Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I could have tried and softened them, but no. I choose to stand up for Jason, who in fact was the reason for the whole situation we were having now. And the way I defended him won't help me. I'd hardly ever talked back to my mom or grandma. And NEVER to my brothers, as from the beginning, they seemed not to accept this kind of behavior. Well, stupid me, now I decided that it's a good time to test them...
A chair next to me shuffled. I didn't raise my eyes, but I knew it was Vince. He changed his seat so now he was much closer to me, invading my private space. He was so close, I could feel his amazing perfumes.
"Let me make it clear, Hailie." he started ominously, making me shiver. Again. He raised my chin with two fingers, forcing me to have an eye-contact with him. "You are in no position to talk back, so watch your mouth, please. Understood?"
Now I couldn't look away from his icy sight. With an angle of my eye, I could see Will, who was still leaning across the fridge. I nodded and added out loud "Yes.".
"Good. Now, tell me which rules you broke," he asked.
I had to look down to gather my thoughts.
"I-I've been meeting with a boy a-and I lied about it..." I stutter after a moment.
The contrast between his powerful and commanding voice and my whimpering was pathetic.
"Exactly. I don't like lies, Hailie. Keep that in mind for the future. As it's your first time, let's make it a warning. Of course, you won't see this kid anymore." he said and then turned to Dylan and Tony. "And you'll keep an eye on her at school."
"I'm taking this one for a few days." he informed me, grabbing my phone, which laied on the table. He put it to his pocket and I looked at his action with silent resistance. At the end, he got up as if nothing happened and he put the chair back at its place, still full of elegance.
"I'll need you in one hour," he said, pointing at Will, who just nodded acknowledgingly. Then Vince left the kitchen, where I stayed with the rest of my brothers, not being able even to move. That conversation cost me a lot of nerves and now tears were falling down my cheeks.
I didn't exactly know how he managed to make me feel so bad. There was something about Vince that was scaring me so much that it was a real trauma for me to be scolded by him.
"Finish your dinner, Hailie," Will ordered me, putting my plate back under my nose. His voice was gentle, but on his face, there was a very visible disappointment. He took out a packet of tissues out of nowhere and gave me one.
It took a lot of time for me to be able to chew up at least one bite of my food, so the rest of the brothers already left the kitchen. No one spoke to me, although Tony and Dylan had some casual talk with each other. I was finishing my already cold portion when Shane arrived at home. He came back from his training and headed directly to the kitchen. Normally, I'd be coming back with him right now...
When he saw my red, swollen eyes, he sighed.
"You talked with Vince?" he asked, knowing the answer.
I nodded.
Shane sits in front of me with a mountain of food on his plate.
"Don't worry, Hailie. I know Vince can be scary. Sometimes he frightens me too. But he's like that to you, because he wants you to be safe. We all want that. Just... try to understand it." he explained, looking at me closely. Again, I just nodded. I stood up, cleaned after myself and went to my bedroom without saying anything.
I had a headache till the end of the day. I managed only to do my homework (less scrupulously than usual) and I didn't feel like studying anymore. I went to my bed early, wishing I had had my mobile with me. I was wondering if Jason texted me.
Oh, who cares? He should burn in hell.
That's exactly what I wanted to tell him the next day. My brothers warned me from contacting him, but they weren't there in chemistry classes. Unfortunately, Jason appeared in a classroom together with a bell and I swear, he didn't even look at my side. I knew that because I was glaring at him the whole lesson. He left the classroom as fast, as he entranced it. However, after French classes, he wasn't that lucky. I caught his backpack when he tried to rush out of the classroom one more time.
"You could have some courage to at least look into my eyes," I growled at him, tired and irritated of his childish attitude..
Jason fearfully looked around the corridor.
"I can't look at you, Hailie, leave alone talking. Just... leave me alone, please."
I raised an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about?"
Jason finally fixed his gaze at me, emphatically.
"Listen, I'm sorry for what happened."
"Sorry isn't enough. I want an explanation. You owe me one." I hissed.
Jason took a deep breath, looking around one more time and then he grabbed me and pulled to a ladies' room. A girl powdering her nose in front of the mirror inside gave him a suspicious look, but he ignored her. So did I.
"What are you doing?" I asked, disgusted.
"This is one of not so many places, where we won't bump into your wonderful brothers." Jason snarled sarcastically.
He was right. That's when I become all ears and Jason told me about how it happened that Dylan, Shane, and Tony discovered our meetings.
"Your friends are idiots, how could they!" I moaned with annoyance.
"I know, they're sorry."
"How nice."
"Hailie, I apologize for ignoring you, but I have no choice. I don't want to have any problems with your brothers and they've made themselves quite... clear."
"What did they tell you?" I asked resignedly.
"That one more time I kiss you, say a word to you or even look at you and they will break my something. A jaw most likely, but if they're in a good mood, they'll let me choose..."
I covered my mouth with a hand and he just shrugged, still downbeat. How can someone openly say to another person such stuff? I couldn't understand it. My first reaction was to confront my brothers. I had to explain it to them. They can't just walk around and threaten my friends or people in general!
"Hailie! Think! If you talk to them, they'll know, we saw each other again... I will be fucked up and you as well." pointed Jason.
Yeah. As I mentioned before, I lose my temper easily. He was right. Again. I didn't want to risk another talk with Vince. I sighed deeply, letting my anger go away a bit. Jason calmed down too.
"I'm really sorry for how it finished," he confessed. Now we were both leaning across the wall, looking at the mirror in front of us. The girl with a powder left already.
"Me too," I admitted honestly.
"I didn't expect it, but you are really a cool girl."
"Thanks... I guess. I didn't expect I would like you too."
We turned to face each other. He smelled so nice and was looking at me with these big, innocent eyes. And those curls... He was amazing. The attraction I felt towards him was stronger than anytime before. The most interesting thing is that Jason shared those feelings because he stared at me with the same desire.
A few seconds later, we were kissing with passion, like never before.