Chapter 9

I slowly trudged into our house with my head hanging low. My face was hidden well beneath my hair which hung around my head covering my eyes so no one could see what emotions were plastered onto them. Everyone didn’t have to know that I was in pain because of my friends leaving me, confused because of all these new things that came onto me so suddenly, and sad in just plain general. I was on the verge of tears after my horrible day, but knew better than to let them fall. That would just bring a bunch of unwanted, uncomfortable questions on me while I looked weak and in some people’s eyes in the need of attention.

I slammed the door shut behind me, whipped my shoes off and stormed upstairs ignoring my brothers’ urgent calls. Who cared about what they had to say? I didn’t! Especially if they were just going to tell me that they had gone through the same thing, and that everything would slowly resolve its self.  If they knew how bad it really was they would help me, but obviously they didn’t know since they had had each other to talk to while they ‘went through these horrible things’. They had been able to come home and know that they at least had one place where they could come and always have someone to talk to so they would be able to take their minds off of these things. (If they even had to go through them…) I didn’t even have that much since my parents and brothers were never home. I was truly able to say, this once, that I was pretty much alone in this.

“Ashley! Come down here this instant!” Josh screamed from downstairs, but I continued to ignore him. With Josh, this wasn’t hard to achieve.

“We know you’re up there so answer us now!” John’s voice followed not much later, not having much effect on me. I just ended up chuckling at their childish ways of trying to get my down while continuing to zone out, hoping they would leave me alone. As they lapsed into silence I could almost hear them thinking about ways to try to get me down. John was the one who spoke up first.

 “Don’t make us come and get you!” He screamed earning me to burst out laughing and completely give myself away, though I couldn’t help it. I could already see their pained expressions as this thought passed through their minds. It was the same look I had seen on their faces when I had broken my leg and they had to bring me upstairs. I could clearly remember the two of them complaining about having to enter a teenage girl’s room, and how it would scare them for life, while my parents just rolled their eyes and told them to get going. This was why I was definite that they wouldn’t come up to get me. …Because they were scared to scare their precious eyes with my perfectly clean room.

My room wasn’t like every other teenage girl’s. Posters weren’t plastered on the walls, clothes weren’t scattered on the floor, jewelry didn’t hang from every spot possible and make up couldn’t be found all over the place. Instead you would find the walls painted a very light shade of pink, a spotless floor, and everything tucked away into its spot. I was a clean freak and wasn’t scared to admit it, but my brothers’ didn’t know this.

When I didn’t answer I heard my brothers groan and Josh tried persuading me this time. “We really will come get you! Come down, or we’re going up!”

As a reply I pulled out my large, stuffed, light blue binder and started looking through my homework for the next day, but my eyes stopped on a red heart shaped piece of paper with writing on it in dark black.

My love,

You haven’t talked to me specifically yet, but you have talked to my friends before. You blew them off not even giving me the chance to be able to talk to you. Please think things through, and give me a chance. You may not love me, but I will always love you.

Yours truly,

Anonymous.

After reading and rereading the note my mouth dropped straight down. I had no clue who would send me a note like this but my mind jumped to conclusions almost immediately. It focused in on the few moments that day when some familiar looking kid from that group who tried talking to me accidentally ran straight into me, making all of my stuff fall onto the ground. The girl helped me pick up my stuff along with one of the boys who I had in my homeroom class. The boy had been the one to pick up my binder so it had probably been him.

He had brown hair that hung around his face in a cute, messy style and piercing blue eyes. Without even just looking at his body I could tell that he had tons of muscles. After one glance at him I realized he was the hot guy who had told Hannah to deal with her own business. I didn’t know what to make of this piece of information. It was pretty obvious he wouldn’t want to be with someone like me. The letter had probably slipped in between my stuff by accident. It was most definitely meant for another girl.

“ASHLEY! This is your last chance to come down!” John screamed pulling me out of my trance, but not exactly capturing my attention.

“I don’t feel like it! I’m staying up here.” I answered him finally, anxiously waiting for his reply. Who knew what he would tell me.

“Your coming down whether you like it or not. We have to tell you something important!” Josh answered this time, losing his patience.

“I’m still not in the mood to come down!” I muttered, sure that they would hear me.

“You’re going to come down this instant!” Josh informed me again.

“NO! I will not!” I told him, not getting a reply any more. That was the only sign that I was now in major trouble. My two brothers and silence didn’t exactly work out well… ever.

I sat awaiting their prank, humming to myself. I was expecting smoke to come flying from the vent, a rock to come flying through the window or some big boom in the backyard, but none of them came. The silence just continued.

Cautiously I peeked out of the room trying to find out what my brothers were doing, but they were out of sight. I slowly tiptoed out of the room, when I saw two eyes contact with mine and I bolted back into my room.

Seconds later I heard the thundering footsteps of my brothers coming up the stairs. This could only mean trouble.

