Thanks to everyone who read the last two chapters! I should let you all know, that I won't always be updating this often. I have quite a few other things to write, and I sometimes get writer's block fairly easily. Please let me know if you have any comments, or ideas. I love both. I hope you like this chapter!
And if you want a disclaimer, there's one in chapter 2.
Not A Brother Ch. 3
Later that night, we were all sitting at the table having dinner and just enjoying eachothers company, when the phone rang. Evelyn started to stand up, but I stopped her.
"No, mom, it's ok. I'll get it," I said as I pushed my chair back, and stood up. "Hello?"
"Hello, may I speak with Ms. Evelyn Mercer, please?" came the voice on the other end of the reciever.
"May I ask who's calling?"
"Yes, this is Mrs. Shepard, your prinicpal Miss Malone. I'm sure you know what I'm calling about." I raised my eyebrows in confusion.
"The detention I was supposed to have today?" I asked.
"Not entirely, but that will be half of what I need to discuss with Ms. Mercer. The other half is about the assault of one Mr. Kevin Stevens," My face paled at these words, but was quickly heated with anger.
"You cannot be serious! He reported that I assaulted him?!" Everyone looked up at me shocked when they heard me yell.
"Yes, he did. Now will you please put her on the phone?" She sounded angry at me. If she only knew what kind of guy he was, she would probably give me the smallest punishment possible.
I sighed furiously, and set the phone down. Everyone could tell I wasn't too happy when I walked back into the dining room.
"Mom, it's for you," she looked confused, but stood to answer it.
I returned to my seat, my appetite pretty much gone now. They just kept staring at me, waiting for me to tell them why I had yelled into the phone.
"That piece of shit called the principal to report me for hitting him today," I said looking down at my plate. I pushed it away, not wanting to finish what was on it. Normally I wouldn't care that much, but I knew that they would probably consider expelling me. I wanted to finish school, I wanted to go to college. I wanted to become a better person than my parents were. Well at least he didn't call the police.
"What! We beat the fucker too, why didn't he report me?" Jack asked surprised.
"You're not the one he's trying to get back at," None of them said anything more, knowing I was worried about expulsion. "I'm not hungry anymore, I'm going upstairs."
I knew Evelyn would be on the phone for a while. I was sure Kevin had a whole big story to tell, that did nothing but make him seem completely innocent, and me look like the bad guy. It wouldn't surprise me. I should have seen him for what he was in the beginning. Maybe I just didn't want to. Maybe I lowered my standards too much. Maybe I didn't recognize some of the signs as well as I thought. Maybe he was just that good at hiding who he was. No matter now though.
Of course what he did didn't hurt as much as what my father did, but it hurt bad enough. I mean I never loved him, and never pretended to. It was just something I was really afraid of, and hoped would never happen to me. I've never admitted to anyone I was afraid of something like that, and never showed it. Maybe I should have, but I never felt the need to and I don't think it would have really mattered.
I went over to the floor length mirror that stood in my room. I turned my head, my body, looking at myself from every angle that I could. Maybe it was something about my looks. Oh great, now my old insecurities are coming back. Perfect! I put my head in my hands trying to push those thoughts away.
"You're not going to find the reason in that mirror, Kyra," I jumped, startled by the voice that broke my thoughts. Looking into the mirror I saw Jack standing against the doorframe of my bedroom behind me. "There's nothing about your looks that would give him reason to do what he did."
I smiled weakly. "How did you know that's what I was thinking?"
"Because I know you, and I remember the way you thought when you first got here. Sometimes when I passed your room you would be looking in the mirror just like that. Usually, later that same night I would hear you crying. He did it because he's a jerk, and doesn't know how lucky he is. Not because of how you look, or anything about you."
I blushed at hearing he had seen and heard me, and at the things he was saying. "But why can't I find someone who won't treat me like crap? That's all I ever feel, because that's how everybody has always treated me. How am I supposed to feel different, when people treat me like that? You, Evelyn, and the guys are the only ones who have treated me right."
"We treat you the way you deserve to be treated. I wish you could see what we see when we look at you." I could see it in his eyes, and hear it in his voice that he was hurt. Hurt by what I was saying, and hurt because I was hurt.
"I wish I could too, Jack," Tears began to slowly roll down my face. I tried to stop them, but a few escaped anyway. I turned my head so he couldn't see them.
"Don't cry over that asshole, he's not worth it. He doesn't deserve to have you cry over him," He put his hand on the side of my face turning it, so that he could see to wipe the tears away.
"I'm not crying over him. I'm crying, because I don't know when it will stop, or if it ever will," I still kept my eyes on the floor, afraid that if I looked at him I wouldn't be able to stop myself from breaking down. Afraid to see my emotions reflected in his eyes.
