Tamed

Chapter 1: The Truth

1 YEAR EARLIER

I groggily sat up in bed. It was a warm Friday in the middle of May. The sun was high in the sky and the birds sang their happy songs. "Shut up!" I screamed at the blue jays and robins.

I decided to finally get out of bed after 20 minutes of just laying there and get ready. I grabbed a pair of ripped black jean shorts and a white tank top that read "Sassy is my best skill" in bold, black writing.

I took a quick shower and put on my clothes for the day. I dried and curled my hair into loose waves. I put in a black headband and slid on my red Converse. I swooped on my eyeliner and swiped on my mascara. I had done my makeup like this so many times, I could do it in my sleep perfectly within 10 seconds. I choose a daring red lipstick and was satisfied with my overall look. I grabbed my school bag and glided down the steps. "Hey little monster," I said to my little brother as I ruffled his hair.

"I'm not that little any more Alexia. I mean, it is almost my 15th birthday." my brother, Nick, stated, annoyance obvious in his voice. I sighed and nodded. My little brother who I loved with all my heart wasn't so little. I grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl, my wallet, my keys, and of course, my iPhone. "Ready to go?" I asked Nick and he nodded.

We got into my silver Ford Focus and drove out of the driveway. I glanced at my brother and he was looking out the window, obviously in deep thought.

"Hey," I tried to get his attention. "Hello? Nick? Whatcha thinkin' about?" He didn't answer at first. He simply looked at me, his eyes sad and miserable. This of course worried me since he was always the outgoing, sweet, happy, energetic kid. I took one hand off the wheel to put it on his shoulder. He looked away from me and instead looked at his lap. He shut his eyes and simply said, "Watch the road."

I re-focused my eyes onto the road but still kept my hand on his shoulder. After about a minute of silence, he finally spoke. "I don't wanna go. Why can't I stay home for forever?" His eyes were still closed and I thought I saw a silent tear roll down his cheek but I didn't say anything about it.

"Why don't you want to go to school, bud?" I questioned. As a teen, of course it wasn't really my responsibility to get too deep into my brother's life but since our parents were not really stable in our lives, I took over the parent role a couple of years ago when Nick was 13.

"I don't want to go because of them." He whispered. I raised one eyebrow questioningly and he finally looked up at me. He saw my expression of confusion and opened his mouth to explain. He then shut it, trying to find the right words. I parked the car since we were at his school but didn't tell him to move or get out because I wanted to know what was troubling my angel of a brother.

"Remember a couple of years ago how some kids teased me a bit? Well, I've been lying since. They never did stop like I told you they did. In fact, it has only been getting worse since. I just don't think a weak person like me can take much more." He murmured so softly, I could barely hear him. Another silent tear rolled down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away, hoping I wouldn't see. He swiftly grabbed his bag and got out, slamming the door once he was fully outside. I didn't know whether to follow him or get to school. Against my better judgement, I headed over to our local coffee shop to grab my Peppermint Mocha before heading to school, like I had done for last half year.

~~~~~~~~~~AFTER SCHOOL~~~~~~~~~~~

I went to pick up Nick from school. I got into the parking lot, unbuckled my seat belt for no apparent reason, and looked around, trying to find him. I finally saw him, trudging over to my car with his hoodie covering his face. He got into the passenger seat and buckled in. He kept his head down and I knew that the bullies had done some damage.

"Nick....what happened?" I questioned, trying to be as light and kind as I could. I didn't want to make him angry or upset. He just took in a shaky breath and let out an even more shaky exhale. He finally lifted his head and took off the hood of his sweatshirt. I gasped at his swollen, purple, and black eye and all the scratches that tore up his once-perfect face. I reached out and touched his cheek that had the most scratches. He hissed and jolted backwards. I apologized and immediatley reached for the medical kit in my glove box. I cleaned his face and put some cream on his scratches. I didn't have an icepack so he would just have to wait till we got home. I put away the medical kit and buckled myself back in. I drove silently, speeding just a bit to get my younger brother home so I could give his face the proper attention it needed seeing that the medical kit didn't have everything I needed.

Hey guys! I've finally got past my writer's block and now have an idea of where I want to take the story! I will definetly update more now so stay tuned! Once I finalize some stuff with my schedule, I'll try to give you all a schedule for when updates will happen. Hopefully, I can update once a week ish, if not every other week. But until I finalize my schedule, updates will be whenever I can fit it in to my hectic schedule!

If you guys see any mistakes, please kindly point them out!

Don't forget to comment and vote! It gets me motivated and makes me want to write more.

Love you all,

Lindsey

P.S.- Aren't you so proud of me? I wrote a total of 1085 ish words! Yay!!!!!

P.P.S.- I know that in the picture on the chapter, she isn't wearing the same clothes as in the story. I just wanted to show you guys what I imagine Alexia to look like.