ethereal

thirty three

Kylie's P.O.V.

"Hey Ky-lie." A mocking voice said into my ear.

I threw my hands up in surprise before turning myself around on the old bus. I saw Cody clutching onto his face in pain. I realized that I had smacked him in the face, but turned back around, not particularly caring.

"The fuck was that for?" He rubbed his eyes before continuing. "By the way, I saw you yesterday."

"What are you talking about?" I prayed to God that he wasn't talking about what I thought he was.

"You know very well what I'm talking about, Ms. Strip." He smirked.

What a dick.

"What?" I pulled a confused look.

He pulled out his phone and pointed to a picture of me stripped down to shorts and a crop top. "Does this outfit seem familiar?"

"No."

"It's you, stop the fucking act."

I gave him a weird look before scooting away. "That's not me."

I put my headphones in before turning on some Green Day. I turned away from Cody pointlessly, because moments later he had ripped them back out.

"It's you."

"No, it's not."

"Well then take off your hoodie and let's see what kind of shirt you're wearing under there." He reached for my sweatshirt's hem.

I smacked his hands away and watched as another smirk found its way onto his face.

"I'm sorry but I don't like it when strangers try to pull up my shirt." I shrunk back into my seat, remembering the past events.

"It's only your sweatshirt, babe." He reached for the hem again.

"Get the fuck off me before I beat your ass senseless." I glared at him.

He looked at me with wide eyes. "Wh-what did you just say?"

"Nothing." I mumbled.

"I heard something."

"Go away."

"That was hot."

"You're disgusting."

"Take your sweatshirt off."

"No, you pig."

"I'm so offended. Now take it off."

"Go die in hole."

"As long as we fuck first."

The bus came to an abrupt stop before I could answer. The stop sent me forward, causing me to hit my head hard on the seat in front of me. My head bounced off of it and onto the window. When I opened my eyes, I saw the shattered window with my blood on a few shards.

"Shit!" I heard Cody scream.

I felt my head start to pound as the blood poured from my head. I became dizzy and light-headed before I found myself losing consciousness.

•

I awoke in a hospital room. I pushed the nurse button and waited until a lady in blue came in. We followed the usual procedures of questions like 'what do I remember, what happened, and how I'm feeling'.

"You'll need to rest up today, ok? Your previous head injuries needed stitches, and that wound has reopened due to the crash. Your parents couldn't stay here long, but they brought your laptop. Call me if you need anything."

I nodded and watched as she walked out. I found my phone on the table in front of me and called my mother.

"Hey mom." I greeted weakly.

"Hi hunny, I'm sorry your father and I couldn't stay, but we would be in for it if we didn't come back to work. But we called your four friends from Australia and they're coming to see you. Its the least we could do since we're not there."

An excited smile formed in my face.

"Luke, Ashton, Michael, and Calum are coming?" I asked a little loudly into the phone.

She answered with a voice that you could tell she was smiling. "Yes, they'll be here tomorrow morning!"

"Thanks mom," I laughed giddily. "well, I'll let you get back to your business stuff. Bye."

"We'll come visit as soon as we can. Love you Kylie!"

I ended the call before going onto my computer.

•

"Knock, knock, Kylie." A voice said quietly.

I opened my eyes to see three boys peeking inside the room. Michael, Calum, and Ashton filed into the room after I waved them in. My smile fades a little as I realized Luke was not here.

"Hey guys!" I reached out my arms towards them.

They hugged me and sat down in the chairs surrounding my bed.

"So, where's Luke?"

Their grins faded too as they made eye contact with each other. Michael looked down at his hands with an angry look as Calum twiddled his thumbs, a sad look engraved into his face. Ashton sighed and gave me a dejected look.

"Kylie..." Ashton started. "Luke didn't come."

A confused look overtook my face. "Why?"

"H-He didn't really say why. Just that he didn't really, um... want to s-see you." Ashton looked down.

My heart ached as the burning sensation of tears forming started to burn. I looked away, not wanting my best friends see me cry.

"Oh.." I swallowed back the tears.

Luke was the first boy I ever really cried over. Just yesterday I was in tears because of his letters he wrote to me. And now here I was, crying over him again, this time heartbroken. He was my first love, and probably my only love. And I thought it was the same for him. He told me that. He told me he loved me. He lied to me.

Tears fell from my eyes as I bit my lip to hold back my sobs. Is this his way of telling me he had never loved me? He acted like he would never ever hurt me. And here I lay with a broken heart. Such karma really. I let down my guard to an asshole and let him take my heart. I actually trusted him with it, even though it was already so fragile. And he dropped it and ran away laughing. It was stupid of me to think that some boy wouldn't do that.

Michael spoke. "Guys, could I talk to Kylie alone?"

The two left the room, leaving Michael and I alone. Him and I never spoke much to each other. He was always the quietest one, at least with me.

"Kylie, I've never had a brother or a sister. But then Ash, Cal, and Luke came along. They are my brothers. But I've never had anyone that could be like a sister to me. But when I met you, you really did fill in that hole of my life. I know, I know, we don't talk much. I was only like that because, in a way, I was fascinated by you. I saw you as my sister, and I wasn't used to that. I was just always wanting to listen to you, because we had 18 years to make up for. I was the same with the boys when I met them. But what Luke has done to you makes me angry, angrier than I have ever been. You are my sister and he hurt you. I can tell he did. And I can't even explain to you how mad I was when he told us he wasn't coming. I guess what I'm trying to say is, Kylie, I'm your brother now. I'll always protect you, even if it's from one of my own brothers. You can always talk to me whenever you want. We're family now."

Tears welled in my eyes as I pulled Michael into a hug. I squeezed him tightly as I whispered, "Thank you Michael. I love you brother."