Mystery Boy

"Hey, Ronnie, put Jacky on, will you?"

Ronnie huffed on the other end of the phone. "Why don't you just come over and talk to him yourself instead of calling me?" he questioned, his tone bitter.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not allowed to come over, so just put him on the phone."

Ronnie growled but then I heard him call for Jacky. I grinned when Jacky's quiet voice met my ears.

"Hello?"

"It's me," I said, knowing that he didn't like cell phones at all, "I'm just calling to tell you what my dad said." I took a deep breath. "He said no, like we thought he would. But then I talked to my mom and I'm going to stay with her that weekend. She said we could plan another trip to London and you can come with so I can meet your mom!" I said excitedly, listening as he chuckled softly on the other end.

"Your mom seems cool," he said simply and quietly. I strained to hear his words.

"She's gotten a lot better since the divorce," I said with a nod, "she's dating this younger guy and I think he's changing her." I rolled my eyes as Decklan and Avery came into the room, having been kicked out of the living room by the parents. "I have to go, Jacky," I said, "I was just invaded by my idiot step-brother and friend."

"Okay," Jacky spoke.

I kicked my foot at Decklan as he came over to mess with me. "I'll see you tomorrow," I said, "bye."

Jacky said goodbye and then I hung up. I screeched angrily as Decklan tried to reach across me to grab for my laptop. He laughed as I kicked him in the leg as defense.

"Come on, Airea, I just want to see what music you have on iTunes," he said as he reached again. Avery sat on his bed, staring at the two of us as Decklan ambushed me.

"Go away, you jerk. You really need to stop touching my things," I growled. I sat up and stuck my laptop under my pillow as Decklan stood up straight.

"What are you arguing about?" Ian stuck her head into the room.

I glared. "Your son won't keep his hands off of my things," I stammered angrily, watching at the teenager shrugged in defense.

"I don't have a laptop, Mom, I merely wanted to look through it," he said with a cheeky smile.

Ina gave Decklan a pointed look. "Why don't you boys go play outside and leave Airea alone," she suggested, although she knew that Decklan would never 'back down' and go some where else. He enjoyed riling me up too much.

Decklan rolled his eyes. "We're not ten, Mom. We don't play outside anymore."

I scoffed. "Then why don't you two go annoy Avery's sister. I'm really getting tired of all your bullshit," I said automatically, not realizing that the curse had left my lips until Ina shot me a threatening look. I just crossed my arms over my chest.

"Watch your language, Airea," Ian said firmly, "we don't need Taite picking up any of the words that you've acquired from your friends."

Decklan hid his laugh as I rolled my eyes. I looked up to Ina and glared. "I didn't learn curses from my friends, Ina," I growled, "I knew them before I was thrown into this hellhole."

Ina was about to speak again before I climbed up from my bed and marched past her, out of the room. My shoulder bumped her as I raced through the doorway, ignoring every question that flew from her lips.

I was barefoot as I hurried through the living room. My dad was startled as I moved to the front door and threw it open.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked as he stood up from the couch quickly.

I ignored him and hopped down the front steps. I crossed the green grass and the driveway as my dad stood in the doorway of the house, shouting for me and warning me to stop 'acting out'.

I banged on the Radke's door harshly as my father came barreling down the steps. "Airea, get back here right now!" he demanded, crossing the front yard.

As soon as Ronnie's older half-brother, Brad, pulled the front door open, I was in the house and slamming it behind me. I could hear my father yelling on the other side.

"What just happened?" Ronnie asked, dumbfounded as he looked between me and the door.

"I can't take it there anymore!" I shouted, exploding with so much emotion that it brought tears to my eyes. "Its like I've been thrown in an alternate universe and the one goal of all the people there is to make me miserable!"

In the corner of my eye I saw the rest of the guys and Charming come around the same corner where Ronnie had just emerged, but I was too emotional to notice that Jacky had moved forward and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Your dad is outside my door," Brad said, his arms folded over his chest, "You can't hide in here."

Ronnie rolled his eyes and shoved his older brother away from the door. "Get lost, Brad, this has nothing to do with you," he demanded bossily, glaring a hole through his half-brother's head.

Brad rolled his eyes but then disappeared down the hallway back towards his bedroom, not caring enough to come out and mediate the situation. By now I had wrapped my arms around Jacky's shoulders tightly with my face buried in his neck. I was taking deep breaths as I came down from my previous set of hysterics.

"I'm sorry," I murmured against his shirt, "I just, I can't stand being there anymore."

