Watch Your Temper

Chapter Twenty-Two: One Giant Ball of Bravery

         All hell broke loose.

The unidentified wedding crashers fled the scene, and all of the guests rose to their feet to try and get a better view of the chaos erupting around us.

My dad, eager to catch the sneaky culprits, leaped off the make-shift stage and tumbled into the canopy tent. One of the pegs sprung up from the ground, and the entire thing collapsed on the people, like a big white blanket. Lauren lost her balance when he shook the stage as he left, and tripped on her dress. She flew backward, landing right in the fountain. A few little kids started to screech and whine, and the wedding party ran to help the bride. I noticed Jack and Ronnie scurry away, into the protection of the house. I whirled around, and grabbed Beth's wrist.

"What's going on?!" she cried, as I pulled her out of the havoc and toward the gate. I kicked it open, but froze when I heard a voice.

"Let go of my sister!"

A million alarms went off in the back of my mind as I tried to comprehend my thoughts, and my nerves all stood on edge.

"G-George?" I stuttered, noting how weird it felt on my tongue to speak his name again.

"Are you deaf? I said let go of my sister!" he repeated, his cold voice dripping with venom.

"Stop!" I protested as he ripped her hand from mine.

"Look, I don't care if you're technically my step-sister now. I don't want to have anything to do with you. You're a player, and I want you to stay away from my little sister," he spat.

"What? What the hell are you talking about? Look at yourself, Mr. Arbing. Just because I moved on and made a friend doesn't mean you can hate on me for it! You happened to be getting awful cozy with Zoey the same day we split! Don't be a moron," I argued, flailing my arms around.

"I wasn't getting 'cozy' with anyone! I'm not allowed to make a new friend, too? You did, so why can't I? You're being quite possessive for an ex-girlfriend," George countered.

"You idiot!" I cried, tears springing to my eyes, "Apollo's only my second favourite guy," I hollered, faltering on the last bit.

"Oh, yeah? Is that so? Then who's your first?" 

"You really don't know?" I whispered, dropping my arms to my sides.

"No! I really don't know!" he yelled.

"It's you," I squeaked.

"What?" he roared, and I realized he must've not heard me.

"It's you! It's you, you idiot! It's you, okay?!" I screamed, my voice becoming hoarse.

"What?" This time, his words were much more gentle, and the volume was lowered substantially. I knew he had to have heard me, though. Regardless, I repeated my thoughts.

"It's you," I coughed.

It was true.

Before he started acting like he was now, he was actually the most sincere, sensitive guy I'd met. My gaze flickered back to his face, inspecting his reaction. His mouth was ajar, and his hands were in fists. His expression was unreadable, although his hazel eyes gave everything away.

"Temper, I--" he started, reaching out to me. As much as I yearned for a make-up and make-out session, I was kind of unofficially with Apollo now. I hated drama, but I had to make a rash decision.

"I'm sorry, George. I'm leaving," I mumbled, shoving his hands away and opening the gate. I let it click closed behind me before leaning against  the wall of the house and closing my eyes for a moment. I breathed deep... and heard grunting.