Irritatingly Irresistible

Thirteen

IRRITATINGLY IRRESISTIBLE

"Hey Tater Tot," Ezra said, walking into the kitchen the next morning. "Hey," I said quietly, fiddling with the spoon in my cereal. "You feeling okay?" He asked, his tone full of worry. I only shook my head, continuing my stare down at my bowl. "What happened, Honey?" He asked, gently running his thumb over my hand.

"Atts and I are fighting," I mustered, scared that I'd only start crying more if I talked about it. "Why?" He asked and I looked up at him, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  "He picked her," Was all I said, giving him a small sad smile.

Ezra stood up, and I could tell he was angry and about to act irrationally. "Ezra wait," I said but he ignored me, walking off to Atticus's room. "Ezra," I tried again as I followed him down the hall. He once again ignored me and threw Att's door open, catching both Atticus and I by surprise.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Ezra's voice boomed throughout the room as he moved farther into Atticus's room. "What are you," Atts started to say, but he was cut off by Ezra grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. "What's this bullshit I hear about you taking that bitch's side over Tate's?" Ezra growled, pulling Atts out of his chair. "Tate has been nothing but ruthless to Madison," Atticus yelled and now I was growing angry.

"Did she say I attacked her in the kitchen? Threatened her? Made her bleed?" I yelled, causing both of them to look at me. "Did I leave scars on her?" I yelled again, moving farther into the room. "What?" Atticus asked, trying to break Ezra's hold. "Your bitch of a girlfriend had been putting me down since the day after the Halloween party," I yelled.

"She tormented me, the whole time. But I said nothing because you were happy! I let her put me down so badly that I was afraid of living here. It got so bad that she has given me scars from digging her fingernails into me," I growled, and watched as Atticus's face morphed into one of horror. "I sacrificed my happiness and safety for your happiness, but the minute she says something she's the good guy and I'm the bad guy," I said, tears of anger rolling down my face now.

"Fuck you, Atticus Lee. Fuck you," I said before leaving the room in a hurry. I heard loud shouting from his bedroom but paid it no mind as I ran. I bolted into my room and let a scream rack my body as I dropped to my knees.

Fuck.

***

"Come on Tater Tot, let's go do something," Ezra said as he pushed my bedroom door open. "I don't feel like going anywhere," I said, rolling over in my bed to look at him. "Please Tate, I want to take you out. So you can get your mind off of Atticus for a little while," He said softly, sitting on the edge of my bed. "Where do you want to go?" I asked as he started rubbing his hand up and down my back.

"Let's go to the county fair?"