My eyes fixed onto the nearest escape, the window as I waited for their prank to blow up. Instead two pairs of arms lifted me off my bed. I was tossed over one of my brothers’ shoulder screaming and pounding on his back to put me down. I heard them chuckle Josh’s laugh a little deeper than John’s.

“You got yourself into this situation Ash.” John laughed from under me, giving away whose shoulder I was tossed over. Realizing this I kicked even harder and tried grabbing a hold of his ankles, hoping he would trip over.

“You brought this upon yourself.” Josh agreed grabbing my legs to stop me from purposely trying to trip John. “Now what do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m trying to get away.” I screamed at him, furious that they would do this to me.

“We can see that and for your information, you’re doing a horribly bad job at it.” John informed me, mocking me.

“I can see that too!” I snapped.

“Alright! Alright! Just don’t forget, we did give you the option to come down willingly.” Josh told me. He was always the one who liked peace, and trying to achieve everything without fights. It was one of the reasons he was always left out of the sibling bonding times, since they were always the results of our fights.

“You were the one who made us bring you down unwillingly!” John piped up.

“That reminds me. Why am I being dragged away from my precious thoughts?” I asked them.

“We told you it was important.” John replied mysteriously and I playfully smacked his arm trying to get more out of him.

“Oh, just tell her!” Josh scolded him, still frustrated.

“I will, sometime.” John told Josh in hopes of making him mad. Just then Rachel came up the stairs, pausing to take in the sight of the three of us arguing.

“Is everything okay, Rach?” Josh asked her kindly. When she was around his personality became even nicer, calmer than it is originally. In my mind it was kind of proof that they belonged together.

“Yeah, everything is fine. I was just wondering what was taking you guys so long.” She answered him with the same kindness still watching me and Josh. I hadn’t stopped pounding on his back and he was doing a great job making my ride as bumpy and uncomfortable as possible.

“Put me down!” I screamed at him giving it one last shot.

“Never!” John replied laughing as Rachel continued staring.

“You probably know why we were taking so long now. The two of them are having another one of their arguments.” Josh informed her shortly.

“They dragged me out if my room without any warning!” I added, directing what I said towards Rachel.

“She wasn’t willing to come, and we had to get her down somehow!” John retorted to me more than Rachel.

“Well I would have been more willing if you had told me it was important!” I defended myself, knowing it was hopeless.

“We did tell you!” John argued.

“No you didn’t!”

“Yes we did!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“Yes!” I finally gave in. “So you did tell me! Who cares though? You never told me what was so important!” I argued as Rachel and Josh watched us curiously.

“Come on guys! She’s waiting!” Josh finally spoke up, stopping our argument. Nodding they started making their way into the living room before Rachel stopped John.

“Stop, first put the poor girl down.” Rachel commanded him.

He shook his head laughing. “This is what she gets for not following her favorite brothers instructions.”

Glaring at him I continued pounding on his back, before I caught what Josh had said.

“Rewind, whose waiting?” I asked them curiously.

“You guys didn’t tell her?” Rachel asked my brothers’.

“We didn’t get a chance. Let’s just go back now.” Josh replied with a sigh.

“Just let me do something first!” I whined, still thrown over John’s shoulder.

“The caught girl doesn’t get any choices of doing anything first!” John told them carrying me in and tossing me on the couch. Laughing Josh and Rachel entered the room not long after us, holding hands. Satisfied I smiled before I took in my surroundings. John was sitting across from me with a petite girl in his lap. She had long brown hair and was beautiful. She could have been a super model. When I saw her I was unable to hold in a gasp.

“John, is there any possibility that you were torturing your sister?” She asked John smiling. When she did this she was even more beautiful than before.

“Nah, we were just having one of our usual fights.” He answered her sending her a smile.

“A pretty intensive one.” Rachel added from the side.

“It wasn’t anything new with the two of them.” Josh laughed.

“Yeah, it wasn’t a big deal.” I agreed sending John a look that I knew only he could understand.

“Oh, sorry Ash. This is Natalie, my girlfriend.” He told me with a shy smile.

“The one that you also forgot to tell me about!” I scolded him, acting furious. I made sure even my thoughts seemed like it.

“Wha- I thought you knew! I mean- in my thoughts.” He stuttered.

“Calm down! I know. I knew about it!” I laughed before I turned to Natalie. “It’s really nice to finally meet you! I’ve heard a lot about you!”

“I’ve heard a lot about you too!” She replied with a smile. It became obvious to me that she and John were perfect for each other too. Their personalities seemed to fit together exactly.

“They were hopefully good things!” I laughed.

“Of course they were. What else could they be?” She asked me laughing along.

“With John, who knows...”

“Don’t worry. You’re bother loves you a lot. They both do. You’re a really lucky girl.”

“I know. I think all of us in this room are pretty lucky.”

“I have a feeling we’re going to be great friends.” Natalie smiled.

“I think so too!”