Robyn Hook
When we reached Emerson's home, it was about half past ten, so Emily should've been long asleep by now. I was surprised when she attacked me as soon as I entered through the door. Naturally, I returned the hug and hoisted her up in my arms.
"Birdie!"
"Hey, Emmie. Shouldn't you be asleep?" She giggled and shook her head.
"I'm not tired!"
I glanced over at Emerson who appeared mortally wounded. "You went straight to Robyn and completely ignored me? Your blood-brother?!" He feigned being aggrieved as he dramatically collapsed on the floor. "You hurt me, Emily." She continued to giggle and tucked her head under my chin and on top of my chest.
"Wow, aren't you growing, Emily? You're getting heavier. I remember when you were a little baby." I pinched her cheeks, but she swatted my hand away with a cute wrinkle on her nose. Like brother like sister.
Emerson got up and laughed. "She's growing alright, but maybe you're just weak. How are you a basketball player with those lanky arms?"
Emily crossed her arms. "I'm not heavy 'cause I am not fat. Maybe Emmie is right."
"Oh, the betrayal."
I set Emily down as Diana walked into the kitchen with some purple striped pajamas. "I was wondering what all the commotion was about. Emily, what did I say about your bedtime? You were supposed to be asleep hours ago! Go to your room young lady, before I take away your dolls." Her tone wasn't malicious whatsoever. Almost bored. She had her hand on her hip, impatiently waiting for Emily to leave.
Emily pouted and looked at her own feet. "I just wanted to see Robyn again."
"Oh please, he practically lives here, honey. Kiss them goodnight and and come over to mama so I can smell your breath."
Emily frowned but smiled when she turned to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "G'night, Birdie!" She then ran over and hugged Emerson, arms around his neck. "Goodnight, Emmie. You two have a nice sleep together." Ah, childhood innocence. An interesting choice of words. I didn't know how to interpret Diana's wink when I chanced a glance at her.
"Now open wide with that blabbering mouth of yours," Diana instructed. Making an 'ahh sound', Emily rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet as she blew her breath into her mom's face. "Good job, baby. Now let's get you tucked into bed." Before she fully exited with Emily, she mouthed 'goodnight', which I returned with a smile.
Emerson took off my leather jacket and hung it on the rack. He appeared drowsy. I don't blame him after the way that party went. "Speaking of bed, I'm ready to hit the hay."
"Me too."
~~~
Not long after Emerson fell asleep, his phone rang quietly with a notification as it sat on the nightstand. I frowned and reached out to silence his ringer when I read Andrej's name.
Andrej
Hello there. I missed you at the party.
I guessed you left early. I regret that I didn't receive the opportunity to say goodbye.
Nevertheless, I hope you have a good night. :)
What kind of highschooler texts with proper punctuation? At least he had the audacity to put an emoticon. Not long after I settled down next to Em, my own phone buzzed with a text message from my aunt. I sighed and begrudgingly read the leech's message. Just when I got comfortable.
Aunt Elsa ð¿
Get ur ass back home
The dishes are piled up and laundry needs to be done
Make sure to grab some of ur mothers medication in the morning
Answer me now, brat
Do you even love your mother
me
Do it yourself, leech
You pay your rent like once a blue moon
so why don't you be useful once in your life and get your sorry hoe ass off a d*ck and not be a waste of oxygen
I bet you wouldn't even care if my mother dropped dead
Aunt Elsa ð¿
YOURE SO GETTING IT WHEN YOU COME BACK HOME
COME HOME
N O W
me
Get me yourself
Im trying to sleep here
Now i suggest u calm yo tits before you summon a demon
My blood was boiling and I promptly blocked her number for the time being to finally get some very needed beauty sleep. One quick glance at my basketball group chat reminded me that I had game in two days and that we needed to come in even earlier for extra practice tomorrow.
I stared down at Em's peacefully sleeping figure, snoozing away with no problems. There's nothing in this world I would protect more than Em. I played with his hair, slowly combing my fingers through the familiarly soft tufts of dark brown hair. He had a unique heart-shaped birthmark under his right eye. Kissing that beloved part of his skin, I gazed fondly at him as he breathed evenly with the tiniest hint of a smile. Even in his sleep, he radiated sunshine energy.
I envied his ability to fall asleep easily. For as long as I could remember, insomnia has plagued me for many years. Somehow, for whatever reason, it's bearable when Emerson is around. Yeah, sounds cheesy, right? But it's true. I just wanted to stay here with Em in my arms for eternity without worrying about my problems. Alas, I had to face my them eventually. But not tonight. Not tonight.
