Poison Tree

𝚝𝚠𝚘

*one week later*

                 "Dylan! Your friends are out front!" Pat yelled from the front door.  Dylan ran down the stairs with her backpack on her back, "see you later" he held the door open for her.  She smiled and gave him a quick hug like always, "see ya" she jogged down the path to meet her friends who were stood waiting for her, "we have a quiz today, remember?" Macie sighed.  Dylan nodded, "how could I forget?" She smirked.  They all smiled and sighed in unison as they changed the conversation topic to something a little more bearable. She's a popular kid and she has a big group of friends but they're all super sweet, they wouldn't dare make anyone feel bad since they all know better than that, especially Dylan.

~

                   At the end of the school day Dylan was stopped by her maths teacher as her group began walking home, "Dylan" he waved her over.  She sighed and walked over to him as his face remained blank, "well done on your quiz, you're up 27% so you got a B" he smiled and handed her a small sheet of paper.  Her eyes lit up as her smile widened, "oh... thank you" she nodded.  He smiled back and dismissed her as she turned around, wow, she didn't fail... Shes genuinely happy with herself and she can't wait to show jay and will, because they understand that she struggles with school so a B is beyond amazing for her, it's probably beyond amazing for many people, just not her dad...

She caught up with her friends and began waking home with them, luckily they all seem to live in the same area so it's not like anyone has to walk alone, so they began their short trek home with no complications.  After a short 10 minute walk home, Dylan pushed the front door open and let herself inside.  She saw her dad kicking off his work boots and hanging up his jacket, so she assumed that he'd just gotten home too, "hey dad, look at this" she smiled and held up a sheet of paper.  He turned around and took it from her hands before reading over it through squinted eyes, "a B... oh, it's maths" he nodded but his tone didn't sound too impressed.  She watched the way he didn't even crack a smile as he handed it back to her, "your brothers used to get A's, you know?" Pat sat down on the couch with the remote.

Her arms dangled down by her sides as her heart shattered a little, "yeah, but they're smart..." she spoke with a slightly shaky voice due to the fact that she now feels like her grade isn't good enough, "I'm just saying, dyl. You could work a little harder" he shrugged. She closed her mouth which had fallen to the floor out of shock and utter disappointment, before turning around and walking over to the stairs. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry... She waited for her dad to say something else but eventually plodded up the stairs when he remained silent. She felt the fresh batch of tears rolling down her cheeks as she approached her bedroom door, is a 'well done' or 'I'm proud of you' too much to ask for nowadays?

                 She flopped down onto her bed and let the waterworks flow, it's almost as if nothings ever good enough in this household.  No matter how hard she tries in school, it'll never be enough for Pat, and she's tired of him comparing her to the older brothers, she isn't them and she never will be, so why make it a competition?  She isn't as smart as they are, but that doesn't mean he has to rub it in by degrading her efforts, before she knew it all of her crying had tired her out and she was in a small nap by dinner time.

~

"Hey, where's Dylan?" Jay walked into the house and looked around when he saw no sign of his little sister hanging around anywhere. Pat looked around too, "upstairs, I think" he waved his arm over to the stairs. Jay nodded, "here's your medication, I'll be back in a minute" he sighed and threw a bag of pill bottles for his dads heart conditions onto the couch. Pat accepted them as the middle child ran up the stairs and towards Dylan's room.  He knocked on her door and waited for a reply, "dyl? You decent?" He called out, nothing... He sighed and decided to just enter her room but kept his eye line down in case she was changing with head phones in maybe.  He slowly looked up when he saw her asleep on the bed.  He smiled weakly but his brotherly senses soon took over as he grabbed a pillow and practically threw it at her. Double kill.

She groaned and moved the pillow away from her head as she rolled over, "wakey wakey" he smiled and flicked her lamp on. She smiled weakly and sat up as a yawn escaped her mouth, "it's 7pm, surely you can't be this tired yet" He flopped down on the other side of her bed and rested his back against her backboard with his legs crossed in front of him, his hands clasped and resting on his abdomen. She laid back down and nodded, "but I am" she yawned again. Jay smiled, "any gossip?" He nudged her side since he knows how ticklish she is. Of course he gained the reaction he was hoping for which was a jolt to the side and a small laugh, so he continued poking her side until she was fully awake and laughing. He smiled at her laughter, she means the world to him, and Will too...

"No... no gossip" she laughed and scooted closer to him before nudging his leg in revenge. He smiled back and nodded, "how's school?" He added. She rolled her eyes slightly and pulled out a sheet of paper before handing it to him, "meh" she shrugged. He accepted the paper and quickly read over it, a proud smile crept across his face, "Hey... That's really good dyl. We're getting there, huh? I'm so proud of you..." he trailed off at the end when he saw the complete disappointment on her face, "what's wrong?" He shook his head. She shrugged and looked over at the homework on her bed, "it's not 'really good', you don't have to pretend it is" she sighed. Jay shook his head in confusion, he has no idea as to where any of this is coming from.

"Dylan, I wouldn't lie to you. I'm being honest here, this is good, really good. You got a B, what's bad about that...?" he frowned slightly. She shook her head, "no it's not 'good', you and will used to get A's... if I don't get A's I'm gonna make you guys look bad, I'll be like the family embarrassment or something" she huffed. Jay was utterly shocked at what he was hearing, "hey, less of that talk dyl. You're not an embarrassment, where's all this coming from? If you got a B last week you'd have been over the moon?" He held his arm out. She accepted his hug and leant against his side as he wrapped his arm around her, she was over a whole foot shorter than him so it was a comfortable hug, "it doesn't matter" she huffed. He rubbed her arm reassuringly, "you're doing really well in school, okay? I'm telling you the truth. And you don't have to worry about what me and Will got in school, you're not us and that's a good thing, you're you Dylan. Stop being so harsh on yourself" he rested his chin on her head.

"a B's not an A" she retaliated. Jay shook his head, "well no it's not, but a B is still really good Dylan, and you're on the right track to getting A's. But being the best isn't always about getting good grades, okay? It's about trying your best, now stop being such a perfectionist for once and accept the improvement" he squeezed her closer slightly. She let out a small laughed but nodded, "what about you? Any gossip in your life?" She looked up at him. He smiled but raised his eyebrows, "you mean hailey? You wanna know about hailey?" He laughed slightly. She smirked and nodded, "well there's nothing between us, so you can stop with that" he scoffed at her expression, "nothing, my ass" she huffed. He gasped and nudged her away from him, "language!" He shook his head. She laughed but shrugged, "believe what you wanna believe, but you two like each other" she teased, pointing her finger in his face.

He rolled his eyes but he couldn't deny it, he does like hailey, "I'll come and see you before I go, I gotta talk to dad first" he climbed off the bed. She smiled and laughed as he left the room. As jay left the room he rubbed his stubble seriously, how did her academic esteem get so low all of a sudden...?  Where is this need for academic validation coming from? She's never been one to care about much, especially school...