"Mia..?" Everyone rushed over to her, the room so silent I could almost hear how fast their heart was racing. We waited but her body went still and I released the breath I was holding in.
"She's not going to wake up today," Ethan told us. "Let's go home, guys."
Everyone grabbed their things in silence, and we reluctantly headed out the door. Before I closed it, I took one last look at Mia, hoping that she would be okay and made a promise that I'd be back for her.
I felt so drained. Jayden was holding my hand tightly, reassuring me as all of us slowly walked out of the hallway. For the first time, Owen was quiet, his hands in his pockets and staring blankly ahead as he walked. Bianca was also quiet, her mascara running and eyeliner smudged from the tears.
When we reached outside, Jayden wrapped his jacket around me to keep me warm, and Ethan and Brandon took out their keys.
"Are you going to drive us home?" Bianca asked.
Ethan thought for a minute and replied, "Do you guys just want to crash at our place?"
And it was decided. We'd just split in half for the car ride and we'll sleep at our house. All of us started walking towards the parking lot when we heard a familiar voice from behind one of the cars.
"It's 1 in the morning, are you serious?" A tired girl's voice dragged out. "I'm supposed to be studying. I have an exam coming up."
"Do you think I don't have one coming up too?" It was Ian's voice. "The police already told our parents, there's no way she's staying at our house if she wakes up."
"Why does she have to make everything hard for us?" The girl, I assumed who was Mia's sister, said. "If you're going to kill yourself, do it properly. Do you know how bad this is going to make our family look?"
"She's getting kicked out either way. One less problem for us to deal with."
"Good for her, huh," Brandon spoke up, leaning against his car which was conveniently placed across their cars. "That's four less problems for Mia to deal with."
Ian and his sister turned their heads towards Brandon, and immediately Ian scoffed, cocking his head to the side. "You again?"
"Ian, who's this?" His sister asked, warily staring at us. The resemblance between her and Mia was shocking, she just looked like a bitchier version of Mia with round glasses and darker hair.
"Some kids who were in Mia's room. Apparently they're her friends." Ian glared at us, shaking his head. "She was spending her time making shitty friends instead of doing her work."
His sister narrowed her eyes. "They go to our school."
The corner's of Brandon's lips turned into a dangerous smile. "I know you. You're the annoying girl who keeps taking first place in my year. I thought that was the only reason why people didn't like you, but seeing you in person, I see why."
"There's a difference between me and you," she said firmly, looking down on Brandon. "You drink, party, fight, and fail school. That's all you know how to do. I have a future."
"A future? Wonder what people will think when they hear that Mia's own family was the reason for her suicide," Brandon said, his smile slowly fading away.
"Of course you wouldn't know what living life feels like, all you do is study all fucking day. Doesn't it get boring?" Owen joined, laughing.
"There's no way you actually have friends. You're like some stuck up goody-two shoes who's dry as fuck," Bianca piped in, looking the girl up and down.
"Mia can spend her time with kids like you," her sister retorted. "She doesn't belong with us anyways."
"The more I think about it... the more it pisses me off," Jayden said, his voice low but filled with venom. "Mia almost ended up dead.. because of you guys."
"The fact that you guys don't even care, pisses me off even more," Dylan added, his eyes filled with rage.
"Like I said before, I'm not trying to deal with some 14-year old's bullshit," Ian said.
"Then how about me?" Ethan finally stepped up, taking off his jacket. "I've been meaning to relieve some stress lately."
Brandon chuckled. "Oh, now you guys are fucked."
"Are you really going to do this right now?" Ian asked, scoffing.
"Ian, don't waste your time on them, we have to go home and finish up work," his sister said. "Report them to the school later."
"Oh, you're going to report us to the school?" Bianca gasped mockingly. "I'm so scared!"
"Why waste your time being surrounded by boys like some kind of whore? Don't you have algebra homework to do? Stay quiet like the other girl."
My head perked up. "What? Me?" A disbelief laugh came out of me. "I haven't been saying anything because I've been holding back. You guys almost killed my best friend and you think I'd be silent?"
The girl looked really irritated at this point. "Ian, why are we dealing with these kids right now? I have an exam. I'm leaving."
"Get in the car, Ily. We'll leave in a minute," Ian said.
"Ily," I repeated. "Such a pretty name. Too bad it doesn't suit that bitchy attitude of yours."
She stopped moving and she glared at me. "You're really getting on my nerves. I have places to be and you're really trying to start shit right now?"
Ily dropped her bag and took a step closer to me but almost immediately, I was covered by the boys.
