Love Behind Lies
Chapter 1
Chapter 1:
I was walking home from school, like always, with two of my brothers Oscar and Thomas. We’re triplets and we always walk to and from school together, since our house is close enough. Sometimes, my sister, Margaret, would drive us in her convertible. My parents gave the car to her for her sixteenth birthday, but the whole family basically shares it.
Some people say that my brothers and I all look alike, but really only Thomas and Oscar look the same. They both have short brown hair. They were about six feet tall and I was only about 5’6”, so not too much of a difference. Both my brothers have a chiseled face with defined cheek bones, making them both look pretty tough. That’s probably why most of the girls went after them. Their brown eyes also seem to draw in the girls. One look and the poor innocent ladies are hooked.
The three of us have always had the same friends. I don’t know how it worked out that way, but it did. My girlfriends are friends with their best buds. It makes everything a lot easier. We used to always hang out over the weekend. Sometimes we would stay at our house and sometimes we would go out; maybe to a movie or something.
Lately, my family has been too busy, and some of my friends have stopped talking to me. Now, I only talk to my friends at school. They aren’t close enough to talk to outside of school, but that is okay. If I ever need to talk to someone about my issues, it’s my sister. At first I felt really alone because I felt like I had no friends outside of school, but now I am sort of glad, because most of my friends have stared partying on the weekends. It’s not that I don’t like a good party; I just don’t feel like getting drunk every weekend.
At school though, Thomas, Oscar, and I are in most of the same classes, which is sometimes a good thing. We always help each other with homework from our classes, and sometimes I even help them study for tests.
Oscar and Thomas hang out all the time. They are like best friends that live in the same house. I think that is pretty cool. Neither of them really cares about school though. Thomas’ grades aren’t as bad as Oscar’s. Oscar is too much of a jock to care about school. I mean he cares and works hard, but school just isn’t his first priority. Thomas works hard in school and is still really good at sports, but athletic abilities also run in the family.
The difference between Thomas and Oscar is charm. Thomas has had way more girlfriends than Oscar and mostly because he has the personality and the charm to reel them in. Thomas is more outgoing than Oscar is. Oscar hangs out with people all the time and loves to talk, but I think he is shyer around girls than he liked to admit.
I also feel like Thomas has more emotion and cares more about things he loves compared to Oscar. Thomas cares about me and shows it. I know that Oscar cares about me, he just doesn’t show it as much as Thomas. I know Thomas is always there for me, and he is always protecting me. He is the one that makes me feel safe.
In general, my family is pretty smart. My mom is a doctor and never got a “B” in her whole school career. My older siblings, William and Margaret, are very smart too. I guess it just runs in the family. Until you get to Thomas and Oscar. I guess that they just aren’t motivated enough to work on their homework.
I guess you could also say out family is popular. William was the football star before he graduated last year. Margaret is the Girly-Girl who is nice to everyone. I am the hot little sister that happens to be very smart, and I guess Oscar and Thomas are the players that are along for the ride.
It was a sunny Thursday, as Oscar, Thomas, and I walked home. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was about 70 degrees outside. This warm weather was just making me want summer even more. I am really excited for the weekend. The school year was almost over and every weekend meant a week closer to summer.
Today, William had classes at the local Central College until 4:30pm and my sister, Margaret, was working on her math test that she didn’t finish during class. So, it was just the three of us triplets walking home.
“How was your days, guys?” I asked my twin brothers.
“Pretty good. I am really mad at our history teacher though. I wish that she would have moved the test back a day. I don’t think I am ready for it,” Thomas replied.
“Yeah, I agree. I really don’t want to have to study tonight,” Oscar said. “How was your day, Kate?” Oscar asked, using one of my many nicknames.
“Really confusing actually. You know Loren Dorn and his friends?” I asked. Both of my brothers nodded. “Well Nate Hoder, one of Loren’s friends, came up to me at my locker. He started talking to me, but he seemed really nervous. Then Loren, Sam and Nick came by and they all started making fun of me, except for Sam.” I paused before I continued. “They said I was stupid and ugly. It made me so mad. But, then Sam stuck up for me. He told his friends that they should go to their next class, so they all left. He talked to me for a couple minutes and then went to his next class, leaving me speechless. The whole thing was just too confusing.” I finally finished.
