Warrior Beautiful

by Wendy Knight

“I don’t want to work with you. I don’t want to be near you.” She crossed her arms and glared, refusing to look at him.

  “Fine. That’s a great idea. All I want to do is graduate from this stupid school so I can get out of here and away from you.” He spun on his heel and stormed away. He hadn’t meant it —in fact, the very thought of leaving for college and never seeing her again filled him with terror and kept him awake at night, but she’d hurt him.

  A lot. Again.

  The entire day, he couldn’t get her words out of his head. Every harsh thing she’d said to him in the last year seemed to attack at once, and his battered brain developed a headache to try to block her out. By the end of the day, he’d taken his limit of ibuprofen and finally got the pounding in his head under control. He walked into the gym with the football team, ready to work, determined to forget her. Scout couldn’t have transferred out of this class — it was for drill team and she had to be there to work with the other girls. But he didn’t see her. “Did she quit the freaking team just to get away from me?” he muttered under his breath.

  “What?” Cole asked, looking up at him.

  Trey sighed and rolled his eyes. “Nothing.

  “No, she didn’t quit the squad. She went home sick,” Kasen said. Being as tall as Trey and standing right next to him, he had been able to hear Trey when Cole had not.

  “She went home sick?”

  “Yeah, lover-boy. But Kylin’s still here.” Kasen said, his eyes narrowing.

  It wasn’t lost on Trey that Kasen had a thing for Kylin. He always had. Trey ran a hand through his hair. “I’m an idiot.”

  “Ya think?” Cole asked, grinning.

  Kasen picked up the football, tossing it in his hands as he spoke. “Clearly you aren’t in love with Kylin. And clearly she is in love with you. She’s practically got engagement rings picked out and she knows where you’re going on your honeymoon. You can’t just lead her on like this. It’s cruel.” He refused to meet Trey’s eyes.

  “How can she be in love? We’ve only been together for a couple months!” Trey threw his hands up, accidentally knocking the football out of Kasen’s hands and across the gym.

  “Girls are weird.” Cole shrugged.

  Kasen frowned. “Kylin has been in love with you since junior high. She was just biding her time until you and Scout…”

  “I want someone to make me forget Scout ever existed.” Trey stared up at the rafters. And I don’t think Kylin is it. It was hopeless.

  Cole shook his head, smacking him once on the back. “I doubt very much that is ever gonna happen, bro.”

  ****

  Scout shut the door quietly behind her, but somehow Lil Bit heard her and was already standing in the doorway to the mudroom when Scout turned around. “Hey Lil. How come you’re home from school early?”

  Lil Bit was pale. “The soul stealers are here.”

  Scout felt terrified chills race down her spine. “Already? But I haven’t heard any reports…”

  “They’re waiting for me.” Lil Bit whimpered.

  “Oh honey.” Scout squatted down in front of her, headache forgotten. “What can I do? How can I protect you?”

  Lil Bit smiled — in that smile there was so much pain, so much wisdom for such a little girl. Scout’s heart broke. “You can’t. But the unicorns can. They’re coming.”

  Scout rocked on her heels, tipping over backward and landing on her butt. Pain shot up her spine and she had to fight to keep from gasping out loud. Instead she said, “I thought the unicorns were always here. What about the white one? Your friend?”

  Lil Bit rolled her eyes, suddenly all pre-teen and not lost soul. “She doesn’t fight, Scout. She brings peace. The big, black ones are coming.”

  Somehow in all the times Scout had pictured unicorns, they had never been big, black ones. Scout hugged Lil Bit tight, despite her squirming to get away. “Well then we just have to keep you safe until they get here. Want to have a spa day?”

  Lil Bit frowned at her. “Didn’t we just have a spa day?”

  Scout clucked her tongue, shaking her head. “Little sister, it’s time you knew. A girl can never have too many spa days.”

  “Scout?”

  “Yeah Lil?” Scout settled Lil Bit at her vanity and went to the closet to dig for spa stuff.

  Lil Bit didn’t answer for several seconds. “If I leave, it’s to protect you. Not because I want to.”