"You touch her and I'll kill you," Brandon threatened.
"Ily, I said get in the car," Ian repeated. Ily glared at her brother before opening the door and getting in.
"I don't want to see Mia. Thinking of her as my sister disgusts me," Ian said. "She's not part of our family anymore, you do whatever the fuck you want with her. Wasting your time like this is useless."
He opened his car door and started getting in. Ethan laughed. "What, you're going to pussy out like that? I'm not fucking done with you yet."
"Why don't you go to something better with your time?" Ian said, before shutting the door and driving off.
"I was about to smash that guy's skull in," Brandon said, a disbelief laughter coming out of him.
"Where is Mia going to stay when she wakes up?" I asked, thinking about how they said she'll be kicked out.
"With us," Ethan told me, and my eyes widened. "She can stay with us."
my brothers
"Ev," Jayden whispered, bending down next to me. "Are you awake?"
I nodded, turning over and sitting up. We were all sleeping in the living room with blankets and sleeping bags all over the floor and couch besides my brothers who went to their own room. "I can't sleep."
Jayden helped me up and we walked over to the kitchen, sitting down while he turned on the dim lights. "We never got to properly talk about... my dad."
"I don't know.. how to feel. I'm pissed at it. I hate him to the point where thinking about him makes me want to murder someone," he continued. "But... I cant help thinking of the fact that... I miss him."
Jayden clenched his fists. "Which makes me even more pissed because I feel like I shouldn't. He faked his own death and left us. Our parents... they just keep fucking leaving us. He abandoned us and we had to suffer through our other parent's abuse."
"What do you think was the reason?" I looked down at the marble counter, fidgeting with my hands. "Why do you think he ran away?"
"So many unanswered questions... Ev..?"
I looked up. "Yeah?"
"Why can't we just have a normal family?"
I turned my head to everyone sleeping on the floor. Most of them also had dysfunctional families. "I don't understand why we have to suffer so much. We're only 14."
"Ev... If he did come back for us, would you let him be our dad again?"
"He'd probably be the best dad figure we'd have," I admitted sadly.
Jayden sighed, getting up from his seat. "It's almost 4. We should try to sleep now."
We walked to the living room, shutting off the lights behind us. I went back to my spot while he went to his, and after a quick 'goodnight' we fell asleep.
In the morning, we woke up and got ready, heading down to the dining table to eat the breakfast Ethan made. Everyone's mood was down and we were eating in silence, but that was when Cathy burst through the door, holding a bunch of bags in her hands.
"Good morning, guys!" She exclaimed, coming into the kitchen and placing the things down.
"C-Cathy?" Alex looked up.
She turned to us and crossed her arms. "What is with this atmosphere? Do you guys really think Mia would want all of you guys feeling like this right now? Lighten up, and get ready, we're going to visit her soon."
Seeing her positivity seemed to make me feel a little better. "Yeah... You're right. Visiting times open in thirty, right?"
"I'll visit later, I have to go to my job interview," Andrew said, getting up. We all wished him luck as he went upstairs to get ready.
"And I have a doctor's appointment," Alex said, following him. "I'll be back later."
When we reached the hospital, Mia was still unconscious. Thankfully the day after homecoming we had off, so we could watch over Mia. Once we all settled down and took a seat, I sighed.
"I would say what kind of shitty family abandons and leaves their child..." Everyone's eyes told me they knew what I was about to say. "But... all of our family seemed to have went through it too."
"Mhm.. My mom didn't win custody over me. So she's out living her life with her girlfriend... leaving me with my homophobic dad," Bianca said sadly.
"I wish my mom wouldn't have abandoned me either.." Taylor added, leaning his head against the wall. "Who does that to a six year old?"
"I wish my mom didn't have to die. Or my dad didn't have to marry someone else and leave me," I said, my heart hurting from the thought of my mother.
Jayden turned his head to me. "Our mother got married with Ev's dad and left. And then my actual dad comes back from the dead after leaving us to die in a car crash."
"Pft, how many dad's have we had now, Ethan?" Brandon asked.
Ethan chuckled softly. "Three? And we're all one of their children."
"I got the mentally abusive dad," I joked.
"Then I guess we got the physically abusive one," Brandon joined in right away. Daniel laughed in agreement.
"And we got the zombie dad," Jayden added, turning to Ethan. "I forgot to tell you he tried talking to me."
Ethan straightened up. "What?"
"He tried apologizing. How thoughtful. Very considerate."