“That is kind of weird,” Thomas said,
“I would just forget that the whole thing ever happened,” Oscar told me.
“I was planning on it,” I replied.
“They’re seniors right?” Thomas asked.
“Yeah,” I said. Thomas just shook his head.
We stopped talking for a while. I guess that no one had anything to say.
“When is dinner tonight, Katie?” Oscar asked me, breaking the silence.
“I think it is at 6:30pm, if you were listening to Mom this morning,” I said. Sometimes my brother’s annoyed the hell out of me. We kept walking towards the farmhouse we’ve lived in our whole lives.
Our house is big and white. It is located on the corner of Maple Street and Central Road. There are trees surrounding my house that we can barely see our neighbors. The porch is big too. It wraps all the way around the house and makes the house look even bigger.
We lived in one of the nicer neighborhoods, but most of the houses in the area are older too. Our house was old, but still nice. There are a lot of rich people that live near me, and most of them go to my school. It’s really scary on the other side of town. There are a lot of gangs there that I try to avoid. My family almost never goes over there.
My brothers and I walked into the giant kitchen when we got home. My mom, Elizabeth, was making dinner there. The kitchen was huge. All of the cabinets were the same wood as the floor. We had granite countertops too. My dad was always cleaning the appliances, since they were all stainless steel. That was the one thing my parents didn’t like about our kitchen, because the appliances made it harder to make our house spotless.
My mom spends most of her time in the kitchen cooking. When she isn’t in the kitchen she is in her small workroom. My mom is a semi-retired doctor, so she doesn’t work as much, but she still works on the bills, which keeps her very busy. She still goes to meetings and is sometimes called into a long shift at night, if the doctor’s office really needs her, but most of the time she is at home.
My siblings and I never talk to our mom about any problems we are having. We mostly rely on each other. We don’t want to stress my mom out too much, and she never really asks us either.
“What are we having for dinner?” I asked, setting my backpack down by the stairs.
“Some home-made pizza. Is that okay with you?” My mom replied.
“Yeah, sounds good,” I said. “William and Margaret won’t be home for another half an hour.”
“Okay, well dinner should be done in about an hour, so they’ll be here in time,” Mom said. “Why don’t you guys go and work on your homework until they get here.” My brothers and I went upstairs and to our separate rooms.
I was so glad that we didn’t move last year when my dad was offered a new job. I would have had to share a room with my older sister, Margaret.
I don’t mind Margaret. She is really nice and is always there for me. It’s just that sometimes she can be a little annoying. She likes to whine to everyone about her problems, hoping that whining will help her with her issues. She can also be a little drama queen, which makes everyone want to mess with her. The boys always play little jokes on her every now and then. Margaret gets so mad and stomps around the house sulking. I even think that it’s funny.
Sometimes I am jealous of Margaret, though. Yeah, we are both pretty popular, but she has a lot more friends than I do. She is always hanging out with her friends, but I don’t have anyone close enough to do that with. Whenever I have any problems, I always go to her. She always knows what to do, and sometimes she has been in the same situation.
Margaret is really smart too. We always work on homework together. She acts like she is dumb, but deep down she is smarter than most girls in her class. Being smart, and pretty, makes it easy for her to get boyfriends too. Margaret always has guys following her around. She has gone out with a lot of boys, but she never stays with them too long.
When I got to my room, I began working on my homework and finally finished just as someone knocked on my door.
“Come in,” I said.
“Hey,” William said. “What are you doing?”
“Umm, I just finished my homework. Do you need something?” Will, doesn’t usually come in my room to see what I was doing. There must be something wrong.
“No, I was just checking in. What’s for dinner?”
I gave him a questioning look. “Mom’s home-made pizza. How were your classes today?” I was so confused.
“Fine I guess. One of my professors threw a research paper at us, out of the blue and it is due in two days. I’m going to be up late working on it, and I’m already behind on sleep.”
“I bet you’re tired. Do you have a lot of other homework also?” I asked Will. I was still trying to figure out the real reason behind why he was in my room.
“Yeah, so I won’t be able to go to bed until way late.”
“Have fun with that.”
“Dinner is ready!” Mom yelled.
“We better get down there fast. Is Margaret home?” I asked.
