Through Her Eyes

Jenna's P.O.V

I jump up to the sound of my alarm clock ringing in my ear. I turn it off, throw it at the ground, and lay back down on my pillow. I hate waking up every day, but I refuse to get up to that good - for - nothing piece of crap.
I'm almost asleep again, but my two giant German shepherds jump up on my bed. I groan as one of their paws digs deep into my ribcage and another one crushes my hand. I yelp as my face is drenched in saliva from a pink, slippery tongue. I shove one as hard as I can and he falls off the bed. Judging by his clumsy fall and the squeaky noise that escapes his jaws, I know that that is Chance. I try to shove my other canine, Fitz, off of me too, but he is much stronger. Instead, he nips my nose. I gasp, slightly surprised as I quickly touch my nose. My fingers come back with small streaks of red.
At that, I sit straight up so Fitz loses his balance and I lunge at him. He wasn't expecting that. He growls and tries to scratch me but I have him pinned down on my bed. "Ha!" I smirk. Fitz just lies there in defeat.
Suddenly, I cry out as a stinging pain shoots through my scalp. Chance had jumped on top of me and was yanking my hair as hard as he could. I lay down on top of him, leaving Fitz completely unguarded. He jumps on top of me, knocking the air out of me. I gasp for air and fall off the bed myself, taking Fitz with me. We collapse in a heap of fur and hair, a tangled mass of bones and muscle. Chance leaps on the top of the pile to add to the mess.
I manage to get out a laugh under the hundreds of pounds on top of me. I hear another snicker and look up to see my older brother in the doorway.
"The dogs beat you Jenna? I'm ashamed to call you my sister. And I'm very disappointed in you Fitz. Chance never beats either of you." I can picture Chance's proud face, sitting on top of the pile.
I stick my tongue out at my brother. "I may have been beat this morning, but I killed you last Tuesday." I remember sitting on top of him, holding his hands behind his back, and making him do my homework. It was either that or I would have to eat another one of Joshua's socks and I was not about to do that again.
"That was an unfair fight!" My brother complains. "I could've won if you hadn't jumped -"
"Billy and Terrace are in a fight!" Another of my older brothers held in the doorway. "The fight's on a baseball bat to the head or fifty bucks!" He's gone faster than he came, with my other brother right behind him. I leap up as quickly as I can, my dogs trampling over one another. In this house, fights happen all the time. They're fun, but there are always injuries. We also never fight without a reason. There is always a reason, however stupid it may sound. Whoever wins the fight gets their desire. Most of the time it's about money and revenge. Joshua's dirty socks for instance. I lost a fight to Will and had to chew on Joshua's dirty socks. Boy did my mouth stink!
I scramble down the stairs after my older brothers, tripping on the last step and sprawling out on the ground. I'll probably have a bruise on my forehead by tonight now. I see my two older brothers blocking my view of the fight going on in the kitchen. I jump up and run in between them to get a better view. Terrace, also my older brother, is on top of Billy, my only younger brother. Terrace is punching him mercilessly and Billy's nose is bleeding.
"How much more you gonna take Billy Buns? My knuckles are killing me!"
"You ain't gonna win!" Billy screams. Billy is definitely the weakest of the family, but I've always admired his determination. It takes a lot to make him quit.
"Ten bucks on Terrace," Joshua whispers in my ear from behind. Of all my brothers, Joshua and I have the most fun together. We bet, fight, and goof off all the time. So, I can't help but bet.
"Deal. Billy's smarter than y'all put together. He'll think of something." I find that I'm trying to convince myself more than Joshua. Joshua raises an eyebrow at me.
"Sure he's smart but he ain't got no muscle to him. The kid's a shrimp!"
I watch as Terrace beats him senseless. Billy begins to struggle more and more, fighting to get Terrace off of his abdomen. I sigh and shake my head. Billy's been taken to the hospital four times after fighting with Terrace. He just won't surrender. I hate seeing anyone beat badly, but especially Billy.
I look away. I can't watch him get beat bad again. Billy gets teased terribly after losing a fight and I don't want that for him. Plus, I really want to punch Terrace.
"I call team - up!" I yell. Terrace stops and Billy just lays there. "I get Billy and you get Josh."
"Me?" Joshua complains. "I wanna watch this one!"
"I can take you both," Terrace growls.
"Suit yourself," I hiss.
"Same terms apply," Terrace pants. "I win, you both get a bat over the head. You win, I owe Billy fifty."
"No way!" I shout at him. "You owe me a good fifty too. I'm getting something out of this fight!"
Terrace growls. "Fine! Let's do it. But I say we take it outside so Dad don't walk in and see us."
"Agreed," I nod. Dad hardly sees us, talks to us, or even cares about us. The last time I talked to him was about my f on my report card last semester. I got grounded for two weeks. Those weren't my favorite two weeks. Will tries to convince us that Dad loves us, but Josh and I don't believe him. Dad doesn't love me or anybody else. He only cares about his perfect little job.
The five of us walk outside into the bright sun, toasting us through. I walk to the edge of the lawn, my arm under Billy's to support him and Terrace walks to the other side. I look into Billy's face and see his eyes alert, awake. "You good kiddo?" Billy just nods. I turn around after counting ten steps and let go of Billy. Billy shakes himself out and smiles at me. I flash one back. I turn to face Terrace. His dark black hair is shaggy and hasn't been cut in awhile. Sweat drips from the thick strands that hang over his forehead. His eyes are black, a cold, hard expression to them. He glares at me as he gets into the stance he would get into if he were in a track race. He's going to charge. I follow his suit to show that I'm going to charge too. Billy follows suit. I look at his stance. His biceps are stretched by the muscles in his arms, the veins in his face dark purple. He's going to charge me full force, I think to myself. Just dodge it.
Suddenly, Terrace screams and begins to run at us. Billy's eyes widen and I grip his hand tight. I'm not comforting him. I'm going to drag him out of the way.
Five - he's running hard.
Four - he's got such a strong build.
Three - focus concentrate.
Two - his eyes are cold with...hatred
One - I'll show him
I jump on Billy, crushing him to the ground just as Terrace lunges at us...or where we were. He crashes, face first into the ground. I drag Billy to his feet and we pounce on Terrace. Together, we can beat him. I glance over at Josh. He's got the biggest grin I've ever seen. I smile briefly before giving Terrace a good, hard punch.