I heard a distant sound, like a police radio almost, but it was shouting my name. I tried to ask what I did, tried to seem innocent but no matter what I did my name was being shouted over and over again. Then I felt a push, a shove and a tickle and my eyes shot open. Ugh. It was just Colton trying to wake me up from my beautiful slumber... I groaned at him, looking all smug. The beeping continued and I took the alarm and slammed it on the ground, feeling it deserved that. Colton scoffed and pulled my arm up, making me stand on my own two feet.
"I have to be on time today. So get moving." He ordered. I couldn't speak so I just wandered into the bathroom, getting ready for another boring day.
Once my hair was straightened out and my face looked less like death I tugged on my white converse and grabbed my backpack. I ran downstairs, almost tripping over my own two feet. Colton was waiting at the door with his arms crossed, foot tapping like an impatient idiot. I was amused and bit my lip to hide it, he clearly wanted me to be worried about his anger but it did not do the trick. I just shrugged at him and sat down slowly at the counter, peeling an orange and letting him stare at me. Liam was reading the newspaper and Zack was on the phone with some cable guy. I just slowly and precisely peeled at my orange, waiting for Colton to blow. I tried to hide my smile when I looked at Liam and said.
"Liam, did you read anything interesting in there?" The minute Liam looked up Colton groaned like a little girl. I swear he almost stomped his foot. I put my hands up in surrender as Liam looked at us confused.
"Ryann clearly I am waiting to leave. I have been standing by this door, waiting for your tiny ass to be an adult and stop playing, I have to go to school." He was trying to be all mature while he said this, clearly not understanding how dumb he looked. I laughed a little.
"Oh that was you waiting for me? I'm sorry Colton..." I burst out laughing. "I am not gonna to lie, you really looked odd with all that tapping and pouting. I thought maybe you were just goofing around or putting on a show?" Even Liam chuckled, trying to hold it in. Colton slammed out the door and I tried to follow him before Zack grabbed my arm.
"Give that teacher your letter. Promise me that you will give it to him and be nice today?" I swallowed, almost forgetting about that. I kissed him on the cheek and told him I did before running out after Colton and his issues.
To be completely honest, I truly did not want to give this man my letter. No matter how clever it is, it feels so unjust, so unfair and incredibly in his favor. Of course, I would most likely put it right under his door and hope no one is inside. I will give him the letter Zack, but you never said I had to place it in his hand and watch him read it. Maybe if I am lucky, Mr.Ugly will lose the paper or someone will misplace it and forget to hand it to him, because perhaps I slid it under the wrong door, or who knows what can happen with such a small piece of paper. I am one hell of an evil genius.
At my own risk, and discretion, I left my last class of the day, knowing full well I still had that letter in my pocket. It burned there, reminding me of that stupid man. I had chemistry today, but alas, I felt a little faint and ended up going to the nurses office for the exact time that his class lasts. I walked in at 12:45 and walked out at 1:35. Was that suspicious? Yes but sometimes that nurse is not all there, like today, when I literally walked in, Said "my stomach hurts" and laid down to sleep for 40 minutes. There were no questions, no notes, no calls. I even got a note out of it too that said where I was for his class, I knew he would ask too. That stupid monster of a man.
So that is what leads me to where I am right now. I avoided it all day, pretended it wasn't there, but now. It just had to be done with. I was supposed to be in the bathroom too so I had to make this quick to avoid another detention... Wouldn't that be a fun time? I weighed my options, walked past multiple different doors, until I knew what I needed to do. It was risky, but it was worth it. I listened in at Mr. Miller's door, it sounded empty, the lights were on, I knocked. No response. I tried the door knob and then walked in slowly but also terrified. I ran to his desk, almost tripping, I groaned and stuck the letter under all of his papers, under all his files, just hidden away where he would not find it. This way, I put it on his desk, but he was just too disorganized and misplaced it. Not my problem you filthy animal. I realized where I was and quickly ran out, closing the door quietly, it slammed so loud and I swear I had a heart attack. Please do not be watching me on a video camera right now. With that, my job was done, I ran back to my class and pretended like it never even happened.