“Yeah, I picked her up at your school, since I knew we were going to be heading home around the same time.” Will paused. “It was weird though. She told me originally that she was going to be waiting by the front doors, but when I got there, she was coming from the other side of town. It was like she wasn’t even at school finishing the test she was working on. It was weird.”
So that it why Will was acting to weird. “Weird is right,” I said, as we walked down the stairs to dinner.
“Maybe you can find something out from her?” Will asked and I nodded my head in agreement as we walked into the kitchen.
Will was pretty good looking if you ask me. He has dark brown hair that hung loosely on his head. He had brown eyes like most of my family. His height helped him in all the sports he plays in. He is basically a star in every one too, especially when he was in high school. He also has almost every girl. It seems that everyone wants to go out with him. I don’t blame them, I guess. William has good looks, a funny personality, and he is smart. What else does a girl need?
William and I were pretty close. He sometimes beats up on me, along with my other two brothers, but most of the time it is just for fun. My family gets along pretty well and we have fun, most of the time. I like my family, and I know that Will does too. He always protects my family. He is almost like a second dad, and when my dad is out of town, he helps out so much. I was so happy when he decided to attend Central College after he graduated. Central was only ten minutes away from our house, so Will still lives at home with us, which meant he was always around whenever we needed help.
We were all sitting down at the table. The pizza smelt so good. I could see the steam rising from the pizza. I think that my mouth was watering before I even began eating it. Margaret wasn’t talking at all, which was not normal. Usually she is talking about all the problems she dealt with during the day, but right now, she wasn’t.
I looked at William and I sensed that he was noticing it too and I guess Oscar noticed my concern. Oscar tapped my arm and gave me a questioning look. I tilted my head toward Margaret and Oscar saw what I was talking about.
“So, how was your day Margaret?” Oscar asked.
“Fine,” Margaret grumbled. Margaret was barely touching her food. She was just staring at it. She loves my mom’s pizza. She would be on her third piece by now, if she was acting normal.
I looked back at William; he didn’t know what to say.
The rest of dinner went by with very little talk. Mom asked all of us about how our days were. That was all we talked about. It was one of the weirdest dinners my family has ever had. My dad was usually good for staring a conversation, but since he was gone, our dinner was silent.
My mom was the first to finish eating. She put her dishes away and left the room without saying anything else, leaving us alone.
When the kids in my family are alone, we always end up talking a lot. Usually, Margaret starts up a story, but she had nothing to say.
“So, what is everyone doing this weekend?” I asked my siblings.
“I am hanging with some friends from school, I think,” Oscar said. “Thomas, do you wanna come?”
“Sure!” Thomas said. “Kate, do you wanna come too?”
“I dunno, maybe. I will have to see what else is going on.” I replied.
“I think that I have a date with one of my guy friends,” Margaret spoke up.
“Wait, you don’t have a boyfriend right now?” Oscar asked sarcastically.
“Don’t get too excited,” Margaret said, laughing. “He might be my boyfriend by the end of the week.”
“I don’t know what I am doing,” Will said. “I guess I might hang out with some of my friends.”
“Since when do you have friends?” I asked. Sometimes Oscar and I like to rile our older siblings.
“Very funny, Kate. Have you been hanging around Oscar too much? I think his badass attitude is starting to wear off on you!” Will said.
We all laughed. We had finished eating by now, and we all got up from the table to put the dishes away. Since, my dad was in Rome, Italy until the end of this week because of his work, it is the kids’ job to do the dishes.
My dad is always gone. He seems to travel a lot for his job. He is a salesman, and brings in a decent amount of money. He never really has anything to say about his job. Sometimes he comes home with bruises and scratches, but he tells us that they are because he is clumsy. My dad and his job are just on big question mark. I have never really understood it.
As soon as the dishes were clean, we all left the kitchen. I was glad that we all go to talk like that. It made me happy to see Margaret smile, especially since she must have had a bad day at school.
I had just sat down on my bed with someone knocked on my door.
“Come in,” I said.
“Hey, can I talk to you?” Margaret mumbled, stepping into my room.
“Yeah, what’s wrong?” I asked with concern.
“I had a horrible day.”
