Too Many Secrets

Chapter 3

The car ride felt like hours but was probably only twenty minutes. When we arrive at the house I shift over towards the door. As I try pushing the door open it was still locked.

"It's locked," I say to Cole.

"I know. Skylar, you need to tell us what happened."

Taking a deep breath I start talking and tell them the whole story. Before I know it I look out the window seeing Ben running over to the car. Somehow it's unlocked and he jumps in squeezing me in a tight hug.

"What happened? Are you ok? What hurts?" Ben starts shouting out questions in my ear.

"I'm fine. My wrist hurts a little. Can I have some painkillers?" I answer.

"Of course. Come on, let's go inside," Zach says calmly, but I can still see the anger in his eyes. I also notice his hands clenched in a fist and his knuckles turning slightly white.

Walking into the house I'm face to face with a very angry Dylan. I can see the fury painted on his face. If it was possible there would be smoke coming from his ears.

"I'll kill him! What does he look like? I'm going to the mall!" he shouts, causing me to flinch.

Zach saw me flinch. He comes closer to me and puts his arm on my shoulder making me flinch again. I see the sadness in his eyes and immediately come closer to him showing I'm not afraid.

"It's not worth it, he's probably gone by now," Cole says to Dylan.

This whole situation is uncomfortable and I just want to go into my room and sleep. Before I can even think about leaving the room Jake walks in with his icy cold glare on me. He slowly walks over to me and towers over my small figure. His suit fitting to perfection and not a single hair on his head out of place making him look even scarier.

"Hey, you're safe now," Jake whispers. I didn't even realize I was shaking until he held my shoulders still. His glare is finally gone and the wrinkles on his forehead soften.

My eyes drift down to my arm which he is holding gently. He runs his fingers over the bruise and I wince, a little too loudly, signaling my pain to everyone in the room. I don't like all the attention. Five pairs of eyes studying my everyone move and breath is just slightly awkward.

"Come, I'll help you take your things to your room," Jake states.

He takes all the bags with ease and starts to walk up the stairs to my room with me. My anxiety is through the roof. Maybe he'll be mad at me. What if he thinks I came on to the guy. Maybe he thinks I just want attention. I didn't mean to make a scene. What if they kick me out? It's been two days and I've already caused so much trouble. So many thoughts cross my mind. Once we are in my room he drops the bags neatly at the foot of my bed. He takes a seat on my bed and pats the place next to him. I gingerly walk over and sit down on the soft comforter.

"Cole told me what happened today but I just wanted to make sure you are okay. Have you ever had a panic attack before?" He asks in a gentle tone.

I don't know what to say. I think it's because that man reminded me of Nick, but I can never say that out loud, especially not to my older brother.

Seeing my hesitation Jake adds, "I know it might be hard, but you have to trust us. Not only am I your guardian, but I'm still your brother. You can tell me anything and I promise not to judge."

I don't have the heart to tell him the truth. I just know he will be mad. Maybe they won't want me anymore because I'm not the sister they wanted. I'm just some broken teenager.

"I just got scared. I thought he would hurt me." I gulp and take another breath before I continue, "I think I'm just a little overloaded with all of this emotion. Being told you had five brothers that you didn't know about for 14 years of your life," my voice lowers into barely a whisper, "and your mother dying. Then to top it all off some creepy dude touches me in a mall is a lot to handle."