Last One Standing (wattys2017) (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Sick Of All The Insincere

"Step-daughter, actually. It's Jared's only little girl." Aliyah's forced a smile and made a gesture toward me, "Cally, this is my step-daughter Alexis, Alex, this is my childhood friend Cally Wilkinson." I stood up and took the woman's hand, surprised by how tight her grip was.

"She doesn't look anything like him." a hint of an accent lingered in Cally's voice as she eyed me, "You sure he's the Daddy?" I started to laugh at the bleach blonde's joke, but Aliyah's gave her a look that had it dying quickly in my mouth.

She was giving Cally the look that Lucas gave us when he wanted us to keep something from Dad when he was sitting near by.

"It was nice seeing you again, Cally. But I think it would be best if we got going." Aliyah's voice was sweet as honey, but her eyes looked as if they could burn holes in her old friend. My stepmom grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the room before Cally could go on.

I waited until she had loosened her grip a fraction to tear my hand from her grip and stare at her in confusion, "What the hell was that?"

"Let's just go home and-"

"Why'd you give her that look?" I questioned, throwing my arms over my chest in irritation.

"What look?" Aliyah feigned innocence.

"The shut-up-because-she's-in-the-room-and-not-supposed-to-hear-what-we're-saying look." I dropped my hands to my sides, "Do you forget I grew up with six brothers that were incredibly good at helping me keep stuff from Dad?"

She started to run her hands through her hair repeatedly, her head shaking as if she were trying to shake a thought from her head.

"I can't believe your father hasn't told you." was her response.

"Told me what?" I could feel a strange feeling starting to stir in my stomach, "Aliyah, what's going on?"

"Look, Alex. I'd love to tell you, I really would. But it's not my place to speak to you about it. You need to talk to your father or Lucas, hell, Jason might even know." she perked up suddenly, as if nothing had happened, "Now how about we go get some frozen yogurt?"

*

I couldn't shake the strange feeling in my stomach all day. When we got home, it felt as if everyone was aware of my thoughts. Both sets of twins kept their eyes on me any time I changed positions or got up. The triplets and Griffin all sat on the couch watching some action movie and texting who I could only assume were their summer flings. It was Lucas, who had just popped in for the day, that seemed to be too preoccupied with filling out resume's to care about what I was doing.

Then the shouting match down the hall started and I finally understood why the boys all had their eyes on me.

Dad and Aliyah were fighting because of me. They had gone almost eight years without having a true argument, and now they were having a screaming match in their bedroom.

"Hey, you want to go out by the pool?" Luke offered, rising from the chair across the kitchen table.

"I'm good." I whispered, trying to focus on reading my magazine again. I winced when my father's voice rose to a point that my brothers paused the movie in the living room.

"Lex, let's go pass around the ball." Jace stood this time, waving me over, "If you say no, I know it's just because you're afraid you'll get your ass kicked again."

"Again?" I snapped, "The only reason you won last time is because Toby tripped over his own shoelace."

"Fine, if you're so confident, let's go play." He grabbed one of his footballs from the closet, "If I win, you'll have to take up my chores for the rest of the summer. If you win, I'll do the same."

"Dude, I'm totally in." James grinned, joining his twin with his own confident look. I tossed my magazine back on the table and nodded. If there was one thing I learned living with eight brothers, it was to never back down from a challenge or competition.

"Let's head out and choose our teams." the boys all followed us out to the yard, already starting to choose a side. Ethan, Eliott, Luke, and Mason had stuck by me, while the triplets and Ash, and Griffin stayed together.

"You want me to give you Ash as a peace offering? You know, so you'll have one more than us and not feel so bad when you lose?" Jace taunted, lips curving into his signature smirk.

For a fraction of a second, I was actually a little scared. I was playing against my football player older brother and best friend. My brothers also weren't the smallest people in the world. The fear subsided when I saw Luke nodding out of the corner of my eye, peeling his shirt over his head and tossing it aside.

"Ready to lose, sweetheart?" Griffin moved so he was blocking me, his eyes shining with amusement. I closed the gap between us and smirked when I saw Jace frowning over Griff's shoulder.

"Be prepared to hand wash bras and panties for the rest of the summer, Griff." with that, I started to back toward my team, forcing myself to look more confident than I felt.

"Everyone understand the rules?" Luke cupped his hands around his mouth, "No tackling near Alex or pulling her hair, that's just wrong, alright?" my brothers all rolled their eyes at the oldest Harrison boy before nodding.

"We're going to win this." Eliott whispered in encouragement behind me, "Even if it's just to piss off Jace."

We all turned our attention to each other. Somewhere inside, I heard a door slam shut loudly, but I pushed it out of my head and tossed the ball to Jace.

"Let's play!" 

***AN***

Hope you guys enjoyed! 

What do you think it is that Alex's father is keeping from her? 

Let me know what you guys thought! 

~ChasingMadness24