Unpredictable

Chapter 17

"Alright, Shay. We gotta get you home."

"I know." I pout and pull back.

"I mean, I love these car rides, but.." Michael trails off.

"Me too." I laugh. "Let's go, then. The house is just around the corner."

"I know." Michael reaches over and tucks a peice of hair behind my ear. When his hand closes in on my face, I flinch a little.

"Shay, what the fuck." Michael says.

I nervously chew on my lip. "What?"

"Why do you keep flinching?"

"I dunno. Reactions, I guess."

Michael just stares at me for a few minutes, then rolls his eyes and starts driving. "I don't like you lying to me, Shay. I just want to be here for you."

"I know, babe. And you are. And I love that, I just don't want to talk about this right now, okay?"

"Sure." He pulls up to my driveway and I grab my bags, climbing out of the car.

"Talk to you later." I say, waving a little.

"Bye, baby girl." He says and I shut the door. He takes off and I go into the house, say hi to mom and dad, then go to my room. I unpack my bag and put stuff where it goes. When I'm done, mom yells up to tell me that family is showing up.

I brush out my hair and look at myself in the mirror. I look a little tired, but I'll be fine. I change from my ratty old t-shirt into a Green Day tanktop. There is a light tap on my door. "Yep!" I yell.

The door slowly creaks open and Luke steps halfway through. "Hey, Shay.."

"Leave." I say immediately, staring him down.

"Are you coming down?" He asks.

"I have to." I push past Luke and go downstairs, giving my cousins a hug. We have a late lunch, then I help mom bring the dirty dishes from the table to the kitchen. She tells us we can go upstairs. All the adults go into the living room and the rest of us go upstairs and into my room. I sit on my bed with my cousins Amber and Devan. Nick and Jordyn sit on the couch, and Allyson sits in one of my chairs.

We all chat and laugh a little, then Luke walks in. I fall silent and glare at him a little. "What are you doing?"

"Mom wanted me to come up here."

"I'm pretty sure your room is across the hall."

"Come on, Shay! It's just Luke. Be chill." Jordyn rolls her eyes and pulls Luke into the room, then shuts the door. Luke sits in a chair. I keep glaring at him, then I close my eyes a little and shake my head.

"Jesus Christ, Shay!" Luke yells, interrupting the conversation going on between the cousins. "I said I'm fucking sorry!"

"We're not going over this right now." I say calmly.

We go back to conversations with the cousins, but things are awkward from then until they leave. Allyson, Jordyn and Devan all leave, so it's just Amber and Nick left. When they leave, Amber gives me a hug and asks me to text her what happens with me and Luke. We have to clean a little, then I go straight to my room.

"Can we talk about it now?" Luke asks, closing my door behind him.

"You never did."

"Never what?"

"Said sorry."

Luke blinks, then sighs. "Well, I am right now. I am sorry, Shay, I didn't mean-"

"Yes you fucking did."

"What?"

"You meant to hit him."

"I wasn't talking about that. I didn't mean to push you."

"I don't care about that! Michael makes me happy, why would you do that to me? And he's one of your best friends!"

"And you're my little sister! I want to protect you, it's my job."

"He's not the one you need to protect me from! And that sure in hell wasn't your damn job when I was with Kyle."

"Of course it was!"

"Well you didn't do a good fucking job. That's not the point, though. The point is you punched your best friend in the face for no goddamn reason."

"I have a pretty damn good reason."

"Oh? And what's that."

"He fucked my baby sister."

"Get mad at me then! It was just as much my choice as it was his."

"I'm not mad at you."

"And I'm not mad at Allie!"

"Allie and I haven't slept together."

"But you're dating."

"And?"

"And she's one of my best friends."

"I'm sorry, Shay."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. Now, leave my damn room." I say, exasperated.

"Fine." Right before he leaves, he turns back. "What did you mean, I didn't do a good job protecting you with Kyle."

"It doesn't fucking matter, Luke. It's over."

"It matters to me."

"That sucks." I get up and slam my door shut.

Luke's POV

"This is Michael Clifford. Leave a message at the-" beep.

I sigh a little. "Hey, Michael. Obviously you don't want to talk to me, since you ignored my call, but I have some things to say. First off, I'm sorry about what I did. I overreacted. Secondly, what did my sister tell you about Kyle? It's important. Call me back."

I sit back in my room and make sure my homeworks done, then I watch some Netflix. About a half hour later, Michael calls me back. When I answer, he speaks. "I'm still pissed off, but I want to talk about this Kyle thing."

"Then talk."

"She never said any names, but whenever I reached for her face, she flinched."

Oh no. "Goddamit!" I yell and throw a book across the room.

"What?"

"Kyle. I should've seen it before. I'm the worst!"

"What is it, Luke?"

"Kyle hit my baby sister."

There is silence from the other line for a few moments. "Where does this kid live."

"No. Shay would kill me if I told you."

"I don't give a fuck."

"I do! I'm already in a fucking hole with her."

"Good point. Why am I still talking to you?"

"Listen Michael, I'm sorry for hitting you."

"You think that's why I'm mad?"

"Well, yeah."

"You're wrong, bro. First, I don't give a shit if she's your sister or not. You should never lay hands on a girl. Second, do you realize how upset you made Shay? She cried for a solid half hour after you left. She just looked so broken, man. Betrayed."

I stay silent for a minute. "You really care about her, don't you?"

"I do."

"Fine."

"Fine what?"

"You can be with her. I won't say anything else about it."

"No offence man, but I'm with her whether you like it or not. She's a part of my life that I don't want to give up."