~~~
No surprise, I woke up before he did. Our limbs were entangled with my arm under my torso, blood circulation cut off. My arm was asleep so I aggressively shook it to get my blood pumping. Our legs were intertwined and the blankets were no different. He stirred, but of course he didn't wake up. It was still dark out, so I assumed I barely slept as long as I thought I did. Didn't matter. At least I got sleep in the first place. And if it was with Em, then I will forever be content.
I unplugged my phone from Emerson's extra charger and looked at the time. 2:47. Of course I woke up at ass o'clock in the morning. I planned on actually stopping by at home in the morning but not this early. Before going to practice at six, I needed to go home and deal with my aunt. I unblocked my aunt and texted her that I was stopping by after being bombarded with the text messages and voicemails I had the wonderful treat of ignoring a few hours earlier.
Shuffling into the kitchen for some water, I didn't expect to see anybody up. Yet here Emerson's dad was, sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, reading through a thick paper pamphlet, for what I assumed, was for his work. He didn't notice me until I stepped over a squeaky floorboard. He looked up through his glasses and his eyebags were almost as bad as mine. Almost.
He initially greeted me with a nod. "What are you doing up so late, son?"
"I could say the same about you." I evaded the question. I knew I should've climbed through Emerson's window.
"Working on this extremely difficult case. My defendant has very little chance of winning based on the evidence presented against her. But I'll just have to power through this one," he sighed. "I have my excuse for staying up this late, what about you? A young growing boy like you needs a lot of rest. Especially if you're the basketball captain."
I shifted my weight from my right foot to my left. "The women have called. I am needed at home."
"Piper, eh? If your mother, even Elsa, ever needs help, don't hesitate to ask any one of us for help." I feel like I've heard this before.
"It's fine. My aunt got pissy at me for supposedly abandoning my responsibilities." Charlie raised an eyebrow as he highlighted something on the paper. "Excuse my language. My aunt Elsa and I haven't gotten along lately. If anyone needs help, it's her."
"I'm sincerely sorry to hear that, Robyn. If I may ask, how is Elsa coming along? I haven't heard any mention of her in quite a while."
"Yeahh, I don't like talking to her or about her. Something about that woman makes my blood boil. She's nothing like my mother." I hadn't intended my words to be laced in such poison, but they came out just like that. Being sleep-deprived, I absolutely had no filter. I almost flinched at myself, but I slowly breathed in and out to keep my cool. "Supposedly twenty-two, yet acts like a sixteen-year-old delinquent. She never pays the rent and is almost never home. She moved in after the incident. The snake that she is convinced my mom that she moved in to help with the recovery, but honestly, my mom has been getting worse. I don't know what to do. It's not like I can just kick her out. My mother would be devastated."
Charlie studied my guarded expression, reading me. I tried looking at his face but I couldn't read him. "Does sound like quite the dilemma. Grab a cold bottle of water from the fridge and pass through the front door. Hope you can sort out these problems with your aunt."
"Thank you. Don't stay up too late, Charlie. Goodnight."
He gave a hearty chuckle. "It's a little late for that, don't you think? Night, Hook." I waved to him as I grabbed a water bottle and my coat.
I walked the few blocks to my house, thinking over what to say. How to approach my aunt. It was still three, so I decided to sit on the swing of the nearby park, waiting a little while longer as I contemplated and mentally conjured up some scenarios. Maybe my aunt won't care by the time I get there. Maybe she'll scream at me. Maybe it'll be somewhere in between. You never know with women. Hell, she might be on her period for all I care, then it'll be one heck of a rollercoaster.
As much as I had attempted to mentally psyche myself up, I wasn't prepared for what exactly she said.
"ROBYN TRENT HOOK!" My aunt's voice boomed. I flinched so hard when she said my middle name. She also sounded a lot like my mom when she got angry, with her voice dropping a few octaves. She was short, even with her five-inch heels on, she still had to reach up to grab my ear and pinch it. I hissed in pain as her sharp acrylic nails dug into my skin.
"I don't know where the hell you've been, but this is your house so you should try living in it sometime." She jabbed her daggered-fingers into my chest with the intent of shutting me down.
Normally, I would have responded with a snarky comeback, a witty epigram to shoot her down, but nothing would come out of my mouth. My throat suddenly felt dry and I choked back my words. After hearing my father's name, it brought back traumatic memories I thought I had safely tucked away in the deep recesses of my brain. I couldn't believe a simple name triggered an avalanche of emotional baggage. My chest hurt as she dragged me to the living room and shoved me on the couch.
