"So tell me more about this Bryon Riley guy." Jared asked sticking his
head into his sister's bed room.
"He just a guy from school." Meredith replied rolling on some lip gloss.
"That's what worries me, Meredith. I don't like the idea of you dating some Eden Hall, except maybe Fulton."
"Lucky for me I don't care what you like, then isn't it? Besides, we're just going to a watch a game, one of Fulton's games mind you, secondly Reed and I are just friends."
"Now if you and Fulton are such good friends, why have you never gone to a game before?"
"Because Bryon Riley has never invited me to one before?"
"Is he that cute?" Jared raised his eyebrows
The girl smiled and applied some eyeliner.
"Definitely."
"I'm going to drive you then, so chop-chop."
"Ugh, Jared you're not driving me." Merry groaned pulling her puffy hair up into a bun. "He's picking me up in a taxi in like fifteen minutes."
"Well then I want to meet him." Her brother declared.
"You're not meeting him either. Look Jared I know it's hard for you to understand, but you're not my dad, you're just my brother."
Jared frowned and ran his fingers through his light spikes. It was hard from Jared to admit to himself that Merry was in fact his sister not his daughter. Even being only a few years older then her, he'd always felt liked he'd had a bigger impact on her life then their birth father. Plus as the big brother he reserved the right to be overprotective. It was an older sibling perk.
As Jared continued to sit on his sister's bed Meredith took a last look into the mirror on her dresser. She hoped she wasn't going to overboard on the school spirit but she'd decided to wear a red turtle neck she borrowed from her mother, with her least faded black jeans and black work boots. She looked sort of cute, well at least she didn't cringe when she looked at her reflection. She was still nothing compared to the rest of the Eden Hall female student body, but hanging out with Fulton and Bryon made her feel less insecure.
The door bell sounded and Meredith rushed to the window, seeing the cad parked in front of her apartment butterflies suddenly started fluttering around in her stomach.
"He's here! Um, okay, stay calm Meredith you can do this. Do I look alright Jared, you better say yes because I don't have time to change." She started talking a mile a minute.
Her brother sighed and nodded.
"You look fine Mer, relax. Just have a good time okay? And if he tries anything call me, I'll come get you and rearrange his face for you."
"Noted. I'll still be out when mom gets home from work, so if she goes to bed before I get back tell her I love her and I'll talk to her tomorrow." With that the girl opened her door and raced down the stairs to meet Bryon on the sidewalk.
Bryon bought her a soda at the concession stand in the lobby of the rink, asked her what kind she wanted, 'coke with no ice' and ordered it. What surprised her however was he only bought the one, when she knew he could easily offered to buy them each a beverage. When Meredith asked why he didn't get one for himself, he told her he was content just share. That practically floored her, no one had ever said something that nice to her.
On the way up the bleachers Bryon reached back and grabbed her hand. That was it, the girl was on cloud nine. The two slipped into a pair of seats some of Bryon's friends had been saving and the gleeful comfort Merry had been feeling moments before vanished. She knew of most of the teens from school, but was friendly with none of them. A good portion of them were kids that had hassled her on her first few days, some still did. She didn't like them and it was evident they didn't like her, but for Bryon she would've spent the evening hanging with Hitler. Meredith was smitten.
The girl sat silently in her seat for the few minutes before the start of the game while the rest of the group chattered. She wanted to curl up in a ball and slide to the floor, taking refuge under her seat. She had nothing to contribute to the conversation about the difference between a stock broker and an investment banker.
Meredith remained wordless until the Ducks took the ice, when she shot to her feet and screamed like the rest of the spectators. The rink shook as the hundreds of kids jumped up pounding the floor. It took a second for Merry to notice that none of the people she was sitting with were standing around her. Looking to her left and right she saw that Bryon and all of his pals were still in their chairs. Turning beat red she slumped back into her seat.
Back to the silence. She remained totally hushed for most of the first period, Bryon didn't even talk to her. That made her feel even more out of place, so she made the decision after a few minutes of inner dialogue, she wasn't just going to sit there quiet and ignored all night. The next cheer worthy thing to happen on the ice, she was going to shout until her throat hurt. It just so happened that as the clock wound down at the end of period one Fulton let go of one of his famous slap shots, that saved right past the goalie and into the back of the net.
Like a rocket the girl shot up and pumped her fist in the air.
"Way to go Fulton! You're awesome!"
Fulton recognized her voice from the ice and looked around the crowd to find her. Spotting his friend in the stands and gave a slight wave and wink, then he saw Bryon and his face instantly soured. He'd hoped she'd change her mind and not go with him, but unfortunately not. That was sort of dismayed him, he didn't want to lose her friendship, but knew if things stayed on that course he would lose to her Bryon. He'd begged her to go to games before and she'd always said no, but Bryon could persuade her, that hurt.
Bryon saw the expression on the hockey players face and just for the enjoyment of screwing with one of the Duck he reach up, caught Meredith around the waist and pulled her onto his lap. She fall back with a huge smirk and felt the pinkness start at the tip of her ears.
"You actually like that Fulton Reed?" Dave Bass, one of Bryon's friends asked, sounding mildly surprised.
"Yeah," The girl responded. "he's my best friend."
"I thought I was your best friend." Bryon leaned closer so his lips were right above her ear.
"You can be my best friend too if you want to."
"Nah, I'll settle for your boyfriend instead."
When Bryon kissed her cheek Meredith turned twenty different shades of red, going along the with chorus of 'Ooohs' and 'Ahhhs' from the people that surrounded them. Jared and Fulton were going to love to hear this…
"He just a guy from school." Meredith replied rolling on some lip gloss.