Once school was over, I felt relief being able to just simply walk out to practice knowing I had nothing to hide from my brothers. I had this cocky air about me now, knowing that he would never find the letter and that I somehow did what they asked of me at the same time. I won this round, boys. Ooh I really should not even be thinking like this, if that came out of my mouth, the horror. I tried to tone myself down, I was still in the doghouse. I was walking out to the soccer field with everyone else, passing Colton and his stupid football buddies who decided today they were going to run right by the field. Just almost parallel to it. Oh how I despised that boy. Jax was setting up cones in the distance and I tried to pretend like I did not see Colton warming up, staring at me laughing. I told myself to keep walking, that he did not matter, that he was an infant. Until he decided to try and piss me off, flipping me off behind my back, somehow finding that humorous. I, like the amazing strong woman I am, continued to walk, breathing very deeply. Out of nowhere, he actually, and I mean actually, runs into me, shoving me down with my soccer bag, and chuckling out a sorry while he runs away. I groaned loudly on the ground and Jax looked up at me.
"What are you doing? Get up." Jax shouted from across the field. Oh wow, was my blood just a boiling pot of soup right now. Colton laughed again, and so, I slowly got back up, picked up my bag and pretended to be over it. I put my bag down by the sidelines, and then... Charged him. I knocked him right to the ground, putting my shoulder right into his gut. I praised myself while he groaned on the ground, not quite angry yet. I stood up, looking down on him.
"Oh sorry Colton, I did not see you there. I was simply running by and must have shoved you by mistake. Have a good day now." I spit next to his head and began to walk back to practice, my pride just through the roof. That is until I felt him get up and come over to me, smirking. He was about to push me but I moved out of the way.
"Don't worry about before sis, it happens. It looks like Jax wanted us to practice with you guys today though, so I will see you out there kid... Oh he didn't tell you? Yikes. Bye." Him and his gang ran off towards my team and I stood there, stunned. What. The. Actual. Fuck. He was not allowed anywhere near me while I was playing any kind of sport or game where a winner is involved. I swear this was what a doctor genuinely ordered, it was a rule, something everyone knew... I breathed a bit and stormed towards Jax.
"Jax dear... So lovely interaction I just had with my big brother over there. He is so mature isn't he, just wise beyond his years." Jax laughed not looking up from his notebook of plays. I coughed.
"Now, I don't want to be a snitch but Colton did just shove me down to the hard ground with his bony body. He did not apologize either, just went off and laughed with his friends, but, you know, I am not trying to tell you what to do. Just relaying information." Jax looked at me now, his face straight. He went back to his notebook and said.
"And what did you do?" He asked like it was just fact.
"Jax, I did nothing, I was an innocent victim." I replied, hand to my heart. He openly laughed at that and smirked at me, raising his eyebrows.
"You're gonna tell me that after he did this, you simply got up, sniffled in some tears, and ran over to tell me?" I was looking at the ground now, getting a headache. Ugh this went south fast.
"Alright, alright, fine. I shoved his ass right back, hit him right in the gut, did a little victory dance too. But that is only because he damn well deserved it. Pushing girls around like that, someone had to punish that oger. Don't you think he should be grounded or something?" Jax began walking and I followed him desperately.
"Ryann what are you doing? And stop swearing, it's becoming a gross habit." I groaned, annoyed he wasn't even listening.
"I am saying that this kid is bad news, he should not be near this team Jax. He is going to corrupt it, and then he is going to shove me around, like the bear he is. How can you let him practice with us? You know how it makes me. It's like putting a rodent in front of me and telling me not to get away from it." He was listening now and his lips lifted a little and he started laughing at my rant.
"I swear, you and your horrifying metaphors... Listen, I know how you get but the team needs extra people to play against and they train anyways so it makes sense. It is only for today." I was just in disbelief. It was time to make an agreement.
"Fine. Fine, no problem. But just know, that I cannot be held accountable for whatever happens out there. There might be blood, there could be tears, there could even be some good old fashioned wrestling. But I have warned you, you have been warned." He sighed but continued to write on his little clipboard. I pouted out my lip and tried to hold back a groan as I waited patiently for him to PAY ATTENTION to me. I waved my hands in front of his face and he calmly said.
"Just go get ready please." I balled my fists ready to argue back but the look he gave me was enough to simmer me down.
