The Life Of A Crazy Girl And Her 10 Brothers

Bestie Slams Back

I woke up seven minutes before my alarm went off, much to my annoyance. Reaching for my phone, I turned my alarm off, figuring that I could rest a bit and still wake up on time.

That was a mistake.

A hand shook me awake roughly.

"Car!" Corey was saying. "Wake up, we're gonna be late."

I snuggled further into my covers, annoyed that once again, someone was waking me up before I wanted to be awake. "Late for what?"

"School, you dumbass."

Today's Monday. "What time is it?" I asked, wincing at the bright light as I peeked from out of the covers.

"It's 5:54."

Shit. I scrambled out of bed, shoving Corey out of the room. "Leave. I'll be down in like five minutes."

He scoffed. "Yeah right. Caleb, Carter, Seth, and I are staying to make sure you're actually coming to school."

"Oh, escorts. How kind and considerate of you."

"It was actually Dad's idea."

I swore and shoved him before closing the door. If it was Dad's idea, then there wasn't a way I could get out of it.

I shot off a quick text to Ember. 3M and their +1 e "escorting" me to school today. You dnt have to pick me up

She texted me back as I was grabbing my towel. You tell me this as I'm three minutes away from u. I'll just wait for u.

I shot her a quick, K, and hopped in the shower, setting a world record as I washed and hopped out quickly. Slashing some deodorant on and brushing my teeth, I booked it out of the bathroom.

On my way back to my room, I could hear the sound of arguing. Ember must be here.

Once in my room, I ripped a vintage t-shirt off its hanger and threw on the first pair of jeans I saw. After checking to make sure I had the right subjects in my bag, I raced down the stairs, struggling to put my earrings in.

"Last I checked, I have a job while you're sleeping with different people almost everyday!" Ember yelled.

"And you don't do the same?" Caleb shouted back.

"I do it for stress relief! Not because I have an inferiority complex because I think I'm only good at sex!"

I froze at the bottom of the steps as it got really quiet. Oh, so we're going there. I spoke up to alleviate the awkwardness. "Well as enlightening as this has been," —five pairs of eyes whipped towards me— "it's time to go."

I latched onto Ember's arm and led her out to the driveway where she unlocked the car and slammed the door.

The boys filed out of the house, Carter locking the door behind him, and moved into their car.

Noticing her hands clenching the wheel, I gave her thigh a comforting pat. "What was that about?"

She took a deep breath. "Just Caleb being Caleb."

"An asshole?"

She nodded.

"You know that you're going to apologize though, right?" Ember was my best friend, but her comment was out of line.

It took longer, but she still gave a hesitant nod.

A tap on my window made me jump before rolling it down and Seth peered inside.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm riding with you guys."

"Do you normally invite yourself into people's cars like this?"

He sighed. "Ember, can you open the door?"

There was a click and Seth climbed in the backseat as I looked to Ember, betrayed.

Her response was a shrug. "I don't feel like arguing anymore."

I frowned. "Why didn't you ride in your own car?" I asked Seth.

"We're supposed to be escorting you."

"So? You can't ride behind us or something?"

"So you could just veer off course?" He shook his head. "I don't think so."

I sighed. It did seem like something we would do. "Well, why are you, specifically, here? You know I don't like you."

"Don't worry, the feelings mutual. However, your brother is very upset" —he shot a sharp glare at Ember, who flinched— "So Corey and Carter are comforting him."

I turned to meet his eyes as Ember started the car. "Don't try to guilt trip her. Caleb probably started it and things got out of hand. She's going to apologize and we're going to leave it at that."

"She shouldn't have said anything in the first place," he muttered.

"You shouldn't say anything ever again, how about that? I'm sure the world would be a better place if you would just shut the hell up and stop butting in on family problems."

"Well since we're putting out suggestions, why don't you stop causing them? Every time I turn around, you're always causing problems."

"Well, stop turning then."

"Guys, stop!" Ember said.

We sat in silence the entire ride to school. When we arrived, we were all fifteen minutes late and had to get tardy passes.

Everyone split off and Seth and I walked to our homerooms, me walking slightly behind him as I glared at his back.

"I can feel you staring at me."

I turned my eyes to the ceiling. "Don't flatter yourself. You're not worthy of my attention."

He stopped, and I didn't realize until I bumped into him and stumbled back, almost falling until he gripped my forearm and pulled me to my balance.

Brown eyes peered into mine and I couldn't help but look anywhere but him as his intense gaze burrowed into me until I burst. "What? Stop staring at me!"

He frowned. "What's your problem with me?"

"You're staring at me and it's annoying!"

He shook his head. "Not that. What's your problem with me in general?"

I blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"Why are you always arguing with me? You have been ever since we met."

A wave of irritation surged through me. "You want to talk about the various reasons I have to hate you? I'm supposed to be in class right now."

His eyebrow twitched. "Don't act like you care about school now. We can talk later." He let go of my arm and turned to go into his classroom.

Don't count on it, I thought as I entered my homeroom.