Trouble by Me =/ (read ebook pdf txt) 📕

~Matt~

Hi. I'm Matt. Or in other words, Matthew Frey. I'm 18 years old, and a senior at Quail Lake High School. I live with my dad, step-mom Tiffany, step-brother Wayne, half sister Jade, and sister Skylar. Wayne is about my age, about three years older, and we don't  get along at ALL, for some  reasons, but we'll  get to that later. I dont have a good relationship with Tiffany either. She's a real bitch most of the time, but we have no time to explain right now! Jade, Sky, and I are all pretty close, Jade is just still close with her mom and brother, where as Sky and I stick to our dad and each other. Anyway, Skylar, well she's my world. She the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Shes 15 so three years younger than me, but that just makes her my baby sister all the time.

"Sky! Are you ready?" I call up the stairs to my sister. "Jade and I are waiting."

"Coming!" I hear and a few seconds later, she emerges from the hallways and down the stairs. Her long, honey brown hair flows down covering her shoulders, and complimenting her hazel eyes. Shes wearing a dark green sweater which surprisingly goes well with it, and black leggings. She can pull anything off though. 

"Looking good big sis." Jade winks and I gasp at her next words. "No wonder you have boys lining up at your door." She says it jokingly but as the big brother I am... well...

"Excuse me? No. I will not see any boys in this house until your 35." I grab my car keys and open my door.

"That is so not fair!" Jade whines dramatically.

"Oh hush child." Sky and I say  in unison. We have a stare-down for a few moments, and then all three  of us burst out laughing. "You're only 12, you know. Calm down." Sky points out and I huff in agreement. Jade sighs very over dramatically, sinking back in her seat.

"Okay, we're here. Have a good day." I tell her, stopping  in front of her junior high. "Eh-hem?" I call out when she ignores me.

"Have a good day..." She rolls her eyes and keeps walking.

"Matt?" 

"Hmm?" I flip my gaze to my passenger and see a small, sad smile on her face. 

"Will you tell me the story about mom again?" I let out an also small and sad smile, with a matching quiet chuckle.

"Sure." I grab her left hand with my right, even though I'm technically supposed to have both hands on the wheel at all times. The law is just the law, right? No biggie. (Who even  says 'biggie' anymore?) "I was really little- four to be exact. Mom and dad had gone out that night, and got me a babysitter. Now, this babysitter was evil. He..." I pause for dramatic effect. "Wouldnt give me chocolate ice cream!"

"No!" She gasps, going along with my antics.

"Yes. So, I did the logical thing. I refused to go to bed. Just to get back at him." I nod to myself. "I was running around, butt-naked, and wouldnt let him put any clothes on. Dad and mom came back during that, and I got so scared, I rolled down the stairs, and landed head first on the hardwood. Although I was only about 5 steps from the bottom, mom still came running over, cutting dad off, and, she didn't think I saw, but she flicked him off when he tried saying she had cut him off. He immediately shut up and came over to my side. I was a crying mess, but mom picked me up and kissed my head, and poof, it was all better." I smile at the story.

"Where was I?" She asks for the first time, momentarily shocking me. "I had to be... one right?"

 "Yeah. You were with Grandma Patricia." 

"Who's that?" 

"That's mom's mom. After... all that, she wanted nothing to do with us. She blamed us." I sigh. 

"Oh... it wasn't your fault you know." I take a deep breathe and swallow back the tears that have sprung to my eyes.

"Yeah... Yeah I know. Anyways, um, have a good day." I tell her putting my car in park after pulling into a parking spot.

"Yeah, you too." She smiles, her usual joyous self.

"Always." I plaster on a smile as she walks backwoards to her waiting group of friends, waving at me. "Always..." I mutter after shes turned around.

 ~Matt~

I walk in my class, ignoring all the whispers, glares, and laughs. I sit down, pulling my hood over my head.

"No hoods in class fag!" Someone from behind snickers, causing the whole class to laugh. I roll my eyes and keep it on. The teacher walks in a few minutes later and the rest of the morning is uneventful. After the morning classes, at lunch I close my locker and start in the direction of the library, but I'm stopped.

