Handcuffed Rivals

11

„Since when are you so cozy, ooooh Shit! Things just got interesting." Jared had been waiting for me at the parking lot after school hours, putting his football equipment in the back of the car when he saw his dear sister in the uncomfortable position, linked to her favorite person arguing and pulling him behind her. His look of disbelief gave away the confusion he felt all too visibly.

„Shut it! I have reached the faze of not giving a single crap Jared, a single crap. Try me!" my face wore the redness of its anger, marching and yelping at the world and the stupidity of my actions. If I weren't so honored seeking, nothing of this would've happened. My legs felt like jelly from all the pulling and running around when clearly it wasn't my pace of walking.

Jared laughed already used to my tantrums and bitchiness while King argued stealing glances from me to my brother set against the metal of the car „I told you already, I don't want to go to your house and that's final. We're going to mines and it's the end of discussion."

My eyebrows rose from manacle „You shitting me? Why would I willingly go to yours? So you could torture me there? Hah, never, you hear me? Never ever." In my twenty years of existence will I condone myself to that misery. Who knows what he'll do to me when we're alone. I don't care if it's not reasonable to not let him go to his family, I ain't going.

Jared laughed out loud from behind us getting our attention from each others death glares „How about I drive you both to our house so you could explain our dear father what happened and me as well, and then we'll see from there? I would really love to see how you'll manage to explain THAT."

 He pointed with his finger to the metal handcuffs with the exeptional sustaining movements of his mouth. I just knew he will burst in laughter again. He enjoyed my frustrations, satisfaction evident on his face.

„Ha ha, I'll explain somehow." I didn't want to sound defeated but the odds were not in my favor at all. From the looks of it, dad will freak the fuck out when I start reasonably explaining to him how all this turned out. King twitched and made me look up at him again „Let's go then."

My eyes narrowed „Wait just like that? Won't you, I don't know, argue?" he wasn't the type to listen to some year older guy by the one sentence speech and just get on with it with like it was expected of him.

My glimse didn't faze him as he pushed me to Jareds car at the back. I struggled from his hold and tried to get as much away from his as possible, not like it was managable, and ended up closer to his butt then I anticipated while he made himself comfortable like he owned it, the whole backseat without feeling the slightest ashamed I have been left with the space to put a cat on.

 Since when was he so fat? Jared opened the door and sat at the drivers seat looking at us from the inside mirror „Looking good!"

„I'll kill you." This made him turn around with the victory on his reddish lips „How exactly? You aren't really in position to move around much." He added the salt to my wound. A deep wound I was not proud of. It felt like I had a puppet sticked to me. Enormous one who took half the space and made me squeezed in the back. Maybe he did that on purpose, but still, it looked so odd to see him next to me or just him in Jareds already small car. Everything compared to his height just looked small.

„Were you again sticking that tounge of yours to some poor girls throat? You'll get STD one of these days." I concentrated on his rosy cheeks forgetting that we were arguing about the simpliest things all the time. King laughed from next to me „Huh, at least he can get some, unlike you."

It was like a guy thing, to be proud of such disguisting activities and it burned my soul to it's extent to have a family member similiar to my arch enemy „I'm not a whore unlike some." They didn't spare me attention and high fived each others hands, King with his free one and Jared, well he had both hands, for now.

„I think we'll get along just fine." My brother was delighted to have a new friend whose exactly like him, a manwhore of the town, meantime I excluded myself from their stupid conversation and looked out of the window to prevent myself from tearing them both apart. How sickening to have two males next to you, one worse than the other that such combination could be found and work perfectly because of its equality.

„Just drive the stupid car." My mood went drastically down the closer we were to our street. Worry circulated my brain and all the possible solutions didn't sound promising in my head. What will I say to my dad after I kill my mum first?

Jared ignored my nervousness probably saving his revenge for the aftermath, looking at me from the inside mirror again „By the way, I noticed something" I stopped him from rambling „Oh you have a brain there, nice discovery, I don't give a shit."

„Easy there sis, I was just thinking about mentioning to dad that this new tires really keep my eyes entertained, I just can't stop thinking about it." King laughed silently catching my widened eyes and horror all over my face „What are you talking about?"

„Hah, you see, I told you you aren't in a position to be throwing insults anytime soon." I gritted my teeth stirring my eyes from his „You're imagining things. You sure you don't have STD already?" I mocked keeping my voice at the bear minimum trying not to burst in tears or rage so I wouldn't skin King alive for all of this consequented pranks. If it weren't for him my life would be wonderful and peaceful, not living on the edge most of the time.

„You're like my favorite person from now on. We'll get along remarkable." King found my idiotic brother his next savour doubtlessly already planning his next moves ahead to never give me a break, not even when we're bound to each other and he could be involved in it as well. Such a lowlife, I cannot believe it.

Jared reached our garage, parking the car in reverse and cutting the engine. My anxiety grew immediately upon reaching the front doors after punching King multiple times from pulling me after him on his side of the car door.

My hair was all over the place, my other hand crunched from fear and anger while Jared looked the happiest I've ever seen him. Agh, to think he ate all the cookies and still didn't respect me. He was the first one to enter while I paced around as slowly as possible making King next to me humored „Man up Cooper. You aren't really such a crybaby are you now?"