Cathy stood up, walking over to Mia and placing her hand on top of hers. "It would take forever to list out all of our parent problems. My parents are dead too."
She sighed and turned to us with sad eyes. "You guys are so young. And seeing you guys go through so much at this age..."
"I'm sorry, guys," Ethan said. "She's right. You guys are too young to be going through stuff like this..."
"But we are," I spoke up. "And you guys are too. Just because you're older doesn't mean you feel any less than what we're feeling. You guys don't deserve to go through this either."
Everyone went silent as they stared at me. "Yeah, it'd be nice to.. you know, have actual, kind parents who care and who are there for us... but either way we have each other, don't we? And I'm perfectly okay with that."
"That was cheesy," Jayden said.
I punched him in the arm. "But I'm right."
"Wow," Brandon said, getting up and ruffling my hair as he bent down. "Since when did our Evanna change so much?"
I slapped his arm away, smiling. "I just decided not to be all weepy about our parents and waste my time. I'd rather be happy."
"I want to be happy too..." A weak voice came from the hospital bed. At once, everyone rushed over to Mia. Her eyes were open, staring blankly at the ceiling.
My heart was racing. "M-Mia..."
It wasn't even a split second before all of us were talking, telling her how glad we were that she was safe— that she was okay. Some of us had to take a step away from her and let out a deep breath, feeling insanely relieved. Bianca and I were practically on top of her, hugging and holding onto her.
Mia let out a weak, quiet laugh. "Sorry. Sorry about this."
"Alright, alright," Ethan interfered. "We should all give her a bit of space, she just woke up."
We all took a step back, letting Mia sit up slowly. "I... I'm sorry guys..."
"I cannot believe you were about to die on me," Bianca huffed, storming up to her and taking her hand. "Do you know how scared I was?"
Mia smiled sadly, squeezing Bianca's hand. "I'm sorry."
"You broke my promise," Owen said, grabbing Mia's chin and squeezing her face gently. "I told you not to hide your feelings. You promised you wouldn't do dumb stuff like this."
Mia laughed softly. "I'm sorry, Owen."
I was glad that she was smiling. It made me happy seeing her laugh. She went through so much and even tried killing herself but she woke up with a smile.
"You know how you guys were talking about our trashy families..." Mia turned to look at me. "I don't know why I thought dying was the answer when I was the happiest with you guys. And hearing you say that, Evanna, made me change my mind. I do want to be happy. I don't want to die."
"You have surprisingly a lot of energy for someone who tried ending her life," Dylan said, annoyed, but it was only to cover up how relived he was.
"Only because you guys are here."
"I'm glad you're okay," Jayden said, smiling.
"Who knew homecoming could be so... interesting?" Taylor laughed.
"And Mia, when you get discharged, stay at our place, okay?" Ethan said.
Mia's smile slowly faded. "Did my siblings come?"
"They're one shitty duo," Brandon said. "Who cares about fucking school?"
Ethan smacked him in the head. "You better not be failing."
"What are you, my dad? You're one year older than me, don't get so cocky," Brandon challenged, smiling.
"One year difference and I can still easily beat you," Ethan retorted, placing his hand on Brandon's shoulder as he smiled back.
I went back up to Mia. "I'll tell you everything when you can come back home."
She smiled.
It was nice seeing her smile.
my brothers
A lot happened that day.
We helped Mia settle down at our place, we cleaned everything up, Alex and Andrew came back, (Andrew got the job), and our family seemed normal for a while.
Everyone else left and it was just our family, including Mia. Just us seven. I was glad Mia could stay with us. She always felt like a sister to me, and I knew about how much she wanted siblings that cared about her, and now she could be part of our family.
"About school," Ethan said. "As long as you don't fail. Or drop out. Other than that, feel free to do whatever."
Mia grinned. "I'd still like to maintain my first spot. But this feels much better— it feels like a burden lifted off my shoulders. It's nice hearing that."
"School starts in two days, will you be okay?"
Mia nodded. "Yeah."
"That's good. And if you need anything, we're always here to help."
After that, we all went back to doing our own things.
my brothers
- o w e n -
"I'm starting to feel bad for you guys," I teased, slinging an arm around Jayden. "That conversation you guys had at the hospital. What's wrong with everyone's families these days?"
Jayden pushed my arm off, rolling his eyes. "What, so you have a perfect family?"
"You could say that," I shrugged. "You've never met my parents though."
"Which is weird because we've lived in the same area and it just seems like you keep following me everywhere," Jayden muttered.
