I'll Protect You (Original Version)

Arsonage is a rather grim subject. For Sparrows? It's a regular debate topic.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day my little sister would walk into a dance willingly," Archer commented. He was sitting on my bed, most probably blogging his heart out like the teenage girl he was while I sat in front of my vanity mirror, grimacing at my face.

Logan would be here in ten minutes, and I still felt no overwhelming urge to go.

"Who said it was willingly?" I shot. Now that the night was finally here, the feeling of ill intent was high in the air for me, and something in my gut was screaming at me to make Logan and myself stay at home.

But Logan had been so happy to go. For the first time, he was eager to go and be at these things, according to the Player Trio. Apparently, Logan had only attended these formals twice in his life. Once in his first year at Cross Academy, and the second because Pepper had almost started bawling in front of him when he almost said no.

I didn't want to spoil this night with him. He had been so sweet the past two months--I couldn't quit on him now.
Ah, the things I do for the people I loved. I looked down at my dress and sighed. Then I looked at Archer's outfit: dark jeans and a baseball tee. I envied the fact that he wasn't a teenager and didn't have to deal with teenage dances.

Meanwhile, I sat in a navy blue hollow out hook dress. It was a vintage design, with a lot of lace on my torso, wrapping my chest like a corset and at the hem of the skirt, reaching up like the stems of sunflowers. I didn't want anything fancy, sparkly, big, poofy, girly, or attention-catching to wear.

So that meant Archer had gone shopping for this dress, not my father. It fit me very nicely, so congratulations to my big brother, who knew how to shop better than I did.

"Your reflection isn't that attractive," Archer remarked, looking up from the bright screen of his laptop. "Stop staring at it. Now, if you really want something incredibly good looking to lose yourself in whilst staring in envy...."

He slid off my bed and came to rest on the arm of the chair I was sitting. He winked at the mirror. "You should've called me a long time ago for that."

"Oh, shut up, you narcissistic big head who clearly needs to get a life," I snapped.
               Archer laughed, giving me a soft pat on the head. "I'm just joking, little Sparrow.  But, last I checked, Logan's on his way in about....ten minutes. And that boy is very punctual. So now might now be the time to mull over our life choices."

"What if something bad happens?" I asked, my voice soft.
"I don't think so," Archer said, though there was the strongest hint of his doubts in his voice. "I promise you, though: if anything bad happens, we'll fix it."

I smiled at Archer, who squeezed my shoulders tightly in a comforting manner. "You've become so cautious," Archer said. "And my little sister is not cautious. Now, I'm not staying that you shouldn't be wary.  By all means, stay on guard. But little Sparrow walked right into danger without a second thought, and she came out alive. She's made choices that she wasn't cautious, and she survived all the consequences."

Archer was right--this wasn't me. I wasn't some frightened young girl, worried about what the night will bring. I was the heroine of my own story. No matter what happened, I could always push myself through. I didn't even know what I was really worried about.

"Park, Alec, Logan and Sophia are here!"

Oh, right. That's what I was worried about.
Alec had decided to take the girl that he and I had once hated. I didn't know why; Alec wasn't kind enough to tell me why he was rearranging his personality. All I got from the whole ordeal was a mountain of suspicion in my mind. However, Archer and Logan didn't find it as strange as I did. Neither did my father or Six (who dropped by every damn day to check up on us).