Seven Brothers

3. Impropmtu Interrogation

A week later and nothing had changed, I hadn't had the courage to text Tristan. I just couldn't shake the feeling that I wasn't good enough for him, like he wasn't really interested.

And still, Elijah was despicably hanging out with my brothers. More often than not he was at my house which made me uncomfortable to say the least. We barely spoke, barely even looked at each other. It meant that I had to avoid my brothers in order to avoid him which unsettled me as we had always been extremely close.

I knew I would feel better when my other brothers came home from college and I could spend time with them. In the mean time, I had been keeping my dad company.

He and I were sat in his study one evening after school, working on a puzzle. He loved puzzles and I loved to humour him, he said they helped to relax him when we played up; which was coincidently, quite a lot.

"I think I'll get some tea, do you want some?"I offered. He nodded dismissively in reply, too engrossed in his puzzle to merit a real reply.

When I reached the kitchen I nearly gasped, but I managed to contain my shock. There stood Elijah Antonelli, in MY kitchen, making sandwiches with MY bread. Well, at least he was defying gender stereotypes. He turned and grunted at me, as if to acknowledge my existence before turning back to the food.

I tentatively crept into the kitchen and over to the stove, trying hard not to rattle the beast.
"You know, Peyton is a boy's name. You're the only girl in your family and you're still named like a boy" he said suddenly, turning to face me.

Wait, what? He was actually speaking to me? We were alone and he was choosing to interact with me, albeit only to insult me. I spun around to glare at him.

"It is a unisex name!" I exclaimed, probably more angry than I should have been. But he made me angry, it was his fault! That little smirk on his lips only served to make me more angry.

"My mother didn't exactly count on having a girl so she prepared a unisex name just in case. Besides, Peyton is actually my middle name" I ranted at him as he stood staring at me with those intriguing eyes.

"What's your first name?" he asked without hesitation.
"The most girly name you could possibly imagine, as if I would tell you" I snorted, turning back to the stove.

"I'll find out" he stated simply, also turning away.
"My brothers won't tell you, so good luck with that" the smile on my lips could be heard in my voice.
"We'll see" he chimed as he wondered out of the kitchen and hopefully out of my life.

How could one measly boy frustrate me so much! He made me want to tear my hair out and smash several plates at the same time. Most of all I wanted to grab him by his collar and sling him out of my house, but no. My brothers were infatuated with him, they practically worshipped him and it made me sick. One day i would get my payback I thought evilly. One day.

~~~

I finally managed to get some peace and quiet on the running track after school. For weeks I had Silver and Vincent blabbering in my ear and if it wasn't them it was it was Sebastian.

All anyone ever talked about was Elijah and I wasn't sure how much more of it I could take, he had practically become a permanent fixture at our house.

I finally felt some relief as I jogged, feeling the cold wind whip away my stress. I could barely remember his name by the time I reached the half way point, that was until I saw him.

WHAT?! Since when was he on the football team? I definitely did not take him as the 'team activity' type. But then I suppose he and my brothers were inseparable. Unfortunately, the triplets weren't exactly the sporty type, but Sebastian was a prominent player on the team.