I breathe in the toxins and look out at the sunset. A car pulled in and I rolled my eyes. I was about to get into lots of trouble but whatever. I took another breath of my cigarette and slowly blew it back out into the air.
The person got out of their car and walked inside the house. I sigh and lean backwards. I may fall. I may not fall. Depends on how much balance I have.
My phone dings, making me look at it. I put it back in my pocket. I took another puff of my cigarette and put it out. I blew the smoke out of my mouth. My phone starts ringing, making me pull it out. I answered it and put it up to my ear.
"Yeah?" I ask, confused.
"Hi mommy." A huge smile broke out on my face.
"Hey baby. How are you?" I ask, softly.
"Amazing. We went out to the park." Demitri says, excitedly. I giggle.
"Yeah?"
"The dogs ran so fast, mom." Adaline says. I closed my eyes.
"I bet they loved it." The line went quiet. I look at the sky. "The stars are out."
"Really?" Demitri got into the stars when he was around 2 or so. So much that I soon got into them.
"Yeah."
"They're so pretty, mom." Adaline says, excitedly.
"I miss you guys." I say, quietly.
"We miss you too."
"We have to go, mom. Dinner."
"I love you."
"Love you too!"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
I sigh and put my phone in my pocket. The front door of the house opened and slammed shut. I rolled my eyes.
"MAEVE! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" Axel yelled, looking at me. I looked at him. "NOW MAEVE!"
"Bossy much?" I mumble, standing up. I looked around. "Uh oh."
"MAEVE! NOW!" I look at him.
"HOLD ON!" I yell at him. He ran a hand through his hair. I went over to where I climbed up on and slowly turned around. I climbed downwards and walked over to where he was standing. "Need something or are you just ruining my night?"
"Maeve, you know how dangerous that could've been if you fucking fell?" He asks, coldly. I shrug.
"Eh. Could care less. I'll be inside after you're done throwing your tantrum." I turned on my heel but he grabbed my arm. "Um, excuse you."
"Maeve, do you know how fucking dangerous that fucking was?" I sighed and looked at him.
"Yes, I do. That what you want to hear? Yes, I know how goddamn dangerous it was. You want me to say I'll never do it again? That'll be a lie." I say, shrugging. "I was fine until you came out and yelled at me. You could've made me fall. It'll be your fault, Axel." His eyes widened and I smirked.
"Maeve-"
"Look dude, I don't care what your rules are. Never really did care for the rules. Anyway as I was saying, I don't care. I'm only here until I'm 18. If I'm lucky, I may be able to leave this godforsaken town on my 17th birthday." I say, smirking. He narrowed his eyes.
"You're not able to do that."
"You can if you know a powerful lawyer. Then, you will never see me again. I'll be like, dead or whatever when you hear from me again." I say, shrugging. His grip loosened and I stepped back. "I'll be inside now. Next time, don't touch me unless you want your goddamn bones broken."
I turned back on my heel and saw the siblings standing in the doorway. I rolled my eyes.
"Great, a crowd." I mumble. I pushed past them and went up to my room.
--
Julian's pov
I watched as Maeve kept bouncing the basketball, like she was lost in thought. After a few minutes of watching, I walked over to her. I grabbed the ball from her hold and shot it at the hoop. She looked at me, eyes wide. I raised an eyebrow.
"Wanna play?" I ask, curious. She didn't answer, her gaze going back to the basketball that kept bouncing by itself. I frown but go over to it. I grab it and her gaze connected with mine.
I knew I fucked up by grabbing it but she's been a bitch lately. She needed to let out that anger and I thought this would be the best way.
The fight early, wasn't cool. Axel had lost a patient from a fall from a roof. We all understood why he went off on her. She shouldn't have said what she said. It took a toll on him. I know Damien was pissed with her because of that.
"You want to play or are you just going to stand there?" I ask, confused. She didn't say anything and looked back at the ball.
We knew she was hurting inside but didn't show it. Not like how Angel or Damien does. Damien takes his anger out on Maeve while Angel doesn't really get angry.
After a while of her staring at the ball, I sighed. I started bouncing it and threw it at the hoop.
"One point for me." I say, smiling.
I was going to get her playing one way or another.
I started playing the game wrong, knowing it was going to piss her off.
After a while of playing it wrong, someone bumped into me, making me lose the ball. She took it and scored a point. She looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
"I know your game and I fucking hate it." She says, coldly.
