Becoming a DeMarlo

23: "You against me."

Chapter 23: "You against me."

Whatever it was that Ms.Phillips was hiding, I had no way to find out. 

Admittedly, by the time I'd gotten home, I'd forgotten all about her strange behavior.

Charlie stopped by my room that night to ask me how tutoring went. 

I told him that I thought she was way too strict, and he said that was good. In his opinion, I need "real structure" and that this experience would help hone my "self-discipline". 

Whatever that meant. 

The next morning, I showed up to my Mathematics class to see that Tyler was absent, once again. I couldn't help but wonder how hard Uncle Paul had really hit him. It couldn't have done more than have left a nasty bruise? 

By now, Tyler's group of friends had stopped sending me death glares during lunch, however, they continued to make sure to not say a single word to me.

Not that it bothered me, because I wasn't a big fan of them to begin with.

That day, when I came home from school, I immediately noticed Jasper sitting in the foyer, supposedly waiting for me.

He sprang up from the armchair as I entered, and gave me an exaggerated smile that made me stop in my tracks. 

"There's my...sister," he grinned, the word coming out of his mouth making us both feel uncomfortable.

This managed to grab the attention of Charlie, who appeared from the dining room. Unlike my youngest brother, he seemed to be acting rather normal, giving me a friendly smile as he stood in his clean fitted suit. 

"Hey, kid. How was school?"

"Good, good," I slowly answered, keeping a wary gaze on Jasper who was still standing foolishly. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen him smile. Definitely not like this. 

"So, Jasper told me you guys have plans for the afternoon. I didn't know you wanted to see the aquarium."

"The aquarium?" I repeated, which made Jasper clear his throat.

"You didn't forget, did you? You asked me about it last week. I finally have this afternoon free."

What the hell was going on?

"I'm not sure—"

"No, no, it's no trouble at all," Jasper insisted. "Besides, we haven't spent too much time together. You go upstairs and change, I'll wait for you here."

His mouth was turned up in a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. It was as if he was challenging me to go against his words. 

I looked at him, and then at Charlie — genuinely having no clue about what was going on.

"I—"

"Go ahead, kid. You'll have fun," Charlie spoke, clearly unaware of the strange behavior Jasper was emitting towards me. 

"Charlie, I—"

Just then, his phone began ringing. Charlie took it out of his pocket and looked at it, before answering, mouthing "hold on" as he turned around to talk. 

As Charlie was distracted, Jasper made his way over to me, until he was only a few steps away.

"Listen carefully. You're going to go upstairs, get changed, and come down within five minutes. We are going to leave, without you making a fuss. Got it?"

"But—"

"Or I'll tell Elijah you have another boyfriend," he darkly whispered, his breath hot on my neck.