The Ugly Duckling

Chapter 1 – The Firecracker.

Ryland POV

I roll my eyes as I listen to my mother and watch her pace around the living room. I roll my eyes again and pull my phone out of my ass pocket.

Yes, ass pocket.

“…you’re not allowed to cause trouble and you will behave-“

“Uh-huh,” I nod, not really paying attention to her words while I stare at my phone’s screen.

“Ryland.”

“Uh-huh,” I nod my head while type a text to Raphael.

“Ryland.”

“Uh-huh…” I hit “send” and grin.

“Ryland!”

The grin drops from my face along with the phone and I look. I gulp when I see the glare on mom’s face and laugh nervously.

She’s going to flick my forehead.

I close my eyes and soon enough pain spreads across my forehead.

“Ow! Mom!” I rub the back of my hand furiously across my forehead, trying to calm the pain.

“Go to school.” She says sternly.

A pout forms on my face, something I’ve always done as a child, and I get up. I pick up my phone from the floor and start to walk away.

“Wait.” She says. I stop and turn to look at her. She points to a bag on the dining table, “I made you lunch. Take it with you.”

I groan. “Mom, that’s so embarrassing. I’m twenty years old.”

“You’ll always be my baby. Now stop whining and grab your lunch.”

“You can’t say those things out loud, mom.” I take the bag from the table.

Mom rolls her eyes. “Stop acting dramatic. Now go before I kiss your forehead.”

I glare and turn away.

I exit the house and bump into someone. A smile forms on my face when I look up.

“Morning, dad.”

“Morning, champ.” Dad flashes me a grin and pats my back. “Are you ready for your first day?”

I laugh. “You make it sound like it’s my first day of high school. I’m just going back to my old school as a coach, dad.”

Dad sighs and looks at me sadly. “Don’t remind me; you’re growing up.”

I roll my eyes. I look back to the entrance of the house and back to dad; a strict mother and an overemotional father. It’s a package deal.

I shake my head. “It’s ok, dad. We’ll be your kids forever.” I sympathetically pat his back in return.

I walk away before dad could reply and run towards the drive way. I grin at Aiden when I spot him standing next to the red Lamborghini. He scowls back opens the door to the car and gets in. I quicken my pace and get in the car.

“What’s with the face, twin?”

He shoots me a glare. “You had to say that to dad. You know how strict he is.” He says and starts to drive.

I laugh as we exit the drive way. “He just doesn’t want to lose us and given the way you act, I don’t blame him.”

He glares and punches my left arm hard while tries to focus on the road at the same time. “He’s too overprotective just because I’m gay. He acts like I’m a girl and it pisses me the fuck off and you damn well know it.”

“Piece of shit!” I rub my left arm with my right hand before I fist my hand and punch his right arm. “I think that you’re being overdramatic. I know that he crosses the line sometimes but in the end he just loves you.”

“’Sometimes’”, he snorts. “Try all the times.” He punches me again.

“You piece of shit. Stop it!” I punch him I return.

“Mom would kill us if she ever heard us swearing like this.” He says.

I nod my head. “Which is why we don’t swear in front of her.” I smirk and look at Aiden.

He narrows his eyes. “What?” he asks cautiously.

I pull my right hand back and punch him hard.

“Fuck!” he hits the breaks and the car stops and we both jerk forward. “It was my turn!”

I laugh out loud. My eyes widen when he takes off his seat belt. “You piece of shit!” I let out an unmanly scream and hold my bag in front of my face as a shield. “It’s not going to work!” Aiden snatches my bag and throws it to the side. Then he punches my arm,

Once,

Twice,

Thrice,

“Mercy!” I scream I defeat.

He smirks and then stops. He returns to his seat and puts on his seat belt. The car starts to move again and I glare at my twin.

“Asshole.”

“Love you too.”

I bite my tongue from saying anything and glare at the road instead.

***

Aiden parks the car in the school’s parking lot and looks at me.

“Out you go.”

“What time is your class?” I spot Raphael and Azalea making their way towards us.

“It’s at 1pm.”

“You have time, its only 9am right now. Spend time with us.”

“’Us?’” Aiden asks.

I grin and nod towards the sibling walking towards us and Aiden’s face lights up. We quickly get out of the car and walk towards them. We put our arms around each other as we crash. Then we laugh out loud.

“I was shocked to hear that you’re coming back to Westwinds.” Raphael admits.

“Not that we’re complaining.” Azalea says hurriedly.

