6 Chapter Five - Bonds and Misunderstandings
A loud thud coming from the hallway woke me up. It's unusual for anyone in my family to be awake this early.
I turned on my lamp and hissed as soon as the lights hit my eyes. It took a few minutes for my eyes to finally adjust to the light.
I grabbed my phone to look at the time.
4:21 am
I frowned and slowly got up from my bed, not knowing what's outside my room if it's my parents, or a hungry Lexie who stayed up late or worse, an intruder.
As soon as I opened my door I saw my Dad, holding a suitcase, walking back to their room. "Dad?" I called out to him, to let him know I'm awake.
He turned around and gave me a quick smile. "Hey, Elle. Did I wake you up?" I can't help but yawn while I'm nodding at him. "Oh, Elle. I'm sorry."
"It's fine, Dad." I looked at him and frowned at the suitcase. "You're going back to work? But you just got back."
"No, No… It's umm…" Dad walked to me and sighed. "Dad, what's happening?" I looked at him, trying to prepare myself for the worst.
"Your Aunt Diane called. Something happened and they need our help. So I and your mom are going to Florida. We're supposed to tell you and your sister later at breakfast but we got into an early flight." Dad said. I can see the worry on his face.
"Can you tell me what happened? Because I would like some information about what's happening. Is it bad?" I furrowed my eyebrows at my dad.
Dad sighed. "I can't tell you yet. Are you and your sister going to be fine without me and your mom for a few days?" He looked at me, probably having second thoughts of leaving me and my sister.
I chuckled and I placed my hands on my Dad's shoulder, trying to convince him that I and Lexie would be fine. "Dad, we're going to be fine. You don't have to worry about us. Just fix whatever the problem is." I smiled at my dad. "We'll be okay."
Dad ruffled my hair and sighed. "Okay, we'll call you to check on you and your sister three times a day. Go back to sleep. It's too early and you have school later."
I nodded and hugged my Dad. "Take care and I know everything's going to be okay, not now but soon."
"I hope so." Dad smiled at me. I yawned and my dad chuckled. "Okay go back to sleep now." Dad pushed me to my room. I nodded and shut my door, and slowly drifted to sleep.
-----
"Ugh!Ouch..." I groaned as my half-awake body hit the ground. I pulled myself up to take a look at my phone to check the time.
7:15 am
"Oh, shit! Oh, shit! I'm gonna be late!" I hurriedly ran to Lexie's room to wake her up. I frantically knocked on her door. "Alexandra Ann! Wake up! We're gonna be late! Lexie, open the damn doo-"
The door swung open, revealing Lexie, who's already dressed for school. "Good, you're finally awake." Lexie smiled at me, my eyes widened at her as my half-awake brain was still trying to process what I'm seeing. "Why didn't you wake me up?" I glared at her and she plastered a smile on her face. "You're sleeping so peacefully, Brielle." She rolled her eyes at me. "I already ate breakfast, I made french toast and of course, I saved some for you and also, I made you your coffee. Now, go get dressed, or do you want us to be late?" Lexie rambled.
I took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright, I'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes. Oh, and can you pack the french toast you made? I'm going to eat it in the car." Lexie looked at me. I'm not expecting her not to do it because she's Lexie, she never did everything I told her to. "Okay." She answered, which caught me off guard.
Something is definitely off.
I walked to my room but watched my sister carefully as she walked down the stairs. I have to find out what's wrong.
I got ready for school, before I went downstairs I quickly checked my bag to see if I'm forgetting something. After making sure that everything I need is in my bag, I went downstairs to my sister who's watching the news.
She never watched the news.
I poured the coffee into my tumbler before grabbing the paper bag with the french toast. I walked towards Lexie and pats her shoulder. "Let's go. Get in the car."
I've been driving for 5 minutes and Lexie's just looking out the window. Lexie's that type of girl that never gets tired of talking. When you're on a car ride with her, she's not this quiet. She's the kind of girl that will talk your ears off within 3 minutes. But she's not herself today and I'm done with it.
"Okay, what's with you? What happened to my talkative and judgemental sister?" I glanced at Lexie but continued driving. "I'm fine." She rolled her eyes at me. "I know you're not fine. Don't you dare lie to me, Alexandra." I smirked. She hates it when I call her by her full name.
Lexie groaned and looked at me. "He broke up with me, alright!" Lexie snapped. "Oh..." I glanced softly at her. I can hear her soft cries. "Hey, it's okay. He's just a boy. You'll find someone new, someone, much better than him." I sighed and I reached for her hand. "Why didn't you tell me right away? You know you can talk to me about anything."
Lexie sniffled. "I know… But, Brielle, I still love him." Lexie looked at me.
I shook my head and parked the car at the side of the road. I turned to my crying sister. "Look, Lexie, you're still young. He's not the only boy left on earth. There's a lot of them, probably much better than him. People come and people go. But the right one will stay with you no matter what. Maybe he's stuck in traffic somewhere but you'll eventually find your way to each other. Look at me, I'm already twenty-two but still single. It's worth it to wait for the right person, and also heartbreaks are meant to teach us something. I know it hurts because it takes time to heal a broken heart. Maybe, it's time for you to learn self-love, look at you, you look like a mess." I chuckled, trying to cheer her up a little bit.
