Chapter 4

Logan's POV

"Game day buddy, you ready?" Mark asked happily, falling into step next to me as we walked down the hall.

A grin crossed my face as I felt adrenaline perk up my body.

"Hell yea." I nodded with a laugh.

"So I was thinking..." Mark trailed off.

My eyes rested on Marley Ryder as she laughed at something that her redhead friend said.

Marley's eyes met mine and her cheeks immediately flushed before she leaned towards her friend and whispered something.

A smile crossed my face at how adorable she was. No longer the scrawny, obnoxious little sister I used to see her as...

"Logan? Are you even listening to me?" Mark said, waving his hand in front of my face.

"S-sorry what?" I mumbled, raising my eyebrows.

"Ugh never mind." Mark rolled his eyes.

"He's just in a shitty mood because of Marley." Wesley laughed, appearing on my other side.

"What happened?" I laughed, genuinely curious.

Mark and Marley fought more than any set of siblings I knew.

But to be completely honest, their little squabbles amused me. Mark would always complain about her, but I'd just sort of push the negative things out of my brain.

They were both to blame.

"They got into a fight over the shower at 5:30 this morning." Wesley laughed.

"Typical." I laughed, nudging Mark's shoulder.

Mark just rolled his eyes, still looking disgruntled.

"Wesley!" Marley exclaimed, running up behind us. "I need you to do me a huge favor."

A smile crossed my face involuntarily.

"Anything." Wesley nodded.

Marley squeezed herself in between me and Wes, not even noticing that I was there.

"We're still on for our movie night tonight?" Marley raised her eyebrows at her brother.

"I don't see why not." Wesley shrugged.

"Great, awesome, I'll see you later. Good luck on your game if I don't see you!" Marley called over her shoulder as she ran in the opposite direction.

"Wait what's your favor?!" Wesley called after her.

"Never mind!" Marley called.

"She likes someone." Mark frowned.

"I know." Wesley agreed. "She's acting strange."

"Is it just me or does Marley have a crush?" Michael suddenly said, appearing behind the three of us.

"That's what we think." Wesley nodded, looking extremely thoughtful.

"I'll figure it out before that bastard touches her." Michael said determinedly. "Logan you'll keep an eye out too? I know the two of you have a class together."

I just managed to nod, putting a smile on my face.

"A-absolutely." I nodded. "No one will touch her."

Did they really have to keep her on such short a leash?

"Great, thanks man." Michael smiled, patting my shoulder before walking off to join some of his senior friends.

"Hey Grace!" Wesley suddenly called as the girl he'd been seeing walked past us.

I smiled at her, having known her for a while. Our parents were friends.

"Hey guys." Grace smiled, glancing in the direction that Marley had sped off.

"You coming to the game?" Wesley asked her happily.

She scrunched up her nose, crossing her arms.

"You know I don't do-"

"I know you don't do football games but I want to see you at the party later." Wesley said softly, stepping towards her.

Mark and I exchanged looks as he easily got her to melt at his words.

"O-okay." Grace nodded. "I'll uh, I'll see you later."

Her cheeks were pink as she walked away.

Wesley pushed his hair off of his forehead, a smirk on his face.

"She's so perfect." He whispered.

"And you're just going to ditch Marley tonight?" Mark raised his eyebrows. "And everyone thinks I'm the bad brother."

Wesley's eyes widened.

"Oh shit..." He muttered before quickly turning in the direction that Marley had disappeared to.

"Your family cracks me up." I shook my head, following Mark towards his bus.

"Oh shut up." Mark rolled his eyes. "You're practically one of us."

It had become a usual routine for me to go over to Mark's house before the football games. Then we'd all squeeze into the Jeep that the 5 siblings shared and head to the game. Marley always got a ride with someone else. She usually wasn't even home when I was there.

But today we walked into the house to find Marley standing in the kitchen screaming at her father.

"Just because perfect damn Alex didn't have slumber parties and just because James never had any friends and just because Michael and Justin are too cool to bring friends over to this shit hole doesn't mean that I don't have friends that I want to be allowed to spend the night sometimes!" Marley was screaming.

Did that even make sense? Talk about a run-on sentence.

"You're not listening to me! We don't have the room!" Mr. Ryder said, pushing his hair back from his face.

"Yes we do! We have a basement! We have a living room! We have a damn game room!" Marley said loudly, literally stomping her foot in frustration. "You always let Mark have Logan over whenever the hell he wants! They always have guys from the team over in the basement!"

"That's different! Girls are different than guys and-"

"No! No you are not pulling a double standard on me! Girls are not different and that's sexist to say so!" Marley yelled. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I should be treated any differently! It would be so much better if mom were still here! She'd actually understand me!"

"Go to your room!" Mr. Ryder yelled, pointing towards the stairs. "Do not bring your mother into this!"

"Well try treating me like your daughter rather than some obscure creature you're forced to keep in your house!" Marley screamed over her shoulder, tears falling down her cheeks as she sped up the stairs. "I hate you!" She screamed before her door slammed.

Yikes. I'd never seen Marley flip out on her dad like that.

Mr. Ryder was always the perfect father. All of his kids loved him.

"Sexist? Did she seriously call me sexist?" Mr. Ryder said in shock.