"Baby, I do not think you want to test me. Go get your stuff on, we are starting in two minutes." He walked away from me and my mouth was shut tightly. I stormed back to my teammates knowing full well I was not going to have a fair practice. I knew as I laced up my cleats that something was going to go wrong today, and I knew that I was already in trouble, more would be a life sentence. I took a breath, I cannot let Colton get to me. I stretched next to my friend April on the team. She bothered me a little but was a good player so I respected her. I was focused on my breathing when she said.
"Is that your brother?" Without looking up, I squeaked.
"Unfortunately." I replied, trying not to get angry. She giggled and continued to stare at Colton and his idiot friends laughing in the middle of the field. Great, another admirer to boost his ego.
"Don't get too attached, April, he really is the devil. I don't want you to get disappointed." I said to her and she turned to me and smiled.
"Of course he is the devil to you Ry, all brothers are... " She turned back to watch him and I silently groaned, shaking my head.
"Do you think he is going to go to that party Friday night?" She asked me. I smiled a little at her attempt to seem sly. I looked at him and gagged when I saw him chugging a vanilla pudding his friends must've dared him to eat from the garbage. Before I could point out this flaw to her she smiled and turned back to me for an answer. I heard Jax yelling for us to come to the field so I said quickly.
"It's a party, I am sure he will be there." She laughed and we ran towards the others.
Practice began with warm up jogs around the field. I was running, minding my own business when Colton started stepping on my heels and pushing me from behind. I groaned and tried to continue faster, getting away from him. But no matter how much faster I went, he was always behind me, still bothering me. I turned and snapped at him to stop but he just laughed and shoved passed me almost making me nose dive into the grass. I wanted to scream in frustration as he led the pack, turning around to give me a smug look and speeding even further ahead... My legs suddenly moved quicker, my body lunged forward, and I was sprinting, I swear my body was doing it on it's own. I came up beside Colton and smiled while whooshing passed him, I heard him speed up, so I sped up and then we lapped the others, only worried about beating each other. I was beating him, then he was beating me, then I was, until we were on our last lap and I turned and gave him a hard shove. He swerved but stayed upright like a rock and laughed at my attempt to push him.
I looked back to the end of our run, it was right in front of me, I could feel the pride rush through me when suddenly I was falling, so hard and so fast, crashing into the ground. I tumbled forward with the momentum I had going and once I stopped moving my body caved and I sprawled out into the grass, groaning in pain.
I was taught from a young age, pain is stupid, get up, and pretend it's not there. Sometimes, I didn't play along by those rules, using it to my benefit, as Liam can be quite concerned about his little girl's pain... But people like Jax, different. I knew my audience, and although inside, when things hurt, or Colton happened to take his teasing too far, and I wanted to sob, it was rare for me to really complain or show it. I mean I have done it, but when it was me and Colton, I would not let him win. I refused to be a baby, which meant broken bones and scary situations all because I refused to let him beat me, even when he was bigger, I pretended nothing hurt and that I was better. But it was how I grew up and that was just how I was.
I heard Colton laugh and I moved onto my elbows to see him laughing next to Jax who looked concerned with his arms crossed. I took an assessment of my body, thank god I didn't hit my head, my knees were all cut up, my hands were scuffed and bleeding from the impact and a cut went across my poor face. Right on my cheek, it stung but I would not give him the satisfaction. No cut will push me that far. My team was on their last lap and Jax watched them. I stood up in anger, pushing forward with long strides until I was right in Colton's face.
"I. Hate. You." I spelled out to him in anger. He just smiled at me. If he saw my cheek, he ignored it somehow, although I could argue I saw a bit of worry in his eyes.
"Awe, did the little baby get her feelings hurt?" He taunted. I stomped my foot and before I knew what was happening my fist was winding up, ready to punch him right in his face. I pulled back andddd.... My arm was harshly grabbed before I could reach my target. I let out a breath of adrenaline and frustration, turning to see Jax holding my elbow.
"What the hell are you doing?" He snapped. I sighed, dropping my arm. He looked at my face and his eyes went wide as he grabbed it, intensely looking at my cut and touching it once, earning a gasp from me.
"Don't touch it!" I shouted at him, moving back. Jax was glaring at Colton who shrugged.