I felt Jacky nodded his head and his tattooed arms held onto me even tighter. I was thankful that I had Jacky to hold me up. He was quiet and shy, but he was being strong for me. Those who had mistaken his soft demeanor for stupidity couldn't have been more wrong at this moment. He knew exactly what was going through my head. His own home life had been far from peachy. An angry father and a loneliness that crept into every crevice inside a person. Even when they thought they'd scared it off for good.

"What do you want me to do about your dad, Airea?" Ronnie asked softly, "He's probably going to break my door down and I don't think my dad will be okay with that when he gets home."

I couldn't help but chuckle at Ronnie's horrible joke. I pulled my face away from Jacky's shoulder and looked up to the brown eyed boy. "I just need a minute," I sighed, "I'll go back."

Riley Radke came a little closer once my tears were gone. "Your dad isn't going to hurt you, is he?" he asked softly. His childlike worry hadn't quite left his tone yet, even though he was a freshman in high school.

I shook my head. "He's never hurt me," I said, sparing a glance at Jacky as he played with his silver lip rings nervously, "He's just angry with me."

"Are you sure?" Riley asked again as he perched himself on the edge of their beaten couch and ran his fingers over Charming's silky fur.

I nodded certainly. "He's a good guy," I told the boy, "he just doesn't understand."

Ronnie sighed. "I hate to kick you out, but you better get out there. Dad is going to be home soon," he told me, peaking out of the front window.

"Okay," I said now that I had calmed down, "sorry to barge in like this."

Ronnie shrugged it off and plastered a welcoming smile to his lips. "Call me if you need anything," he spoke, "I'm right here."

"I will," I promised. I turned to Jacky and leaned up to kiss his lips, trying to subdue some of his worry. "I'm fine," I told him, seeing the doubt swimming in his Atlantic ocean eyes. "Really."

He fiddled with his lip ring.

I stepped up to kiss his jaw. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," I told them as I moved over to the door. I pulled it open and looked at my father, who stood with his arms crossed. "I needed to tell them something," I said with a shrug, "delinquent ears only."

Dad looked at me flatly, unamused. Then he motioned towards our house. "Get in the house, Airea."

I glanced over my shoulder as I started walking. Ronnie, Riley, and Jacky stood in the doorway, each of their expressions identical. Nervous. I smiled reassuringly but was distracted as my dad grabbed my arm and hurried me along.

"Will you relax?" I asked roughly, yanking my arm away from him, "I'm not going anywhere, so just chill out."

Dad looked down at me. "You just ran out of the house when Ina and I were trying to speak with you."

"I went next door..." I trailed off smartly, hoping he'd realize how silly he was being.

"When I specifically told you not to," he added to my sentence, not catching that I was implying anything at all.

As he urged me through the front door, I said, "You've changed, big time." I turned and looked up to him. The eyes that I was once proud to have in my own skull, were dark and threatening as he looked down at me with anger. He wasn't the same person who took me fishing as a child. The man in front of me had let middle-class stress bring him down.

"Yeah," he said darkly, "well, you're sure not the same Airea Tollefson I used to know, either."

I shrugged my shoulders and tucked my light hair behind my ears. "Sorry Dad," I said, "I didn't know that you excepted to thrust me into a whole new life and want me to continue living like my parents still love each other, love me."

Dad didn't roll his eyes or tell me to stop playing the 'pity' card. Instead he shook his head and swallowed hard. "I didn't expect that of you," he said firmly, "I just expected you to make the most of our situation."

I laughed with humor and pointed in the direction of Ronnie's house. "I have," I said loudly, "but you hate him and you make that clear with ever word that comes out of your mouth. Jacky is the best thing in this god-damn place and you won't even let me see him unless we're at school or completely supervised!"

"That's for your protection," Dad said, "you don't know what he could do to you."

I scoffed. "That's bull and you know it. You used to like Jacky, told me so yourself. You know that he's incapable of hurting people he cares about. You know that!"

Dad shook his head vehemently. "I've seen what he's done to other guys, Airea," he snarled, "why do you think he has such a drastic reputation at your school? Why do you think people stay away from Ronnie, Jacky, and the rest of them? They're good kids, but they have some dangerous tendencies."

I shook my head. "You're just afraid," I said, "like you were afraid when you and Mom got divorced. Like you were afraid when Mom fought for custody." I glared harshly, my blue eyes becoming shades darker as anger set into my bones. "You're just afraid that maybe I've found something that means more to me than you do. And you hate everything that might possibly take your place. And that makes you a hypocrite."