Margaret was a very pretty blond. No one knows where the blonde came from, but I think Margaret like it. Her short hair was stick straight, same as mine. She has brown eyes, same as everyone else. She was the girl version of William. All the guys wanted her. By the time I find out she has a boyfriend, she has already moved onto some other guy. Margaret is very responsible too. So, my parents trust her when she leaves the house to hang out with her boyfriends.
“I noticed that you weren’t talking as much as usual,” I prompted.
“Yeah, well Loren and his friends asked me to go out with them.”
“Margaret, they are trouble. That’s all I know.” I didn’t want to tell Margaret about my encounter with the same boys today.
“Yeah, and they all wanted me to come over to Loren’s house.”
“And did you go?”
“Yeah. Right after school. They practically dragged me there. I told them that I didn’t want to go, but I guess they overrule me.”
“But I thought that you were finishing a math test. You need to stay away from them Margaret. You know what they are known for.”
“I used my math test as an excuse, so don’t tell anyone any of this.”
“I won’t! Just tell me what happened, please.”
“They brought me to Loren’s house first. That was the scariest part. He lives on the other side of town. You know how it is over there. They walked me to his house, and all his neighbors were staring at me. It was ridiculous.” Margaret sat down at my desk chair and stared off into space before continuing. “When we got into his house, they tied me to a chair that was in his room. His parents weren’t home, so Loren and his friends could do whatever they wanted and no one was there to help me or stop them. They wanted me to drink and smoke with them. I told them no, and they just laughed at me. Nick was the one that had the drugs. Loren held me down and made me open my mouth.”
“So what happened? Did you do it?” I couldn’t believe this. Margaret never got into this much trouble with guys. Margaret is known for not smoking, doing drugs, or having sex. All the guys wanted to change that, especially Loren and his friends.
“I didn’t do anything. I kicked Nick when he got close enough and I started screaming really loud. All the boys got nervous after that. I think that they were scared that someone was going to hear me. Then I told them I had to leave and they got really mad at me and told me to be careful around school,” Margaret pause. “They also told me that I have to watch my back and not to go anywhere alone. They threatened me!” She was almost in tears. “After that, they let me go. Sam drove me back to school, but I was shaking the whole time. I was so scared. Sam said something to me, but I don’t remember what he said. I was too scared to pay attention to what anyone was saying to me.”
“So, what do you think we should do?” I asked.
“I don’t know! I thought maybe you could help me.”
“Yeah, it’ll be okay.” I think that I was starting to get a little bit more freaked out that she was. How am I not supposed to tell anyone? I had to tell William at least. He was the oldest in the family. He had to know what to do. “Listen, we need to tell someone. Can I please tell William? He will know how to handle these boys.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to be there. And you have to make sure he doesn’t tell Mom. He will obviously know the boys too.”
“Oh right, so it was Sam Knight, Nate Hoder, Loren Dorn and Nick Sayner. Right?” I verified.
“Yes,” Margaret agreed.
“Okay, I will ask and see what he has to say. Are they in any of your classes?”
“Yeah, they are in my homeroom and our teacher doesn’t care what we do. I am so screwed.” Margaret put her hands over her face. I could tell that she was stressed out.
“It’s okay Margaret,” I said, putting my hands on her back. “I would stay as close to your friends as possible or go to the bathroom a lot. What hour is your homeroom?”
“5th hour.”
“Okay, mine is during that same hour, so maybe we can figure something out. Why don’t you go finish your homework and I will talk about this ‘issue’ with William?”
Okay so this conversation was kind of weird, since my sister was a senior in high school and I was just a junior. Aren’t I supposed to be going to her with my problems? Oh well, I love it when Margaret comes to me because it makes me feel like I can trust her too.
She left my room without saying anything else and I was left alone. I sat in my room and thought all about this issue and how to handle it. William, being a freshman in college, had never had any issues in high school because he was the ‘good boy’. I guess that Margaret was good too, but she just doesn’t know how to handle these kinds of things. Will has always had responsible friends that never smoked or drank.
In Evansville, Indiana, my hometown, there are many schools, but there is one main school system that is all on the same campus; the Central Campus. There is the Central Elementary school and then right next to it is the Central Middle School. Then, across the street from those schools is Central High School, where I am attending. There was barely any trouble at the high school either. That’s why I was so surprised by what Margaret told me.
I finally left my room and started down the hallway to William’s room. I was worried about how he would handle it.
