Later that Afternoon
ANASTASIA'S POV:
Ambush.
A surprise attack by people lying in wait in a concealed position.
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I should have expected the ambush my biological brothers had forced my way, but I didn't. I thought over the two years I had been gone they would have matured enough to know when I needed to be left alone.
They hadn't though.
They definitely had the upper hand this time.
But this time was the last time, because I finally snapped.
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"Yeah, no kidding. I am more than ready to go pick up my babies and cuddle with them before having to work for a little while." I smiled happily at Luke.
Luke, Jamie, and I had our last period together, and we're currently walking to the cars where we'd be meeting the rest of the group. Our teacher for last period, decided to let us off ten minutes early and we were able to leave the school right away, letting us get a head start on the rush of student traffic that would be making its way throughout the halls very shortly.
Luckily, in the last class of the day I only had one brother to deal with, and that brother was Nathan.
Nathan understood I wasn't ready to talk with my biological family yet, and so he didn't push me into having a conversation with him. Jackson and Mason, on the other hand, tried cornering me every chance they had when we somehow had the same classes as each other. Matthew was the same way.
I truly love my brothers, always have, and always will. But that didn't mean I was ready to be around them in the slightest.
Honestly, I probably could have gone the rest of my life without seeing them ever again and I'd totally be okay with that. Though, from my brothers reactions I could tell they most definitely would not be okay with that.
"So, who gets the babies this afternoon after you hang out with them for a bit?" Jamie asked curiously, as we stopped at her locker.
We had already stopped at my locker and Luke's locker, grabbing all of the things we'll need for tonight. Luckily most of our teachers decided to not give us any homework, considering that today was the first day of school.
All I had to do this afternoon was standard work for the company and gang: signing documents, looking over plans, budgeting, making phone calls, and possibly having a few last minute work meetings. That would take a few hours to complete, but after that stuff is finished I'll be clear to do whatever I want this evening.
"Uh, isn't it yours and Kayla's turn?" I asked Jamie.
"Today's our day?" she asked in shock.
"Yeah." Luke laughed at her confused face, "Keep up, slow poke."
"I am not slow." she huffed, "Tell'em Ana."
"She's not slow." I agreed, "But yes, Jam, it is your turn today."
"Okay, thank you for reminding me politely and not being an ass about it." Jamie smiled at me before turning to glare at Luke, who raised his hands in surrender.
Suddenly the loud blare of the bell, releasing the students for dismissal rang out in the hallway.
"We better get going." Luke stated as we watched the once empty hallways fill up with hundreds of students.
"Yeah." I agreed, "We better."
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Taking less than a step out of the school building, a familiar voice shouted from behind me, "Miss Wolp, you need to stop for one quick second."
It was Matthew.
I sighed heavily, wanting to ignore him, before deciding to turn around and behave. I'll have to talk to them at some point, and we'll need to start the conversation at some point, so why not now?
"Yes, Mr. Smith?"
"Matthew. You'll call me Matthew out of class, Ana."
"Anastasia." I said, "You'll call me Anastasia, you have no right to call me by my nickname. That's reserved for the special people in my life. You are not one of those people."
"Anastasia. I'm going to need you to follow me. Leave your guard dogs here though, please." Matthew told me nervously.
I scoffed as my friends placed fake-offended looks on their face, "So you find them scary, intimidating, maybe?"
"Uh, yeah, I do." Matthew admitted, "Now please follow me."
"Fine." I spoke before looking towards my best friends as I instructed them, "Meet me by the cars. Don't leave without me and if I take longer than fifteen, come looking for me."
"You got it boss." Jamie spoke, a tone of concern hidden under the seemingly innocent joke.
If people knew that I actually was her boss-
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Walking through the once again, almost empty halls, Matthew and I were stuck in an awkward silence. I didn't know what to say and neither did he, that much about this situation was clear.
Finally, we made it to Matthew's classroom that I had first walked into this morning.
Matthew stopped, "Just so you know, James is in my classroom. He was near by today, he had a case, so he decided to stop by for a second. And then he heard you were back, and we all agreed that it was only fair he was here too when we talked to you."
"Fair?" I scoffed, "You wanna talk about fair? Nothing you all ever did to me was fair, yet I put up with it. You're forcing me to have a conversation with my abuser, that's not fair and you are honestly a terrible person for doing so. It's my decision to talk to the person who mainly abused me for years on end, you don't make me do anything. I came here out of my own free will, I hope that's clear. And for the record at any point in time, if I want to leave, I can and will, nobody will stop me. Understood?"
"When did you start talking back to people?" Matthew asked, shock covering his face.
"When I finally freed myself from the cage you all trapped me in." I replied, "I was finally able to unlock my true potential, I was able to realize that I was worth so much more than you let me believe. I believed that I was trash and didn't deserve anything." I told him, my eyes saddening slightly as the memories whirled around my head, "Now, I know what I deserve, and how you treated me was not how I deserved to be treated. I deserved back then to be treated like a princess, but now I deserve to be treated like a damn queen."
I talked with confidence, my voice not breaking, cracking, or wavering. I've discussed inside my own head what I would say to them for years, yet none of that is coming out. I thought I would swear at them and try to get even, in anyways possible. I never once thought I'd be the more mature one in this situation.
That thought didn't even cross my mind. I guess I had wished that they would completely grow up and out of their stupidity. I was proved wrong though, and now I'm required to be the mature one. It was always me that had to be mature. Somethings never change in this toxic family.
