He turns, sighing, “how do you like your eggs cooked?”
“Over easy” I smile innocently, “you are officially my favourite in the house.”
“Hey! What about me?” Blair pouts, pulling himself out of the fridge.
“You’re my brother's favourite, and as much as I appreciate you giving me your room, August is the one currently holding the spatula” I tease. He huffs before taking a big swig out of the orange juice container he’s holding.
Gross.
“Where wereyouso early?” Miller asks, turning to face me.
“Practice” I say passively as August slides a plate of eggs, toast, and bacon my way. I take a massive bite and groan, “August this is fucking amazing.”
“Practice for what? We don’t have practice until four” Davis says, his eyebrows creasing.
“Figure skating, I practice three days a week at five in the morning.”
Did Tony tell them fucking anything?
“Sounds like an understatement to me.” I jump at the sound of Lucas’s deep voice, I didn’t realize he came in. “Looks like you’ve won three consecutive nationals, pretty girl.” The boys all crowd around his phone, looking down at whatever article or google page he has pulled up.
My heart drops to my stomach as I jump off the stool and speed towards them, praying that there’s nothing there about my brother. We’ve tried our best to keep our lives separate, I even changed my last name for all my figure skating stuff to Loyola —my middle name— but sometimes things happen and people find out. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see they have an article pulled up that was written about me a couple months ago, praising me for my accomplishments and rooting for me to win nationals again this year.
“Guess we have an ice princess in our midsts, should we bow?” Lucas quips, venom laced in his tone.
I don’t understand what I did to make him dislike me this much, I’ve known him less than twenty-four hours.
“If I’m a princess, would that make you a peasant?” I ask mockingly. The others let out a round of laughter, while Lucas just scoffs. “Oh lighten up, I’m only joking.” He isn’t having it though, he scowls at me and then storms off.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No, not at all. He’s just annoyed cause he thinks you don’t know shit about hockey. He also thinks we don’t need the help” Blair explains, trying to comfort me.
But I just nod my head, silently agreeing and pushing away any thoughts that I did something to upset him. I feel bad, even though I know I shouldn’t.
Why does he get to joke around and I can’t?
I thank August for the food and head upstairs, embarrassed that I’ve managed to piss off my roommate so easily. I get halfway down the hallway, with tears a second away from falling, when Miller comes rushing up behind me and pulls me into a tight hug. I stiffen for a moment before returning it.
My face is against his chest, and his chin rests on the top of my head, “I thought you could use this” he mumbles into my hair.
He isn’t wrong. “What would make you think that?”
“I saw how you looked when you first walked into the house. You aren’t very good at hiding your emotions.”
If only he knew how wrong he is.
I feel my cheeks heat up, feeling ashamed that I keep so many secrets from my brother, and my body stiffens again.
“Don’t worry, I don’t think the others noticed.”
His words calm me, at the very least there weren't more people noticing how pathetic I looked. “Thank you Miller” I say, pulling away and smiling.
“No problem Claire Bear.”
I laugh at his nickname, it’s kind of ironic that I’m Claire Bear and he’s a teddy bear. Miller has a good heart, I can tell he’s one of the good ones. The kind of guy who will always be there for you and never pass judgment even in the darkest of times. I really like him, and even as he walks away, all I want to do is take a fucking shower and see Steph.
Stephanie Saunders is my best friend. I met her during orientation week in my first year at Livler, and we’ve been best friends ever since. She’s this short blonde girl with green eyes, super bubbly and adorable… except when she’s angry. She’s terrifying when she’s mad. The girl is a total hot head, and ready to defend her friends no matter what. She doesn’t take shit from anyone and makes sure they know it.
