Never Say Never (Completed)

Five {Take Me Home}

"Hurry up!" Ian's shout, followed by an obnoxiously long honk, sounded through the quiet neighborhood. I ushered all three of my siblings out the door, marking off my mental checklist to make sure they, and myself, had everything. I had already called Mrs. Cruz and asked her to check in on my Mom if possible, but my mom was still in her own head and wasn't going to be doing much of anything.

As soon as I locked the door behind me, I heard a squeal from Ian's sixteen-year-old sister Stephanie, followed by Lucas groaning. Though they were extremely close in age, they were polar opposites. Where Lucas was all serious and school and sports oriented, Stephanie was as girly as it gets. Cheer captain, boy crazy, and constantly gossiping about anything and everything. I loved her with all my heart, she was just another one of my siblings, but she and Luke had drove each other nuts since they were able to talk.

"Look at you!" Stephanie clapped, big brown eyes on Navi as she approached. "How are you already in school? I swear you were just a little baby a week ago."

Navi giggled as Luke helped her into her booster seat in the back of Ian's SUV. Stephanie, likely being scolded by her brother to get in back, jumped out the passengers seat and squeezed the life out of me. She looked gorgeous. Her silk black hair had been braided so it fell to the middle of her back, and she'd put so much makeup around her cheeks and eyes she was almost unrecognizable, and definitely didn't look sixteen.

"Can't believe you guys will be leaving me next year." She whispered, pink lips in a pout. "Then I'll be stuck with Lickus."

My brother's eyebrows drew together at the annoying nickname she'd given him a few years ago. "Glad to know I hold a place in your heart, Deafanie."

I smiled at the interaction, but Ian was watching my brother with a strange look. I waited until Stephanie had jumped in back and my brothers climbed in after her to get in the passengers seat myself. Ian didn't say much, but headed straight for the elementary school. The kids would be a little early, but the school knew of our home situation and had assured that they had before school activities and breakfast that William and Navi could sit at until school started. As soon as we pulled up, William hopped out of the car without looking back, but my sister looked terrified. I helped her out and grabbed Will's hands much to his annoyance. I led them up to the entrance of the school. William immediately spotted his friends and hugged me quickly before darting off. Navi watched, tears in her eyes. I squeezed her shoulder and led her toward where her teacher would be standing. A blonde woman, not much older than me, stood with a sign reading Ms. Smith.

"Hi!" She greeted over enthusiastically.

I wish I had that much pep in my voice.

"Hi, I'm Charlotte Evans and this is my sister Navi. She's in your class, I believe."

The woman grabbed a clipboard from on top of a bag beside her and grinned, crouching down so she was eye to eye with my sister. "She sure is! Hi, Navi!"

I glanced down at the time on my phone and crouched down myself. "I gotta go, Nav! School starts for us sooner than for you."

"No!" She whimpered, clutching my leg. "Don't go, Charlie."

I felt a tug on my heart seeing her expression. "I'll be back at three, Nav. It'll go by so fast you won't even realize it."

"Charlie, please!" She cried, tears rolling down her flushed cheeks. I hugged her against me and looked to her teacher for any sort of help. As if she were prepared for this very thing, she pulled a stuffed green frog, a little smaller than Mr. Whiskers from her bag.

"Navi! My name is King—" I watched the tears clear from my sisters eyes and was immediately replaced with excitement. She lurched forward, away from me and toward her teacher. Ms. Smith waved me off with a smile, reassuring me she had it under control. I smiled and hurried off before my sister could realize she'd just been conned. Lucas and Stephanie were in the midst of an argument when I got to the car. Ian looked ready to bang his head against the steering wheel, but his expression softened when he saw me.

"She'll be fine, Charlotte." Ian assured as I climbed into the car. "Don't worry."

I forced a small smile, but I knew it wasn't even the least bit believable. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked over my shoulder to find Lucas staring at me. I rested my own hand over his and stared head before my emotions could get the best of me.

**

"You ready, short stack?" Ian caught my brother's eyes in the rearview. Stephanie laughed at the nickname, but my brother just shrugged, but I could see the nervousness in his eyes as we headed for the entrance.

"If anyone messes with you, I'll kick their ass." I promised.

Ian started laughing. "Like anyone would be scared of you."

"Do you want to test me, Sebastian?" I shot back, cocking my head to the side. My brother smirked before he and Stephanie ducked into the office.

Ian winked before throwing one arm over my shoulder and opening the door with the other. The Guidance Counselor Mrs. Miranda, peeked at us over the stack of papers in her hands, glasses askew on her nose. A grin instantly took the place of her serious look.

"There's not a day that goes by when you two aren't together, is there?" She scours the stack before handing us our schedules.

Ian makes conversation with her for a couple minutes before we head into the crowded hallway. Everyone is doing as we are; seeing what classes they share with one another. Before I can ask Ian, he plucks my schedule from my grip and groans loudly. A few people glance in our direction, but he's too busy looking at the papers to notice.

"We only have two classes together. English and Psych." He lifted his head as soon as he spoke, clearly annoyed. "Maybe if you weren't in AP everything we'd have more."

"Sorry I'm smart, geez." I answered with a smile.

The bell sounds and he thrusts my schedule back into my grip, deflating slightly. "It's only three hours before we see each other again. We got this."

"Exactly." I patted his chest jokingly. "Three hours. Suck it up, Buttercup, we gotta get to class."

He hugged me quickly before hurrying down the hall for first period. Since my first class was only down the hall, so I allowed myself to walk at a turtle's pace. As soon as I stepped into the classroom, I almost turned around and walked out.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought Bryan Grace would be in an AP class, let alone AP Chem. But there he was, in the back of the classroom, his feet kicked up on his desk, arms flexed behind his head as he watched Mr. Howell rush around the room in preparation for the first class of the year. As if he could feel my eyes on him, they flickered toward me and the smug look on his face only grew. Just when I thought spending the year in the same class as Bryan Grace was the worst of it, Tristan O' Connell walked in and sat at the desk directly in front of me. The childhood friend who I'd gotten nothing but strange vibes from since I'd seen him at the party.

Throwing myself into a seat in the middle of the classroom, away from both of them. I set my notebook on my desk before slapping my hands against my face and shaking my head.

What an interesting year this was going to be.