The Odd One Out | ✍🏼

02. Dread

He didn't trip me over like everyone else or force me to smoke and drink alcohol because he knew I had tried it and seen my siblings do it, and I hated it. It brought the worst out of people, while Phoenix would always make sure not to do it around me.

Even though he would stupidly text me when he was drunk or high, saying he 'loved me' but I never thought anything of it. I didn't know how to feel when someone was drunk or high and had said they loved you.

Sober people didn't even tell me they loved me, so why would someone that was drunk and high say that to me?

"Still not growing?" he chuckled, ruffling my hair as an arm was slung around my shoulders. He usually commented on how short I was, but I knew that it was from the fact that I didn't eat or drink much.

"Yeah, yeah" I brushed it off like every other time, but just one thing wouldn't leave my mind. Of course, he would pick up on that. "What's up with you on this grey morning?"

Only Phoenix would be the one to tell you how the sky was dark or 'not happy' instead of trying to cheer you up. He was a weird one and I was ok with it, because he had stuck around for long enough.

"Nothing" I muttered, bowing my head down slightly so no one would see the few tears that had gathered in my eyes. Even though I wouldn't openly cry, didn't mean that my eyes wouldn't water like everyone else's.

I wasn't that different. It wasn't like I was a completely different person because I didn't cry rivers of tears every time something made my breath hitch or crack my heart further. I had learnt how to toughen up before I had even turned 4 years of age.

I didn't know what it was like to have a motherly hug or a sibling fight. I didn't know what it was like to have your father outside on the porch cooking a family barbeque while you ran around with your siblings.

I didn't know, but sure as hell, my siblings knew it and would continue to prance around like they were the kings and queens of the world. That I didn't matter to them like they mattered to me.

"Yeah sure" he responded. Another thing I liked about Phoenix was his family. He had two older brothers, while he had a baby sister who seemed to like me a lot whenever I visited which could be any time from early in the morning or really late at night.

But Phoenix's parents didn't care, rather just counting me as one of their own. We didn't look that different actually.

Phoenix and I had similar hair colour and we both had small freckles that doted our cheeks and nose. My eyes were cobalt blue, his were like a serene green that any girl would get lost in. The two of us were quite tall and lanky, but Phoenix had more muscle than I did.

Phoenix had nothing compared to his older twin brothers, Atlas, and Theo, who both went to the gym like it was their second home. They were both our school football captains while Phoenix was in line to take it after them.

They felt more like a family to me than anyone.

"T" he nudged me and that's when I realized I had gotten lost in my thoughts once again. It wasn't an unusual occurrence. "Yeah?" I questioned, as I saw the normal school buildings nearing in the distance.

I groaned to myself when I saw this, as I knew the dreaded staring and laughter would fill my ears. I was surprised I hadn't ripped my skin off in a hot shower because of their staring or that my ears hadn't burst from the fake, high pitched laughter that filled the hallways.

"What happened?" and for the first time in a while, I heard real concern filter into his tone. He wasn't a kind or caring person, so I was surprised we had been friends for this long.

"I found my teddy bear ripped to shreds when I got home last night" I murmured, not even hearing myself as the thought itself brought tears to my eyes.

"They'll get revenge one day" I didn't know how soon that day would come.

---

For once in the past couple of days, I had walked home without getting soaked. It made me feel a little more relaxed, but it didn't last for long as soon as the front door had closed behind me, there was two faces in front of my own.

"What are you doing, loser?" Ares sneered on my right-hand side while Helios was on my other side. "Nothing yet" I muttered, trying to take a step forward, but a hand rested on my chest.

"Guess your in for a treat then" I shivered in disgust. The last time they had said that to me, they had made me clean every single plate in the basement, which had been used and left behind to collect dust. There was old food scraps, which they bribed me with if I ever got hungry during it.

I never did, thank God, or I would have vomited then, not when I reached my bedroom, 3 days later. "What treat?" I whispered, as they clamped a tight grip around both of my wrists, as they started to drag me towards the kitchen.

"Nothing to worry about" Helios smirked as he started to drag me towards the voices that were gradually getting louder and louder in the kitchen. I was dreading this.

I was surprised that, nor Helios or Ares were high or drunk off their asses at this moment, and that a vape or cigarette had been forced into my face as I opened the door.

That was all that I was grateful for, but the pit of dread continued to grow in my stomach. What little treat could be waiting for me? Literally anything.

"Ahh, the bratty princess has arrived!" Orion shouted so that all the attention was on me and my disgusting little self that was drowned in a uniform that was more than double my size.

What even was my size? I wouldn't be able to say that to anyone because I had only ever been shopping once, but nothing was bought or even measured for me. I was 5, so I barely remember it, but I remember how I was treated.

Like a lost puppy without a family.

Or, as my siblings told me, a bratty princess, but I had nothing to brag about or be bratty with, so I wasn't a princess.

"Brat, there is a dress on your bed. Wear it. Be ready in 10 minutes" I looked towards Achilles, who I wished would look at me like everyone else, as he leant against the counter, dressed in the same suit while a cigarette hung out of his mouth.

Sometimes, I wished that would kill him, and not be forced down my throat just because I could breathe in clean air. Just because I didn't smoke didn't mean that someone else had to take away my choice whenever they thought I didn't deserve it.

As I felt the grips on my wrist leave, I nodded, making eye contact with each of them, so they knew I wasn't being ungrateful or disrespectful to any of them, not that I even tried. I walked out of the kitchen, hearing their conversations start again, as I dashed towards my room.

I wouldn't be surprised if we were going to a party just so they could try and sell them off to some family that actually cared for their children.

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Do we want an aesthetic for the Angelo brothers? Thoughts? lmk! xx