"Didn't mean to leave a mark obviously. It's not even deep, from a stick or something." Colton replied, earning no surprise from me. I knew he could be concerned, but this was minor... And I didn't want the fuss anyways, not when it was Jax, he doesn't know how to fuss, it's weird when he does. It's stiff and emotionless, almost angry. He went to grab my face again after scolding Colton for once again, taking it too far. I held up my hands, assuring him.
"I'm fine. Let's just practice." I was still enraged, walking away to stand with my team. It wasn't even worth it, Colton never got in trouble anyways. He was just my brother, they would say, brothers tease. Well, then why can't I defend myself against the teasing? Jax can't just stop me from punching him, it's just unfair.
We did some drills while Colton just retrieved balls with his friends. Our little servants. I took advantage of this, making him fetch my balls left and right. One time I kicked it on purpose and commanded him to go retrieve it, he almost beat me up until Jax made him go get the ball and leave me alone. I was elated, I was finally winning.
That is until the scrimmage at the end of practice.
Jax announced the scrimmage and merged our team and Colton and his friends together, asking for two captains. Colton and I shot our arms up high, looking straight at each other. I could see Jax inwardly sighing, concern etched on his face when he saw we were the only volunteers.
"No one else wants to be captain?" He asked. Colton and I acted offended and he gave up, letting us pick our teams. Once they were picked it began.
The whole game, let's be real, was the Colton, Ryann show. If he had the ball, I went straight for him, completely disregarding my position and my team. When I had the ball, he would attempt everything to get it, tackling me, pushing me, holding me. Everything. Everywhere I turned he was shoving me down and taking the ball. Each time I would groan in pain, feel a new bruise growing and stand up in anger. Jax would groan and rub his face every time, realizing he could not control the way we were playing... Dirty. We played dirty. It was not about scoring, it was about pain. And I was getting the brunt of it.
He had just tripped me and I went face first into the ground, slamming my head into the hard surface. I felt dizzy and wanted to cry out of frustration. No matter how hard I try, he is too big to push and always wins. I knew this would happen. I felt weak for being so easily pushed and not being able to fight back like he can, for wanting to cry over it, for wanting to tell him to stop. But the reality is I am not him, I am his little sister and this was my sanctuary...
I tried to keep up with the ball as tears started falling down my eyes. I got the ball from the other team and started running up the field, I almost made it down the right side when he ran full speed into me and I crumpled down like a dead fish. I laid there for longer than I should've and I heard Jax yell my name.
"Colton, enough! Are you okay, Ryann?" Jax asked, finally noticing that Colton was not being pushed down as many times as I was. That it wasn't necessarily a fair fight. That maybe just maybe, he was bigger than me, older than me, and should not be hitting and pushing girls. Especially while they are trying to practice soccer. I laid there and sniffled as angry tears pooled in my eyes. I started breathing faster and I felt my temper flaring with rage. I heard Jax call the game and end practice but before he could come over to me, I stood up, staring at Colton. He was laughing with a friend and I lost it. I ran to a soccer ball, backed up, aimed it, and full power kicked it right into his balls. Right into the one spot I knew I could hurt him. He groaned, and yelped and down he went, right to the ground, holding himself in pain. His friends were laughing and pitying him as I marched over to him, wiping away the stupid tears in my eyes. I looked down at him and he opened his eyes to see me.
"Awe, colton, did you get hurt by a soccer ball? The soccer ball that I kicked? Your little, weak, sister, oh poor baby..." I laughed then as he grew angry and unable to fight back.
"I am going to kill you!" He shouted. I groaned and limped away, my body sore.
"Oh yes, COME PUSH ME MORE!" I shouted back. It did not feel as satisfying as I wanted it to, because I still felt like no matter what, he would win, a feeling I despised. It took a soccer ball, and me kicking it to knock him down.. He made me feel weak.
I sat down with my stuff and waited for Jax to be ready to leave. He helped Colton stand up and he groaned walking slowly towards the car. I followed behind them and got into the back seat. Once Jax began driving, he started talking.