"Well you're playing. 2 points for you." She rolls her eyes.
"You better play right." She mumbles.
"No promises."
We continued playing, not talking. I could tell she was taking her anger out on the ball considering we were on the second one. She popped the first one by slamming it against the floor again and again.
"I had a best friend, once." She says, after a while. I looked at her.
"Had?" She stopped running and I slowed down. She had the ball. She shot the shot, earning 3 points. She sighs.
"He died a few months ago. Today is the anniversary of it. 4 months." She looked away from me but I could tell tears were forming in her eyes. "I'm the reason why he died."
"What do you mean by that?" I ask, confused. I knew what she meant but I was confused on how she did it. She looked at me.
"He died by wrapping a car around a tree. I was in the passenger seat. I, uh, should've died but I didn't. He did, though. I watched him bled out." She says, shrugging. My eyes widened. "He was pronounced dead at the scene."
"Maeve-"
"Let's just play this stupid game." She mumbles, coldly. She grabs the ball and shoves it towards me. I knew that conversation fucked her up.
We played another round. I pushed her and grabbed the ball, shooting a shot.
"OW!" She whispers, making me look at her. She was clutching her wrist. I quickly went over to her.
"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" I ask, concerned. She looks at me.
"I'm fine, Julian." She says, faking a smile. I touch it, making her wince. "OW! Stop touching it!"
She was about to walk away from me when I gripped her forearm. I dragged her to the kitchen where the others were. They looked at me then at her.
"Why are you- I don't want to know." Axel says, shaking his head. I let go of her and touched her wrist again. Tears welled up in her eyes.
"Stop touching it, Julian. It's fine." She says, putting it up to her chest. They looked at her wrist.
"What happened?" Sebastian asks, getting out of his chair. Maeve shook her head and walked backwards while he walked towards her.
"I'm fine. Everything is fine. Julian is overreacting." She says, shaking her head.
"Then let me see your wrist, Maeve. I just want to see if it's sprained."
"I'm fine, alright? Everything is fine. It's just, it's just-" She stutters. Tears streamed down her face. "It hurts."
"Then let me see it." Sebastian says, holding out his hand. She shakes her head. "Yes, Maeve. Let me see it."
"I don't want to go to the hospital."
"Then let me see it, Maeve." She looked at me.
"Just let him see your wrist."
"But it's fine. Just a sprain." She says, shaking her head. He raised an eyebrow.
"How do you know?"
"Because it's not broken."
"Then let me see it, okay? I won't do anything to it."
"You gotta promise." She says, clenching her jaw. Pain was written over her face.
"Okay, I promise I won't do anything to it." She raised an eyebrow. "Maeve, I promised now let me see it." She looked at the ground then back at him. She soon sighs and slowly puts it in his hand. He was about to put his hand on hers when she pulled back. I sighed.
"No touching."
"Maeve, I have to see if it's broken."
"But it's not. I promise." She says, frowning. He sighs.
"Okay, fine. If you say so." He says, shrugging. He looked at Axel and nodded. Maeve saw the interaction and started shaking.
"Hey Maeve, why don't we go play a game?" Vanessa asks, standing up. She shook her head and clutched her wrist again. Sebastian looked at Maeve.
"What do I have to do if you let us take you to the hospital?" He asks, curious. She tensed up.
"B-But."
"Do you want someone other than us touching it?" She slowly nods. "Then let's go to the hospital." She looks at me.
"If you don't want us touching your wrist, then someone else will have too." She eyed us.
"You only want me going because your going to touch it." She says, backing up a few more steps.
"No, we won't. Let's just go to the hospital so we know it's not broken." She shook her head.
"Maeve, it's either doing that or letting one of us touch it. Which one do you prefer?" Vanessa says, raising an eyebrow.
"Maeve, let's just go to the hospital." Angel says, softly. Maeve lowered her gaze so she was glaring at the floor. After a few minutes, she took her phone out with her good hand and started typing out a text. "Who are you texting?"
"The doctor I want touching my wrist." She mumbles. I furrow my eyebrows and look at the others. She put her phone back in her pocket. "I want ice cream afterwards."
"You got it. Let's go." Matt says, grabbing the car keys.
Uh oh. Some heated moments. What do you think about Maeve sharing her past? Good or bad? There's a lot to it. Just a snippet of it.
Share. Vote. Comment.