"That's what worries me, Meredith. I don't like the idea of you dating some Eden Hall, except maybe Fulton."
"Lucky for me I don't care what you like, then isn't it? Besides, we're just going to a watch a game, one of Fulton's games mind you, secondly Reed and I are just friends."
"Now if you and Fulton are such good friends, why have you never gone to a game before?"
"Because Bryon Riley has never invited me to one before?"
"Is he that cute?" Jared raised his eyebrows
The girl smiled and applied some eyeliner.
"Definitely."
"I'm going to drive you then, so chop-chop."
"Ugh, Jared you're not driving me." Merry groaned pulling her puffy hair up into a bun. "He's picking me up in a taxi in like fifteen minutes."
"Well then I want to meet him." Her brother declared.
"You're not meeting him either. Look Jared I know it's hard for you to understand, but you're not my dad, you're just my brother."
Jared frowned and ran his fingers through his light spikes. It was hard from Jared to admit to himself that Merry was in fact his sister not his daughter. Even being only a few years older then her, he'd always felt liked he'd had a bigger impact on her life then their birth father. Plus as the big brother he reserved the right to be overprotective. It was an older sibling perk.
As Jared continued to sit on his sister's bed Meredith took a last look into the mirror on her dresser. She hoped she wasn't going to overboard on the school spirit but she'd decided to wear a red turtle neck she borrowed from her mother, with her least faded black jeans and black work boots. She looked sort of cute, well at least she didn't cringe when she looked at her reflection. She was still nothing compared to the rest of the Eden Hall female student body, but hanging out with Fulton and Bryon made her feel less insecure.
The door bell sounded and Meredith rushed to the window, seeing the cad parked in front of her apartment butterflies suddenly started fluttering around in her stomach.
"He's here! Um, okay, stay calm Meredith you can do this. Do I look alright Jared, you better say yes because I don't have time to change." She started talking a mile a minute.
Her brother sighed and nodded.
"You look fine Mer, relax. Just have a good time okay? And if he tries anything call me, I'll come get you and rearrange his face for you."
"Noted. I'll still be out when mom gets home from work, so if she goes to bed before I get back tell her I love her and I'll talk to her tomorrow." With that the girl opened her door and raced down the stairs to meet Bryon on the sidewalk.
Bryon bought her a soda at the concession stand in the lobby of the rink, asked her what kind she wanted, 'coke with no ice' and ordered it. What surprised her however was he only bought the one, when she knew he could easily offered to buy them each a beverage. When Meredith asked why he didn't get one for himself, he told her he was content just share. That practically floored her, no one had ever said something that nice to her.
On the way up the bleachers Bryon reached back and grabbed her hand. That was it, the girl was on cloud nine. The two slipped into a pair of seats some of Bryon's friends had been saving and the gleeful comfort Merry had been feeling moments before vanished. She knew of most of the teens from school, but was friendly with none of them. A good portion of them were kids that had hassled her on her first few days, some still did. She didn't like them and it was evident they didn't like her, but for Bryon she would've spent the evening hanging with Hitler. Meredith was smitten.
The girl sat silently in her seat for the few minutes before the start of the game while the rest of the group chattered. She wanted to curl up in a ball and slide to the floor, taking refuge under her seat. She had nothing to contribute to the conversation about the difference between a stock broker and an investment banker.
Meredith remained wordless until the Ducks took the ice, when she shot to her feet and screamed like the rest of the spectators. The rink shook as the hundreds of kids jumped up pounding the floor. It took a second for Merry to notice that none of the people she was sitting with were standing around her. Looking to her left and right she saw that Bryon and all of his pals were still in their chairs. Turning beat red she slumped back into her seat.
Back to the silence. She remained totally hushed for most of the first period, Bryon didn't even talk to her. That made her feel even more out of place, so she made the decision after a few minutes of inner dialogue, she wasn't just going to sit there quiet and ignored all night. The next cheer worthy thing to happen on the ice, she was going to shout until her throat hurt. It just so happened that as the clock wound down at the end of period one Fulton let go of one of his famous slap shots, that saved right past the goalie and into the back of the net.
Like a rocket the girl shot up and pumped her fist in the air.
"Way to go Fulton! You're awesome!"
Fulton recognized her voice from the ice and looked around the crowd to find her. Spotting his friend in the stands and gave a slight wave and wink, then he saw Bryon and his face instantly soured. He'd hoped she'd change her mind and not go with him, but unfortunately not. That was sort of dismayed him, he didn't want to lose her friendship, but knew if things stayed on that course he would lose to her Bryon. He'd begged her to go to games before and she'd always said no, but Bryon could persuade her, that hurt.
Bryon saw the expression on the hockey players face and just for the enjoyment of screwing with one of the Duck he reach up, caught Meredith around the waist and pulled her onto his lap. She fall back with a huge smirk and felt the pinkness start at the tip of her ears.
"You actually like that Fulton Reed?" Dave Bass, one of Bryon's friends asked, sounding mildly surprised.
"Yeah," The girl responded. "he's my best friend."
"I thought I was your best friend." Bryon leaned closer so his lips were right above her ear.
"You can be my best friend too if you want to."
"Nah, I'll settle for your boyfriend instead."
When Bryon kissed her cheek Meredith turned twenty different shades of red, going along the with chorus of 'Ooohs' and 'Ahhhs' from the people that surrounded them. Jared and Fulton were going to love to hear this…