4 #2
A single brow is arched in response. “Really?”
“Ye—”
The wind leaves Tiger in an audible “oomph” as his brother’s fist slams into his gut.
He groans. “Fuck, Scotty . . . why’d you have to hit so hard? I think you just deformed my intestines.” Slumping to the floor in a dramatic heap, he adds, “Permanently.”
Scotty rolls his eyes and reaches down to grab a hold of his brother’s bicep, hauling him to his feet, Tiger’s high-pitched screech bouncing off the walls as he does. “You cannot just manhandle me, you wench—”
“Tiger,” Scotty cuts him off. “Be serious here. The first live recording is in less than thirty minutes.”
He pouts, pushing his bottom lip out so much I wonder if it hurts to pull that face.
Scotty fails to hide his smile of fond amusement, even as he raises his brows as if daring his brother to disobey.
The organ in my chest squeezes, and I bring a gloved hand up to press over the area, as if I could soothe the ache with anything other than the kind of connection they have.
I’d do anything to have someone other than my parents look at me with such affection. I love my mum and dad, and I’m more than grateful for them, but I want someone to care about me who’s not obligated to.
A low voice I’d recognise anywhere yanks me violently back to myself, and I turn to stone, all the colour leaching from my face as I hear those thumping feet approaching.
“Little Alby . . .” he sing-songs. “Whatcha doin’?”
Oh god.
Before I can even think my options through, I shove into the room in front of me and slam the door closed behind me, dropping back on it and gasping for breath with wild eyes as my heart gallops at full speed. I think the click that sounds out might be an automatic lock, but that hardly calms me.
Troy’s fist banging on the taalk at my back is muffled, but a whimper escapes me at the thought of him getting to me after I just disrespected him so badly.
Lids clamping shut, I beg the universe to open up and swallow me whole.
“Hey, are you okay?”
My eyes pop back open, darting to the left to see two matching sets of piercing blue stares boring into me.
Shit, I almost forgot about them.
“U-umm . . . yes?” I squeak out.
I jolt as Troy starts yelling brutal threats through the door. The shaking of my limbs becomes violent.
I can’t tell which is winning here: my humiliation or my terror.
Scotty’s nose wrinkles in disgust, and I shrink into myself.
Except that look’s not for me.
“What the fuck is that asshole’s problem?”
“Cooties?” Tiger suggests
Scotty shoots an exasperated look his way.
“Get your skinny ass out here, Twig!”
Tiger’s brows disappear beneath his wavy hair. “This bitch— Can you believe him?” he directs his incredulous expression his brother’s way. “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum is body shaming!”
Scotty pinches the bridge of his nose. “You just did the same thing.”
An offended look. “No, I—”
“Now, Twig! Or I swear I’ll beat you so black and blue the live cameras won’t even be able to tell you’re human!”
“That’s it—”
Grabbing Tiger by the back of the neck, Scotty drags him backwards from where he’d started to march for the door—then does the job himself, leaving me scrambling out the way as he unlocks it and yanks it open.
“You got a problem?” His cool and composed tone is completely at odds with Troy’s face of thunder.
“Yeah, with him.” Those beady eyes drill into me. “No need to involve yourself.”
I instinctively back up, inching my way closer to Tiger, who adds his own opinion, “We’re already involved, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum.”
That evil glower is transferred to him. “What did you just call me?”
Tiger’s eyes round innocently, and his brother rubs a hand over his mouth to hide his smirk.
I have to admit, I myself am struggling not to laugh, which is saying something considering most of the time, nothing will pull me from that murky water when I’m drowning in panic.
But Tiger is like a breath of fresh air, someone who can make any situation feel light—I can tell that from being around him for only a few minutes.
He’s someone I’m sure would’ve stuck by me if I’d known him in first school instead of Aider.
Troy’s malevolent glare shifts to Scotty. “You better get your freakish ADHD brother under control—”
Any mirth is wiped from Scotty’s face.
One second, Troy’s spewing venom. The next, he’s been dragged inside the private room and slammed up against the wall, his head smacking against it with a painful thump.
“Repeat that.”
Scotty’s voice is death incarnate.
Icy.
Lethal.
No more than a whisper, its effect could never be rivalled by a raging shout.
Troy clearly doesn’t get the memo. “I said—”
Blood spurts as Scotty’s knuckles crash into his face.
Then again.
Again.
“What was that?”
At the question, Troy’s dazed eyes struggle to open back up, his pained cries lingering in the air.
His expression wars between shock that someone would dare touch him, anger, and pain.
