Christian
"My sister's a slut," I sigh, sitting down at the breakfast bar as Ana hands me a glass of wine. I can't remember the last time I've needed a drink this badly.
"Christian!" she scolds, shooting me a look. I feel like I'm talking to my mother.
"What? What do you call a half dressed high school girl who dances around and screams for boys?" I ask. I know I'm being ridiculous. But still. Something about Emily doing this is really bothering me. I've barely known her for two weeks and yet I can't help the protective feelings I have towards her.
"A cheerleader, Christian. You should be happy she's getting involved and making friends," Ana sighs, shaking her head at me. Yeah, making friends with a bunch of rich jocks that want to fuck her.
Emily has just finished her second week of school and is supposed to be "performing" in a pep rally tonight. The whole thing is stupid to me. Who has a pep rally for soccer? I didn't go when I went to Carlyle, so why would I go now. Ana is forcing me to go to offer support, but I'm pretty sure my sister doesn't want me there. I don't even really know if she wants to be there.
Over the past two weeks we've actually been civil. We haven't exactly spent much time together, but we haven't tried to kill each other either. Ana seems to think that's progress. I've noticed we have things in common and it's starting to scare me. Our mannerisms are so alike that it makes me uncomfortable. The way she blinks for a few seconds before she speaks, even her crooked smile. It's all too familiar.
"You guys really don't need to come tonight," Emily says as she comes down the stairs into the kitchen. I don't know whether to laugh or be horrified at her attire.
She's wearing this short navy and white top that exposes her stomach and a skirt that's so short it might as well be a thong. But her hair is pulled back into a high ponytail with a giant white ribbon on top, and she's holding both pom poms in her left hand. She has a paw print painted on her cheek and she looks like the most miserable cheerleader I have ever seen. It reminds me of the time Mia was some sort of dead cheerleader for Halloween when she was eight. Elliot and I still tease her about that horrible costume.
Before I can help myself I'm hysterical. She has to be the least cheery and spirited person I've ever met. Why would she ever do this?
"Christian," Ana growls through her teeth, but I can't stop. For some reason this really makes me laugh. I know I'm being a dick, but I can't help it.
"What?" Emily asks horrified, looking down at her uniform. "Does it fit right?" She starts tugging on the skirt and she looks at me like I've grown three heads.
I feel bad for making her self-conscious again and I try to keep a straight face. She definitely doesn't look bad…she just looks ridiculous. I can never have a daughter.
"No," I say and before I can help it I'm laughing again. I know I should be happy that she's "making friends" but this is almost too far.
She smiles but I can tell she's frustrated that I won't tell her why I'm laughing.
"It's just…you have to be the…most miserable looking cheerleader I have EVER seen," I laugh. She smiles too. Maybe we inherited the perpetual attitude from the "sperm donor" we share.
"Shut up, Christian. This wasn't my idea. Madison is forcing me to do it," she says, rolling her eyes at me. She swings her pony tail around as she talks.
"Christian leave her alone," Ana snaps. "Emily I think you look great and I'm sure it's a lot of fun. That uniform actually looks incredible on you. That Madison girl you've been hanging out with, is she nice?"
"No," Emily answers, "she's probably the biggest bitch I've ever met. I actually don't know if we're even actual friends. She's funny though." Emily smiles to herself. Yeah, we definitely have the same attitude.
Emily grabs a water bottle from the fridge and looks at the clock on the microwave.
"Are we going?" she asks with a hint of irritation in her voice. I start laughing all over again. It seems our cheerleader can't wait to show her Cougar Pride.
Sitting in the bleachers of my old high school is an odd experience. Not that I ever spent much time here. I usually got kicked off teams for fighting and I didn't have much school spirit in my teenage years.
"Does this bring back memories?" Ana asks, shivering a little. The fall air is cool tonight. I put my arm around her and pull her into my side.
"Some. Most of them aren't pleasant. I wasn't a happy child in high school," I murmur. She knows not to push it any further. I wish I could say the same for my thoughts.
I recognize some alumni and teachers, but not enough to say hi. I didn't exactly have any friends when I was a student here.
"Emily must be freezing," Ana observes, gesturing towards the cheerleading squad.
