Chapter 10: The Anger
1102 Words
Owen had always been quiet about his parents.
It wasn’t a subject he brought up.
If someone asked, he gave short answers.
If someone pushed, he changed the subject.
Even Ethan and Riley knew better than to keep asking.
But there were days when the past found him anyway.
That afternoon was one of them.
The three of them were leaving school when a boy from another class bumped into Owen.
“Watch where you’re going.”
Owen stopped.
“I didn’t do anything.”
The boy laughed.
“Sure.”
Ethan immediately stepped forward.
“Leave him alone.”
The boy looked at Owen again.
“Why? Does your little brother need you to fight his battles?”
Owen’s jaw tightened.
Riley noticed.
She had seen that expression before.
“Owen,” she said quietly.
He didn’t answer.
The boy shoved him.
That was enough.
Owen pushed him back.
Hard.
The boy stumbled into a bench.
Everything happened quickly after that.
A teacher came running.
Ethan grabbed Owen’s arm.
“Stop.”
Owen pulled away.
“Let go.”
“It’s over.”
“No, it isn’t.”
His voice was different.
Angry.
Raw.
The teacher separated them and sent everyone involved to the principal’s office.
By the time Mrs. Parker arrived, Owen had barely spoken.
She looked at him.
Then at Ethan.
Then Riley.
“What happened?”
Ethan explained.
“He pushed Owen first.”
Mrs. Parker looked at Owen.
“Is that true?”
He nodded.
“You still pushed him back.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Owen stared at the floor.
“I don’t know.”
But he did.
He knew exactly why.
The anger had been there for years.
He just didn’t know where to put it.
That night, Owen sat alone in his bedroom.
He stared at an old photograph sitting inside his drawer.
His parents.
He barely remembered his father’s voice anymore.
His mother’s face came more easily.
Then came the memories he hated.
Rain.
Headlights.
A police station.
Adults speaking in low voices.
Someone telling him they were gone.
And the question that had followed him ever since.
Why didn’t you save them?
He clenched his fists.
A knock came at the door.
“Owen?”
Ethan.
Owen wiped his face quickly.
“What?”
“Can I come in?”
He didn’t answer.
Ethan opened the door anyway.
He sat on the edge of the bed.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re lying.”
Owen looked away.
Ethan stayed quiet.
After a while, Owen spoke.
“I get angry.”
“I know.”
“I don’t want to.”
Ethan nodded.
“You don’t have to be ashamed of it.”
Owen swallowed.
“Sometimes I don’t even know what I’m angry about.”
Ethan didn’t pretend to have an answer.
He simply sat beside him.
After a moment, he bumped Owen’s shoulder.
“Then when you don’t know what to do with it, come find me.”
Owen looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because I’m your brother.”
Owen’s eyes lowered.
The anger was still there.
But for the first time that night, it wasn’t the only thing he felt.
Outside the bedroom, Riley stood in the hallway.
She had heard enough to understand that Owen was carrying something none of them could fix for him.
She quietly walked away.
Inside, Ethan stayed beside him.
Neither boy said anything else.
Sometimes, being there was enough.
The next morning, Owen woke before his alarm.
For a few seconds, he didn’t remember the argument at school.
Then it came back.
The shove.
The teacher.
Ethan pulling him away.
The look on Riley’s face.
He sat on the edge of his bed and rubbed his hands over his face.
He hated losing control.
It made him feel too much like the boy he had been before the Parkers found him—a frightened child who didn’t know what had happened to his parents and had nowhere to put all the fear inside him.
A knock sounded.
“Owen?”
Riley.
He looked at the door.
“Come in.”
She opened it slowly.
“You’re awake.”
“Yeah.”
She sat beside him.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then she asked, “Are you still angry?”
Owen thought about it.
“A little.”
“At him?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Riley studied him.
“You don’t have to tell me.”
Owen looked at her.
“Tell you what?”
“Whatever you’re thinking.”
He gave a small laugh.
“You always ask too many questions.”
“I know.”
She smiled.
Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar.
“I brought you this.”
Owen stared at it.
“Why?”
“Because you look miserable.”
He took it.
“Thanks.”
Riley stood.
“And because Mum said you have to apologize at school.”
Owen groaned.
“I know.”
“You should.”
“I will.”
She reached the door, then stopped.
“Owen?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re not a bad person because you get angry.”
He looked at her.
“You’re just Owen.”
She left before he could answer.
He stared at the chocolate in his hand.
It was such a small thing.
But somehow, it helped.
At school, Owen found the boy from yesterday before their first class.
He walked over.
“I shouldn’t have pushed you.”
The boy looked surprised.
“Yeah.”
Owen nodded.
“I was angry.”
“I noticed.”
Owen almost smiled.
“So… we’re good?”
The boy shrugged.
“Yeah.”
Owen walked away.
Ethan was waiting near the classroom.
“You apologized?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
Owen looked at him.
“You sound like Dad.”
Ethan grinned.
“Someone has to.”
Riley appeared between them.
“Are we going?”
Ethan nodded.
The three walked into class together.
Owen still felt the anger somewhere inside him.
He knew it wasn’t going to disappear because of one conversation or one apology.
But now he understood something.
Anger didn’t have to control every decision he made.
And when it became too heavy, he didn’t have to carry it alone.
He had Ethan.
He had Riley.
He had a family.
For the first time, Owen wondered if that might be enough to help him become someone different from the boy he blamed himself for being.
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