Miss Perfect and Her Brothers (Part I&II)

6. Trifles

After Tony's little warning, I was even more afraid of him. It was simplest to avoid him, which I managed excellently since he didn't seek out spending time with me either. 

Fortunately, I usually went to school with Shane. I enjoyed traveling with him the most because at least I could talk to him, even if our discussions weren't always of the highest caliber. Tony mostly stayed silent around me, and Dylan could never resist throwing in a nasty comment.

As for school life, the boys at the academy still feared to approach me even for trivial matters. Every guy would discreetly look around before interacting with me (and there weren't many of these interactions) to ensure the Monet brothers weren't hiding nearby. It started to seriously irritate me. Dylan, Shane, and Tony acted with impunity, and the whole school seemed to cheer them on and get out of their way. 

I felt like we'd reverted to medieval times, and they were playing the roles of royalty. This was one of the reasons I avoided them between classes. I didn't identify with their superstar lifestyle, and it was enough that I lived under the same roof with them. Unfortunately, even though I tried to stay in the shadows, completely cutting off from them was impossible.

I spent the long breaks with Mona and Audrey, the girls I had befriended. The former was particularly eager for my attention, and her overly enthusiastic demeanor seemed so genuine that I was drawn to her too, finally longing to belong to at least one group of friends. Even a small, three-person one.

That day, we decided to take advantage of the last nice moments of the year and went outside for lunch. We weren't the only ones with this idea. The schoolyard was filled with students, and almost all the picnic tables were taken. We managed to snag one and basked in the warmth, relaxing before the second part of the day, when suddenly we heard the sounds of some commotion.

I opened my eyes and shielded them from the sun to glance toward the gathering crowd forming a little way from us. Mona was already craning her neck and was the first of us to take steps toward the growing throng. Audrey and I followed her lead and soon knew the reason for the sudden crowd.

Two boys had started fighting, and I froze when I recognized Tony in one of them. "Fighting" was an overstatement; my brother was the only one really delivering blows, while his victim clumsily tried to defend himself. With horror, I watched as Tony's tattooed hand grabbed the victim by the tie. I scanned the faces of the gathered people. Some laughed and cheered Tony on, others grimaced at the brutality of the scene, but few seemed as frightened and disgusted as I was.

When, after an especially hard punch, blood spurted from the boy's nose, I'd had enough and, without thinking much, rushed into the middle of the fray. The fact that Tony was, after all, my brother gave me courage, otherwise, I'd probably stand like a statue, just like the rest of the onlookers. 

He might not like me, but surely he wouldn't hit his own sister, right?

I didn't get to find out because, before I could insert myself between him and the bleeding boy, someone grabbed my arm and stopped me. I turned, knowing it wasn't one of my new friends – the grip was too strong.

And I was right, because it was Dylan who stopped me from getting involved in the fight. I looked into his eyes. I saw a warning mixed with disbelief, but I was too agitated to take it seriously and back down – as I would have in another situation.

I couldn't watch my brother, whom I'd had breakfast with this morning, now so aggressively and heartlessly hit someone in the face, leaving bruises that would last for weeks. I tried to break free but to no avail because I didn't stand a chance against Dylan's muscular arm, so I finally gave up and tried to use verbal persuasion.