"Those outfits are completely impractical for Seattle," I agree. It's also impractical to have underage girls prancing around in their underwear. I'm finding a way to fix that.
I notice Emily talking to a girl and she actually looks happy. I see her laugh and smile and it does something to me. I want her to be happy. I want her to not look back on her teenage years the same way I look back on mine.
I see Gregory Colfer approach me from the other side of the bleachers. We've done business together in the past, but I've never really trusted him. He's the type of person that's always looking for information.
"Mr. Grey," he greets me with a smile. His eyes linger to Ana for a second to long and I'm immediately pissed off. Don't look at my wife, fucker.
"Colfer," I snap.
"My Madison tells me how fond she is of your younger sister. I wasn't aware that you had another sibling this young," he says, watching my reaction carefully.
Neither was I, Dickhead.
I keep my face composed.
"Well she just recently began here," I say simply. I'm not giving him any information on mine or Emily's past.
"So I've heard. Well I'm sure she's a doll. Enjoy the pep rally," he basically sneers at me.
"Who was that?" Ana asks, watching him as he walks away. I feel her shiver again, although I'm pretty sure it's not from the temperature.
Emily Freedman POV
Would I be completely judged if I said that cheerleading was kind of fun? I mean, maybe the activity itself is stupid. But I've never really been a part of something. The girls aren't exactly friendly, but they're welcoming enough to me. Most people seem to fear Madison, and I find it amusing.
Madison Colfer is probably the bitchiest girl I've ever met. Her smile is almost always sarcastic, and I've noticed that she has no problem telling it like it is. But for some reason, I like her. I mean I don't feel the sense of ease around her that my friendship with Diego always brought, but it's nice to have someone to sit with at lunch.
If I didn't know better, I would think that she probably hates me. But she texts me an awful lot and seems to trust me with her relationship problems, so I think we're friends.
Jamie is another story. I watch him laugh with his team and I'm completely baffled. This charming, attractive boy is a complete and total creep. How can Madison not see that?
Christa, another girl on the team, says that he cheats on her all the time and that she just hasn't figured it out. But I don't think that's the case.
I watch Madison stare at Jamie from across the field and she looks absolutely miserable. She says that she loves him, but I think she just wishes that she did. I follow her gaze across the field and my stomach drops.
I see a dark figure watching me from the parking lot. No. He can't be here. There is no possible way. I blink and he's gone.
A thousand memories come flooding back to me. My screams. His big hands. My little dog barking at the foot of my bed. Help. Get off of me. Stop it, you stupid little slut.
I can't let my thoughts go on any further.
"Hello? Did you hear anything I just said? You look like you actually just shit yourself," Madison says, waving her hand in front of my face.
"Sorry, I thought I saw something," I say, trying to fake a smile. Madison rolls her eyes at me.
"Ok well before you start speaking to dead people, do you want to go to Trent's party after this? His parents are like at the beach house," she says, as if having a beach house is the most casual thing in the world.
"Sure, sounds fun," I say, although that sounds anything but. The soccer team boys don't really seem to be my type. I've never gone for the preppy guys in polo shirts.
The pep rally begins and I'm lost in a sea of cheers and excitement. If only I could feel the same way.
"Madison, you were so good!" Ana cheers, almost throwing her arms around me. I take a step back reflexively, and I can see her face fall. I'm such a bitch.
"Thank you! I was really nervous," I reply, trying to soften the blow. I actually like Ana and I don't like many people. She doesn't feel the need to question me.
"You actually looked cheery," Christian laughs. I punch him in the arm and then I freeze. Fuck. Was that too far?
But he just laughs and lightly shoves me back. Wow, it's like we're actually siblings.
"My friend Madison wants me to sleep over tonight, if that's ok?" I tell them, pleading a little bit with my voice. Part of me wants them to say no. I don't know if I'm ready to be with these kids outside of school.
"Oh that's great! Of course it's fine!" Ana says excitedly, all smiles.
Christian looks like he's swallowed something awful. "I'd rather you didn't."
"Christian," Ana snaps. "Emily is making friends with that girl. The one we saw her talking to. Let her have fun."
I look at Christian and sigh. Ana's right, I do desperately need to learn how to have fun.