I was walking home from school, like always, with two of my brothers Oscar and Thomas. We’re triplets and we always walk to and from school together, since our house is close enough. Sometimes, my sister, Margaret, would drive us in her convertible. My parents gave the car to her for her sixteenth birthday, but the whole family basically shares it.
Some people say that my brothers and I all look alike, but really only Thomas and Oscar look the same. They both have short brown hair. They were about six feet tall and I was only about 5’6”, so not too much of a difference. Both my brothers have a chiseled face with defined cheek bones, making them both look pretty tough. That’s probably why most of the girls went after them. Their brown eyes also seem to draw in the girls. One look and the poor innocent ladies are hooked.
The three of us have always had the same friends. I don’t know how it worked out that way, but it did. My girlfriends are friends with their best buds. It makes everything a lot easier. We used to always hang out over the weekend. Sometimes we would stay at our house and sometimes we would go out; maybe to a movie or something.
Lately, my family has been too busy, and some of my friends have stopped talking to me. Now, I only talk to my friends at school. They aren’t close enough to talk to outside of school, but that is okay. If I ever need to talk to someone about my issues, it’s my sister. At first I felt really alone because I felt like I had no friends outside of school, but now I am sort of glad, because most of my friends have stared partying on the weekends. It’s not that I don’t like a good party; I just don’t feel like getting drunk every weekend.
At school though, Thomas, Oscar, and I are in most of the same classes, which is sometimes a good thing. We always help each other with homework from our classes, and sometimes I even help them study for tests.
Oscar and Thomas hang out all the time. They are like best friends that live in the same house. I think that is pretty cool. Neither of them really cares about school though. Thomas’ grades aren’t as bad as Oscar’s. Oscar is too much of a jock to care about school. I mean he cares and works hard, but school just isn’t his first priority. Thomas works hard in school and is still really good at sports, but athletic abilities also run in the family.
The difference between Thomas and Oscar is charm. Thomas has had way more girlfriends than Oscar and mostly because he has the personality and the charm to reel them in. Thomas is more outgoing than Oscar is. Oscar hangs out with people all the time and loves to talk, but I think he is shyer around girls than he liked to admit.
I also feel like Thomas has more emotion and cares more about things he loves compared to Oscar. Thomas cares about me and shows it. I know that Oscar cares about me, he just doesn’t show it as much as Thomas. I know Thomas is always there for me, and he is always protecting me. He is the one that makes me feel safe.
In general, my family is pretty smart. My mom is a doctor and never got a “B” in her whole school career. My older siblings, William and Margaret, are very smart too. I guess it just runs in the family. Until you get to Thomas and Oscar. I guess that they just aren’t motivated enough to work on their homework.
I guess you could also say out family is popular. William was the football star before he graduated last year. Margaret is the Girly-Girl who is nice to everyone. I am the hot little sister that happens to be very smart, and I guess Oscar and Thomas are the players that are along for the ride.
It was a sunny Thursday, as Oscar, Thomas, and I walked home. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was about 70 degrees outside. This warm weather was just making me want summer even more. I am really excited for the weekend. The school year was almost over and every weekend meant a week closer to summer.
Today, William had classes at the local Central College until 4:30pm and my sister, Margaret, was working on her math test that she didn’t finish during class. So, it was just the three of us triplets walking home.
“How was your days, guys?” I asked my twin brothers.
“Pretty good. I am really mad at our history teacher though. I wish that she would have moved the test back a day. I don’t think I am ready for it,” Thomas replied.
“Yeah, I agree. I really don’t want to have to study tonight,” Oscar said. “How was your day, Kate?” Oscar asked, using one of my many nicknames.
“Really confusing actually. You know Loren Dorn and his friends?” I asked. Both of my brothers nodded. “Well Nate Hoder, one of Loren’s friends, came up to me at my locker. He started talking to me, but he seemed really nervous. Then Loren, Sam and Nick came by and they all started making fun of me, except for Sam.” I paused before I continued. “They said I was stupid and ugly. It made me so mad. But, then Sam stuck up for me. He told his friends that they should go to their next class, so they all left. He talked to me for a couple minutes and then went to his next class, leaving me speechless. The whole thing was just too confusing.” I finally finished.