I composed myself quickly not looking at him in the eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat „Of course not, I don't care." Oh how wrong was that. My body was almost giving it away. I was dead nervous of my fathers reaction and couldn't wait the ground to swallow me up.

Agh, I should've just listened to King and went to his house. I'm sure it would've freaked my mother out so that sounded like a good thing seeing I won't get an opportunity to yell at her now if father is at home.

Lost in my thoughts I looked up from the floor and found my mother and father seated in the living room chatting about fathers day at work presumably reconciled from their previous fight. My eyes widened as they both looked up at us entering the room.

„What happened? Who is this?" Dad rose to his feet looking confused from my redish cheeks to Kings smirked face. Why did that bastard always knew how to hide his emotions and act like nothing unusual is happening to him? How did he manage to hide so much under that stupid smirk of his?

„Hi, I'm Carter King." He pulled his hand almost hospitably that I blinked twice to convince myself I saw right while I bit my lip saving myself some time to think about my next move. I would never imagine I would be introducing King to my Dad. This all looked so wrong and unconvinient.

„Hello boy. I'm Simon Cooper, nice to meet you." Dad shared a look of generosity like he always did when meeting someone and diverted his attention „Bea?" he looked from King to me questioningly expecting me to point out and explain the scene. Jared delightfully crossed his arms over his chest while I glanced at mother one time and then at Dads face once more.

Everyone was waiting for me to reply whistl all I wanted to do was pee my pants. I'm such a coward, King is right. I need to make something up. They won't beat me, not a chance. I cannot let King see me vulnerable let alone how much of an impact my relationship with my family, especially dad, has on me.

„Um-„I began and attracted the attention of every pair of eyes in the room „it's a project!" I blured out the first thing that came to my mind.

Jared opened his mouth from behind dads back like a fish once then closed it again in distress that I thought of something so quickly that it slipped my mouth before I could think about it profoundly. King looked amused by my lying and decided to support me which suprised me the most. I didn't expect it „Yes sir. We have to learn about each other more and Professor thought this will be ideal. It is supposed to teach us different lifestyles and all that."

He talked so freely so unbothered that I almost believed him too. If he talked to me like that, I was sure I would believe the bastard. No wonder he was such a good manipulator.

My dad bought it „Oh, that's cool. We never had something like that, what a shame. I'm sure you'll learn many things although my daughter here is sometimes a little too much to handle." He joked around not minding that his daugher was a feet away and found it anything but funny since King nodded almost immediately agreeing with my Dad.

What is it with these people? I'm not hard to get along with and they shouldn't be getting along that fine on the first meeting or getting alone at all. Can I just yell at my dads face to stop conversationing with the enemy or would that give me away? Agh, he'll start with those shameful puns again.

Exhailing, I was not the only one upset by all of the following actions when Jared murmured „I'm going to my room." Almost, I almost took a pity on him but remembered what he did to me and how he stole my cookies and then ate it in front of me to spite me, so I dismissed the thought. I knew many things weren't fair to him, especially me taking his car and lying about not repairing the tires, but he wasn't so kind to me either, so we're even.

„Don't forget that dinner is in five." Mother remarked from her seat and took her engrossment on my angry glare pointed towards her as a sign I wasn't prepared to talk to her treacherous self. Luckly Dad didn't notice. She stood from her seat as well and smiled at King „It's nice to meet you Carter dear, Miriam." King shook her hand.

„We call him King." I murmured to myself but it looked like she heard me nevertheless „Only you call him King."

„Whatever. We'll go to my room." I didn't know what to do with him but I didn't want to waste another minute of my Dads questioning and how I didn't have anything prepared to tell him so it looked like the better option. Mum turned her head towards me again „Leave the door open!" It's not like I could do or want much with him. I would rather see him dead then linked to my arm.

Embarrassed she would say such thing, I turned around as quickly as possible going upstairs and avoiding making eye contact with King while he chuckled to himself. He sure found it interesting here.

Silently, we walked up the stairs and entered my room, the last door on the floor that led to the attic. Being a girl sure had it's perks, that's probably why my brothers found me to be such a brat to them but they wouldn't understand. I am an only girl and have so much clothes and accessories, stuff in general, a big mirror, a small bathroom for myself and enormous bed in the middle of the room. Jared always yelled he had to share a bathroom downstairs with the twins since we were little but after he realised how much hair can it fall from girls head while brushing it, he shut it immediately. From then on, he never mentioned it again.

„Mm, this is my room." I didn't know how to act around him anymore and didn't know what to do with myself. It was a weird feeling.

„Okay?" he looked me up and down. „And I care because?"

„Because you'll likely have spend a lot of time here?" it came out like a question. We were alone, which was the scariest thing that happened since the day I met him and my light brownish colored walls weren't helping it.

Nothing was helping me nervous posture and the thoughts that came to my poor mind „Shit!" I whispered to myself not really paying him much care.

„You're delusional if you think I'll stay within these walls with you. It was, I would dare say nice meeting your brother and all that shit, but enough with this bullshit. We're going to my house now." All I heard from his mouth was blabber as I concentrated on the matter at hand.

„King." I tried but he kept talking to himself „I cannot believe you would think I would ever in a billion years agree-„

„KING!" I screamed at the top of my lungs clasping my legs closer together. He narrowed his eyes seeing me in a weird position but not getting the point across „What? Why do you look funny?"

„I have to pee." He paled.