I grin at him. For all of you who don’t know, Raphael is Uncle Oscar’s oldest son and Azalea is his oldest daughter. Raphael is two years younger than us and older than Azalea by a year, whereas Azalea is three years younger than us. Our parents try not to hide things from us and in return we tell everything to our parents. To say that we were shocked to find out about dad’s brain tumour, memory loss and his unawareness about our existing for the first couple of years is an understatement, we were shocked. But looking at the way mom and dad looked at each other; we knew that they really love one another. Even though the reasoning behind any of their actions didn’t make any sense to me or Aiden, we didn’t care; we’re together now.

Uncle Oscar also knew about Raphael and Azalea but he was in denial. At first he refused to consider that the kids might be his; not that I blame him; they’re both from different mothers. Mom said that she wasn’t surprised though. It’s not a secret that Uncle Oscar was a “manwhore” back in the day. Watching dad interact with Aiden and I made him envious he says; he wanted to experience the same joy as dad felt. And that brings us to how we all are today. Uncle Oscar got married to someone other than the mothers of Raphael and Azalea but Aunt Amelia, his wife, loves them as her own.

“I know. I didn’t think that I would be back either. At least I’m only back as a coach.”

Raphael nods. “True.”

“Should we get going?” Aiden asks.

We all nod and head toward the school building. People stare at us as we make our way towards the school entrance. I see familiar faces in the crowd and smile. We head towards the office when we enter the school. While there, Aiden and I talk to the principle while Raphael and Azalea hang back and chat with each other. After we finish talking to the principle, Aiden and I walk Raphael and Azalea to their classes.

We quietly roam the hallways of Westwinds high while thinking of all the things that we did back in high school.

“Hey,”

Aiden looks at me. “What?”

“Don’t you find it weird?” I ask.

He gives me a confused look. “Find what weird?”

“That mom and dad probably roamed the same hallways that we’re roaming right now when they were teenagers.”

He gives me a look that reads ‘you’re weird’. “I actually think that it’s kind of cool. It kind of makes me feel closer to them, if that makes any sense to you.”

I nod my head. “It does.” And it did. Roaming these hallways, we see the same things that mom and dad saw back it in the day. Aiden’s right: it is kind of cool but it is a bit weird at the same time.

“Say, want to go visit coach Hemmings?”

I grin. “Hell yeah!”

We both grin at each other and race to the Phys-Ed office. Coach Hemmings isn’t in his office when he gets there.

“He probably has a class. Let’s head to the gym.”

I nod my head and we start to walk towards the gymnasium. I smile when I hear the coach yelling instructions. He doesn’t notice us when we enter the gymnasium so we head towards him. He looks at us as we get close and a big grin forms on his lips.

“Delsavios!” he yells

“Hemmings!” Aiden and I say at the same time.

Aiden groans. “Quit calling us ‘Delsavios’”

Hemmings grins. “It’s a shortcut.”

I look at the students playing dodge-ball. “Dodge-ball, huh?”

Coach shrugs. “It’s a lazy day.”

“Lazy for you while the poor kids play dodge-ball.”

“They signed up for this!”

“Whatever. I’m off.” I watch Aiden walk towards the bleachers to a girl dressed in blue jeans and a black hoodie.

I turn back to the coach. “So when are the basketball tryouts?” I ask him.

“We announced a meeting for students that want to join the basketball team a couple of days ago. The meeting is today after school. The tryouts will be tomorrow and day after tomorrow after school.”

“Alright. So what exactly is the meeting about?”

“Just the basics: commitment to the team, rules and regulation and sending forms home. The meeting will take place in the gym.”

I nod. “Good to know. I’m going to go sit.”

With that I turn around and walk to the bleachers where Aiden is sitting. He looks up as I walk towards him.

“Who are you talking to?” I ask when I reach him.

I look at the girl. She had black pulled into a messy bun with her blue eyes covered with big glasses. She is wearing a black hoodie a couple of sizes too big with blue jeans.

“My eyes are up here!” she snaps.

My eyes snap to hers. “Woah.” I hold up my hands defensively. “I wasn’t checking you out . I was just simply studying you.”

“You don’t need to.” She snaps again. Aiden laughs out loud and I glare at him. What is her problem? “I definitely like you better, Aiden.” She says.

She jumps up when the bell rings. “Bye, Aiden.” She says and walks down the bleachers while I stare at her wide eyed.

“She’s something, huh?”

I nod my head. She’s something alright.