"Now." I continued, "Open the damn door. I'd like to get this over with. I have things to do, places to be, people to see."
Matthew only nodded his head, not bothering to reply verbally. His hand hit the doorknob gently, and memories flashed before my eyes as my hands slightly shook, my palms and forehead got sweaty, my eyes zoned out, color splotches popping up in my vision, my heart rate raised, my heart feeling like it would beat out of my chest at any second.
A panic attack.
I wanted to run, everything inside of me said to run away, to leave because these people had hurt me for years on end with no remorse.
But the stronger, braver, newer part of myself refused to let myself bend and break so easily. So, in the moment, I stood tall, breathing deeply, trying to will the panic attack away. Matthew was completely oblivious to my inner turmoil, opening the door, and ushering me in, before following behind me himself.
I knew self-defense now. I wasn't defenseless. I would never be put in the same position fourteen year old Ana was.
Sixteen year old Ana had the weight of the world on her shoulders, but she basked in it, she thrived in it, and whenever certain parts became too much she'd confide in her closest companions, her best friends, her family.
Sixteen year old Ana wasn't alone anymore.
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My eyes wandered around the room I had stood in only this morning, Nathan was looking regretful, upset, and guilty. Jackson and Mason, both held a sadness to themselves, alongside regret. Matthew was regretful, guilty, sad, and overall seemingly miserable. James, looked put together on the outside, but from the small signs his body language showed, I could easily see that he was regretful, sad, and guilty.
I sighed lowly.
I really did not want to be here right now.
"Alright, I'm here." I crossed my arms over my chest, "Are you gonna talk or what?"
"Ana, I real-" James began before I cut him off.
"Anastasia." I spoke loudly, sending a glare his way, "You will call me by my full name Anastasia, unless I tell you otherwise."
"Anastasia." James began again, with a loud sigh leaving his lips, "I'm glad to know you're safe. I know you probably don't believe that."
"You're right, I don't believe you." I shrugged my shoulders, moving to lean against the wall.
"And you have more than enough reasons to think that. I also know that no matter what I say, it will never change what happened, what I put you through. But I'm hoping from the bottom of my heart you'll forgive us all, and thing will eventually go back to normal. I mean, you'll be coming home with us tonight and everything, which is a huge step in itself-" James spoke before I once again cut him.
"Come home with you?" I questioned, "Hell no. I won't be doing that."
"You're a child." he scoffed, "Where could you be living that's better than our home?"
"On the streets." I retorted before laughing.
"In all seriousness-" I spoke after a moment of my laughter resonating throughout the room, "My adoptive parents were loaded, I've got a job at the moment, and I live in what some could possibly consider a frat house. I've got more than I need, and none of that comes from any of you."
I let my words sink in for a moment before continuing, "And let's get another thing straight. I don't need you, I've never needed you. I have everything I need in my life, I have my family by my si-"
I was cut off my James, "Your family? We're your family."
I let out another laugh, this time in disbelief, James hasn't changed too much, though his anger is much more in control. I'll give him that.
"Family is not about blood. It's about who's willing to hold your hand when you need it the most. The Wolp's, Crylin's, and Daniels' families are my family for that reason. And that's the exact reason you're not." I told him, anger seeping through my voice as I glared at him again.
"Family is blood, little girl. And it would be a good thing for you to remember that. We were there." James spoke and I shook my hand, my body stiffening as I prepared for a possible fight.
We were both getting angry.
But for once, I wouldn't give in.
I would fight.
"You were never there." I shouted, "None of you were there. I lost my parents too, I was a child, and even if I wasn't, I was a human! I deserve respect. You James, took your anger out on me. Jackson and Mason, they followed in your foot steps. Matthew stayed silent, drowning in his own fears that he would suffer the same fate I did. And Nathan? He was confused, tried to stay by my side, yet eventually left when the path got too hard to follow. None of you were there! But they were."
My chest heaved heavily as I pushed oxygen in and out of my lungs, trying desperately to not cry, as I caught my breath.
Everything was silent for minutes on end, the only sounds being the odd sighs coming from my brothers and my labored breathing.
Finally, I shrugged before looking at my brothers in slight confusion and despair, tears clouding my vision, "You know what?"
They stared at me, not breaking eye contact, as I continued, "I will never forget how badly you all fucked me over, but I'm tired of hating you all. Quite frankly, it takes up too much energy, so just please give me the time I need and I promise someday we'll eventually have a relationship with each other."
A small smile overcame each of their faces before I continued yet again, "But that won't be for a long time. I may be tired of hating you all, but that doesn't mean I won't hate you if I need to. I can work on my forgiveness towards you, if you show me you can work on improving yourselves more so than you already have. I see the differences, but before I forgive any of you, I need to know that this won't happen. That I won't get into screaming matches because I refuse to bow down to you. You are not my superior nor my boss, you are simply an acquaintance that I am related to. We are nothing to each other."
And without waiting for a response, I walked out of the room not bothering to look back.
They may have ambushed me, but I won that battle.
And I couldn't have been prouder of myself.
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Author's Note -
Here's the thirteenth chapter of "Run-Away Little Sister: Hurting". It's definitely different than the original version, Ana won't be giving into having a relationship with all of them so easily, but I think that fact makes it so much better than the original.
Let me know what you all think about this chapter. And make sure you all comment, vote (by clicking the star), and share this story with those who might like it.
Thanks for reading!
-michaelaloveswriting
Original Version Published: May 15th. 2019
Edited Version Published: June 26th. 2022