Dallas interrupted my weekend of solitude when he entered my room Sunday night. I had made small appearances downstairs throughout the last day and a half but hadn't spoken a word to any of them. I knew this conversation was coming, but it didn't mean I was looking forward to it.
"Friday was rough. We both said some shit that shouldn't have been said."
"I think you mean I did."
The boy took a seat on the edge of my bed, as I pulled my legs closer to my body. "Ella." He sighed, closing his eyes. He turned to me once he reopened them. "I'm trying to be nice here. I don't like having this conversation any more than you do, but you gotta work with me here."
When I nodded my head, he continued. "You're grounded." He cleared his throat. "It's not okay to just walk out like that. Something could've happened to you, Ella."
"I was fine. I had my phone on me, and you know how to track it." I tried to explain.
"It doesn't work when your phone dies. Next time you plan on running out, charge your phone the night before." Dallas shifts in his seat, probably uncomfortable with having to lecture me. "I talked to your teacher, and she's allowing you to retake the test."
"What?" I lean forward, letting my legs fall back towards the edge.
"Your teacher is giving you one chance to retake the test. I want you to be prepared this time, so if you need help, ask one of the boys."
"Yeah, like they're any help." I stood from the bed, heading to my backpack that leaned against the frame of my door. "I'll try my best on the retake, but it's not a guarantee I'll do better."
"You normally do so well on tests. What happened?" Dallas's feet tap against the floor in anticipation of my answer.
"I just had a hard time concentrating that day." I looked through my bag, trying to find my notes from English class. "I guess I could ask Charlotte for help. She did better than me."
"I just don't want you failing the class. Things are finally going good and I don't want a bad grade to ruin that for you." Dallas stood, heading towards the door. "There's food downstairs when you're hungry. You might want to head down there before the boys take it all." The nineteen-year-old looked back at me one more time. "Otherwise, goodnight Ella."
"'Night, Dallas," I replied, absentmindedly, while looking over the notebook pages that had been crumpled at the bottom of my bag.
As the door opened, I could hear yelling from downstairs. Milo's laughter floated in my room, ending as soon as the door was closed. They were all having fun, while I was having one of the worst weekends in a while. Hopefully, Monday was better.
The following morning I wasn't ready to get up. I missed my alarm, waking up to Preston banging his fist on my bedroom door. "Get your ass out of bed or we're leaving without you."
Ten minutes later I was walking down the stairs, my backpack hanging off my right shoulder. I spotted Milo's bag near the front door, his binder and notebooks peeking out of the zipper. His shoes had been thrown down next to it, scattered nearby.
Preston pushed his body into my shoulder as he passed, making me stumble off the bottom step. "Oops, my bad." He laughed his way into the kitchen.
Milo's laughter sounded through the house, followed by Kai's shout of anger. The pair rushed past me, the older boy hot on my twin's trail. They were always the last two in the car, making the rest of us run late. Knowing Preston's mood this morning, he'll probably blame it all on me.
"Breakfast, Ella!" Atlas calls from the kitchen. When I enter, he and Finley sit at the table eating cereal. I make my way over to grab myself a bowl, using the rest of the milk that had been left on the counter.
"I drank from that." Preston feels the need to announce. I looked at him while continuing to pour the milk. He scrunched up his nose in disgust, taking a seat next to Finley. The room remains quiet while I start eating. Not wanting to deal with Preston anymore, I kept my spot at the counter, leaning against it.
"I can drive you to school, Ella, but I won't be able to bring you home." Atlas was the first to break the silence, as he brought his bowl over to the sink. "Kai can't either. We have to go somewhere." The boy vaguely describes, leaving only Preston who would be able to take me home.
The sixteen-year-old's shoulders shake and a smile rests on his face as he listens to our conversation. "You're kidding, right?" I look back at Atlas.
"Preston, make sure they're both in the car this time when you leave. Dallas's orders."
"Yeah, yeah." The younger boy waves his hands at Atlas, probably not even hearing a word he said. "I got it." Preston stands from his chair, leaving us to stare at his retreating figure.
"It's just for today, alright?" Atlas gathers a stack of papers from the kitchen table. Finley remains seated at the table, watching the whole interaction. "At least I'm warning you ahead of time, right?" He stuffs the papers into his black backpack, heading to the door. "I'll meet you both in the car."
I turn to the last remaining person, who silently watches me from his seat at the kitchen table. With the way I left things last time I talked to Finley, I could feel a lecture coming on. Making a quick exit from the room, I called back to him. "Come on, Fin. Don't wanna be late."
I made my way into the history classroom right as the bell rang. Quickly, I took a seat next to Kody, who was tapping a pencil against his desk. The boy was watching me, shaking his head with a light smile. I was lucky the teacher hadn't noticed that I was almost late, having dealt with enough lectures the past few days.
"Okay, class!" Mr. Collin spoke above everyone's voices, catching my classmate's attention. "We're going to be starting on a new project today. I'll give you plenty of time in class to work on it and I think we're all going to have fun." He started going through the slideshow that was projected on the whiteboard.
"You will each be making a family tree." The teacher continued. "The main idea of the project is to understand more of your family history and traditions. By the time it is due, you'll turn in a three-page report on what you've found." The slide changed. "Along with the report, you'll need a layout of your family tree, like the one shown on the board."
The picture displayed at the front of the room showed people's faces with lines connecting each one. There were names, ages, and how each person was related. From one look at the mock family tree, I could tell mine was going to be way more complicated. The only blood relative I knew about was Milo.
"You are welcome to work with the person next to you. Sometimes it helps to have a partner on a big project like this." Mr. Collin displayed another picture, an example of what the report would look like. "The rest of the class time will be to work on. This will be due at the end of the month."
Noise broke out around the room, as everyone started discussing how they were going to complete their work. Kody was still tapping his pencil when he turned to me. "So, partner, what should we look for first?" I shrugged my shoulders, grabbing a piece of paper from my binder. "The family tree part seems the easiest. That was just lines and shit."
"Easy for you," I mumbled, using my pen to doodle on the paper. "I don't know where to start."
"I think you start with yourself, and then move to your parents..." He trailed off, turning back to his papers. "Well, you have Milo and, uh, that other kid. What's his name again? The asshole."
"Preston." I smiled at my friend's way of remembering the boys. "But feel free to keep calling him an asshole."
"I'm sure he'd love that," Kody remarked, joining me by drawing on my paper. "So that's where you start. With you and your brothers, then you have your adoptive parents, right?"
"The oldest, Dallas, adopted us." I drew a tic-tac-toe board, drawing in the first x.
"Oh, that's right. Maybe you could ask him to help you, or even talk to Mr. Collin. I'm sure he could help you."
"I'll talk to Dallas and see what he thinks."
After approximately twenty games of tic-tac-toe and three impossible mazes, the bell finally rang. Kody and I split ways when we walked out of the door, both heading to our next class.
YOU ARE READING
The Misspent Youth
Teen Fiction"Every secret has an expiration date" Ella Colt is an ambitious sixteen-year-old who is being raised by her adoptive brothers. Her adoptive parents left when she was barely a teenager without notice. She was raised thinking that it was merely becaus...