  Scout froze, and it took her an eternity to force her feet to turn her body around. “Lil Bit.” Now she moved too quickly, nearly tripping over shoes she had left in the middle of the floor, to stumble to Lil Bit’s side. “Listen to me. Lil Bit,” she grabbed Lil Bit’s face and turned her until she had to meet Scout’s eyes. “That isn’t an option. If you’re in trouble, you stay with me.”

  Lil Bit stared back at her, giant brown eyes too wise, too old for such a little girl. Hours may have passed, or minutes, before Lil Bit finally nodded. “‘Kay.” Her lips quirked in a mischievous grin. “Didn’t you promise me a spa day?”

  Scout sat back, frowning. “Promise?” Lil Bit wasn’t a liar. If she promised, Scout could trust that.

  “I promise.” Lil Bit bounced on the vanity seat, clapping her hands. “Come on, already! These nails aren’t going to paint themselves!”

  Fighting her headache, Scout spent the rest of the day mixing homemade facemasks and slathering them on Lil Bit’s face, and then taking pictures as blackmail for when Lil Bit was older. They painted toenails and fingernails and watched princess movies that all had happy endings.

  ****

  “I haven’t seen much of you lately. I was wondering if you forgot about me.” Kylin said, following Trey into his house.

  “How could I forget about you?” Trey asked, smiling down at her. “Want a snack?” Football practice had been brutal and he was starving. And sore. And tired and slightly cranky, but he tried to hide that part.

  Kylin wrinkled her nose. “I don’t snack, Trey.” She looked at him like he should have known that, and he did know that, but wasn’t it normal to want a snack after school? Although Kylin was probably half his weight and she didn’t burn a lot of calories. Exercise was like a four letter word to her. Sweat was disgusting. So maybe she didn’t need a snack. He shook his head. Girls would never make sense to him.

  Scout did. He grit his teeth. Shut up, brain.

  He was determined to forget Scout. Kylin was the latest in a long line of distractions. None of the others had worked either, but he’d never been this desperate. And Kylin loved him. She didn’t deserve to be in love with someone who was in love with someone else.

  “Will it bother you if I snack? I’m starving.” Trey headed to the kitchen.

  Kylin raised an eyebrow and stared pointedly at his stomach. “You can’t wait ‘til dinner?”

  Some distraction. “Yeah.” His shoulders slumped in defeat. “I guess so.”

  “So…” she stepped closer to him, running her hands up his chest and locking them behind his neck. “What should we do?”

  Trey pulled her closer, lowering his head, letting his eyes fall shut.

  The back door burst open and his brothers both erupted into the room. “Seriously, dude. Get a room.” Tate pulled a face. They didn’t like Kylin. They hadn’t liked anyone since Scout.

  Kylin scowled at Tate. “Come on. Let’s watch a movie in your room.” She grabbed Trey’s hand and dragged him out of the kitchen.

  “I can’t have girls in my room.” Trey said. They’d been together for two months. She knew this already.

  “But your parents aren’t even home.” Kylin pouted. She wasn’t big on rules. Her mother literally didn’t give her any, and her dad lived in London and only enforced his rules when she was there. Both her parents believed in the new-age-parenting-whatever that children had to be trusted to make their own choices. It made Kylin… interesting.

  He unlocked her hands from around his neck. “Doesn’t matter. They will be. And both my
brothers are home.”

  “Yes…” her fingers traced the buttons on his shirt, slowly undoing the top one, “and the little one told us to get a room.”

  I can’t do this. This isn’t what I want. Trey opened his mouth, although he wasn’t sure what he planned on saying, when Liam thumped down the stairs like an elephant.

  “Mom and Dad are bringing dinner home right this second. Wanna watch a movie?” He raised an eyebrow at Trey, as if Liam somehow knew he needed to be rescued.

  Trey had never been tempted to kiss his brother before, but he was pretty tempted now.

  Kylin sighed and rolled her eyes. “Which movie?” she asked, peering around Trey’s shoulder.

  Without a word Liam held it up and wiggled it in the air.