Wisely, he keeps his lips pressed tightly together, only opening them to lick up some of the crimson trickling from his nostrils.
Scotty leans closer so their foreheads are almost touching.
“If you ever . . . talk about my brother like that again . . .” His grip tightens on my bully’s neck.
“I will kill you.” His fingers clench further, the action rewarded with a choking sound.
“I will peel the skin from your bones and make sure you eat it.” My stomach turns. “Got it?”
Troy’s large head bobs frantically.
Abrupty, Scotty’s grip loosens, and Troy inhales all the air in the vicinity as he huffs and puffs and half runs, half crawls out the room without a glance back.
It’s the best thing I’ve ever seen.
Focus moving from the man stumbling away, I freeze.
Oh, holy fuck.
Every single eye in the Training Centre is fixed on us.
“And that goes for the rest of you, too.” Scotty’s voice slices through the tense silence and echoes around the main room. “These two are off limits.” A thumb points over his shoulder.
Blinking, I look around me for the third person, but, as I already thought, it’s just me and Tiger.
He’s protecting me.
I look to the brother on my right.
Tiger flashes a megawatt grin at me along with an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
My lips twitch into a small, hesitant smile, his sunshine too bright to not have an effect on me.
Maybe the short time I have left in this life won’t be so bad after all.
***
“Great job, big bro! You’re my hero!” Tiger throws himself at Scotty and smacks a loud kiss on his cheek.
“Fuck’s sake.” Scotty’s tone could sound annoyed to some, but there’s no mistaking the affection in it and his eyes as he shoves his brother back by his head.
The crowd that had gathered outside the private room is gone now, and although the door’s been left open, no one’s attention is lingering on us. Scotty’s words worked wonders.
Words I still can’t believe included me in his bubble of protection.
“So, what’s your name, my guy?”
I startle as I take in the extreme close-up of Tiger’s face. How I didn’t notice him before he got there, I don’t know.
“Uh . . . Alby. Alby White.”
“Nice to meet you! I’m Tiger, and this is Scotty!” An eager finger points to his brother, who stands to the right with his arms folded over his chest. “We’re the Gold brothers! And now that there’s three of us, we can be the Powerpuff Girls!”
Scotty winces. “Absolutely not.”
“The Three Musketeers?”
“No.”
“The Three Amigos?”
That’s met with a heavy sigh.
“Boooo! You Debbie Downer!”
“Okay, we need to get back to training—it could be any minute now that the first Evot is taken in for the live recording,” Scotty says before Tiger can spew out any more word vomit. Not that I wasn’t enjoying it, because I was. Immensely.
“Of course, of course,” Tiger says with a careless wave of his hand. “So what’s your Score?”
I stiffen with his attention back on me.
“Oh, don’t worry, you don’t have to answer.
I wasn’t going to judge you. It doesn’t matter if you have a Score of 1 or 100.
” My scepticism must be obvious because he continues in a softer tone, “I’m serious—having a high or low Score doesn’t tell me who you are as a person, and that’s all I care about when making new friends. ”
Friends.
He wants to be my friend?
My throat gets tight, and I blink rapidly to try and keep the tears at bay. As if that’s any more subtle than full-on sobbing.
“Shit! Scotty, I made him cry! What did I say?!”
The pure dismay in his voice just begs me to give up and let the floodgates open. Rather than making fun of me, he’s concerned. He cares. After two seconds of knowing me, no less.
“You didn’t say anything, Tiger. I think he’s just overwhelmed.” Scotty looks to me. “Right?”
I nod mutely, still trying to keep the waterworks at bay.
“See?” He slaps a brotherly hand on Tiger’s back as he comes to stand beside him before speaking to me again, “You’re welcome to join us in training for . . . as long as we’re all here.”
That’s a nice way to put our upcoming demise.
Well, with the shade of their Avri clusters they’ll probably make it.
I finally find my voice again. “Y-yes, I . . . yes, please.” Cheeks flushing, I look down at my fitted boots. “I’m . . . My Score isn’t very good, though. It’s . . . 57.” The number is no more than a rasp of breath.
Chancing a nervous peek up through my lashes, I find both brothers watching me without a twitch of their facial expressions. No judgment at all.
A wave of relief hits me, and my shoulders draw back slightly, spine straightening a bit.
Tiger’s grin is huge, two dimples popping up on his face. “Well, let’s get to it, then! You need to practice kicking asses with us since you’re now part of the Kick-Ass Club!”
“We are not calling ourselves that.” Scotty’s groan tugs the corners of my own lips up. We’ve only just met, yet this is the calmest I’ve felt since first school.
If only I’d known them years ago.