Now that I got a moment to properly see my aunt, besides wearing her stilettos, she wore a sheer black dress with a robe that was--thankfully--over it. Oddly enough, though, her mascara and eyeliner were stained, along with her red lipstick. Her frown was very apparent as she sat with crossed arms and legs, glaring intently at me. "Don't you dare say that I don't care about your mom. Piper is my sister and I love her just as much as you do. Perhaps even more." Her hair was in a frizzied state, adding to her top-tier lunatic-thot look. "You don't understand what I'm going through." She threw up her hands. "But you know what, that's fine. I don't need you to understand me to help my sister get better. Her welfare is all that matters, and despite what you may believe, I am working hard to help your mom recover."
"Bullshit, and you know it." I matched the intensity of her glare with my own. "Where's your rent that's six months overdue?" She flinched, but that made her scowl at me even harder. "Where are you most of the day? Helping my ass. I am here for my mom even with school and basketball. You weren't here for her when she fell down the stairs. When she became an alcoholic. You're not helping with any of that. And you know why? Because you're a leech who can't live on her own because you can't even be a gold digger properly. Boo-hoo you dropped out of highschool, got pregnant, then your nine boyfriends kicked you out. I would see why, as you do nothing but whore around. That's exactly what you're going through."
Before I could even react, she got up and slapped my face. The sound echoed loudly in our house. I felt my cheek burning in searing pain, but I didn't show it. Elsa's face was contorted with anger. Okay, yeah, I probably did cross the line, but she deserved it. She never explained her situation, even half a year later. And she never actually helped my mother. We aren't some charity case.
I closed my eyes and exhaled deeply. When I looked back at my aunt, tears were streaming down her face and she didn't look as mad anymore. Just sad, disappointed, and like she has given up on herself.
The sleeve of her robe became stained with more of her mascara as she used it to wipe the tears off her face. "Goodbye, Robyn." She took her purse and left out the front door without closing it. As I went to close it, I could hear the fast pace of her heels clicking down the sidewalk. I was left in confusion and in a state of mixed emotions. I closed the door and ran a hand down my face, sighing. I didn't know what the hell just happened. And I didn't know if she was ever coming back.
My aunt and I fought from time to time, but never on this scale. After that fiasco, I went to see my mom. Should I tell her what happened?
When I walked into her bedroom, I sighed in relief to see that it was in the same state it was when I last visited. I ducked under the bed to see if any stashes were hidden and was glad to know there was none. At least in my knowledge. I did a thorough search of her wardrobe and cabinets. All clear.
I walked up to my mom, biting my lip. She was sleeping with a frown on her face, hair matted to her skin as she sweat.
"Mom?"
She groaned as she mumbled, "My little Birdie, not now. I'm sleeping." I tapped her on the shoulder as I flicked on the lamp. Mom threw her arm over her eyes and pulled her blanket over her head. "My head hurts, sweetie. Can you get me some water?"
"Uh, sure, Mom."
I let her be as I grabbed a cup of water. As I went to grab a glass from a cabinet, I was shocked to see the dishes. Dang. They were pretty stacked up. I passed by the laundry room and saw that the basket was almost overflowing. With my aunt's clothes. My mom almost never went out these days. And most of my clothes were at Emerson's house. How did my aunt let our house to that point? One of the main reasons she wanted to stay in our house was to take care of it, at least the house would be clean if she didn't pay the rent on time. But she couldn't even do that! What a lying b*tch.
"Here, Mom." I nudged her dormant form with the glass of water.
She slowly sat up and I could see the redness on her face as she tried to wipe away the baby hair that stuck to her skin. Propping herself up against the headboard, my mom struggled to stay upright. "Thank you, Robyn. This is just what I need. I don't feel so good."
I worriedly put the back of my hand up to her forehead. She seemed very ill. "Mom, you're burning up. Do you feel sick?"
She was slow to answer as she closed her eyes. "Now that I think about it, perhaps. I don't think it's that bad. I'll just-" She abruptly started coughing, words faltering. I waited a while before she continued speaking. "I'm seriously fine. I think the heat is just turned up a little."
I walked over to the thermostat and checked the temperature. Not hot enough to induce this amount of sweating. "Mom, the temperature's fine. I think there's something wrong." I looked her straight in the eyes. "Have you been drinking?"
"No, why would you think that?" She spoke slowly and enunciated her syllables oddly. "Didn't you throw away all my drinks?" Her hands were trembling so intensely that she dropped the glass she was holding, spilling it all over her sheets and herself. "Oh, dear. I'm sorry, Robyn."
"I'll get some paper towels."
She shook her head, speaking with the faintest voice. "No need, it's just water after all. It'll dry up soon." Then she closed her eyes, falling asleep.
