My Champagne Problems

4: Nicolas Feuillatte

'Truth is what lies deeper than the skin, family is what binds us from within'

"This is all your fucking fault!" I accuse Graham, yet let him carry the majority of my body weight as we push open my front door.

"Mine?" He retorts offended. 

"Yeah yours, you were the one who said 'c'mon this will be an experience, it'll be fun', fun my ass," I scoff, using a mocking deep tone to mimic his.

"Well, I wasn't the one who told you to fucking fall off the board with your fucking eyes glued to that fucker," he bites back. 

"Will the both of fucking quit bickering like kids," Jorden says in a sharp tone holding the door open for Graham and me. 

"Oh hey mum," I greet nervously when I see her make her way towards us at a fast pace, probably by all the commotion we caused.

"What happened?" She demands, yet her eyes hold concern as they examine my bleeding knee, only a napkin tied around it aiding in stopping the blood. Her eyes then travel to the skateboard in my free hand and she sighs.  

Once done with her quick exam she doesn't wait for an answer from us, instead, she guides us towards the living room, with me hopping on one foot while Graham acts like my crutch. 

But if mum's presence at first rendered me nervous, my state when I walked in the living room only to find Enrique and Ryan present in the same room made me want to sink within my own skin. 

"Seat her down here, I'll get the first aid kit," mum instructs Graham before rushing off towards the kitchen. 

While Graham slowly helps me maneuver myself to do as mum instructed, I can sense their piercing gaze following my every move, burning holes into my bleeding knee. "Damnit," I cuss when a sharp pain travels up my leg originating from my keen being moved. 

No one in the room lets out a word as we wait for mum to return, using this silence to my advantage and ignoring the pain the entire right side of my body is in, I direct my gaze towards the two men sitting on the sofa across me from under my lashes. 

The question in their eyes is evident with just a single glance, but what catches me off guard is the look of concern I spot in their otherwise cold impassive gaze. Mum hurries back into the room and at once gets to work on fixing me. 

The growing tension in the room only adds to my discomfort as every time I flinch I feel their stare intensify. "Why are you always so careless?" Mum mutters under her breathe while I clench my fist around the edge of the armchair I'm sitting on, trying to bear the pain. 

"And that stupid skateboard?" Her eyes travel up to mine. "I'm burning that wretched thing," she promises--a promise she has made each time I hurt myself while skateboarding. 

"It's not that bad," I try defending myself, looking away from her reprimanding gaze. 

"And you two," she continues motioning towards Graham and Jorden with her finger, once she's done staring me down. "Mind explaining to me how my daughter managed to hurt herself while skateboarding, again?" She crosses her arm while waiting for their answer. 

Graham opens his mouth to say something, but I shoot him the deadliest glare I can muster in this pain causing him to close his mouth shut, without spilling a word. 

"We were trying this new trick and I lost balance," I confess, and my defense it isn't a complete lie. I just left out the part where I saw Greyson--a guy from my debate team--whom I have a massive crush on at the skate park and in the process of impressing him I landed up with a busted knee.