***

After school, I throw my bag on the bench and take a seat. I wait for the coach and the rest of the people to show up. Coach takes a seat beside me when he arrives. We patiently wait for enough people to arrive so that we can begin the meeting.

Once there are enough people, the coach gets up and I follow behind. “If every one of you are here to gather information about the junior and senior basketball teams then you’re in the right place. If any of you are here for different reasons, then I apologize, you’re at the wrong place and I will ask you to leave.”

We wait to see if anyone gets up. When no one makes the move, coach continues to talk. “Today’s meeting is just about the basics of signing up for the basketball team. But first I’d like to introduce you to Ryland,” he gestures to me, “he will be coaching the senior girls and boys basketball team his season. I’m sure some of you already know him and for those who don’t, just say hello.” Coach turns to me. “You want to take the rest from here?”

I nod my head and step forward.” Hello everyone. My name is Ryland Delsavio or coach Delsavio for you. Just kidding. Many of you may already know me for those of you who don’t, id love to get to know you guys better. As coach Hemmings stated: I will be coaching the senior girls and boys basketball team this season.” I walk back to the bench and pick up a pile of paper, “Now I’m going pass around forms and if you are under the age of 18 you need to get them signed by your parents and if you’re over 18 then sign them yourselves. These forms state things like uniform fees and rules of the team. You are expected, as a team member, to attend every meeting and practice, it is a must.” I hand out the papers to everyone.

“Read them over right now and ask questions if you have any.” We wait for the students to read through the papers. “Does anyone have any questions?” I ask. When people shake their heads, I continue, “team tryouts will take place tomorrow and day after tomorrow after school. Don’t forget to bring appropriate clothing and footwear.”

“Alright, folks. Meeting dismissed!”

“That went well.” I say as the students begin to exit the gym.

Coach smiles and nods. “Yes, it did.”

I pick up my bag from the bench. “I should get going to. Aiden is probably waiting to me outside.”

“Alright. Ill see you tomorrow, Delsavio.”

I nod my head and head towards the exit of the gym. I quicken my pace once I enter the hallway. I glance at my phone. 5:10pm. Shit! Aiden is going to kick my ass for being late. I walk faster. I quickly turn left and find myself on the floor.

“What the…” I look up to see the girl from earlier on. She was, too , on the floor. I quickly get up and brush myself. I pick up her big glasses when I spot them on the floor.

“My glasses…” she whispers.

“I have your glasses. Here, give me your hand.” I hold out my hand close enough to her face so that she can see it. She grabs onto my hand and I pull her up. I accidentally pulls her with more force than intended and she crashes into me.

“Shit, I’m sorry.”

She blinks at me and fuck me if I didn’t get lost in her eyes. Next, I look at her lips. They’re so full.

She’s a firecracker.

“Glasses.” She whispers again and I simply blink like an idiot.

“Huh?”

“Glasses.” She says louder this time.

“Oh, right. Glasses.”

Get a grip Ryland!

I give her the glasses and she puts them on. She looks at my face again and her eyes widen.

“You!” she says.

“Me!” I repeat in the same tone like a possessed idiot.

Then, I find myself on the floor again.

“Fuck! What the fuck is wrong with you?! What was that for?” I put my hand over my precious baby maker while groaning in agony.

“Don’t touch me!” She snaps.

I close my eyes and take deep breaths and pray to god that she leaves before I do something I will regret later on.

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I open my eyes and pull myself up . My spine stiffens when I hear laughter from the right side. I straighten my clothes and stand straight even thought my jewels protested otherwise. A group come around the corner. I take in some more deep breaths and plant a fake smile onto my face.

“Hello, coach Delsavio.” The girls say as they walk by and then giggle.

“Hello, ladies.”

They giggle more and continue to walk. I try to walk as normal as possible without making myself look like a penguin. I somehow make it to the exit while breathing heavily at the same time. Never ever has a girl kneed where the sun don’t shine.

I spot Aiden right away and his eyes snap to mine and a concerned look washes over his face and he quickly makes his way towards. I give up on walking normally and shift into walking like a penguin.

“Ryland!”

“Aiden!”

He puts his arm around my shoulder when he reaches me. “What happened? Who do it need to need to beat up.”

I shake my head, too embarrassed to say.

“Tell me.” He asks gently.

Again, I shake my head.

“Tell me!” he demands.

I glare at him. “The fucking firecracker.”

“The who?” he asks with confusion in his voice.

I sigh. “Just take me to the damn hospital, I think she broke my dick.” Aiden gives me a horrified look. “Shit happens.” I say simply.

Fucking firecracker.