All of the gang stared at me while
I tried to stall having to tell them the truth. This was something I had dreamed about and dreaded. Finally, I began.

     "It's all Bryce's fault," I said bluntly. "He's behind everything: me ditching you guys, me acting like a Soc, and my black eye." Everyone gasped in shock. While Bryce and I had always had different morals, he had also always been protective of me so the idea of him hitting me was startling.

      "How do we know you're tellin' us the truth?" Dally snapped at me. I bit my lip to hold back a snarky response, they had every reason to doubt me.

      "Would knowing the details make you believe me," I asked politely. Dallas shrugged.
  
        "It would increase the chance that we might trust ya," he said coldly in response. I shrugged.

        "It all started after Mr. and Mrs. Curtis passed away," I said softly. "I promise y'all, I wanted to come to the funeral and be there for you guys. But Bryce wouldn't let me. Ya see, he was all pissed off at Darry. Being the idiot that he is, Bryce sees Darry as a traitor; he thinks you shoulda thrown Soda and Pony into a boys home and become a Soc." This comment led to outraged and unsettled responses from the gang; they all knew that Darry could have gotten much farther in life if he didn't choose to take care of them. I made eye contact with Darry before continuing. "He started talking crap about you, calling you a traitor and all these other dumb nicknames. First time I heard him and told him to stop, he slapped me. Then he explained that things were gonna start changing because he needed to protect his image. To do this, he needed to change my image. He's always known that I care deeply about you all and he used that to threaten me. Bryce said that he wouldn't hurt any of  y'all to bad as long as I cut you guys out of my life and started acting like a Soc." I stopped speaking to give them some time to take the information in. I could see in their eyes that their anger and suspicion was starting to lessen but I could also tell that I hadn't convinced them yet.
  
       "Something still ain't addin' up," Steve said. "How has Bryce been able to get away with beating on you? Haven't your parents noticed?" I shook my head.

       "For them to notice, they would have to be home for more than a few days every couple of months." I answered truthfully. "They travel a heck of a lot for their jobs; whenever they're gone, Bryce is in charge of me. I do all the cooking and cleaning at the house when they're not home. Bryce will be drunk nearly 24-7 and he beats me whenever I screw something up. He'll never get caught them, when our parents our home he acts like a perfect person. During those few days when they'll come back Bryce is attentive to me, won't drink, and never lays a hand on me. As soon as they leave though, all hell breaks loose." A new surge of anger appeared on the gangs faces but I knew it was directed at my brother. When no one spoke up, I continued with my story. "When I woke up today, I found a note from my parents saying that had gotten an emergency call from work and had left early in the morning. Bryce got home, yelled at me and told me to get something decent looking on. That's why I'm in this stupid outfit. After I changed I found him and his friends leaving, talking about how they got a call about Pony walking all alone. I tried to tell Bryce not to hurt him, after all he promised me that you guys would be left alone as long as I kept away from all of you. He got pissed that I told him what to do so he punched me. Then he said to never tell him what to do again and to make sure the house was clean by the time he got back or else I'd be punished." My final sentence got stuck in my throat as I remembered his threat; I had no clue how long is been here but Bryce was probably already home which meant that I was screwed when I went back. I started to mentally curse myself out for staying here for so long. A small reasonable part of my brain reminded me that the gang had forced me to stay but I was to overwhelmed by panic to care. Looking each person in the face, I stood up. "So that's that. Whether you believe me or not, everything I just said was a hundred percent true. I never wanted to hurt any of you, ditching you guys was only to try and protect you. Now if you'll excuse me, I really gotta leave before Bryce decide to murder me for leaving without permission and not cleaning the house." With that, I quickly strolled out of the house. It wasn't until I left this front yard that I let my tears stream down my face. As I walked in the direction of my family by blood, I wanted nothing more than to turn around and go back to the people who I loved as if they were my family.