Brutal Love

Chapter 8

*Tre's POV*

"Why do you think she's so clingy?" Billie asked as we were sitting in the music room.

"I don't know, but it's so adorable don't you think?" I answered.

"Yeah, but aren't you worried something is wrong with her? Like mentally?"

"Not really. I just assume it's because I pose as a fatherly figure for her and she doesn't have one."

"But you're not her dad." Mike said, coming into the room with an ice pack on his face. I slapped him really hard that I left a nice red hand print on his face. 

"And you've only been with her for a day. How has she grown so attached to you?" Billie added.

"I don't know guys. But what I do know is that she's a little girl who's all alone and needs someone to take care of her. I'm going to take care of her as long as she needs me too." I said matter of factly. "Now let's get jamming."

*Winnie's POV*

When I reached the top of the stairs, I heard the contact of skin and I assumed Tre had slapped Mike. Estelle and I giggled. And then she stopped me in the hallway.

"So Joey is 19 and Jakob is 16. What Tre meant by their charm is they're just their dad when it comes to women." She said. "You're what, 17?"

"No, I'm 15." I corrected her. "16 on Friday though."

"Wow, I could've sworn you were older. Anyways, let's go." Brixton and Ryan were already in the room she dragged me into.

"Hey Brix. Hey Ryan." Said the two boys who were sitting on a couch said in unison. "Hey Estelle."

I looked around the room and it looked like a game room. There was a TV and a couch on one side and a couple of computers on the other side. There was a lot of things just laying around for entertainment, but my eyes landed on one machine in particular.

"You have Pac-Man! That's so rad!" I exclaimed. They all looked at me like I was an alien and I felt my face go red with embarrassment.

"Guys, this is Winnie. She came with Tre." Estelle explained, pulling me towards the couch.

"Isn't she a little young to be with Tre?" The older looking one joked, earning a snicker from presumably his brother. My face started to burn again. "Hey, I'm just kidding. I'm Joey, and this is Jakob."

"Hey." Jakob said. "So why are you with Tre anyways?"

"It's a long story and I'd rather not get into it right now." I said quietly.

"Aw, come on. We could use a good story."

"Jake, leave her alone. She doesn't want to talk so don't make her." Estelle said, coming to my rescue.

"Jeez, sorry."

"So what do you want to do, you guys?" Joey asked, thankfully changing the subject. He smiled softly at me.

"I don't know. Winnie seemed pretty excited about Pac-Man." Estelle pointed out. "Wanna play a tournament?"

"You'll all lose." Said Jakob, cracking his knuckles.

"Let's go then, if you're so cocky." I said.

"Oh ho, Helen Keller can speak after all."

"Alright, youngest goes first. So, Jake, you're up." Joey said.

"Actually, she's younger than him. She's only 15." Estelle corrected.

"Really?!" The boys exclaimed in unison.

"Really." I replied. "Now let's go." I got up and went over to the machine. Joey appeared next to me and turned it on. "Can I listen to music while I play?"

"Sure." He said.

The traditional Pac-Man music played as I plugged in my headphones to my phone and put the ear buds in. I put my special playlist on shuffle and started to play.

30 minutes later

"Go! Go! Go!" They all cheered in unison. I could barely hear them through my blasting music. My score was huge. It knocked their previous high score on it's ass, and I was still going strong. They didn't even seem to mind that they weren't getting a turn. I did a quick check every once in a while and I was closing in on 1 million. They were shoving around a bit to get a better look at the screen  and one of my headphones fell out but I didn't care. I was on a roll. I ripped the other one out and kept playing.

"What is all the racket about?" I heard Billie say, as he was coming closer.

"Dad, she beat your score by a landslide!" Jakob exclaimed. "Come see!"

Billie appeared next to me, causing Jakob to find a new spot. "Well, way to go kiddo. It'd be a shame if something were to happen." He hip bumped me and I almost lost control. I veered left and almost hit a ghost. Not today, Armstrong. I needed him gone because he kept on hip bumping me. I got it!

"Tre!" I called. I heard footsteps come crashing towards me.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Tre asked, out of breath.

"Billie."

"Say no more."

Out of my peripherals, I saw Tre pull Billie out of the way and he took up the spot on my left. All the while Estelle and Joey were still on my right, eyes glued to the screen. I was starting to lose concentration. I needed music, but my headphones were on the floor in between my feet.

"Tre." I said.

"What's up, Win?" He asked.

"Sing something."

"What, what would you like?"

"Anything upbeat."

"Okay." I saw him grin through my peripherals. "Joey, can you please get me an acoustic guitar?" Moments later I heard the sound of the guitar being tuned. And then Tre started strumming. "I know is a little inappropriate but it's my favorite,so."  And he started singing Dominated Love Slave. When he got to the chorus, I heard Mike had joined in as well.

My concentration was restored and kept on playing. I was close so close to 1 million. I only need to eat this banana.

(INSERT PAC-MAN DEATH SOUND HERE)