Gabe," Alex continues, lowering his voice slightly, "he mentioned something interesting the other day."
I look up, trying to appear nonchalant, though my heart is racing.
"He said he’s been thinking about someone a lot lately, but he wouldn’t tell me who."
I shrug, trying to appear disinterested.
"Maybe it’s a girl from school?"
Alex shakes his head.
"He said it wasn’t."
I frown, trying to think of who this "someone special" could be.
I am so caught up in my thoughts that I don’t notice Alex get up from the table and walk away until I hear the bathroom door close behind him.
My eyes dart to his phone, which he left on the coffee table.
A message notification pops up on the screen.
I can’t read what it says, but I see Gabe’s name.
My fingers twitch with the urge to pick it up and read the message.
I know I shouldn’t; it’s none of my business, but I need to know who this "someone special" is.
I look down the hallway toward the bathrooms, but there is no sign of Alex.
I know he will be gone for at least a few minutes because he always takes his time in there. My hands are shaking as I reach for his phone.
I unlock it using his password, which is his jersey number.
The messaging app opens right away, and I see weeks of messages between him and Gabe.
And there it is, Gabe's confession, staring back at me in black and white.
I stare at the phone, my fingers trembling.
My eyes scan the chat, taking in every last detail.
It seems he is interested in his swim coach’s daughter, a college freshman I have never met.
I read over and over again the text where he confesses to wanting to take her on a date.
My stomach rolls with nausea.
The sound of the bathroom door opening brings me back to reality.
I shove Alex’s phone back into the exact position he left it, then grab my coffee cup and pretend to sip from it, even though it has gone cold.
Alex drops back down in the booth across from me.
"I’m so stoked to be living on campus. It’s going to be a wild ride," he says excitedly, oblivious to my snooping.
I nod my head mechanically as I listen to him ramble on about dorm life, replaying Gabe’s message in my head.
"Hey, you okay?" Alex asks, noticing my silence.
"Yeah, just thinking about how different everything will be next year," I reply, forcing a smile.
Alex leans back, a teasing glint in his eyes. "You mean like finally getting to hang out with Gabe without me around?"
I smile and nod, trying to pretend like that is what I was thinking about.
Alex’s eyes light up at the idea of me spending time with Gabe.
"Hey, we should invite him to come with us to the beach."
My grip on the cup tightens, causing the plastic lid to crack open and hot liquid spills out onto my fingers.
I barely register the sting.
"Actually, Alex," I say quickly, "I’m going to the beach with my friends from the volleyball team. I think you and Gabe should go together."
His face falls slightly.
"Yeah, that sounds fun too. Maybe we can all meet up there."
I shake my head before he can continue.
"No, that’s okay. You guys go have fun, and I will catch you later."
I shove a few dollars across the table and grab my bag off the floor.
"Hey, you don’t have to pay," Alex says, but I am already pushing through the glass door and out into the bright summer sun.
The door slams shut behind me, and I hear Alex call my name, but I don’t look back.
I walk down the sidewalk, my sandals slapping against the hot pavement.
The summer heat hits me like a wall, but I keep walking without a destination in mind.
My bag bounces against my hip with each step.
My phone buzzes in my pocket - probably Alex wondering why I left so abruptly - but I shove it deeper into my pocket and keep walking.
Two blocks down, I see Gabe’s black truck parked outside the gym where the swim team practices.
I peek through the large windows and see him talking to a pretty blonde girl while her dad, the coach, stands nearby.
I grip the rough brick wall, my nails scraping against it as I watch Gabe lean in closer to her.
Coach Thompson steps away to answer his phone, leaving them alone.
The girl laughs at something Gabe says, and she reaches out to touch his arm.
He doesn’t pull back.
I should walk away, but my feet stay rooted to the spot.
Gabe runs his hand through his dark hair, a gesture I have watched a thousand times across the dinner table.
The girl pulls out her phone and writes something in it - probably her number.
I lean my back against the brick wall, still watching them.
A male voice yells "Hey, watch out!" from inside the gym.
The sound of weights crashing to the floor follows.
Coach Thompson drops his phone and runs inside.
Gabe’s head jerks up, and he pulls the girl away from the windows instinctively.
More shouts echo from inside the gym as people run away from what looks like a collapsed weight rack.
I step closer to the windows to get a better view of what is happening, my earlier heartbreak forgotten for a moment.
Through the glass doors, I see a freshman swimmer pinned under the fallen equipment.
Without thinking, I sprint through the glass doors and into the gym.
The freshman’s face is red as he tries to lift the heavy metal rack off of himself.
Coach Thompson and two other guys try to lift it, but it is at an awkward angle, and they can’t get it to budge.
Dumbbells are scattered all over the floor, and I dodge them as I run over to where Gabe has joined the rescue effort.
His arm brushes mine as we grip the rack together.
"On three," Coach Thompson says.
"One… two… three!"
We all heave at once, and I feel my muscles burn as we lift the metal frame.
The freshman scrambles out from under it, gasping for air.
I step back, shaking a little, and bump into Gabe’s chest.
"Thanks for jumping in," Gabe says, his voice steady but his eyes searching mine.
I nod, trying to ignore the warmth of his hand on my shoulder.
"Why'd you really leave earlier?" he asks, a hint of concern breaking through his usual calm demeanor.
I step back, my shoulder tingling where he touched me.
The freshman sits up, coughing.
Coach Thompson checks him over for injuries.
Gabe’s daughter stands nearby, her perfectly manicured nails pressed to her lips in concern.
I busy myself gathering the weights that are scattered all over the floor and move to the opposite side of the gym from Gabe.
When I feel his eyes on me again, I pretend to be absorbed in organizing the dumbbells by size.
The weight of his stare burns into my back as I line them up with military precision.
"Everyone out!" Coach Thompson yells, his voice breaking through the tension.
"Time for a safety inspection."