"I'll be back soon." I took the glass and gently placed it in the sink after I layed a towel over my mom. Then I got ready to go to the pharmacy.
Sitting in the van, I sat for a while just being lost in my thoughts before even starting the engine. I was startled when there was knocking on the glass. I swore my heart leaped out of my chest, grabbing onto the steering wheel for dear life as I almost crapped my pants.
I don't know who I expected, but I was very surprised to see Oliver. He was in a knit, oversized jumper with a scarf around his neck. He gave me a small wave and I rolled down the window.
"What's up?" I asked him.
"I was just going for my morning run. Got pushed due to early-morning practice. Something on your mind, bro? I tapped on the window so many times."
"Nah, I'm just tired. You know how I am with sleep." I unlocked the door. "Get in loser, we're going shopping."
Oliver buckled himself into the seat, scoffing. "You've been waiting to say that, haven't you?" He rolled his eyes.
"I'm not denying it. We're actually going to stop by the pharmacy to get my mom's medicine."
"Okay." He reached over to turn on the radio. We both flinched when there was white noise. "Sheesh, you sure do like to blow up your ear drums." Going through the channels he settled on country music and I almost threw up on the spot.
I immediately turned it to the next channel so that instead, the radio played something other than country. Apparently it was classical. I could live with that. "I'll let most things slide in this van, but there is absolutely no way in hell I would allow country music to be played in this van. Get outta here with your yeehaw music."
Oliver laughed. "Wow, look who's getting heated. Did something happen last night?"
"Of course you wouldn't know, Oliver. You were nowhere to be seen. And neither was Nathan." He stopped laughing and flinched as soon as I mentioned Nathan's name. "I could also ask you about what happened last night. Where were you two?"
He wasn't looking at me anymore, just staring out the window with his jaw clenched. "I don't know."
"Aren't you two best fr-"
"I said I don't know, Robyn. We're not always attached at the hip. He was the party host. Maybe he was around doing his thing. I... was hanging out with my girlfriend."
I frowned. "You have a girlfriend?"
He turned to smirk at me. "Why? You jealous? She's the babe from that one private school called Green Valley High. She's the really popular one on the softball team with a million of followers on Insta."
"I didn't ask for you to flex so hard. What's her name?" I asked skeptically.
"Cleo Valentine. Her father owns a designer clothing company in France."
I raised my eyebrows high. "Wow, ambitious of you. Very different from your last girlfriend."
"Go big or go home," he shrugged. "I mean, my parents approve of her. They call me the pride of our family," he boasted. Calm down there, buddy.
"More like a gold digger. Or a sugar baby. Whatever term you prefer." I laughed as he gave me a baffled expression. "Nathan has hella bread, and by the sounds of Miss Valentine, she sounds like her daddy lends her a lot of money."
"Listen here, Hook. I'm not friends with Nate just because he's rich." His tone became very serious. Which honestly is a very rare thing to hear from this clown. I backed down.
Holding up a hand in defense, I apologized for offending Oliver. "I was joking. Geeze, who hurt you?" I pulled into a parking spot at the pharmacy and Oliver immediately unclicked his seatbelt and got out the passenger's side.
Before I could say anything he quickly spat out, "Hope your mom feels better. And don't be late to practice." Slamming the door, he pulled up his scarf higher and jogged away.
Is there something in the air today to make everybody I talk to extremely sensitive and contentious? Or is there something wrong with me? I guess whatever I've been saying has been striking up some nerves. I sighed and turned off the engine and went up to the pharmacy, holding the door open for an old lady.
"Thank you, young man." She slowly ambled her way with her cane.
"Do you need help carrying that?" I asked as I pointed to the hefty-looking bag in her left hand.
"Why, thank you again. You're so kind." She handed me the bag and I was surprised for a second at how heavy it was. What the heck, were there bricks in this? I smiled at her.
"Ha, no problem ma'am." I helped her into her Lincoln pickup, okay that's a new one, and she gratefully accepted my help.
"You must have very nice parents to have raised you into this fine man you are."
I wish. I laughed it off, she didn't know any better. "Have a nice day, ma'am."
"You too."
I checked the time on my phone. 4:49. Guess I needed to hurry up if I wanted to grab this, bring it home, take a shower, then walk to Em's house to grab my things for practice.
~~~
My mom was thankfully still laying down in bed when I came back. I set the medicine on her nightstand and lightly shook her out of her deep slumber.
"Mom, here's the medicine. The doctor wrote the instructions on how and when to take it." Just like before, she struggled to sit up. "No no, it's fine Mom. You don't need to get up. I'm just telling you about it so you don't forget."
"What about Elsa?"
