Meet The Carters {Under Reconstruction}

Love Me, Hate Me

I leaned back against the pole behind me, watching all the kids run around the playground. Lincoln was laying on the table, listening to music as we waited for Dustin and Jamie to come back. I stood up straighter when I saw Dustin come out from behind the slide. Jamie was only a few inches behind hm, gripping the shirt of a kid that looked to be about the same age as Dustin. Despite him being as tall as Jamie, he still had boyish features.

"What the hell? Let me go! James Carter, I will have my dad sue your family!" The boy yelled as Jamie approached us, tossing the boy in front of me. He hit the ground with a hard thud, his dark brown hair falling into his eyes.

"Stella this is Brent. Brent this is Stella, our nanny." Jamie said, introducing us. Brent stood up, laughing.

"Nanny? What are you, five?" He said, looking back and forth between Jamie and Dustin and then finally to Lincoln who had sat up and pulled the headphones out of his ear.

"Actually," I said, "The only five year old here is you, Brent." He gave me a confused look, his eyes dark.

"Excuse me? Just because your hot it doesn't mean you can. . ." I stopped him, shaking my head.

"Look, Kid. I don't. . ."

"I'm not a kid." He growled, similar to the way Dustin did when someone called him a child.

"How old are you?" I questioned, crossing my arms.

"I'm sixteen, I'll be seventeen in a couple months." I tried to hold back my surprise and anger, but I failed. I pushed the kid back, glaring at him.

"Oh, really? So tell me, Brent, is it? Does going around and calling kids faggots or pushing them off a cliff, or even ruining a seven year old's baseball game make you feel like a man?" Brent stared at me in shock, after a minute he slammed his mouth shut without saying a word.

"What? Can the big tough guy not speak? Did you know you broke Dustin's leg? We could press charges against you. So I'm going to ask you again, does hurting little kids make you feel like a man?" I repeated, he stiffened at my words. He shook his head, looking down at the pavement.

"No." He whispered.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." I could see a few teenagers standing in front of the playground, obviously friends of Brent's. But they were all laughing, making fun of him being scolded by a girl.

"Who the hell are you to talk anyway? You aren't even a Carter! You just walk in and think you are so perfect and. . ." Lincoln moved so quickly that I didn't even see him pass. He had Brent by the collar of his shirt, glaring down at him. I looked back over at his friends to find that they had all stiffened in fear for their friend.

"She is a Carter now, kid. And that means you stay away from her. And if I ever, ever hear your name or see you with any of my siblings, then I will personally beat the crap out of you myself. I don't care about the consequences." Lincoln grabbed the kids arm and twisted it. Jamie was trying to stop his brother, but Link wasn't done.

"Do you think it's okay to mess around with my thirteen year old sister?" Brent screamed out in pain, shaking his head.

"If I ever see your hands on either of my sisters again, you are going to wish you had never seen my face." Lincoln threatened before shoving the kid to the ground and walking back over to me.

"Hey, Stella is it?" Brent said, his lips curling up in a smirk.

"What?" I snapped. He rubbed his arm and glared up at me.