Lexie glared at me. "I don't look like a mess. YOU look like a mess." She snorts, wiping her tears away.
"Thank god, my sister is back!" I joked. "Come here." I pulled her in a hug and rubbed her back. "You'll be okay, he doesn't deserve you." These kinds of moments between me and Lexie are rare. We may argue a lot sometimes but she's still my baby sister and I will always be there for her, no matter what.
"How about I set a sister's day tomorrow. I'll take you out. Everywhere you want. More like a Yes Day for you. What do you think?" I looked at her and smiled.
Lexie's whole face lit up as she nodded at me, enough to shake her brain. I'll probably regret this tomorrow but I'll do anything to make my sister happy.
"Okay, sister's day tomorrow it is."
-----
I dropped Lexie off at her school, good thing she's not late but I am. Once I reached my University I parked my car in the nearest parking space to my building.
I'm on my way to my class when I saw Xyne walking down the hallway. I ran to him, ruffling his hair. "Hey, I changed my mind. I'm going to the party."
Xyne scrunched up his eyebrow. "Really? W-well that's good!" He stuttered. I chuckled at him and pats his shoulder before running again. "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow night?" I looked back at him and shouted.
"See you!" Xyne answered. I smiled at him before entering the classroom.
"Miss Montgomery, you're late. That's the first." My professor glared at me from the door. "Morning, Mr. Forbes." I greeted him as I walked towards my chair.
This is going to be a long day.
-----
A few presentations, quizzes, and farewells to my professors later. It's finally time to go home and rest. Seven days to go and I'm finally out of college.
Lexie called me earlier and told me that she'll be home late because she went to her best friend's house. I just told her to be home before our dad called. We're doomed if she still isn't home when our dad calls me.
-----
Tyler's POV
"Please, Uncle Ty. Can you teach me how to play baseball instead of this?" Elara pouts and gives him her iPad. "I don't want to play this anymore. Plus, you promised me that you'll teach me."
Elara has been begging me to teach her how to play baseball. This little girl is absolutely different for her age. A lot of kids these days prefer electronics than playing outside but Elara is the opposite.
I shook my head, smiling at her. She knows that I can't say no to her. "You're lucky, you're my favorite niece."
Elara quickly grabs her baseball bat and runs to the front porch. I went to grab my baseball ball and gloves and followed Elara outside.
I taught her how to aim and hit the ball correctly. I gently threw the ball in her direction so if ever the ball hits her it won't hurt her. She missed a couple of times before she finally got the hang of it.
"I hit it! I hit the ball, Uncle Ty!" Elara jumped up and down when she hit the ball. I couldn't help but smile at my niece and completely forgot about the ball flying towards me.
"Ugh!"
The ball hits me directly in the head.
"Headshot!" Elara exclaimed as I fell on my back, lying on the ground.
Elara quickly runs to me, probably to check if I'm still breathing. "Oh… You okay, Uncle Ty?"
I rubbed my forehead because it hurts like hell. El may be just a kid but her strength when she swings the bat is different. I nodded at her. "I'm okay…" I chuckled.
"You have a good aim."
I know that voice.
"Hi, Brielle!" Elara waved at Brielle who's standing beside her car. It looks like she just got home from school with all the books and stuff in her arms.
"I hit my uncle in the head." Elara ran to Brielle and proudly told her about what happened. "It's just because I was not paying attention to the ball." I cut in as I got up and walked towards them, stopping beside Elara, softly glaring at her.
"Well, let me say you did a good job at hitting your uncle but it's still not nice, intentionally and accidentally, and don't be so proud to tell people that you hit someone. Now, say sorry to your uncle." Brielle smiled at Elara and tilted her head towards me, motioning for Elara to say sorry to me.
"I'm sorry for hitting you in the head with the ball, Uncle Ty." Elara apologized. I chuckled and picked her up. "It's okay, El. I know you didn't mean it." I smiled at her and ruffled her hair.
I looked at Brielle.
And that's when the time slows down.
The way that her hazel brown eyes sparkle…
"Tyler?"
The way that her hair flows in the air…
"Tyler?"
The smile that creeps through her lips, her rosy cheeks, her everything.
"Tyler? Are you okay?"
"Huh? W-what?" I blinked to wake myself up before I embarrassed myself even more after Brielle caught me staring at her.
Brielle giggled. "I said, are you okay? You just stared at me. Do I have something on my face?"
"No, you're perfect."
"Creep." Brielle chuckled. "Oh, and can you please tell your mom that the cookies were delicious. My whole family loved it."
"My mom made a lot of cookies, there's more inside if you want some." That sounds so wrong. I sound like I'm trying to lure a kid inside my van to abduct. "I mean, you wanna come in?"
"Sure!" Brielle smiled at me. "Come on, I wanna show you Uncle's trophies!" Elara takes Brielle's hand, pulling her towards the front door.
I followed the two. "El, slow down. Let me hold those for you." Brielle hands me her books and binder as Elara pulls her inside.
