High School Never Ends

Arriving home, I could smell something cooking: it smelt good. I walked into the kitchen, to see Austin stood at the cooker whilst rocking out to Green Day. Struggling, I tried to hold in a chuckle before it got the best of me and I burst into laughter.
“What the hell? Where did you come from!?” Austin exclaimed, startled
“The front door.” I giggled
“I’m, uh, cooking dinner, care to join?”
“Sure. We need to talk.”
“Yeh.” Austin nodded in agreement
Austin laid dinner on the table and we sat down to eat.
“Do you not eat or something?” Austin laughed
“What’s that supposed to mean!?”
“You’re eating pretty fast.”
“Food always tastes better when someone else cooks it!”
“Oh. Eh, mom’s not doing any better then?”
“N-no…” I slowed down. “I’ve been taking her to those therapy sessions but I don’t think they’re doing her any good.”
“How you doing for money?”
“Best we can, I guess. Auntie Liz sends about $500 a month, plus your $150. It’s pretty good.”
“I’m sorry, Aria.”
“I know you are… I’m sorry too. I should have been more civil. You’re all I’ve got left, Auntie Liz doesn’t visit anymore.”
“She stopped?”
“Yeh, didn’t give me a reason. She just didn’t turn up but kept sending the money.”
“Why in the hell would she leave her sister to just… Waste away!?” Austin yelled angrily
“Austin! She’s not! Look, I don’t need her! Mum doesn’t need her, alright? Drop it.”
“Sorry.”
“What’s the plan then?” I asked
“What do you mean?”
“Well, how long are you staying?”
“As long as you need…”
“How long are you really staying?”
“Aria, I’m serious! I can’t leave you and mom like this!”
“That’s not what you said when Paige died.”
“Don’t go there!” He growled
“I have every right to go there! Look Austin you disappeared without any notice. You never called, nothing. I know it was hard, but you ran away. Mum left me. She’s not really here and I don’t know how to get her back without Paige!” I choked out
“Aria… We’re gonna figure this out. I fucked up big time, but I wanna make it up to you.” He trembled. “I love you.”
Quickly, I stood up and wrapped my arms around him. He hugged me back tightly. Nobody had told me they loved me since Paige’s funeral. I hadn’t seen any other family since then. I hadn’t had any real friends and the ones I’ve got now don’t love me. It’s only been two weeks.
About an hour later, once me and Austin had finished talking, I decided to call Mike: I needed to get my mind off of things.
“Hey, Aria?”
“Hey! Look, are you free?”
“Eh, why?”
“I just wanted to get out of this house: I need a breather, y’know?”
“How about you come to a gig?” He beamed
“Whose gig?”
“Mine.”
“Yours?”
“We’ve been through this! Remember when I wanted to go to that bar but everybody kept telling me we wouldn’t pass for 18?”
“Oh, yeh. I never got back to you about that, huh?”
“Well, we’re in a band!”
“Who?”
“Me, Vic, Jaime and Tony. You wanna come?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Great! We’ll drop by in about 15 minutes.”
“Alright. Thanks, Mike.”
“No problem, see ya!”

Notes