sequel to "Westside" read that first!
Dylan Jessica Caldwell is a 17 year old gang leader. But she has a secret. Her mental health is not good. No matter what she looks like on the outside, she's always having an internal battle with herself.
Ryder...
"Dylan?" My parents come into the room. "Hon are you okay?" I respond with more coughing and my mom puts the back of her hand against my forehead.
"Darling you're burning up!" She exclaims. "Ter, get me the thermometer from the med room will you?" Dad runs out of the room and he's back very quickly. "Ok sweetheart put this under your tongue okay?" My mom instructs.
It beeps after a little bit and she sighs.
"Wha-What?" I cough.
"Fever of 102," she looks at my dad. "I was gonna have the triplets run some errands for me today but I guess it'll just be the boys."
"No I wanna run errands with Dante and Danny," I whine. "I'm totally fine Mom." I stand up and twirl. "See? Perfect!" I slowly walk to my closet and choose an outfit for today.
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I brush my teeth, put my shoes on, and walk downstairs.
"Hey guys," I croak and my hand reaches up to touch my throat. "Woah." My voice is all raspy and it keeps breaking.
"Dylan are you okay?" Danny comes over. "You sound...sick? But that's not possible because you never get sick." I wave him off.
"Dante, Danny, come on. Mom needs us to run errands today," I tell them as Mom hands me a list of what she needs. "See y'all later!" We walk out to the garage.
"Let's take the Range Rover," the three of us say at the same time. I get in the passenger seat, Dante gets in the back seat, and Danny starts driving.
"Y'know," Dante starts. "We didn't even get cake on our birthday. Did you notice that?"
I cough a couple times and turn to him. "Yeah actually I did notice that. Should we get a cake just for the three of us?" We all start giggling evilly.
We pull up to the grocery store and get a big cart.
"Get in," Dante tells me. I look at him curiously but oblige and sit in the cart. "Ok what's first on the list?"
I pull it out of my backpack and Danny snatches it. "Uhmmmm...we need products...NO WAIT PRODUCE! It says produce my bad." We all laugh and they start to get the groceries.
"DANNY YOU GOT THE WRONG MILK!" I shriek with laughter 20 minutes later. I show him a picture of the milk we always get and he runs back to switch it. The final thing we need to get is the cake. We all look at each other and nod.
"Chocolate," we agree.
"Y'know," I say as the push the cart. "This whole wolf triplet telepathy thing is quite helpful sometimes."
"NO BECAUSE LITERALLY!" Danny squeals as he puts the cake in my lap. "Like honestly, imagine if we used it during a test at school."
I start laughing. We get in line at checkout and wait while this person unloads their two full carts.
"Are you guys siblings?" The woman asks and we nod.
"Triplets," Dante volunteers. Her eyes widen.
"Your poor mother."
What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
"Whatcha mean by that?" Danny asks calmly.
"You three just seem very...energetic. I can only imagine a mother trying to watch three kids at once," she shrugs. "But that's just me. Have a blessed day!"
And then she's gone. We checkout reasonably quickly and Danny starts driving to the next place.
"She wants us to go to Target?" I mumble. "Why the hell does she want us at Target? Does she know the risk she's taking?" We walk in, this time not bothering with a cart. Danny and Dante walk on either side of me, as if they're bodyguards. It's kind of a freaky sight because they're both way taller than I am.
• • •
"MOM, DAD, WE'RE HOME!" Danny yells as we walk into the house, loaded down with groceries and Target bags.
They come into the room and help us unload the Range Rover.
"Thanks kids," Mom smiles. "Dylan, sweetie how do you feel?"
"Meh," I shrug. "Could be better could be worse. I am tired though. I'm gonna take a nap." I walk up to my room and flop on my bed with a fuzzy blanket. I pull out my phone to text Ryder and he's already texted me.
Ry: hey gorgeous
Dyl: hey handsome
Ry: how you doing pretty girl?
Dyl: i'm fine hbu
Ry: wtf is wrong Dylan? you only say i'm fine when you're not fine
Dyl: mom thinks i have a cold. i'm honestly okay
Ry: what ice cream do you want?
Dyl: mint chip pls
Ry: what movie do you wanna watch?
Dyl: the office?
Ry: be there in 15 i love you
Dyl: i love you
I put my phone down and turn my tv on to start the office.
I don't remember falling asleep.
When I wake up, it's dark outside. I sit up and immediately regret that because I rush to the bathroom and throw up. I lean against the bathtub and try to catch my breath, but it's hard.
"Princess?" Ryder knocks on the door. "Let me in are you okay?"
"I'm-" I start coughing excessively. "I'm okay Ry go back to sleep sorry I woke you up."
Suddenly the door breaks open and wood splinters to the floor. I look at Ryder in shock and say the first thing that comes to mind.
"You broke my door!"
He starts laughing and actually sits on the ground clutching his stomach. "You think I'm worried about a damn door? My girl is sick and throwing up. That's my priority." I smile weakly.
He brushes my hair back and helps me get cleaned up, though I protest him a lot. I don't wanna get him sick and he seems to not care. It's odd if you think about it.
"What time is it?" I ask as I rub my eyes.
"1:30. Why?"
"Are there any food places open?" I smile hopefully. He rolls his eyes with a smile and picks me up bridal style. He sets me on my bed and goes into my closet.
"Can I put comfier clothes on you?"
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