"Fine, I'll send Reynolds for you in the morning. Is your phone charged?" he asks, his eyes all dark.
I wave my fully charged iPhone in front of his face.
"Thank you," I say, before I run off to find Madison. Things could actually be different for me here.
I feel completely out of my element as we pull up in front of Trent's house. I've never been to a party at a house this nice. What was it with these rich kids? There are people everywhere. I didn't even know this many people went to Carlyle.
Madison insisted that I borrow her clothes. So now I'm walking into a party where I barely know anyone wearing Madison's super short and tight black dress. I look like a hooker.
"Stop walking so fast. You look eager," Madison hisses at me. I tried to call her Maddie in the car and she nearly bit my head off. She doesn't really seem like a Maddie anyway.
"Yo Mads!" I see Trent yell from the front porch. He's already wasted even though pep rally only ended like an hour ago.
"You brought the new girl," he says, smiling down at me. He's all sloppy and a bit too animated for my liking.
"It's Emily," I say, sticking my hand out. His eyes fall immediately to my visible cleavage. Perv.
"I know exactly who you are babe," he says, winking at me.
"Trent, does she look like she'd be interested in you. Emily is hot. And you look like the guy from Johnny Bravo. That's not a compliment," Madison says, grabbing my hand and pulling me inside.
I immediately make eye contact with the piercing blue eyes of Matthew Benson from across the room. I don't think I've ever seen eyes that blue. He rolls his eyes at me yet again before he looks away.
I'm determined to figure that out tonight.
"What is his issue?" I ask Madison, gesturing towards Matt.
She rolls her eyes. "I don't know. He has like Mommy issues or something like that. He's poor Emily, I don't know why you're so interested. Yes he's hot, but he's not the boy you bring for dinner at the country club," she snaps at me.
Seriously Madison? The country club?
Forty five minutes later I'm slightly tipsy and alone. Madison and Jamie went upstairs, not before he winked at me. He really needs to stop doing that.
I decide that I'm going to call Diego. I miss him. Just his name makes my eyes tear. I open the sliding glass doors and step out onto Trent's beautiful porch overlooking the sound.
I'm looking down at my phone when a voice interrupts my thoughts.
"Jamie's not out here if this is where he told you to meet him," a voice says and immediately panic. What is this person implying?
I turn my head to the right to see Matt sitting on a dark chair while holding a beer bottle.
"Excuse me?" I ask him. What is he trying to say?
"I mean don't get me wrong, Madison Colfer is a first class bitch. But you actually seemed to like her. I'm just letting you know that if this is where Jamie told you to meet him so you can hook up in private, he's not here. He's probably a little bit busy cheating on his girlfriend with someone else," he says, staring out the sound.
I am livid. How dare this stranger say something like that about me. I don't know if it's the alcohol or my anger, but I suddenly explode.
"What the actual fuck is your problem? I've never even met you and you seem to have some serious issue with me! I would never hook up with Jamie or anyone here for that matter, not that that's any of your business. I was just trying to make a phone call in peace before I was interrupted by an arrogant little prick," I snap at him, my hands in fists at my sides.
He looks impressed for a second before he takes another sip of his beer.
"I just don't like rich brats that think they're entitled to everything before their parents have money," he finally says, raising his eye brow at me.
"My parents are dead, so," I say bluntly, watching his reaction. I realize that this is the first time I've actually said this out loud.
"Oh…I'm sorry," he says eventually, although he sounds anything but.
"I'll get over it," I snap, still angry from his earlier accusation.
"My mom's dead too," he says, and then his farhead crinkles. "I don't know why I just said that."
"It must be because you're so welcoming and inclusive," I say sarcastically, smiling a little. "But I'm sorry for your loss as well."
He's silent for a minute, so I decide to speak again.
"I'm not rich either," I start. "I mean, I know my brother Christian is, but I had never even met him until two weeks ago when my dad died. I grew up in the projects of Detroit. I went to a ghetto public school with gang fights and drugs and had a deadbeat dad. I'm not a rich kid," I say, starring out at the water.
I realize that he's the first person I've said this to also. Something about him makes me feel okay, and I decide to sit down in the seat next to him.
Sorry it's been so long, I've been crazy busy!