  “Yeah, I guess.” Kylin pulled Trey down onto the couch with her, fitting herself on his lap with her legs curled around his.

  Yeah, mom’s gonna love this, Trey thought.

  “I’ve got popcorn!” Tate leaped down the three steps from the kitchen to the living room, juggling a large red bowl as he did.

  “Does it have butter on it?” Kylin asked.

  “Well duh.” Tate looked at her like she’d grown two heads. “Who eats popcorn with no butter?”

  “Do you know how many calories that has? If you must snack, plain popcorn is a fiber-packed choice without all the calories.” Kylin looked expectantly at Tate.

  “I could suck all the butter off and spit the popcorn back into the bowl for you.” Tate grinned wickedly at her.

  “Ew.” Kylin gasped.

  “Kylin doesn’t snack anyway,” Trey said, motioning for the bowl with his free hand. Tate gave it to him as Liam popped in the movie.

  “How can you not snack?” Tate asked, around a mouthful of popcorn. Kylin glanced at him uncertainly, as if judging whether he was making fun of her or not. “Obesity runs in my family. But my Nana says to be the best in the business, I have to be able to wear what I create.” She shrugged, as if that explained everything.

  “Her Nana is Lauren Rose Austin.” Trey said. Both boys stared at him, still lost. “The famous designer? She has a major fashion show in New York every year?”

  “What I want to know is how you know this.” Tate pulled a face.

  “Yeah. Man-card revoked, bro.” Liam said.

  “He knows because he’s a good boyfriend and he listens to me. I’m going to be the greatest fashion designer ever. Even bigger than my Nana.” Kylin smiled up at Trey. “And he’s interested because supporting my future is supporting his future. Except when we move to New York, these things have to go.” She tugged on the leather bands around his wrist.

  Trey’s heart faltered in his chest. Fashion was his future?

  “Seriously? I thought his future was college and being a boring architect for the rest of his life,” Tate said, straight-faced.

  “He can be that, too.” Kylin sniffed. “But he won’t have to, if he doesn’t want to. He can stay home with the dogs. Daycare is expensive.”

  “Dogs? Dogs don’t need someone to stay home with them. And they don’t need to go to daycare!” Liam flung his hand in the air, throwing popcorn all over the room.

  “Maybe she meant kids,” Tate said, snatching a stray piece of popcorn off the couch and throwing it in the air, catching it in his mouth as it came down.

  “No kids.” Kylin looked horrified. Trey felt her stiffen under his arm.

  “Trey likes kids. He’s good with kids. He’s one of the few people Lil Bit will talk to.” Liam said.

  “Do you have any idea what having children does to your body? And who is Lil Bit?”

  Trey was in the process of figuring out how to get a word in edgewise about his own future, but the mention of Lil Bit froze the words in his throat. He widened his eyes and frantically shook his head, but Tate missed the memo. Or he blatantly disregarded it because he liked to cause trouble; Trey wasn’t sure which.

  “Lil Bit is Scout’s little sister.”

  “Scout?” Kylin’s voice went up several notches, and Trey winced. “You’ve been hanging out with Scout?” She whirled in his arms, fury visible even behind all the makeup.

  “Whoa. No one said he was hanging out with Scout.” Liam held his hands up like he could ward off Kylin’s attack. “We said her little sister talks to him. She’s eleven. And she lives three houses down. It’s not like—”

  “I knew this would happen. You start working with her for that stupid project and suddenly you’re all over her again!” Kylin exploded to her feet, throwing his arm off her.

  One of the things Trey had liked so much about Kylin when they first started hanging out was how confident she was. She wasn’t a jealous person at all, and she had her own life and her own interests. She did things with her girls all the time. But Scout had always been her thorn, the one word that set her off, every single time.

  “We worked on the project. That’s it, and now we’re not even doing that anymore. Chill, Ky,” Trey said, glaring at his brothers.

  “You didn’t talk to her at all about anything besides the project?” She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him, perfectly arched eyebrows now angry slashes across her forehead. His brothers sat silently, forgotten.