"Well, I don't know where she is. She's never here."
She frowned. "Again?" When I nodded, she sighed and smiled in melancholy. "That's fine. She'll come around soon." After six months? I don't think so. She settled into her bed more snug and began to snooze off. If only my mom would come around and stop drinking.
"Remember to drink a lot of water. Sorry for waking up so early, Mom. I have to go to basketball practice now. Goodbye."
She hugged me. "Fly, little Birdie."
"Okay," I mumbled quietly against her neck.
~~~
By the time I arrived at Em's house, he was awake. And shocker, he was reading. Note my sarcasm. He was situated on his bed, kicking the air with his feet. There was a glass of hot cocoa on his nightstand, steaming, as he propped his head on the palm of one hand.
"Hey," he greeted without looking up.
"Hey yourself," I responded. I stood next to him with my arms crossed and he still didn't look at me. So I did what I had to do and laid on top of him doggy-pile style.
He made a choking noise and flailed his limbs to no avail. I was a good six inches taller than him and made of muscle whereas this nerd was as fragile as a twig. He can try, but it would be futile. I cackled in place as he grumbled at me, staring through my soul. "Ugh, Robyn. Get off me you absolute leviathan." Well, at least I actually got his attention.
"Pfft, a levia-what?" Calling him a nerd was justified. What the heck is a leviathan anyways?
"You tell me, Sherlock. OUCH!" I finally got off of him when he pinched my side and twisted it. I rubbed at the sore spot. "You know, you could've said please and I would've yielded, sheesh. I have a practice today in a few because we have a game tomorrow. You wanna come?"
I played with my fingers as he bookmarked his book and placed it into his bag, sitting up on his bed to properly face me. He smiled at me and I felt my chest flutter for a second. Wait, that was too gracefully put. Internally, my heart did a high-pitched screech like a BTS fangirl at his precious smile. "You don't even need to ask me, Robbie. Let's go. I'll be waiting downstairs in the living room. We'll use my car" What good did I do in my past life to deserve to be graced with the presence of this angel? Save the world?
I quickly splashed some cold water on my face and put on some sweatpants and a tank that was stuffed into the bottom drawer of the wardrobe. Like Em, I don't exactly fold my clothes. I mean, who does though? Then I stole a pair of his socks because I'm pretty sure Emily took mine to make sock puppets out of. I ran down the stairs when Emerson called for me and I checked the time. "Uh, coming!" I yelled. I flew down the stairs and was met with the sight of Emily playing dollhouse with Em.
"Where are you two going?" Emily asked us.
"Basketball practice," I answered. "Em almost always watches my practices and games."
Emily yawned and laid on her side, making her dolls flip from the rooftop of the dollhouse. "Isn't it too early, though?"
" 'There's no rest for the wicked,' " Emerson quoted. Oh, now he's quoting proverbs. Nerd. He settled down the figure he was playing with and joined me in front of the front door. "We need to get going now, or we'll be late."
"Wait!" Emily ran to Emerson.
"What do you need, Emily?" Em kneeled to be eye level with Emily.
"Can I come?"
Emerson raised an eyebrow to me in question and I shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
She gasped dramatically and with stars in her eyes, she jumped happily and grabbed her Bella Ballerina shoes, slipping into a colorful rain jacket that Emerson threw to her. Even if there was no forecast for rain and the sun shone brightly, she still would have worn that vivid raincoat. "Yay!"
Before we left, Emerson called out to his mother. "Mom! Robyn and I are taking Emily with us to basketball practice."
"Alright. Don't forget to put her in her car seat."
"Yes, Mom!"
Emerson opened the trunk of his Camry to retrieve Emily's car seat. Much like her chair in the kitchen, it was covered in Barbie stickers that were peeling off in numerous places. She happily buckled herself in, kicking her feet in the air.
"Someone's excited to watch me," I commented.
"I know you can win, Birdie."
"Thanks, Emily. You know it's a practice, right?"
"I know," she said matter-of-a-factly. Emily hummed contentedly. "I like going out of the house. Especially places I haven't been to before."
"Oh, is that right?" Emerson asked. "I don't remember you being like that when we first had to drag you out to soccer practice."
Suddenly, Emily wasn't as happy as before at the mention of soccer. "I knew Anne Doyle was on the soccer team." She crossed her arms and pouted, looking out the window. "I don't like Anne."
"And yet you still play soccer," Emerson called her out. "Anne is not even a mean kid. On the contrary, she seems pretty nice."
Emily huffed, her version of trying to scoff. "Well, I still don't like her. She's annoying. I hate her."
