Cruel Me

Chapter 43: 23

"Holy shit."

All heads turned to Alfie. He was staring wide-eyed at a distance, before his eyes locked with mine and he nodded to the direction of the parking lot.

My eyes followed where he was pointing at and – The fuck?

I blinked, even rubbed my eyes for good measure. But nope, still there. I couldn't fucking believe it. Lo and behold, my family was here.

At least, Annabelle and Clyde were.

What, did they think I was dying or something?

I felt someone shove me from behind. Before I could glare to whoever the fuck pushed me, my siblings were right in front in my face.

"Did someone die?" was the first thing I asked.

Annabelle hid her snort of laughter behind her perfectly manicured fingers. Clyde, on the other hand, flashed me his usual deceiving smile.

"We're here to cheer you on, little brother."

I looked at him skeptically. "Riiight."

"Where's your cute girlfriend?" asked my sister, looking around.

I caught a hint of uneasiness in her eyes, while her body shifted like this place didn't bring too much happy memories. To anyone, they wouldn't notice a damn thing. But I've been close enough to Annabelle to tell whenever her tough façade cracked.

The fact that she endured whatever the hell it was that made her uneasy, just to see me . . . Well, that was kinda sweet.

My eyes traveled to the people climbing out of their parked cars and heading to the entrance of the stadium, taking my time before I had to answer my sister.

When I looked back at her, I finally spoke.

"We broke up."

My sister's eyes snapped to me accusingly. "What did you do, you little twerp?"

Clyde kept quiet as he continued to watch me. I sighed and rubbed my face, not in the mood to talk about it.

"She wanted some space," I said lamely, wishing to hell she'd drop it.

"You know," started Annabelle, shifting her feet, "I heard about how she clung to you that night."

My eyes flew to Clyde, who stared back at me with an indifferent face. Of course, he just had to tell our sister. The fucker couldn't keep anything to himself.

Annabelle stepped forward. "She didn't stay back like she was disgusted by you. As a matter of fact, I heard it was as though you were her lifeline."

I didn't answer. I had nothing to say.

"Chin up," ordered Clyde. "She'll come back to you."

I eyed him. "All of a sudden, you approve of her?"

The corner of his mouth turned up. "It's not sudden. It took time. But I realized she was the only one who managed to bring out the man in you." He shrugged. "I have to respect her for that," he added, slapping my shoulder.

"And Diana?"

"Truth? I highly doubt it." He flashed me a knowing smile. "But since when did her opinion stop you?"

A crooked smile stretched across my face.

"Anyway," exclaimed Annabelle, clapping her hands once like the cheerleader she used to be, "let's head inside and watch the game – You better win, Oz."