Caution! Fragile

Chapter: 4 Fletcher the Catcher

I unlocked the door to our house as I was ranting with Bonnie over how ridiculous the prices at the mall were. "I mean come on! $30 for a pair of shoes, thats outrageous!"

"I know, the prices have gone up and it really ticks me off!" she whined.

Before I could agree with her, I saw a familiar face I hadn't seen in awhile, my little brother Mike. "Mikey!" I chirped enthusiastically as I raced over and hugged him tightly. I met his gaze and teased, "What? Are you too old to hug your big sis?" Mike was tall and by tall I mean taller-than-Bonnie-tall. He was only 15 but he reached 6'1, had dark brown hair that sweeped across his forehead, green eyes, and was all muscle yet he had a heart of gold underneath his whole "tough guy" persona.

Mike smiled down at me, "It's about time you came home" he stated sarcastically.

"Haha." I mimicked his tone. He's a typical teenager if I do say so myself.

Unlike Bonnie and I, Mike and I have had a closer relationship ever since we were little. He and I just see eye to eye on certain things and get along better. As kids, Bonnie would often ignore him and could sometimes be pretty mean to the kid, so I normally had to step in and be the one to save him and play with him. We had a special, unbreakable bond that we carried everywhere with each other, that is, until I started college, since then when we kind of lost touch. It hurts me not being able to connect with him the way we used to.

The three of us ended up ordering pizza that night since Mom and Dad were working late at the office, so it was just us kids. We ate silently at our dining table, it was so quiet you'd be able to hear a pin drop. It felt awkward just the three of us it hadn't been this way in so long... God I missed my van, the freedom to get up and go. Just to break the silence, I asked them both, "So what are you guy's plans for the rest of the summer?" Bonnie just shrugged, typical Bonnie for ya. Mike swallowed his pizza and eagerly told me, "My football camp starts next week but I should be back before 4th of July." I nodded and flashed him a proud smile. Football was Mike's thing, ever since he was little, he's dreamed of becoming a Chicago Bear and he's already thinking of nicknames for himself. His personal favorite is Fletcher the Catcher (since he's a quarterback and has to catch the ball)-- leave it to my dorky brother, Mike. The two of us ended up rambling on about my school year and his school year until Bonnie finally decided to jump in. The three of us rekindled our friendship and decided to watch Netflix for the rest of the night. We watched our personal favorite show, Malcolm in the Middle, we practically grew up on that show, and the jokes and pathetic plots never got old as well as ate popcorn and laughed our heads off until Bonnie crashed.

Once Bonnie dosed off, Mike and I got a chance to talk without any interruptions, "So how are you feeling about high school?" I asked him.

"A little nervous I guess, I hear the coach is really tough on his players" he replied with a shrug.

"High school's not that bad. I mean look at me for example, I turned out fine. And, Mike, you need to stop stressing. You're going to make the team, I know it." I reassured him.

"It's different Kell, you're cool, and how do you know I'm going to make the team? What if I screw up; what if I hurt myself before tryouts; what if I forget the date of the tryouts; what if--" he nervously rambled on.

"Mike, Mike, Mike, slow down. You're not gonna screw up; you're not gonna hurt yourself; and you're not gonna forget the date. You want to know how I know? because I know you Mike, you don't stop until you get what you want. Don't stress yourself just go with the flow and just have fun with it." Hopefully I knocked some sense into him. He looked like he was thinking really hard, like he knew I was right. Which, of course, I was.

"And just for the record, I'm really not cool." He scoffed while rolling his eyes. "Yeah, I guess your right- you're not cool at all. What was I thinking?" I stuck my tongue out at him and put my hand over my heart as if he'd wounded me. Then I reached over and smacked his arm playfully. "You're a jerk. Go to bed you big lug." I teased back. I rolled over onto my side and closed my eyes as I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up the next morning with my back hurting. Ugh! stupid scoliosis I complained to myself. Sleeping on the floor always makes my back really sore (another annoying perk of having OI) so I stretched before I got in my power chair, buckling my seatbelt and raising it from the floor. When my phone rang, I rushed to answer it, it was a text from Jemma. Jemma has been my bestfriend since 2nd grade; since then, her and I have done everything together. She visited me once at Harvard but we've stayed in touch the entire time through text, phone calls, and FaceTiming each other whenever we could. Yet, with all the craziness of coming home and my car breaking down, I never really got the chance to talk to her recently. Guilt washed over me as I picked up my phone and read the text.

Jemma: Hey! I heard you were back in town, I thought I would drop by in a few, is that cool?

I immediatly texted her back.

Me: Sure sounds good! Sorry I haven't called it's been crazy these last couple of days see you soon.

I set my phone down in my lap as I went to make breakfast and heard it chirp again moments later.

Jemma: Awesome, see you soon. <3

I replied

Me: See you, can't wait. <3

I set my phone back down and left it at that.

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Hey guys! this chapter has been a lot of fun to make I'm really enjoying writing about Kelly and her family and we finally get to meet Jemma, Kelly's bestfriend. We're also going to look deeper into Kelly as her and Jemma get to interact and hang out. I can't believe I'm already up to 30 reads!!! That's awesome! I'm so glad you guys are liking this I really hope you do. Please comment if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear your feedback! I shall update chapter 5 either later or tomorrow and hopefully have it edited when my editor/ bestie gets back in town. Thanks again, bye! ;)