Ruedelia's Repose

T W O

She seemed like she wanted to speak, but I gave her zero opportunity to do so.

"Your first mistake was thinking you had any right to be in Oliver's presence and touching him without his consent. Your second was believing you knew anything about the nature of my relationships with these guys as you so graciously called them, and your third was talking to me crazy."

Alana shrunk back a bit, almost unnoticeably so, but I'd noticed, and I wasn't done.

"I know you like attention, honey, and that's understandable, so I don't fault you for that. It's okay to want to feel important, but that's the difference between you and me. Within this friend group, I am important, you just want to be.", I reminded her, and that's when the smile finally left my face.

"Go find yourself some people who actually want you around so you don't have to result to sexual assault to get the attention you crave so much."

Alana's eyes watered and she blinked, then went to say something, but I held up my hand. "If you ever touch anyone in this room that I care about without their expressed consent again, I will end you.", I warned. "I know some sick shit about you, Alana. So I'd be very careful if I were you. None of us want you or any of your little cheerleader friends here, so I suggest you leave.", I finished, and, with that, she stood and practically ran out of the room.

I shuddered as I attempted to contain myself, and I felt Tommy reach past Oliver to rub my back when he realized I was having trouble calming down.

Hakeem came over to sit in front of me, lifting my chin so he could look me in the eyes. "You good?", he questioned gently, and the hidden meaning behind his words—the question he was really asking—was obvious only to our inner circle.

I nodded. "Yeah.", I confirmed. "She just-"

"I know, Rue.", Hakeem said, stopping me from explaining myself.

Everyone that mattered to me knew why it was such a big deal for me when people acted the way Alana had.

Why did she think it was okay to touch Oliver like that?

Why did she think that my relationship with the guys was some kind of beg for attention?

People were so quick to jump to conclusions about me and my life despite knowing nothing about either, and it was one of the single most infuriating things I'd ever experienced.

I'd heard that I was a whore my brothers were selling to their team mates and to their friends on the football team. I'd heard that I was heavily involved with selling drugs and that the reason I didn't interact with people was because I was trying to keep a low profile, but none of that was true.

The truth was that, my last year of middle school, I'd been attacked by some older guys after volleyball practice—brutally.

The event had scarred me in more ways than one, and just when I thought I could recover from their abuse, they tried again a few months later. Right behind the school where they'd cornered me after I'd tried to escape.

After the first attack, I'd began carrying a knife to school with me out of paranoia, and I'd ended up using it that day. Those events had generated the only true rumor I'd heard since I'd began high school, and that rumor was that I was a murderer.

I was a traumatized teenage girl with social anxiety and I struggled with my bullshit every day. I was so quiet and withdrawn and kept to myself because I wasn't comfortable living the way everyone else was.

I had anxiety attacks if I wasn't careful and sometimes they just happened out of no where. Most times, I thought so much about how I was feeling that I didn't feel anything at all.

That intellectualization is what made me so cold and emotionless most times, and the only people that got me out of that were the guys.

They knew how to make me feel better when I felt helpless and scared and weak, and I loved them for it. That's why the negative things people said about them and me hurt me so much. They were my saviors—my protectors.

But no one understood.

No one.

No one, no one, no one-

"Hey Rue, baby, you're okay."

I blinked and realized that Tommy had taken Hakeem's place, and that everyone other than the people I was comfortable with had left the room, much to my relief.

A tear slid down my face and I sighed.

I'd had another freeze attack—where I looked fine outwardly, but internally I was freaking out.

Tommy held my face in his hands and smiled lovingly at me.

"Hi Thomas.", I spoke quietly, and he grinned and stood with me wrapped up in a bear hug that was nice at first, but then Tommy began crushing me and I groaned. "Oliver help!", I cried out, trying my best to escape the death grip that was slowly squeezing the life out of me.

I heard Oliver laugh quietly before he got up and latched himself onto Tommy's back.

"You're crushing our girl.", he mumbled, his face buried into Tommy's neck, and Tommy released me immediately.

I landed back on the couch with a soft thud and craned my neck to look around Tommy and over at the pool table sitting across the room from us.

"Hey guys?", I called.

"Yeah?", they all asked collectively, and I fought a smile as I stood and walked over to the gaming side of the room.

"Wanna play for cash?"

They groaned. "No way!", Milo said.

"You always win!", Jace complained, and his cheeks grew warm when he realized I was looking at him.

I smiled. "Fine, Jace.", I rolled my eyes. "Do you wanna just play with me instead?", I teased.

Milo snorted when Jace's face turned a deep red, and Jordan made an annoyed noise. "Rue!"

I sighed and waved my hand dismissively as I began to set up the pool table.

"Don't be such a square, Jay."

He sighed but didn't say anything else. He knew that it was just friendly teasing, but his brotherly instincts made him susceptible to action before thought when it came to Hakeem and me.

"Tommy? You wanna come get your ass whooped in pool?", I offered.

He pouted. "No, not really."

"Aww come on! Please?", I whined, making my puppy dog face.

Tommy tensed. "Rue, that isn't fair. Stop with that face.", he said, but I persisted.

I needed to beat someone in pool.

"Please?", I said again, but this time I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his body, resting my chin on his chest.

He sighed, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed my forehead gently, about to give in, but just as he opened his mouth to tell me he'd willingly lose to me, Silas spoke up.

"I'll play with you."

Tommy's eyes shot up, as did mine, and we both looked at the quarterback.

"You will?", I asked, surprised, and he nodded.

"That's what I said.", he replied and I grinned.

"Say less."