"But I'm your closest friend, aren't I?" I whined.
"No one in this world has a perfect family," Dylan said.
"Whoever has me in their family is perfect."
Dylan punched me lightly. "Do you ever shut up?"
I laughed as we walked down the street. "If you guys didn't have me, you guys would be all over each other."
"The fuck's that supposed to mean?" Jayden snapped.
"Ah, I mean, all over each other fighting one another," I corrected. I walked a few steps ahead of them and turned around, staring at the three guys in front of me. "We have the super overprotective brother who doesn't like any guys going near his twin sister, and we have the guy who currently likes Evanna but just recently started fighting for her, and then we have the guy who took her to homecoming, aka, her old best friend who was also her first kiss, who also likes her."
"Are you done?" Taylor sighed.
I balled my fist and brought it to my mouth, acting as if it was a mic. "So, Taylor, tell me. How did it feel when Dylan showed up to steal your date?"
Taylor scoffed quietly. "Just like how anyone would feel. Pissed off." Then he turned to glare at Dylan who was in front of him. "That was a fucked up thing to do."
"You challenged me first, dickhead," Dylan shot back, not turning to look at him.
"I don't know, I guess I just felt bad because you seemed like you had no idea what you're doing," Taylor continued. "Avoiding her, being an asshole when you do talk to her—"
In a split second Dylan had Taylor's shirt in his fists. "I'd be more annoyed if I had a whiny guy like you clinging onto me 24/7."
Jayden stepped in between them, pushing away Dylan's hand. "If both of you don't stop, I'll kill you both."
"And there we have it, ladies and gentleman, thank goodness the twin brother stepped in, if he hadn't... whew! That would've been bad!" I spoke into my fake mic. "I wonder who Evanna will choose. The golden best friend, or the bad boy."
"The b-bad— what?" Dylan glared at me. "Is that what you guys have been referring me as?"
I scratched my head. "I couldn't think of anything else.."
"You guys are lame," Jayden said, pushing past us all. "Owen, we're almost at your house. We'll finally have some peace and quiet when you're gone."
I bursted out laughing. "What peace? I just hope I don't wake up tomorrow and find that three boys beat each other to death in front of my house!"
"That's enough of your annoying ass," Dylan said, shoving me. "Don't mention shit like this to Evanna."
"What? You don't want to seem like pathetic guys fighting over her? Haha! Oh, don't worry, I'll tell her everything, from both of you guys being jealous, to you guys almost fighting each other!"
"If you keep blabbering your mouth, the one who might end up beaten up will be you," Taylor threatened.
"And that's the only thing I'll ever agree with him on," Dylan added.
I snickered, turning around and walking straight ahead. "What would you guys do without me? Huh?"
"We're finally here," Jayden said, looking up at the large apartment complex. "Hurry up and leave."
"Love you too," I said. "You know you're my favorite cousin?"
"Go back to your 'perfect family' then," Dylan said, rolling his eyes. "See you tomorrow, loser."
I waved, laughing as they walked off. "Don't kill each other!"
I turned back and went into the building, greeting the people at the front with a smile as I stepped into the elevator and went up to the sixteenth floor.
I walked out and headed to the fifth room, entering the passcode and going into my apartment room. I shut the door and sighed.
It was quiet.
My parents were in front of me, their mouths were moving as they stared at each other.
And then I took off my headphones which was blasting music at full volume.
I was surprised none of my neighbors reported our family for being so loud— for my parents screaming at each other every day.
Perfect family.
my brothers
hey. hey...
seven months woww, im SO sorry omg omg. after this really long break i finally got the motivation to write and i forgot how fun writing was. im not even gonna lie tho, trying to write this chapter was HELL because i totally forgot EVERYTHING LMAO.
i forgot most of my characters and plot and i was so confused. i had to reread like the past ten chapters to remember what was going on.
but it's been a while :))
seeing how you guys are still here and you guys were patiently waiting and understanding and being supportive really means a lot. ive been feeling a lot better too!!
i feel so fucking bad because the cliffhanger i left you guys on was worse than normal HAHA. i kinda feel like my character's parents. ditching their children and shit.
im now realizing how many fucked up families i wrote for my characters... how come not one of them have a healthy family? not even owen... if you guys have a healthy family please tell me so i know that shit like that actually exists and maybe it'll inspire me to write a character with a stable household LMAOOO.
but here you go guys, im super super sorry.
i totally forgot how i do my outro.
thanks for reading? was it?
and then like...
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right???
HAHA.
thanks for reading guys. i love you all <3