Sullivan Siblings

VIII

As soon as Simon parks the car, I'm out the door, escaping my brothers. Awkward doesn't describe our relationship at the moment. We've all been avoiding each other.

Emmett still has to compliment me for a couple days, I have thirteen days of complimenting Ivan and Odin, Emmett and Hollis still have their phones taken away and have two days of staying home with Odin, who plans on creative punishing games. Ivan suggested taking them volunteering somewhere as well.

Lukas makes his way to the office, shoulders slumped, for his in-school suspension. Levi is super pissed and at odds with Ivan and Odin. They tried grounding him but he is nineteen and fought against it until Odin actually backed down but they got their message across: stay away from Chase and Georges.

I peek over my shoulder as I make my way to the front doors. Manny and Silas are watching me. Silas, Hollis and Emmett are all grounded indefinitely. Silas and Emmett can't do anything about the bones but Hollis had to get rid of his weapons stash. It was insanely large for hiding in a small compartment under the floorboards.

Why is half my family psychotic and demented? Why are only five of us normal? I'm not including Odin with the normals because his temper is so volatile. I feel like I'm going bonkers and Ivan sitting me down to decompress didn't help like it usually does because my brain still isn't done processing everything.

I spot Chase by the car drop off and a girl in a couple of my classes climbs out of his old, beat up car. He sees me staring, still confused about everything that happened yesterday afternoon, so I wave and then I silently kick myself when I realize anyone could be watching and trying to figure out our relationship. That's so not helping my brothers hide their skeletons, literally and figuratively!

"I have a message for you!" Astrid squeals and clamps her fingers around my arm and tugs me forward. Her big smile makes some worry hurting my heart fade away. "Something from Zayn! Wanna hear it?"

"Sure." My shoulders deflate when I hear his name because I remember what Silas said Baby had told him. Astrid is oblivious to my downtrodden attitude this morning, but it is something I am happy about.

"I don't exactly know what it means–?" Astrid hesitates before shrugging and blurting the message. "But he said he lied to Baby to get your brothers off track?"

"OH MY GOSH!" I squeal, enveloping her in a hug. Zayn doesn't like Astrid? He just didn't want my brothers bullying him to stay away from me? My heart feels giddy. I'm pretty sure my cheeks are tinted pink. A boy actually likes me!

"What is it? What is it?" Astrid jumps up and down before clearing her throat and looking around. When she sees Chase's younger sister (I'm assuming), and a couple other girls looking at us, she brushes pretend lint off her clothes. My stomach drops when the four girls start walking toward us. "I'm mature. I am grown up. Grown ups do not jump up and down. Adults don't squeal like stuck pigs. Phew."

"I think, maybe, it's a super small possibility, but maybe, just maybe, Zayn might also have a super small, really tiny, one in a million chance, of having a eeny teeny tiny, itsy bitsy crush on me." We stare into each other's eyes for a moment to process my long winded, one breath sentence. Then, we jump at each other, arms wrapping around, heads butting, basically screaming in joy as we hug. I jump up and down as Astrid tries twirling us in circles and before I know it, we've toppled to the ground.

"Does homeless have to dig a hole to sleep in?" Chase's possible younger sister sneers at us and kicks my calf. I turn my head to where I last saw Silas and Simon. In true Sullivan older brother fashion, they were watching me with an eagles eye, and now that the four girls had marched up to us, are striding our way. I love my brothers, I do, but I don't want the world to know I'm related to the hot shot Sullivan boys. It's already too much that I live with them.