The boy who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window
Chapter 54: Unveiling Family Connections

Chapter 54: Unveiling Family Connections

I let Kate talk to Johnny for the rest of lunch, adding in the occasional question or answer when I needed to. He was actually a nice guy. It would have been easier if he was an jerk, then that way I would be able to brush him off and not feel like a piece of crap about it after. I showed him to his classes and he sat next to me when he could. When the bell rang for the end of the day I breathed a sigh of relief.

"So are you headed straight home?" Johnny asked, smiling, as we walked to my locker.

I shook my head. "No. I need to wait for Jake and Liam to be finished with their practice."

"Yeah, what does Jake play?" he asked curiously.

"Ice hockey."

"Cool. You know, I could give you a ride if you want," he offered. "My mom and Stephen bought me a wicked car for my birthday," he added, smiling broadly. I felt my heart sink at the sound of his name again, the way he used it in casual conversation scared the crap out of me.

"Um, thanks for the offer, but I’ll wait for them. Liam usually comes over after because Jake goes to work," I said quickly.

"Where does Jake work?" he asked, leaning against the lockers.

"Benny’s gym." I rammed my books into my bag with way too much force bending all the pages, because I was getting uncomfortable.

"Jake doesn’t seem to like me much," Johnny muttered, looking a little sad.

I smiled reassuringly. "He doesn’t know you. It’s just weird for us that’s all. We haven’t seen our father in three years, then all of a sudden he turns up here and bang, we have another brother and a stepbrother. Jake doesn’t like change," I explained, trying to skirt around the issue a little.

He nodded, looking thoughtful. "Yeah, I guess it’s hard. So, do you think maybe I could wait with you until their practice ends and we could get to know each other a bit more? I mean, I don’t want this to carry on being awkward for either of us, I’m here now so I think we need to make the best of it," he asked, looking at me hopefully.

Holy shit buckets! I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing, I nodded and shut my locker.

"You want to sit out front? I usually sit under the tree and wait," I said as we walked out of the building.

"Sounds good," he agreed, following me with a little smile. I walked to the big oak tree where I usually sit and do my homework and sat down leaning against it. He plopped down in front of me, picking a couple of blades of grass, playing with them nervously. There was a little daisy next to my foot, so I picked it and tucked it into the back of my ponytail because it reminded me of the one that Liam picked for me before dance practice after that first night we kissed.

I was so uncomfortable that I squirmed on the spot, trying to think of something to say. "So, your little brother, Matt.... Well, I guess he’s my brother now too, anyway what I was going to say is, what’s he like?" I asked curiously.

He grinned. "He’s cute. He’s a pain in the butt, especially when he cries in the night, but he’s cute. I have a picture if you want to see," he offered, pulling his wallet out and handing it to me.

I smiled and eagerly flicked it open, wanting to see the little baby. My breath caught in my throat as I looked at the picture, it wasn’t just the baby, it was a family picture. I looked at my father; he was smiling proudly with one arm around his new wife and the other around Johnny who was holding a little blond boy.

My father looked older, his hair had changed and gone a little greyer, but his eyes were the thing that caught me. I remember his eyes being hard and cold and always angry, but he was different here, smiling and warm, he looked friendly and kind.

"Cute, huh?" Johnny said.

I tore my eyes away from my father and looked at the little baby; he was cute, chubby, blond hair, brown eyes and a big smile. I looked at the lady in the picture; she had brown hair and grey eyes just like my mom and me. She looked nice. "Is this your mom?" I asked, pointing at her.

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Her name’s Ruby," he said, taking his wallet back when I was done.

I couldn’t get the image out of my brain of my father smiling. Had he changed? I looked Johnny over, he looked happy, no bruises or cuts, no telltale limp or wincing or anything. "So, do you get on with him then?" I asked curiously, watching his face for his reaction.

"Matt? Yeah he’s OK. It’ll be better when he’s older and he can do more stuff," he answered, shrugging.

I gulped. "No, I meant my father," I clarified, trying not to flinch at the thought of him.

Johnny shrugged and nodded, but didn’t say anything. "It must be hard having a guy come along though after years of it just being you and your mom," I stated, trying to push for an answer. Was my father hurting him too, or maybe the baby, or his mom?

I was immediately thankful that he didn’t have another girl living with him. The physical abuse was bad; Jake got the brunt of it, but the sexual abuse, that left mental scars that I knew I still wasn’t over.

Memories of those Sunday’s flashed through my mind and I bit the inside of my cheek to stop from crying.

He nodded and looked at the floor. "It was a little hard, but they’ve been together for over two years now, so..."