Double Trouble

Paradise or Hell?

I waited for Zach to get home from practice so that I could confront him about this "babysitting" thing. I'm old enough to take care of myself. Why was he asking Steven to "babysit" me?

I hear the front door shut so I walk to Zach's room to wait on him.

"What's up?" Says Zach carrying his football bag up the stairs.

"Why is Steven staying here this weekend to "babysit" me." I say making sure I use air quotes when I said babysit.

"I'm going to Laura's beach house with her family over the weekend while mom and dad are out. They didn't want you to stay home alone for a whole weekend so they asked me to get Steven to stay here with you in case something where to happen." Zach says as he moves around his room to put up his football stuff and get fresh clothes for after he showers.

I slump down on his bean bag, "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I can invite Mia over and have a girls weekend or something. I could also get Daniel to stay with us if you guys are worried about it just being girls here."

"Daniel is not staying here." Zach says while giving me a stern look.

"What did Daniel ever do to you?" I reply back.

"That guy basically drools every time he sees you. He's not staying in this house with you while you're alone." Zach says in a serious tone.

"Daniel doesn't like me like that. And that's besides the point, you want me to stay here with Steven even after he sent that picture out?!" I yell back exasperated.

"I had a talk with him, it was a prank and only a prank. I warned him not to do it again, you're off limits when it comes to things like that. I don't want to keep talking about this anymore. Steven is staying here this weekend whether you like it or not." He grabs his towel and makes his way to his bathroom and shuts the door.

We're the same age, but Zach has always acted as the older sibling. Once in third grade a group of boys decided it would be funny to spin the swing that I was on. It kept going higher and higher until their arms couldn't reach it and then they let go. The swing spun faster than anything my third grade self could've imagined. I got off the swing dizzy and fell to the ground scraping my knees. Zach came running to help me up and saw me start crying. He got up angrily and yelled at the boys for what they did and warned them that next time it wouldn't just be yelling, it would involve fists. Thankfully there was no next time.

This continues on even in high school, maybe this is why no guy has ever asked me out on a date or tried to have a relationship with me. I guess they're afraid of what Zach would do to them if things didn't work out.

I felt defeated and knew that there was no point in me fighting Zach about this. I went back to my room, gabbed my laptop, sat in bed and started on my chemistry homework. School hasn't really been bad for me, I actually really enjoy going to school, specially chemistry class. For some reason it just clicks for me, it's fun.

I'm halfway through my chemistry homework when I get a text from Daniel.

Hey, wanted to make sure you got home okay. - Daniel

Yeah I'm home, just working on Mrs. Jackson's homework right now! - Ronnie

Good, I am glad! I haven't started on it but I guess I'll start now since you're making me look bad, nerd. :) - Daniel

Hey, nerds are cool in 2018 if you didn't know already! - Ronnie

Haha, keep telling yourself that. - Daniel

Whatever! I really gotta finish this so I can go to bed soon, coach really pushed us today! See you tomorrow! - Ronnie

I sent the message and waited for a reply but I didn't get one, at least not for a while. I kept seeing the dots on the screen indicating that he was writing. It seemed like ages until he replied with a simple: