Five's A Crowd

twenty eight

I impatiently wait for Levi, Charlie, and Chase to get home, but the day seems to drag on. Finally, when the clock strikes 4 o'clock, the front door opens, and I hear the excited voices of my youngest brothers.

I think that they're speaking about hockey, or failing a class, but from my distance, I can't tell. I soundlessly open my bedroom door and creep down the carpeted hall, so no one hears me coming. 

When I get to the stairs, I stand still and try to listen to my brothers' conversation which is happening downstairs. From what I can gather, the boys are whispering quietly to each other, which makes it impossible for me to hear anything. 

When I can no longer ears drop on them, I decide to make my way downstairs, to get this stupid apology over with. Levi is the first to see me coming and offers me a disapproving look since I am still wearing the revealing halter top.

I roll my eyes in annoyance, but don't rebut his silent statement. Charlie and Chase stand behind my third oldest brother. Charlie has a small smirk on his face, and Chase looks disappointed as if my choice to skip school today has wounded him. 

I take a deep breath, trying to suck in my self respect, before beginning my apology. "I'm sorry that I worried you today, Levi. That wasn't my intention, and I promise to not do it again. I'll catch up on all the work I missed from your class, as well as try to get ahead."

My apology probably doesn't sound sincere, and instead comes out in a robotic tone. I've already apologized to Levi today, and it wasn't him that was primarily affected, so I don't see the point in saying sorry to him. 

He nods his head at my statement. "I appreciate that, Hazel. And yes, I was very worried when I was notified that you weren't in your first class. I do expect you to catch up to the rest of the class, and I also demand that you are ahead, because I know that you struggle. If it ever happens again, I will personally leave the school, and pick you up, before bringing you back to finish the day."

I gulp lowly, and nod my head, agreeing with his words. To be honest, I was lying when I said that I would try to get ahead, but now that Levi has told me I have to, I don't really have a choice in the matter. 

My eyes meet Matteo's and he's telling me through his expression that I have to apologize to Chase and Charlie. 

"I'm sorry," I blurt out to the twins, and both of their eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"What are you sorry for, Ze?" Chase asks, looking equally confused, as I feel.

"I don't really know," I shrug my shoulders, before dropping them when I hear the sound of Matteo sighing.

"Hazel, go to your room, your brothers and I have important things to discuss," my oldest brother mentions.

"Is it mafia stuff?" I ask, suddenly intrigued by the conversation.

"That doesn't impact you." He sounds tired. "What does impact you, though, is the schoolwork that you didn't do, because you skipped school. So how about you go and do that?"

I grumble a couple of mockingly sick words, before trudging back up the stairs to my man cave. I guess that could have gone a lot worse.

If Matteo really thinks that I'm going to do homework in my own time, he has another thing coming. I drop down on my bed, and pull out my phone, clicking on Instagram.

I scroll through Taylor Swift's most recent posts and like them to show my support, before checking my old friends' profiles. 

It's like I never existed to them.

By now, they're surely aware that my mother died, however, none of them have reached out to me, in the past month and a bit, since I moved in with my brothers.

I feel left out. 

Suddenly, a message pops up on the top of my screen, and because I'm in an irrational mood, I open it without checking the caller ID. 

'Hey, love. How was your day?'

The text is simple, and could mean anything. Maybe they have the wrong person? Or maybe it's a prank?

'Who is this?' I respond quickly, so I can block the person before they get too many of my personal details. 

'The man you agreed to go on a date with.' They answer within seconds, and I can't stop the eyeroll.

I thought Adrian was kidding when he wanted to go on a date with me, but I guess not.

'My answer is no.' I don't even feel bad. He's nearly 18, and I'm only 15, which is illegal.

And I know a lot about illegal relationships, from personal prior experience.

'Then I guess that your brothers will have to know how desperate you are to skip school.'

His form of blackmail almost makes me cackle, but I play along anyway.

'Oh really?'

'Have I changed your mind yet, love? To the date, I mean.' He asks, and I can feel the anxiousness that he must be experiencing, through the phone screen.

'I'm willing to give it a try.'

If I was told this morning that I would be responding to Adrian's text like that, I would be calling someone crazy, but to be honest, I feel really bad for the boy.

'It's a date.' He replies quickly.

'It's a date.'

I smile at my phone for a couple of seconds, before snapping out of it, and groaning to myself.

What did I just do?

A/N: Hey guys, thank you so much for reading. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE VOTE, COMMENT, AND READ WHEN I GET A CHAPTER OUT TOMORROW. I have a plan for where this book is going, I just need a little support. Also, thank you very much for 7100 reads (I know that it's not a lot,) but to me, it means the world. Keep slaying in life, and I will see you tomorrow night- or day depending on where you live- when I update tomorrow. Bye <3