"Jesus you two... You guys need to work that shit out, I do not want to see what I saw out there again. It was sad. Your siblings, and you need to start acting like it." I rolled my eyes. I take no responsibility for this. Colton was older, he was the example, he was the immature one who made me angry by pushing me around. He was the brother. This was on him. He was the one that made me feel so weak, I just fought back, that's all. I hated him right now.
"She shot a soccer ball, full fucking power at my balls, Jax! That little psychopath knew right where to aim." He shouted back. Oh great, yup, now it is all my fault, just because I fought back using the only thing I could to win. Now all of the sudden that's wrong because he lost? I scoffed and continued to remain silent, looking out the window.
"Hey, little psychopath? Want to explain?" Jax asked, amused, cleverly using my current nickname. I scoffed again, louder this time. Nope. Maybe they needed to hear it one more time.
"Nope." I said out loud. Emphasizing the P. And any amusement Jax is feeling can go out the window because none of this was funny to me... That scrimmage was living hell and although I am not going to cry about the pain because I would be pissed if he treated me like a lady or some shit, I am mostly angry about the lack of consequences.
"See? No guilt whatsoever. She might have done serious damage." Colton said, trying to get me in trouble. Well, I knew this game and I was not playing it. He is such a baby. Serious damage? Wow. I scoffed again and this time he turned to me angrily.
"Fingers crossed asshole." I said, fingers crossed and smiling right in his face. He growled and tried to get his hands on me in anger but I backed up out of his reach and Jax stopped him with his arm.
"Ry, watch your language. Just apologize, ok?" Jax said. I was absolutely floored. Me, me, I should apologize? Uh huh, nope. I smiled with watering eyes at the frustration of this situation and my realization that this happened way too often. It was a double standard. Colton was still a kid, just like me, and he acted like it too. So why was I the only one that had to live by the rules? I tried to slow my breathing, wanting to stop the tears. They waited.
"I am not saying sorry for anything, in fact, I will not be speaking at all until you realize how unfair this all is." I spit out in anger. I crossed my arms and sealed my lips, using silence as a form of protest.
"Of course." Colton said groaning in disgust. "Such a baby." He spit out. I was growing red, but held it in, closing my eyes and waiting for us to get home. He is lucky I never let him see me cry, the asshole, he is lucky I am tougher than most girls... They wouldn't survive a day in this house.
"Babe, you hit him in the balls with your soccer ball... The game had already ended. The faster you say sorry to him, the faster he will get over it and we can move on." Jax said, clearly not understanding the situation. He was really not all there today. I sat there silent. They both groaned and we pulled into the driveway. Jax turned to lecture me but I was already flying out the door, barreling inside.
Zack watched me run in and tried to say something but I was already sprinting up the stairs as tears fell again. I slammed the door in my room and locked it. Second night in a row, how charming. I am so tired of things being unfair. Just like Mr. Miller. No one ever believes me, or takes me seriously. Colton? If he snuck out and they caught him, they would say that he should stop doing that and then they would talk about sports together. If I snuck out, I would be grounded, screamed at, lectured for hours, taken out of soccer and forced to do community service.
So when I hurt him, I am in trouble. When he hurts me all practice, he is told to stop and it is not brought up again. Gosh I was mad. I heard talking downstairs and stomped around my room, showering in my bathroom, finding comfy clothes and laying in my bed. I cried in my bed a little until I heard a knock. A light knock. It had been about forty minutes now.
"Babe? It's time for dinner, can you come down please." Zack said, trying to open my door. I trudged over and unlocked it, opening it a crack. His eyebrows were pushed together in confusion and pity. I hated it. I tried to shut the door but he caught it with his foot.
"I would like you to come eat." He tried to say it nicely and I brought my blanket further around myself.
"Is Colton eating?" I asked, picking at cracks in the doorway. Zack grimaced and tried to open my door further to either grab me or see me fully but I pushed back and his eyebrows rose.
"Of course, Ryann." He said like I knew the answer already.
"Then I don't see how I could. Being that I am the little psychopath who, god forbid, hurt the asshole's precious balls, without even asking him if it was alright. Surely I do not deserve to eat." I said with as much sarcasm and attitude as I could muster. Zack almost laughed, but reluctantly stopped himself as he was getting less happy by the second. And then he saw the cut on my face. His eyes flashed with concern and anger, his desire to look at it was so clear... I didn't need looking after. To them there needs to be a mark on me for there to be consequences for Colton. Or god forbid a little understanding. A little empathy. The scratch was just a small thing in a big pool of shit.
