𝗗𝗘𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗥 | 𝗦𝗹𝘆 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲

33. Life Of A Troublemaker

I shivered, tossing and turning in the dark. I was too stressed to eat dinner, knowing I wouldn't be able to keep it down anyway. The many troublesome thoughts swarmed my head, leaving me not one moment of peace. I couldn't handle the darkness where the monsters lurked or another torturous idea of my future life flittering by, so I scurried to my feet and dashed to the light switch beside the door, flicking it on which created a heavenly light that shone down and chased away all of the dark demons that thrived off my fear.

Dad had set up my bed in a small alcove area in front of the large window, dim white fairy lights hanging from the ceiling, but I felt too claustrophobic in bed and decided it'd be best to sleep on the ground. My parents refused my half request, half demand to sleep in the attic, because apparently it got too hot in the summer, and too cold in the winter. As if I cared.

I lowered to the ground, hiding my face in between my legs for some source of comfort, only to find fire burning behind my eyelids. This was going to be a long night...

"Aria, wake up!" Allen yelled, banging on the doorframe.

I peeked through my eyelids to see a blurry image of my brother, a towel secured to his waist and his bare chest gleaming with droplets of water. His brown hair glistened two shades darker because of the water soaked through, and his bare foot was nudging my leg softly. Not exactly the best thing to wake up to.

"Come on, sleepyhead. Did you get any sleep last night?"

I nodded my head, snuggling back into my—ahem—Dads jumper.

"I'll take that as a no." Allen mused. "Now hurry up and get ready for school. Dad waits, the bus doesn't."

"What about you?" I croaked, keeping my heavy eyes shut.

"I'm walking with my friends. And it's better now because West Rock Middle School is closer! Now get. Dressed."

"Okay, okay." I grumbled, waiting for Allen to leave so I could rest my eyes again, but he knew me too well and instead picked out some fresh clothes for me to wear. He picked me up without untangling me from my small, cocooned position and unfolded the blanket from my shoulders.

"Aria, prove to me that your my big sister by getting dressed yourself. Unless you're finally yielding to the truth that I, your taller brother, is officially—"

I elbowed Allen in the ribs, causing a grunt of pain to escape from him, and steadied myself on my feet. I stripped myself of my jumper, signalling for my brother to leave, then changed into the cozy clothes he picked out for me. I trudged out of the room and sat on top of the stair case, my unbrushed hair flopping in front of my face. One by one, I slipped onto the next stair, eventually making it to the bottom, then crawled right, into the living room and to the front door.

As I reached up for the door handle, strong arms wound around my waist and caged me to a strong chest. Dad had my shoulder bag hooked onto his arm as he escorted me, arms linked, out to the bus, softly reassuring me that all would work out.

At least Dillon's not on the bus, I thought as I glanced around the claustrophobic vehicle, pulling my red hoodie over my head so I could sit invisible on the bus. Just when I thought the bus would take off, the doors reopened and Dillon slumped into the chair next to me. I was perplexed. Why wasn't Dillon sitting with all of the other popular kids that automatically had claim to the back seats?