“That is kind of weird,” Thomas said,
“I would just forget that the whole thing ever happened,” Oscar told me.
“I was planning on it,” I replied.
“They’re seniors right?” Thomas asked.
“Yeah,” I said. Thomas just shook his head.
We stopped talking for a while. I guess that no one had anything to say.
“When is dinner tonight, Katie?” Oscar asked me, breaking the silence.
“I think it is at 6:30pm, if you were listening to Mom this morning,” I said. Sometimes my brother’s annoyed the hell out of me. We kept walking towards the farmhouse we’ve lived in our whole lives.
Our house is big and white. It is located on the corner of Maple Street and Central Road. There are trees surrounding my house that we can barely see our neighbors. The porch is big too. It wraps all the way around the house and makes the house look even bigger.
We lived in one of the nicer neighborhoods, but most of the houses in the area are older too. Our house was old, but still nice. There are a lot of rich people that live near me, and most of them go to my school. It’s really scary on the other side of town. There are a lot of gangs there that I try to avoid. My family almost never goes over there.
My brothers and I walked into the giant kitchen when we got home. My mom, Elizabeth, was making dinner there. The kitchen was huge. All of the cabinets were the same wood as the floor. We had granite countertops too. My dad was always cleaning the appliances, since they were all stainless steel. That was the one thing my parents didn’t like about our kitchen, because the appliances made it harder to make our house spotless.
My mom spends most of her time in the kitchen cooking. When she isn’t in the kitchen she is in her small workroom. My mom is a semi-retired doctor, so she doesn’t work as much, but she still works on the bills, which keeps her very busy. She still goes to meetings and is sometimes called into a long shift at night, if the doctor’s office really needs her, but most of the time she is at home.
My siblings and I never talk to our mom about any problems we are having. We mostly rely on each other. We don’t want to stress my mom out too much, and she never really asks us either.
“What are we having for dinner?” I asked, setting my backpack down by the stairs.
“Some home-made pizza. Is that okay with you?” My mom replied.
“Yeah, sounds good,” I said. “William and Margaret won’t be home for another half an hour.”
“Okay, well dinner should be done in about an hour, so they’ll be here in time,” Mom said. “Why don’t you guys go and work on your homework until they get here.” My brothers and I went upstairs and to our separate rooms.
I was so glad that we didn’t move last year when my dad was offered a new job. I would have had to share a room with my older sister, Margaret.
I don’t mind Margaret. She is really nice and is always there for me. It’s just that sometimes she can be a little annoying. She likes to whine to everyone about her problems, hoping that whining will help her with her issues. She can also be a little drama queen, which makes everyone want to mess with her. The boys always play little jokes on her every now and then. Margaret gets so mad and stomps around the house sulking. I even think that it’s funny.
Sometimes I am jealous of Margaret, though. Yeah, we are both pretty popular, but she has a lot more friends than I do. She is always hanging out with her friends, but I don’t have anyone close enough to do that with. Whenever I have any problems, I always go to her. She always knows what to do, and sometimes she has been in the same situation.
Margaret is really smart too. We always work on homework together. She acts like she is dumb, but deep down she is smarter than most girls in her class. Being smart, and pretty, makes it easy for her to get boyfriends too. Margaret always has guys following her around. She has gone out with a lot of boys, but she never stays with them too long.
When I got to my room, I began working on my homework and finally finished just as someone knocked on my door.
“Come in,” I said.
“Hey,” William said. “What are you doing?”
“Umm, I just finished my homework. Do you need something?” Will, doesn’t usually come in my room to see what I was doing. There must be something wrong.
“No, I was just checking in. What’s for dinner?”
I gave him a questioning look. “Mom’s home-made pizza. How were your classes today?” I was so confused.
“Fine I guess. One of my professors threw a research paper at us, out of the blue and it is due in two days. I’m going to be up late working on it, and I’m already behind on sleep.”
“I bet you’re tired. Do you have a lot of other homework also?” I asked Will. I was still trying to figure out the real reason behind why he was in my room.
“Yeah, so I won’t be able to go to bed until way late.”
“Have fun with that.”
“Dinner is ready!” Mom yelled.
“We better get down there fast. Is Margaret home?” I asked.