"I wish I could stop it for you," I looked up, not knowing exactly what to make of what he had just said. His eyes were confusing. There was such a mix of emotions now, that I couldn't tell one from the other. And until now I hadn't noticed how close he had gotten.
"I wish you could too," I told him. I wasn't exactly sure where that had come from, or what I meant exactly. He seemed just as confused as I was. Neither one of us really knew what we meant... what we felt.
I did know, that I loved the feeling of his hand on my face. The feeling of his skin touching mine. We were completely unaware that we were taking steps, inching closer to eachother. My heart began to beat faster, and my breath felt caught in my throat.
I couldn't have taken my eyes away from his if I wanted to right now, and to be honest I didn't want to. I don't think I had noticed until now, just how beautiful they were. It seemed like I could see into his mind, perhaps even his soul. His feelings, and thoughts must be just as tangled and jumbled together as they appear to be through his eyes.
I could feel his warm breath on my face now, his lips less than an inch from mine. Our eyes were still locked together. My heart now pounded against my chest. I was sure he could hear it. His lips gently tickled mine as they barely touched.
"Kyra! Can you come downstairs, please," Jack and I jumped away from eachother at the sound of Evelyn's voice. After what felt like ages of not being able to look away from eachother, now we looked at everything except eachother. He had turned away from me slightly, and seemed kind of irritated.
"C-coming," I called. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, and seeing that he was still facing away from me, turned to leave the room.
I wasn't worried about what Evelyn was going to say. I knew she would listen to my side of the story, and not judge me before she knew my side. I could hear Bobby and Angel talking to her. It sounded like they were trying to back me up.
"I don't need to hear it from you two, I want to hear the story from her own mouth," I laughed to myself.
"You wanted to see me?" The three of them looked up at me. I got a couple of quizzical looks from the guys. I was suddenly aware of the warmth in my face, which was now gradually getting warmer. I tried to push all thoughts of what happened upstairs, in hopes of making the blush leave my face.
"Yes, and I'm assuming you know what the principal was calling to talk to me about," I nodded. "Angel, Bobby, go upstairs."
They grudgingly stood up, and filed up the stairs. I looked back at Evelyn. She patted her hand on the cusion next to the one she sat on. I slowly walked over, and sat down.
"The boys tell me that you found out that this young man cheated on you, and came over to try to get you back," she paused, and I nodded. "Then he yelled for you when they wouldn't call you downstairs, so they beat him around a little bit?" Another pause, and I nodded again.
"Then they say you wouldn't let him give you his crappy excuses, and he tried to stop you when you went to go back into the house. That's when you hit him?"
"Yes. I was disgusted by him! He had no right to touch me, and I wanted to make sure he knew never to touch me again." I told her. I wasn't about to make my intentions look like anything other than what they were.
"Alright, well I understand your reason for hitting him. In all honesty, I don't blame you," she laughed. I laughed back, knowing she wouldn't be mad at me. She put her arm around my shoulder, hugging me. I layed my head on her shoulder. Moments like this were the moments I loved best with Evelyn. It was moments like these, that she really felt like my mother.
"You arn't going to be expelled," I looked up her happily, sighing with relief. "But... they are suspending you for one week, and giving you two weeks detention."
"I can deal with that," I smiled. Detention didn't really bother me.
"Good! Why don't you go work on your homework or read. When I'm done cleaning things up, we'll all go take Angel to the airport."
"Are you sure you don't want me to help?" I asked. I wasn't too anxious to go back upstairs just yet.
"I'm sure," she stood and walked into the kitchen. "I'm sure Jackie's gone back into his room by now anyway,"
I looked up shocked and a little embarassed. How did she know?!
"I know everything," She said over the running water in the sink. I laughed and shook my head.
Sure enough when I got back to my room it was empty, and Jack's door was closed. I closed mine, and walked over to my bed. I layed back, covering my face with my hands.
Things are probably going to be so awkward now!
Thank you so much to those who have added my story to their alert list, and favorites. I really appreciate it! It has definately helped me on my "bad" days. By that I mean, I'm going through something immensely hard right now, and I have good days, slightly good days, and bad days. So it's really meant alot to me to know, that people like my story.
To my reviewers:
tigerwhisper: Here is the second update, and thank you for reading and reviewing!
lightning8star: I'm glad you liked it! I love comments that point things out, it's helpful. I hope you liked this chapter too.
ollie-oxycotyn: Lol, yes I am jealous. But not too much, since I own it now lol. And I really liked your newest chapter, and can't wait for more! I'm like obsessed with your story now lol, mostly cuz I'm in love with that movie now and don't get to read very much about him. And of course, cuz it's awesome: P