I had to interject. "Now, Emily, hate is a really strong word. We only use it if you actually mean it." Emerson gave me a look and I had to stifle my laughter.
Emily rested her arm against the door and averted eye contact as she looked at her shoes. "What if I do mean it? I hate her."
Emerson mouthed to me 'Fourth grade drama.' He took a right turn into the school's parking lot, nearest to the gym. "Ah, we're here now."
Just as quickly as Emily's mood had turned sour, once again she took a hundred-eighty degree turn and returned to her jubilant state. "Yay!"
Emerson turned off the ignition and left his bag behind, which I gave to him once we were all out. "Don't forget your man-purse, Em," I jested.
"It's a satchel, smartass."
"What kind of guy needs a satchel? Soccer mom much?" He laughed and lightly punched my arm.
"I don't know, Robbie. Who knows when I'll need to patch up your sorry face when you eat the floor again?"
I whistled. "Low blow, Em." I held Emily's hand as we walked into the auxiliary gym, avoiding the main gym as the wrestling team were practicing there. I pushed Emily towards Emerson. "Go to the bleachers, you two." I kissed her on the cheek and she skipped up to the highest row of bleachers, waving down to me once she was at the top.
Sauntering towards my team who were idly chatting, I hooked my arms around two of my teammates. The taller one, Julius, rolled his eyes. "The captain finally comes. You had fun babysitting?" The other teammate I had my arm around was Jun. He was a very quiet one, an oddball. Sometimes I forgot he even existed. He shook my arm off before I could speak a word to him.
I shrugged at Julius. "I had things to take care of. I'm not late." I looked around. "Do you know where Nathan is?"
Julius shook his head. "Weirdly enough, no." He leaned in closer to tell me something as he lowered his voice. "Although, rumor has it he got in trouble by his parents when they found out he managed to drink a shit ton of alcohol. He was found wasted behind their bar. So I'm not surprised if they grounded him for life."
I sighed in exasperation, rubbing at my temples. "That idiot. We need him for the game tomorrow. We're up against a bunch of aces." No matter how cognitively incapable Nathan may seem at some times, he is one of our best players. Besides me of course. Though, there was something odd about Nathan being a rule breaker, especially if it pertained to his parents.
But Julius, being the carefree one, shrugged. Basketball was a hobby for him, while for some of us, we were hoping to attain a sports scholarship down the road. "Yeah, losing is inevitable, but we should have fun."
"I don't know what's so fun about losing," Oliver grumbled behind me. Before I could even respond, he brushed past us to stand near our coach to avoid socializing with any other teammates. Our coach eyed him, but said nothing. What's going on?
Speaking of our coach, Coach Mendoza blew his whistle as loud as humanly possible. Julius cooly rested his arms over his head, not flinching. I rubbed at my ears. Ow. "Listen up, pansies! We're missing some of our star players. That doesn't mean we can't put up a fight against those Mayfield daisies. That also means we just have to practice twice as hard until some of you can master basic dribbling and passing." He paused his raspy yelling to glare at Julius who merely shrugged. The team groaned at the part with more practice. He cleared his throat. "Campbell is taking Hawkins's position as I have been informed Nathan won't be playing with us for a while." A few murmurs arose as Coach blew his whistle again. "Ollie-boy, you fine with taking Nathan's position?" With his mouth set in a thin line, Oliver rigidly nodded in agreement. "Hook," he pointed to me, "this goes without saying, but I really need you to focus on their captain, Piet Pane."
Julius snorted next to me. "Hook and Pane. Like Captain Hook and Peter Pan. Hah." Coach and I rolled our eyes at the same time.
"Hook, will you do me a favor and smack Thomas for me."
I laughed and smacked the back of Julius's head. He yelped, "Ow, man! You didn't have to hit that hard."
I gave him a noogie and whispered, "There are some things you should just keep in your head and not ever leave your mouth."
Coach blew his whistle and continued where he left off. "As I was saying, their captain is some sort of monster. I don't know what that kid's parents fed him, but be aware of him as he's seven foot even. You guys may be wondering why I didn't put König against that beast." Erwin König is our tallest player at six foot and nine inches. "Hook is very good at stealing the ball. And there's no doubt that they will pass the ball to their star shooter often. Besides, Erwin is going to be playing small forward as he is very versatile. I have a feeling he'll have to go against Minyard and Belladonna." When Coach was finished, he told us to get some water and stretch. "Grab some sippage, boys, and stretch. We're going to do some suicides. The team erupted into a chorus of complaints. "If I hear another complaint, groan, or moan, we're just going to be doing core exercises for a whole hour straight." That definitely shut everybody up.