"Don't be snarky. Now, come down please so I can look at that scrape, and we can talk about what happened and you can explain." He spoke trying to lead me down but I retaliated.
"Me? I have nothing to say. Jax should explain! Colton should explain. Colton is the one who scraped me in the first place! In fact, Colton should DAMN well apologize." He groaned in anger at Colton scraping my face, my use of swear words and my loud voice. Once again, I point out, only angry when it's visible. Yet pretty sure Colton's balls are not so anyone else seeing a disturbingly unfair reality here? For poor scratched up nelly here. Anyways. I felt tears again and his posture softened, but I did not want him to see how hurt I was by all of this. It was too pitiful. I wiped my tears angrily and before he could try and hug me, I pulled back and shut the door more.
"I have nothing else to say. You clearly do not get it either, so enjoy dinner." I managed to shut the door and lock it again, and I slid down the door, crying more. I finally heard him leave and I breathed out. This was hard but someone, I needed someone to see why I was doing this. Liam was my last hope. My last chance. Otherwise, this was going to be a long night for all of us. I was stubborn.
I did my homework. And then read my book for what felt like hours. Liam had come home an hour ago and still I have not heard a knock, so I assumed he was one of them. But I was not backing down.
Eventually, I heard another knock. The door knob was turned and then they knocked again when they realized it was locked. Harder this time. Must be mad I locked the door, well they should get over it. I rolled my eyes and opened the door, standing behind it with my head popping out. It was Liam. He looked very tired and not in the happiest of moods.
"I need you to come downstairs so I can clean your cut and we can all talk. And you need to eat something." He commanded, his arm against the doorway, standing pretty close to me.
"Ryann, please, lets go." He impatiently pleaded, waking me up from my own head. I rolled my eyes and tried to shut the door but he stuck his foot in and then pushed back until he could stick his whole arm in. He grabbed my wrist and yanked me out of the room. I yelped in surprise but then quickly turned to go back to my room without a word. Liam was not having it. He picked me up by my arms and held me tightly to his hip, like a seatbelt around my waist. I tried to squirm out but he squeezed harder and I got tired, so I stopped fighting. Instead, I blushed as we walked down the stairs and covered myself with my blanket that somehow managed to stay on my body. I felt myself hiding in Liam's shoulder, trying to pretend that I was not here, trying to convince myself I was in my bed. I held the blanket tightly over my face and body as we entered what I thought to be the living room.
"Here she is." He said, sitting down on the couch, arranging me in his lap as I tried to hide further into the couch, not saying a word. Someone laughed.
"There's the scared little psychopath.." Colton said, making my teeth grind. At that moment, I lifted my blanket off my head roughly, my hair sticking up and in my eyes. I growled at him and stood quickly, trying to walk right out. But, Zack had grabbed my shirt and I slung shot back as he put me in his lap holding me down with his big arms. Ugh, the seatbelt method always got me. I slumped, shutting my mouth tightly to avoid accidently talking. Zack laughed and I growled before Liam finally said something.
"So Ry, can you explain why you are so upset?" Liam asked, trying to sound casual. I internally gagged, I was not about to have some pow wow emotional circle with my brothers. Even if that's what I wanted? I confuse myself. Liam knelt in front of me first and began cleaning my wound before I could protest, using the stinging ointment and putting a bandaid on it with a gentle touch. He rubbed my cheek and kissed my head before sliding back down to the couch. I sighed, shivering.
"First of all, i'm not upset... I'm annoyed that none of you can see where I am coming from." I humphed and looked down at my shoes, feeling strangely vulnerable. Liam nodded trying to follow along and then he sighed and slumped back into the couch.
"Okay... I don't know everything that happened babe, but I get it. Colton should apologize for tormenting you during your soccer practice." I smiled, perking up and feeling a victory in the air. But he continued.
"And you should then apologize for kicking him in the balls." Liam was smirking and Colton yelled at him when the others chuckled too. I groaned and crossed my arms, standing up and staring at him in disbelief.