“Yeah, I picked her up at your school, since I knew we were going to be heading home around the same time.” Will paused. “It was weird though. She told me originally that she was going to be waiting by the front doors, but when I got there, she was coming from the other side of town. It was like she wasn’t even at school finishing the test she was working on. It was weird.”
So that it why Will was acting to weird. “Weird is right,” I said, as we walked down the stairs to dinner.
“Maybe you can find something out from her?” Will asked and I nodded my head in agreement as we walked into the kitchen.
Will was pretty good looking if you ask me. He has dark brown hair that hung loosely on his head. He had brown eyes like most of my family. His height helped him in all the sports he plays in. He is basically a star in every one too, especially when he was in high school. He also has almost every girl. It seems that everyone wants to go out with him. I don’t blame them, I guess. William has good looks, a funny personality, and he is smart. What else does a girl need?
William and I were pretty close. He sometimes beats up on me, along with my other two brothers, but most of the time it is just for fun. My family gets along pretty well and we have fun, most of the time. I like my family, and I know that Will does too. He always protects my family. He is almost like a second dad, and when my dad is out of town, he helps out so much. I was so happy when he decided to attend Central College after he graduated. Central was only ten minutes away from our house, so Will still lives at home with us, which meant he was always around whenever we needed help.
We were all sitting down at the table. The pizza smelt so good. I could see the steam rising from the pizza. I think that my mouth was watering before I even began eating it. Margaret wasn’t talking at all, which was not normal. Usually she is talking about all the problems she dealt with during the day, but right now, she wasn’t.
I looked at William and I sensed that he was noticing it too and I guess Oscar noticed my concern. Oscar tapped my arm and gave me a questioning look. I tilted my head toward Margaret and Oscar saw what I was talking about.
“So, how was your day Margaret?” Oscar asked.
“Fine,” Margaret grumbled. Margaret was barely touching her food. She was just staring at it. She loves my mom’s pizza. She would be on her third piece by now, if she was acting normal.
I looked back at William; he didn’t know what to say.
The rest of dinner went by with very little talk. Mom asked all of us about how our days were. That was all we talked about. It was one of the weirdest dinners my family has ever had. My dad was usually good for staring a conversation, but since he was gone, our dinner was silent.
My mom was the first to finish eating. She put her dishes away and left the room without saying anything else, leaving us alone.
When the kids in my family are alone, we always end up talking a lot. Usually, Margaret starts up a story, but she had nothing to say.
“So, what is everyone doing this weekend?” I asked my siblings.
“I am hanging with some friends from school, I think,” Oscar said. “Thomas, do you wanna come?”
“Sure!” Thomas said. “Kate, do you wanna come too?”
“I dunno, maybe. I will have to see what else is going on.” I replied.
“I think that I have a date with one of my guy friends,” Margaret spoke up.
“Wait, you don’t have a boyfriend right now?” Oscar asked sarcastically.
“Don’t get too excited,” Margaret said, laughing. “He might be my boyfriend by the end of the week.”
“I don’t know what I am doing,” Will said. “I guess I might hang out with some of my friends.”
“Since when do you have friends?” I asked. Sometimes Oscar and I like to rile our older siblings.
“Very funny, Kate. Have you been hanging around Oscar too much? I think his badass attitude is starting to wear off on you!” Will said.
We all laughed. We had finished eating by now, and we all got up from the table to put the dishes away. Since, my dad was in Rome, Italy until the end of this week because of his work, it is the kids’ job to do the dishes.
My dad is always gone. He seems to travel a lot for his job. He is a salesman, and brings in a decent amount of money. He never really has anything to say about his job. Sometimes he comes home with bruises and scratches, but he tells us that they are because he is clumsy. My dad and his job are just on big question mark. I have never really understood it.
As soon as the dishes were clean, we all left the kitchen. I was glad that we all go to talk like that. It made me happy to see Margaret smile, especially since she must have had a bad day at school.
I had just sat down on my bed with someone knocked on my door.
“Come in,” I said.
“Hey, can I talk to you?” Margaret mumbled, stepping into my room.
“Yeah, what’s wrong?” I asked with concern.
“I had a horrible day.”