After Coach took awhile to explain our positions, he let us have a scrimmage. I took a quick glance at Emerson, who was reading his book. Emily happily waved at me. I waved back at her.
~~~
Sweat dripping through every pore of my body, it took a lot of self control to restrain myself from throwing off my tank right then and there. An ice bath would've been nice. I was breathing heavily, threatening to collapse from exhaustion. Once I made eye contact with Coach, he saw how poor my condition was and blew his whistle. Thank goodness.
"Take a break, boys. You did good. I'll give you fifteen minutes to wipe that disgusting sweat off, take a drink, take a break, heck, even a shower if that's what you want. After fifteen minutes are up, I'll go over some things you all need to work on." There was a collective sigh of relief when Mendoza retreated into his office.
I risked a glance at Oliver, who was hunched over as he was breathing hard, back rising up and down rapidly. I could see the sweat literally dripping off of his face and puddle onto the ground. I'd say he'd played harder than even me. When he laid back-first on the hardwood floors, I redirected my gaze to Emerson who finally put down his book, combing Emily's dirty blonde hair as she slept with her head resting on his lap.
Even from my view across the gym, I could see how much his skin glowed from his place on top of the bleachers. The dim auxiliary lights directly over him illuminated his dark brown hair in various ways. He looked like a Greek god. He could end Gucci model careers if he wanted to. Crap, he caught me staring and waved a hand, beckoning to go up to him. Excruciatingly, I jogged up the steps and sat next to Em. I sighed.
He took a small face towel out of his man-purse. "Here, you need this. You're sweating profusely."
"I had no clue, Sherlock." I took it and breathed it in, allowing my face to be cooled down by the cold rag. "Thanks." Then I threw it back to him which he put it back into his bag. "When did she fall asleep?"
Emerson wrinkled his nose in thought. "A little while ago, I think. It's getting quite warm in here."
Despite having a cold rag over my face, I was still sweating. "You're telling me." I used the back of my hand to wipe off the excess sweat.
"She has absolutely no idea how basketball works. Emily's been asking the ins and outs of basketball. So I just gave her my phone to play on. Guess waking up early took a toll on her."
"Emily doesn't know how basketball works, huh? Guess you two have something in common. And you'd think after all the practices and games you've been to, you'd actually know how it works."
His cheeks tinged in embarrassment. I smiled at his cute birthmark. "Shut up. You know how I am with sports. I couldn't care less about throwing some balls into baskets."
"Well, I for one,am hurt. Basketball is a part of me, so then I guess you're saying that you couldn't care less about me?" I was joking him into being guilt-tripped. But then I felt guilty for making him look guilty for what he said.
"Y-you know that's not what I mean."
"Yeah, I was joking." My hand had a mind of its own and I ruffled his soft hair. At that moment, Emily decided to wake up.
She yawned and stretched, sitting up. She squinted at us, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Hey, Birdie. Is your practice done yet?"
"Unfortunately, no."
She puffed her cheeks. "Well, I'm bored."
Emerson sighed. "Emily, you insisted on coming with us."
"Emmie, you always go and I just wanted to see what makes you come here all the time. I don't know why you do, though, I mean you're basically reading the whole time anyways." Em didn't answer, just smiled at her.
"How about we stop by the ice cream parlor after I'm done with practice? How does that sound, Emily?"
Like a light bulb, she lit up at the mention of ice cream. As expected of a Scott family member, liking anything sweet. Can't blame them though. "Fine by me!" She was excited, looking as bright as her jacket.
~~~
Coach Mendoza blew the whistle as long as he could, signifying the end of practice. Finally. Any longer and Emerson would've had to call for an ambulance. A bunch of us whooped. "Everybody to the center!" We slowly trudged our way to the center of the court to do our ending cheer. "Hurry up. Some of you guys need to take a shower ASAP. My nose is being annihilated here." Coach cleared his throat, doing nothing to change his gravelly voice. "Now what are we gonna do tomorrow?"
"Win."
"Come on, y'all can yell louder than that. You all sound like you have a stick up your butt. What are we gonna do tomorrow?!"
"WIN!"
"Who are we gonna defeat?!"
"Mayfield!"
"That's right, we're gonna crush these daisies. We're the Elks, that's what they do. We're swift. If we win, pizza is on me." We changed our cheers on the Coach's count of three and we're finally released.
Emerson and Emily met me near the doors. "How was that book, Em?"
Emerson looked giddy. "I finished it and it was so cute at the end. I'm so glad the couple had a happy ending. I was so scared in the second half. I swear I would've cried. No doubt, I would've burnt that book if it didn't end happily."
"Calm down."
