Briar's Patch

Chapter 1

"Briar, time to get up," dad says knocking on my closed bedroom door from the hallway; slapping my open palm twice on the wall behind my headboard to let him know I'm awake before climbing out of my bed to get my day started. 

So, let me take a moment to introduce myself some to y'all. I'm Briar James MacLean, I'm 17-years-old, gay and proud of it. I'm 5'9" tall with dark black dyed hair which hangs over my eyes, which are a deep blue color, and I have pale skin. I love to draw, paint, and play the violin, piano, and the guitar. These activities help calm my anxiety, and let me express myself, and I think the violin is my favorite instrument. 

I live with my dad, Blake, who is 40-years-old, and a firefighter for Station 71. Dad is bisexual, and divorced my mom, Bianca, four years ago. I used to live with mom after the divorce, and saw dad on his days off of work, until two years ago when dad gained full custody of me. Mom was allowing the guys she brought home for sex to mess with me however they wanted, too. 

One of her "friends" as she called them, decided to strangle me when I fought back when he tried to force himself on me, and he damaged my throat and vocal chords. The damage to my throat and vocal chords makes my voice raspy, and painful to talk, so I'm mute now by choice. When I visited dad a day after this happened, he went into immediate action, and the courts granted him him soul, physical custody of me. Now, I've been living with dad for two years now, and we've learned American Sign Language (ASL) in order to communicate, and my two best friends learned it, too. 

Grabbing my clothes from my closet and dresser - a pair of black ripped skinny jeans, black boxers and socks, and a black and grey stripped long sleeve, v-neck shirt before heading into my bathroom in my room to shower. After using the toilet, brushing my teeth, I step into under the hot water to scrub my body and hair clean before stepping out to dry off and dress. Brushing my hair, and spraying my body spray and deodorant, I grab my dirty clothes to toss in the hamper by the toilet before leaving my room with my bag, wallet, and cell. 

Entering the kitchen where dad is at the counter drinking coffee, I make myself a bowl of cereal for breakfast before sitting next to dad; "Hey bud, sleep okay?" 

I have nightmares and insomnia that sometimes prevents me sleeping a full night. 

Nodding at him as I eye his cup of coffee, knowing damn well that I'm going to need the caffeine boost to make it through my dad. I told him I slept okay, but I was up until 4 a.m., and up by 6:30 a.m. I don't want dad to worry about me any more than I know he already does, since he has a stressful job that he needs to be focused on when he's there. 

I point at his coffee mug and me, silently asking if I can have a cup. Dad raises his right eyebrow at me in question, but doesn't say anything about being tired. He nods his permission, and I smile my thanks as I get up to pour myself a cup of coffee with creamer before sitting back down to finish. 

"I'll pick you up at the end of the day, okay?" dad tells me as he drives me the two miles to school. 

He glances over at me quickly, and I nod in understanding as he focus back on the road saying; "We can have dinner delivered, so what would you like?" 

Thinking this over since food is a serious topic until he pulls into the parking lot of the school, I then sign; "Can we have Thai?" 

"Sure, you want your normal order?" he ask with a smirk. 

'Yes, thanks dad,' I reply with a grin as I grab my bag from between my feet as I climb out. 

"Hey, I love you," dad softly says as I shut the door. 

Smiling over at him, I sign; 'Love you, too, dad.'

Shutting the door behind me, I throw the strap of my bag over my left shoulder, and head inside the school. Making it to my locker in the 12th grade hallway, I leave my bag inside it before grabbing my stuff for my first hour - English Literature. Entering the classroom, I ignore the stares and whispers of the other students. I'm considered the outcast of the school due to my muteness. Settling down into my seat by the window in the back row, I focus my attention outside to the woods. 

"Hey Briar," Halsey Hill greets with his deep baritoned voice, he is one of my best friends along his girlfriend, Marley West. 

He sits down next to me with a grin asking; "Are you ready for this weekend?"

Grinning brightly at him, I nod; 'Yes! You and Marley are still coming over tomorrow, right?'

"Yup, we're both coming over tomorrow, and Marley can stay the night, too," he grins at me as he brushes his brown hair away from his blue eyes. 

'Awesome. Movies and pizza?' I ask wondering what they want to do this weekend.

Dad starts his three days on shift tomorrow morning at the fire station, so he won't be home again until Tuesday morning. Halsey and Marley are staying until Monday morning when we come here. 

'Yup, and probably a card game or two," he grins. 

Perhaps a lame weekend for some, but I will take our boring weekend over anything else. I don't handle being alone in the house well, so Halsey usually stays with me, and I don't handle large groups of people well, either. I feel anxious and stressed in groups, or with people I don't know.

By the time lunch arrives, I'm over today, and I'm just ready to be at home where I feel at peace, and safe. Sitting down at the round lunch table with Halsey and Marley, I feel as if I'm being watched, so I look around the cafe through my hair. My eyes land on Emmett McLaughlin, and I find him starring right at me, which is creepy. 

The reason I feel creeped out is that Emmett is so damn sexy with his dark brown hair and matching eyes, tattoos from the neck down on any visible skin, and an earring in his left ear. He is the sexiest guy I have ever seen in my entire life. I really like the bad boy aura that he projects, but I wonder if he is really like this, or if he is a total sweetheart deep down. 

"Earth to Briar. Where's your mind at?" Marley's sweet, musical voice asks bringing me out of my thoughts. 

Flicking my eyes to her dark brown eyes, I giver her a tiny, sheepish smile; 'Sorry Mar, what's up?'

She's about 5'5" tall, long curly dark brown hair, and has a sweet, happy personality. Halsey is 5'11" tall, thin muscular build, short brown hair that hangs over his right eye, and he has the prettiest blue eyes in existence. They have been my best friends since I was six and they were 7, so eleven years now, and they've been dating for three years now, and they are so damn cute together. 

Marley smiles softly at me; "I was asking you what had you so deep in thought?" 

Halsey doesn't let me answer by saying; "I wonder why they're coming over here?" 

Marley and I turn our attention to where he is looking to find Emmett, and two of his friends, River Anderson and Morgan West, walking over toward us with their food trays in hand. Raising my left eyebrow at them as they sit down with us. Emmett is on my free side since I'm next to Halsey, River is next to Emmett, and Morgan is between River and Marley.

'Do you guys need something?' I sign without thinking to them.

"What?" River asks with a confused voice and face. 

"He asked if you guys needed something?" Marley translates for me. 

"Nope, just want to become friends with you three," Emmett replies with a smile at us.