"Um, Colton is older than me and he is the one who spent the whole practice hurting me. All I did was try and defend myself." I felt like everyone was either over it or silently laughing. I stomped my foot.
"I am serious!" I shouted. Jax sipped his beer.
"We know you are serious. You are right though, he is bigger and older than you so he had an unfair advantage. I guess you fought back the only way you could." Jax replied, a little too amused. Then all three boys burst out laughing at Colton's expense and for some reason I smirked a little.
"So, I win?" I asked to finalize it. Liam raised his eyebrow questioning my words.
"I mean - Colton is in the wrong?" I fixed what I said and he smiled, shrugging and nodding. I smiled, elated, letting all the emotion lift off my shoulders. I almost forgot what the issue was - I won, that was all that mattered to me... And of course, winning always has some unfortunate consequences. But first.
"Okay, apologize Colton." Liam said to him, still amused. Colton was red, but he had either already been given hell about the cut or was nervous about maybe getting into trouble, a first for the kid somehow... He actually stood up and came to me.
"I am sorry Ryann, I was only teasing but I took it too far and forget that you are younger and smaller than me. I shouldn't have done all of that at your soccer practice either, sorry." He seemed so small and dumb, rubbing his neck, uncomfortable looking at Zack behind me for approval. I just felt elated, and laughed. Hugging him deeply and then hugging the rest of them, though no one really deserved it. He got what he deserved, was grounded for a few days... Worth it for me.
Then, I forgot to stop smiling, perhaps I egged him on, maybe I was rubbing it in his face. Either way, I was only doing my little sister duties by bothering him and not letting him forget the fact that I won the fight. We were all still in the living room, I was sitting next to Zack, as we all watched some sports game. It had been about three minutes since I found out I was the champ, and that I had reigned supreme over that Colton bastard. In that time I, Ryann Grace Taylor, after receiving a forced, recited apology, (probably to get out of a longer grounding, this is literally two days which is nothingggggg) saw smoke come out of that very bastards ears. I had mouthed loser for the fourth time, when I saw it, his face contorted, his nostrils flared, I heard his breathing, rapid and wild. He was going through some prime man range, and I was the poor recipient. My eyes widened as he stood up, I physically shrunk and tried to squeeze my way behind Zack and Jax sitting on the couch. I pushed my way behind them, trying to wedge my body into a safe zone.
"Can you not? Were trying to watch the game." Jax said scooting forward so he could give me a 'your so weird' face while sipping his beer. I continued to burrow further into the couch, trying to get underneath Zack at one point, too terrified to even look up and see the beast. Until finally Zack decided his patience was up, somehow the constant snuggling into his back, and the slight accidental nudges that were pushing him off the couch were extremely annoying to him. But he just didn't get it. So, he should try to get it so that I can hide even further under him. He shot all the way forward on the couch, leaving me with nothing to burrow into, I felt naked.
"Ryann! What in the fucking world are you doing?" He said watching me, Jax laughed from the chair he had moved to when I didn't stop like he asked.
"She's burrowing into your body." He said, continuing to laugh. I felt safe and opened my eyes to see Colton staring at me from behind the couch. I yelped.
"Zack the kids gonna kill me!" I tried to explain while grasping onto his back and holding on for dear life. He sighed and tried to ask when I was ripped from my warm brother by a monster.
"Help!!!!" I tried to scream but he had me on his shoulder, the good old sack of potatoes carry and I lost the ability to speak. I pounded at his back, and I swear I heard the guys laughing as he prounsed around all cocky. He put me on the ground, held me down and gave me like seven charlie horses... I shouted with each one, fighting back with my nails. He was all red by the time he was done, definitely felt the sharp sword of my nail that's for sure. I laid limp on the ground.
"Is anyone there? The bastard's done it... He's really done it this time. He's killed me." I squeezed out as loudly as I could.
"Don't swear." Liam said standing above me. I groaned and muttered sayings about life with brothers and the hell it is, and just plain old dramatics once I finally got up and went to my room.
And that night, before my head even hit the pillow, I smiled, knowing I had gotten away without even having to lie. No one asked me about Mr. Moody's letter, and as long as no one asks, I won't have to lie... And Mr.Moody will be forever forgotten and me, off the friggggggen hook.