"If you read it, you would understand." He was in a good mood, which I didn't want to ruin.
"Maybe sometime."
"Ha-ha, you're funny Robyn. Like you ever read for fun."
Emily interrupted our banter. "Ice cream time!"
"Indeed it is."
After buckling in the restless Emily, we were well on our way to the closest ice cream parlor with most premium frozen treats.
"What flavor do you want?" Emerson asked Emily.
"I'm going to get cotton candy with sour patch kids on it!"
"Sounds delicious," I said.
"What about you?" She asked me.
"Maybe cookies and cream."
"I think I'm gonna get vanilla," Emerson said.
"That's so plain," I jabbed.
Emily agreed with me when she said to Emerson, "Yeah, you're boring, Emmie."
He shrugged. "I like vanilla."
"And you called me basic."
Emily snickered at that. "Birdie, basic? Never."
Emerson laughed in contradiction. "You'd be surprised."
Emily tapped Emerson's shoulder. "Can I pay?"
"By that you mean 'can I get your money to give to the cashier?' Sure."
I lifted up my hand. "Stop, stop, stop. I'll pay."
That triggered Emerson. He chuckled aggressively. "Hoho-no. No way. I'm paying and that's final. We're not fighting on this."
"But I'm the one who proposed to get some ice cream. I'm treating," I persevered. When the car abruptly pulled into the spot, the momentum jerked me forward. The seatbelt took the air out of me as it held back my chest. "Oof."
Emerson closed his eyes and inhaled sharply before turning towards we with an intimidating smile. "I said we're not fighting on this. Do I make myself clear?" His eyes stared through my whole being.
I nodded tautly and tittered nervously. "Yes." The soccer mom jumped out. He could be scary when he wants to. He reminded me of just that.
"Emmie, you sound like Mommy," Emily said from the backseat. She was snickering. It was not funny. It was a life-threatening ordeal to cross with Em.
Emerson handed Emily a twenty-dollar bill. She eagerly ran to stand in the line.
Emerson, back to his usual self, laughed. He crossed his arms and patted Emily on the head. "When I'm babysitting this little girl, it makes me feel like a single dad."
"Honestly, same here."
Emily quickly turned around and talked to Emerson and I. "You are like my two dads," she giggled.
What an open-minded child. Guess this is the product of proper parenting and growing up in the wonderful Scott household. I put my hand on my hip. "Is that so?"
"I mean, you two kinda do act like dads. Not like Daddy, but like parents."
"How so?"
She started listing off things with her fingers. "Well, you both take care of me, you both give me piggy-back rides, you both buy me food, you both love me, and..." she trailed off, thinking of the last thing. "Oh! And you both love each other." I laughed, ignoring the heat that rushed through my cheeks. I was sure it was showing on my face and freckles. Suddenly I felt like I was sweating again.
Emerson cooed and kissed Emily on the cheek. "You're not wrong." She hugged him.
"I love you, Emmie! You're the bestest brother I could ever ask for." When she pulled away, she hugged me too, wrapping her small arms around my legs. "I love you too, Birdie."
"Same here, Emily."
Emily strided up to the cashier and ratted off our orders to her, paying and everything. I turned to Emerson. "We're so going to miss this real soon. She's growing up way too fast."
"Man, you do sound like a dad," Emerson pointed out. When Emily came back, she looked proud of herself. She handed us our ice cream cones. "Thank you, Emily. Did you thank the worker?"
"Yes." She wouldn't stop giggling. "The cashier said you two 'must have been amazing dads to raise a daughter that's so respectful.'"
"What did you say back?" I was curious to hear how she handled herself.
"Well, I said 'yes, ma'am, very good dads.' She looked very pleased."
"I'm definitely telling our parents about this," Emerson said while shaking with laughter. Emily nodded animatedly in agreement.
We ate our ice cream outside on a bench, enjoying the weather. It wasn't too cold, and it wasn't too hot. Just right. Goldilocks style. Emily hummed quietly to herself while Em lit up with an idea. I raised an eyebrow as he fumbled to take his phone out of his pocket.
"We should take a commemorative photo!" I frowned. I dislike taking and being in photos. But if it's with Emily then, fine. Emily sat herself on Emerson lap and Em held up the phone for a selfie. We all held up our cones for the first one. "Okay what if we're both kissing Emily's cheeks?" Emily clapped happily.
"Yes!"
I shrugged sure, why not. It was a cute photo, I had to admit. Emily was in-between us, smiling widely with ice cream on her nose. And yeah. We totally look like her two dads.
~~~
Thank you for reading <3 This was thicc one (7.6k words *sweats*)
But the votes kept me writing this one
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