"Face it dad, you're raising a little feminist." Mark snorted, shrugging his shoulders. "You should be proud she's so aware of that shit, even if she takes it out on us every once in a while."

Mr. Ryder ignored him.

"Wesley." He took a deep breath. "Deal with it."

Wesley nodded, quickly jogging up the stairs to console his sister.

I raised my eyebrows at Mark.

"Let's just go upstairs." Mark said quietly.

"Logan go home." Mr. Ryder told me with a sigh. "Michael!" He called.

Michael awkwardly appeared around the corner, having just heard the encounter between Marley and her dad.

"Drive Logan home, please." Mr. Ryder said quietly. "I'll be in my office."

The house was oddly silent. It was extremely weird, compared to the usual activity going on in every corner.

"Was that Mar and dad going at it?" Justin asked quietly, walking in through the front door. "I could hear that from out back."

Mark nodded as he walked up the stairs, staying completely silent.

"Come on Logan." Michael said, grabbing his keys from the kitchen table.

I quietly followed him out of the house, part of me wanting to stay and see if Marley was okay.

But I knew that if I showed any interest at all in her, that I'd have 4 boys suddenly turn on me.

"Does that usually happen?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

Michael shrugged as he turned onto the busiest road in town.

"I mean it's not like a really rare thing but it's not often." Michael shrugged. "Dad's so used to raising 6 boys on his own, he's kinda lost when it comes to a hormonal teenage girl."

I just nodded.

"I've never heard her bring up our mother though." Michael added, shaking his head. "She's gonna be in so much trouble for that."

I stayed silent for the rest of the ride. Sure, I knew a lot about the guys. But when it came to Marley, she was the beautiful mysterious little sister that was never at home.

And especially when it came to their mom, that was even more of a mystery.

All I know is that she took off when Marley was just a few months old and they rarely saw her. Maybe once a year when she wanted to see where they were in life...

"Thanks." Was all I said to Michael when he got to my house.

"We'll pick you up for the game. Mark will call you when we're on our way." Micheal told me, his voice quiet and subdued.

I went in the side door, dumping my stuff in the back hall.

Nobody was home, as usual.

I walked through the massive, empty house, my footsteps echoing.

I went right up to my room, having no interest in doing anything else but kicking back and watching some Netflix.

~*~*~

I grabbed my football bag when I heard a honk in my driveway.

I jogged out to the car, seeing Justin and Michael in the front seat, with Wes and Mark in the back.

"Come on we're late." Mark said as I climbed into the very back.

"What took you guys so long?" I frowned, buckling my seatbelt.

"Marley was being a brat again. Dad and her were yelling again for the better part of the last hour." Mark informed me, glancing back at me.

"What about?"

"Pretty much same thing as before. He confronted her about bring up mom, she yelled at him because he was being unfair, he grounded her, she yelled more, he threatened to ground her for longer, she slammed the door in his face, he threatened her more through the door, she didn't reply, and when we finally got through that damn lock she put on the door, the window was open and Marley was gone." Wesley explained.

"You don't know where she is?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Oh no we know she's in the shed in the backyard. She thinks we don't know she goes there." Michael laughed as he drove 10 over the speed limit to get to school on time. "But she thinks she's all special so we let her have her space."

"Is she going to be at the game?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Enough about Mar. Holy shit I've had enough of that brat today." Mark groaned, shaking his head.

The rest of the drive was silent.

~*~*~

"Why aren't you drinking?" Mark asked curiously, holding two beers in his hands.

"Don't feel like it." I replied, watching as he swayed slightly. "Who are you bringing that to?" I asked carefully.

"Nicole." Mark's face broke into a sloppy grin. "Don't tell Marley."

I just shook my head, watching as he walked away, stumbling over someone sitting on the ground.

Gross.

I glanced down at my phone.

It was 2:30 in the morning, why was this party still going on?

To be completely honest, it wasn't really a party.

The only people that were left were a handful of guys from the team and all of the Ryder boys.

Marley's friends, except Nicole, had long disappeared and Marley was grounded, not making an appearance.

I was only waiting for the guys because I was spending the night at their house.

My parents were out of town and I didn't feel like staying home alone, so I'd be spending the night on the air mattress in Mark and Wesley's room.

I sat down on a couch, letting my eyes close.

The guys wouldn't leave without me.

But thirty minutes later, I was being shaken awake by a very drunk Michael.

"Get up, dad's here." He told me, his breath reeking of vodka.

"Jesus, you stink." I hissed, shoving him away from me.

"My dad's here, get up." Michael repeated, pulling me up from the couch.

"Your dad? What the hell?" I asked in shock.

"None of us drove, we had to get a ride." Justin explained, the only sober one of the group as he pushed Wesley towards the door.

"So you called your father?" I asked, my eyes wide.

Justin just shook his head as we walked out to his car.

I'd barely buckled up in the backseat when Michael suddenly leaned forwards, throwing up all over Justin.

I grimaced, feeling my own stomach churn as the smell hit my nostrils.

"Dad I want out of this family." Justin said confidently.

Mr. Ryder looked murderous as he slammed the door shut and got into the driver's side.

"Be prepared for a weekend from hell."