"Hey, Matt." The person claps me on the back. "Hows it going? You know what,  dont answer that. I don't want to know. I dont really care. I just need you to do something for me. Go in there, and stay quiet." One of the basketball guys smiles- super fakely, but a smile non the less- and before I can process any of it, I'm shoved into one of the janitors closets. I dont react, as this is an almost everyday occuranse.

Yes, I'm 'that guy.' The one everyone makes fun of. Pushes around. I fought back at one point and almost ended up in the hospital for it. That was fun explaining to my dad and sisters. Although Skylar and I go to the same school, she has no idea about this. I plan in keeping it that way. After my best friend and I both had to move away from each other, I never made any new friends. Once I got to this traitorous town, I was just that guy. 

 A few hours later, the lock jingles and the door opens. The familiar face comes to view and she sighs upon seeing me. "Really Matt? This is the fourth time this week. You need to tell your family." She shakes her head in disapproval.

"Sorry Marge... You know I can't do that though. Things are tough right now." I smile sadly at her. She wont tell my family against my wishes, but this has been happening so long, that not only are we on a first name basis, it's gotten to nicknames. Shes like a grandmother to me.

"They're always tough." She mutters. "You should get going. Your sister  will be out of classes soon."

"Thank you." I squeeze her shoulder lightly and start jogging down the hallway. I get to my car and sigh. Going through this for six years takes its toll on you. Luckily, I only have to go through is until June when I graduate, so six more months. 

"Hey Matty." Sky laughs as she slides into the car. I smile and roll my eyes at her. You gotta fake it to make it. 

"What happened  to not calling me that?" 

"I never agreed to that. You made that rule." She points out as I pull out of the parking lot to get get Jade.

"And? I'm older, so you agreed without agreeing to it." I counter, making zero sense. She rolls her eyes and laughs and then it goes silent as we approach being five minutes from Jade's school. "What's up pumpkin?" I ask using the nickname I've had for her since she was six and I was nine. I'm the only one who calls her that though.

"Nothing. It's nothing." She replies too quickly for my liking 

 "Sky." I drawl out, in a harsher tone than before.

She squirms under as much of my gaze as I can give her, seen as I'm driving. "Fine." She finally cracks. "Theres... this guy. And before you say anything, I know. No guys. But this one... he's different. He's smart, and charming, and handsome. He's like the prince charming of real life. And I planned on telling him I liked him today, but some of the popular girls started saying stuff like I'm never going to get him and he'll do so much better than me... just stuff like that. I guess it's getting to my head." Her smile dims as she goes on with her story, her eyes gleaming while talking about this mystery guy, and darkening with sadness as she continues. 

"...What's his name?" I ask, sighing.

"Ryan." Her smile returns.

"Goldman?" Hes one of the most popular freshmen there is. Everyone knows him.

"Yeah."

"Well, he'd be a fool to pass you up." I tell her. I know what having a crush is like, so I tried to make her feel better. She smiles at me and starts humming a soft tune as we pull up to a waiting Jade. 

"Hey J-Bear." Sky greets in a sing-song kind of voice.

"Hey Sky High. Hi Matt Attack." She smiles at us so I smile back through the rear view mirror.

"Hi J-Bird. I just realized... our family must like animals. J-Bear, J-bird, dad is 'falcon' around his friends." Sky hums in agreement and Jade nods and shrugs. "How was school?" I ask the seventh grader sitting in my back seat.

"Fine. There was a new guy. Hes my best friend now." I states, nonchalantly.

"Wow. First day and hes your best friend?" I ask cautiously.

"Shut up Matt! You know what it's like, now dont you?!" She looks me in the eye through the mirror and I gulp. She gets mad really easily and let's things slip when she doesn't mean to. She once said she hated me and that I should go kill myself.

"Hey... Hey... Calm down Jade. I was just going to say how great it was that you made such a good friend on his first day. And it must have been hard starting two months into school, so its nice that you helped him." I lie but I've gotten pretty good at that over the years so, neither of them notice. She smiles again and the rest of the drive is quiet.

Tweens. I swear.

 ~Matt~

"Dad! We're home." I call when we enter but get no response. "Whatever. I'm gonna go do my homework." Aka all the work I didn't get to do while I was locked in a closet. I tell to no one in specific since they're already