Fighting to go on

Chapter 28

           The Friday before my birthday, Brittany came over for the weekend. Sarah was spending the weekend as well, and I’d invited Anna, much to Charlie’s dismay. We’d told the boys that they weren’t allowed in the living room while we were in there, and they both whined about it, but I remained firm.

            When the three girls had all arrived, we set up a “girls” den in the living room. That meant that we grabbed a lot of blankets and pillows and spread them out on the floor. We all piled onto the blankets and put on the first of many chick flicks. We decided to paint our nails while we watched the movie, so we broke into pairs. I was with Anna, meaning Sarah and Brittany were doing each others nails.

            “So how are things going with Ryan?” Brittany asked me.

            I smiled. “Really good. Although he’s a little annoyed that I told him he wasn’t allowed in here for the weekend.”

            “Is it weird? Living with him?”

            I shook my head. “It was at first, but now I’m used to it. His mom is amazing; you’ll meet her tomorrow. Charlie has settled in well too, which makes it all the better.”

            “Charlie likes it here,” Anna piped up. “He told me a couple of weeks ago that he likes it, because you smile a lot more now. Plus, he likes the fact that the house is massive.”

            I chuckled. “Yeah, it is pretty big. But I think once we graduate, we might move into our own place. Charlie will come with us of course. But I think we want to find a house that has an attached apartment or something, so Charlie can have his privacy.”

            “He’d probably like that,” Anna replied. “You’re going to try and be his legal guardian after your birthday, right?”

            “Yeah. I don’t think it’ll be too hard. Jason doesn’t want the guardianship anyways, and the fact that we’re living here, with Ryan’s mom, will really help my case. At least, that’s what my lawyer says.”

            “Won’t that be weird? Being your brothers guardian?” Brittany wanted to know.

            I shrugged. “Not really. I mean, I’ve been looking after him for over two years now. And it’s not like he’s a little kid. He’s fifteen; he’s pretty much self-sufficient. Plus, Ryan is here to help me now, so if Charlie gets out of hand, I’ll just get Ryan to deal with him,” I said with a smirk.

            All three of them chuckled at that. “Have you had any problems with that skank from the dance?” Sarah wanted to know.

            “Nope. She hasn’t come near me at all. If I see her in the halls, she usually just turns and walks the other way. Ryan finds it pretty amusing,” I replied, chuckling.

            “What story did I miss?” Brittany asked.

            “Oh, that’s right. I never told you about the dance. This girl was there, hitting on Ryan and I had some words with her.” I went on to explain what had happened. All three girls were laughing by the time I was finished recounting the tale.

            “You should have seen the look on the other girls face,” Sarah chortled. “Poor Sammy, you have to constantly fight women off your man.’

            “Speaking of which, I wanted to let you know that Ashley is in counseling,” Brittany told me.

            “Good, because that girl needs some serious help,” I replied.