finding thea

Chapter 5

I found my way back to the house when I heard the arguing.

"You can't do this Jake. She is your little sister!" Pam said.

"Step sister! Which means nothing to me. I have Tessa. She is my sister!" Jake replied. "Team 10 is my family."

"I am your mother!" Pam said.

"I know," Jake's voice softened. "I'm sorry, mom," he said.

"Why do you hate her? Give her a chance. It's not her fault, Jake."

Jake spotted me before he replied to his mother. His face stoned and I can no longer read his expression.

"Jake," Pam warned.

"Why are you back?" Jake asked.

I snapped.

"Underestimate me," I challenged.

"What?" He took a step forward.

"You think you can break me, Jake?" I chuckled. "Break my wings, but I still have my claws." I saw my words bite him. The room dropped silent. Everyone was watching. Great.

"You think you are tough?" Jake finally smiled, breaking his frozen face. "You are nowhere near that."

"Jake," his mother warned again. "That is enough."

"Mom, she has the balls to challenge me."

"Right, it takes balls to be a woman sometimes. Maybe you should find yours so we can have a proper chat. I hate to be seen as a bully," I snapped at him and walked out the door.

"Wait!" Pam called after me.

"Mom, let her leave."

"Jake, if she leaves, I'm sleeping on the streets with her."

Jake silent. He snapped me a look and looked back at his team. No one voiced up. Jake's shoulders fell. He walked upstairs and slammed his door. Pam took my hand and led me back to the room.

"I'm sorry about Jake," Pam said.

"It's okay," I said. "I've been through worst," I found myself saying.

She looked at me with sympathetic eyes. She knew I had.

"Go to bed," she said. "It'll be okay tomorrow. Let him sleep it out."

I nodded. Tired and beaten down, I refused to sleep. I don't want Pam to know I was having nightmares and screaming awake from them.

The morning came slowly. Pam hopped out of bed and went down to start breakfast. I opened my eyes when I heard the door shut. I stare out the window and watched the sky slowly turned blue. The gradient of the sky was beautiful.

"Knock, knock," it was Anthony.

"Isn't it too early for you?" I asked.

"It's too late," he smiled. "Chance and I gamed the night out."

I nodded in acknowledgement.

"You look like you haven't gotten any sleep as well," he said.

"I'll survive," I said.

"No shit," he chuckled. "no one snapped at Jake like that."

"No one has balls like hers," Chance walked in. "What's your deal?" he asked.

"Chance," Anthony started.

"What is yours?" I asked. "Both of you follow him like lost puppies. I get he brought you up from nothing but friends don't step on each other."

"We are brothers," Chance defend.

"Sure," I got up and looked at both of them.

We head to the kitchen and everyone was up. It wasn't the Team 10 I knew online. They were actually working hard.

Jake walked in and everyone said morning. The king has raised.

I kept silent.

"You are meeting Logan today?" Jake asked Pam.

"Yeah, he is coming here, right?" Pam asked.

"Yeah, I'm showing him the house."

"Great. I'll just go with him after."

"Does he know?" Jake asked.

"No," Pam said softly.

"Nathan, charge the camera. This will be fun," Jake grinned.

"Jakey," Erika started when she saw Pam hurting. These jerks. I squeezed Pam's hand gently and gave her a smile.

"What?" Jake asked me. He looked insulted.

"I didn't say anything," I said.

"The look on your face is shitting on me. So just let it out," he said.

I chuckled.

"Be careful, Thea," he said. "my mom may be protective but I can still run you over."

"You failed the first time, you sure you found your balls to do it the second time?" I challenged.

"You tried to run her over?" Pam nearly shouted.

"Chill mom," he said. "I was only scaring her."

"Don't worry, Pam. He doesn't scare me," I said. "Wake up from this fantasy dream of yours and realize that not everything is about you! Feed your own ego and leave me alone," I said.

He watched me playfully then left with a smile.

"You have a weird son," I said to Pam. Team 10 laughed.

"I like you," Tessa smiled.

"Not too much, I hope," Erika said playfully.

"You are my favorite," Tessa hugged her and they both giggled.

"Come on," Pam said. "Logan will be here soon and we will be going with him."

"I thought you said two days here."

"Do you want to stay here longer?" Pam asked.

"No,' I said immediately.

"Ouch," Anthony covered his heart with his right hand. "That hurt. You don't like spending time with us?"

"I don't like the people you spend time with," I said honestly. That shut him off. He nodded.

"Logan said he is in a meeting but should be here soon," Anthony said. "You need help packing?"

"She didn't unpack," Tessa said. "Come. Let me show you the music room before you leave," she said.

Music room? Pam gave me a wink. She must have told them about me.

The music room was big which is not a surprise. The piano caught my eyes. Then the guitar and the drums. I never took any music lessons. I stayed back after school and taught myself how to play. When I grew older and got busy with home, I stopped playing but music never left me. I brushed my fingers across the keyboard and felt the tingle on the tip of my fingers.

"Play it," Tessa said.

"I don't think that is a great idea," Chance said.

"Come on, she won't break it," Tessa said.

"It's hard to tell," he replied with a grin.

The twins walked in and lean on the wall, watching.

"Play it," Anthony said.

I sat in front of the piano and let my fingers danced on it. It felt so natural. I was lost in the rhythm of the music. When I stopped, everyone froze. I saw a pair of eyes that was staring at me every night back in Ohio.

Logan. He was here.

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