Gym Class

Chapter 6

I went home that night completely heart-broken. I wasn't my usual self and my family noticed. My family is a big family so it's hard to have secrets or privacy. My parents, Josie Richards and Greg Collins married when they were 20 years old. 2 years later they gave birth to my older brother Gabriel. A year later was when I came along. 4 years after that my mom was pregnant again with my little sister Anna. My parents thought they were done there but another 4 years later my little sister Grace came along.

My parents divorced a year after Grace was born, when I was 8. My mom turned to drugs and alcohol so we don't see her anymore. She wasn't fit to take care of us.

My dad started dating soon after that. He found a nice woman named Jackie Mills. Her husband died in the military 7 years before she met my dad. Our house became extremely chaotic after Jackie moved in. This was because of the fact that she has four kids as well.

There was Jasper Mills, the oldest. He was 17. Then there was the youngest, Justin, who was 10 years old. Jasper and Justin were both pretty calm and chill, rarely ever fighting with each other or my own brother and sisters. The reason my house was so noisy was because of the twins, Jordyn and Jackson. Jordyn and Jackson seemed to be like the real life Fred and George Weasley, well, if one of them was a girl. They were constantly pranking us and coming up with stupid ideas got us all into trouble.

Jasper was the one who noticed my behaviour first. Dad and Ashley were both working late tonight so Jasper, being the only kid able to drive, had to make sure everyone got home and to all their lessons and practices.

"Hey." He had smiled. "How about we go get some Subway while Jordyn's at soccer?"

"No thanks. I'm not really feeling Subway tonight." I replied slowly as I picked at a loose string hanging from the seat.

"Okay." He said, hanging onto the 'a' in a way that made him sound suspicious. "How about McDonalds?" I shook my head. "A&W?" I shook my head again. "Well what do you want?"

"Nothing." I told him. "I'm not hungry."

"Tess what's wrong?" Jasper asked with obvious concern. He ran a hand through his light, slightly curly, blonde hair that circled his head like a halo. We were in the parking lot of the school waiting for Jordyn. I thought for a minute and then decided to just tell him. I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off by the sound of the back door being thrown open, followed by the thump of bags on a seat and a loud, over dramatic sigh.

"Hey J." Jasper smiled into the rear-view mirror so Jordyn could see him.

"Hey Jazz, Tess." She said. She quickly put in her headphones and cranked up the volume like she normally did in the car.

"Okay Tess." Jasper said after we started driving. "She's got her headphones in now and she can't hear us. Tell me what's wrong."

I glanced back nervously at my little step-sister. She was in her own world of music, not paying attention to us. "Jasper I don't know how to tell you this. It's really confusing." I told him.

"Boy troubles?" He laughed.

"Yeah not exactly." I smiled. "Girl troubles."

"Oh? Did something happen with your friends?" Jasper asked as he made a sharp turn, cutting off another car in the process. I waited to respond to make sure I was heard over the sound of a car honking at my older brother. I laughed as Jasper flipped off the guy and then spoke again.

"It's my friend Jessica." I told him. "We were really good friends but then a few weeks ago we kissed. Then she asked me out and I turned her down, telling her I was straight and that I didn't like her that way. Then I realized how dumb I had been so I went to get her back but she had already moved on. She's now dating her other friend Lily." I said. I looked over to Jasper nervously. I was expecting a look of horror or disgust but instead I saw his concentration face. He was thinking deeply about what I had said.