Margaret was a very pretty blond. No one knows where the blonde came from, but I think Margaret like it. Her short hair was stick straight, same as mine. She has brown eyes, same as everyone else. She was the girl version of William. All the guys wanted her. By the time I find out she has a boyfriend, she has already moved onto some other guy. Margaret is very responsible too. So, my parents trust her when she leaves the house to hang out with her boyfriends.
“I noticed that you weren’t talking as much as usual,” I prompted.
“Yeah, well Loren and his friends asked me to go out with them.”
“Margaret, they are trouble. That’s all I know.” I didn’t want to tell Margaret about my encounter with the same boys today.
“Yeah, and they all wanted me to come over to Loren’s house.”
“And did you go?”
“Yeah. Right after school. They practically dragged me there. I told them that I didn’t want to go, but I guess they overrule me.”
“But I thought that you were finishing a math test. You need to stay away from them Margaret. You know what they are known for.”
“I used my math test as an excuse, so don’t tell anyone any of this.”
“I won’t! Just tell me what happened, please.”
“They brought me to Loren’s house first. That was the scariest part. He lives on the other side of town. You know how it is over there. They walked me to his house, and all his neighbors were staring at me. It was ridiculous.” Margaret sat down at my desk chair and stared off into space before continuing. “When we got into his house, they tied me to a chair that was in his room. His parents weren’t home, so Loren and his friends could do whatever they wanted and no one was there to help me or stop them. They wanted me to drink and smoke with them. I told them no, and they just laughed at me. Nick was the one that had the drugs. Loren held me down and made me open my mouth.”
“So what happened? Did you do it?” I couldn’t believe this. Margaret never got into this much trouble with guys. Margaret is known for not smoking, doing drugs, or having sex. All the guys wanted to change that, especially Loren and his friends.
“I didn’t do anything. I kicked Nick when he got close enough and I started screaming really loud. All the boys got nervous after that. I think that they were scared that someone was going to hear me. Then I told them I had to leave and they got really mad at me and told me to be careful around school,” Margaret pause. “They also told me that I have to watch my back and not to go anywhere alone. They threatened me!” She was almost in tears. “After that, they let me go. Sam drove me back to school, but I was shaking the whole time. I was so scared. Sam said something to me, but I don’t remember what he said. I was too scared to pay attention to what anyone was saying to me.”
“So, what do you think we should do?” I asked.
“I don’t know! I thought maybe you could help me.”
“Yeah, it’ll be okay.” I think that I was starting to get a little bit more freaked out that she was. How am I not supposed to tell anyone? I had to tell William at least. He was the oldest in the family. He had to know what to do. “Listen, we need to tell someone. Can I please tell William? He will know how to handle these boys.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to be there. And you have to make sure he doesn’t tell Mom. He will obviously know the boys too.”
“Oh right, so it was Sam Knight, Nate Hoder, Loren Dorn and Nick Sayner. Right?” I verified.
“Yes,” Margaret agreed.
“Okay, I will ask and see what he has to say. Are they in any of your classes?”
“Yeah, they are in my homeroom and our teacher doesn’t care what we do. I am so screwed.” Margaret put her hands over her face. I could tell that she was stressed out.
“It’s okay Margaret,” I said, putting my hands on her back. “I would stay as close to your friends as possible or go to the bathroom a lot. What hour is your homeroom?”
“5th hour.”
“Okay, mine is during that same hour, so maybe we can figure something out. Why don’t you go finish your homework and I will talk about this ‘issue’ with William?”
Okay so this conversation was kind of weird, since my sister was a senior in high school and I was just a junior. Aren’t I supposed to be going to her with my problems? Oh well, I love it when Margaret comes to me because it makes me feel like I can trust her too.
She left my room without saying anything else and I was left alone. I sat in my room and thought all about this issue and how to handle it. William, being a freshman in college, had never had any issues in high school because he was the ‘good boy’. I guess that Margaret was good too, but she just doesn’t know how to handle these kinds of things. Will has always had responsible friends that never smoked or drank.
In Evansville, Indiana, my hometown, there are many schools, but there is one main school system that is all on the same campus; the Central Campus. There is the Central Elementary school and then right next to it is the Central Middle School. Then, across the street from those schools is Central High School, where I am attending. There was barely any trouble at the high school either. That’s why I was so surprised by what Margaret told me.
I finally left my room and started down the hallway to William’s room. I was worried about how he would handle it.