  “We spent, like, five hours working on that project, Ky. Yeah, other topics came up.” Like how I abandoned her and how she’ll hate me until she dies.

  “I can’t believe you,” Kylin hissed through her teeth.

  “Girl, you are ornery. I bet your blood sugar’s low. You need to eat,” Liam said.

  Tate held up the bowl. “Popcorn?”

  “Ugh!” Kylin screeched. She spun on her heel and stormed away, slamming the front door. Trey heard her trendy little car roar to life as she flew out of his driveway.

  “That went well.” He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Peering at his brothers over his fingers, he said, “Thanks, for that.”

  “Dude, why are you with her? She’s not nice,” Tate said.

  “You just don’t like her ‘cause she’s not Scout.” Liam said to Tate, rolling his eyes.

  “Scout would at least eat our popcorn,” Tate muttered, picking out a kernel and throwing it at Liam.

  “You fight all the time. You fight more than you don’t fight,” Liam pointed out, dodging flying kernels.

  “She’s passionate,” Trey said. It was true; she was passionate about fashion, about her career, about him. But life in general, not so much. She didn’t think life had really started yet — and it wouldn’t until she got to New York.

  “Right. That’s why she always wants to go to your room.” Liam snickered and Trey threw a pillow at him.

  “Shut up. You’re too young to think like that,” Trey said.

  “You were my age when you were with Scout,” Liam objected, throwing the pillow back. He missed, but Tate threw the other one, catching Trey in the face.

  “Yeah, and look where that got me.” Trey ran a hand over his face. “Can we please not talk about Scout? Ever again? Especially if Kylin’s here?” He didn’t want to sound like he was begging, but he kind of was. Just the mention of her name felt like someone had poured acid on his heart. It had hurt before, but having her back for such a short time and then losing her… it had torn open all the wounds.

  “I’ll make you a deal.” Tate leaned forward, studying him intently.

  “I don’t want your deal.”

  “Dump Kylin and I’ll never breathe a word about Scout again,” Tate said.

  Trey started to laugh until he realized Tate was serious. “You’re a moron.”

  “I’m not! So you can’t have Scout. We get that—” Tate started.

  “—But at least find someone who can make you happy. Kylin makes you miserable,” Liam finished.

  “When did you two get so all-knowing?” Trey stood up. He’d had enough. The fact that they were right was more annoying than the fact that they were pestering him about it in the first place.

  “Wel
l, you abandoned all your common sense. Someone had to pick up the slack.” Tate leaned back on the couch with his hands behind his neck, grinning. Trey walked past him, shaking his head. With a forcible nudge, he pushed the couch over backward, laughing as Tate yelled all the way down.

  Kylin hadn’t always been like this. When they first started dating, she was adorable. His brothers had almost liked her and his parents thought she would finally pull him out of the darkness he’d been in since the accident. She had been friendly and so much more laid-back. She was an only child, and her mother traveled a lot. Her grandmother doted on her, but Kylin had loved spending time with his family because they were “normal.”

  He wasn’t sure when she had changed. She’d gotten more insecure, lashing out when she was hurt. He’d known her since junior high and she’d always had a temper, but worse, she was capable of saying incredibly cruel things when she was trying to protect herself. Now, his parents thought she was trouble and his brothers — clearly — didn’t like her at all. Trey wasn’t sure what he thought. He tried not to examine it too closely. Just a few more months and he would leave for college. He would lose Scout forever and probably never see Kylin again. If he could keep from breaking her heart until then, he’d be able to live with himself for the remainder of his life.

  He had dinner, took a shower, tried not to yell at everyone because of his bad mood, and spread his homework all over the living room floor, working while he watched his brothers play video games. “You guys should get some sleep. That pandemic is right at our borders.” Trey’s mom, Julien, stuck her head in the living room, watching them for several seconds, worry playing around the corners of her eyes.

  “Serious?” Tate sat up, turning to look at her, as if seeing her face would make it more believable.

  “Yes. And the healthier you are, the better chances you have of not getting it.” His dad, Brandon, stood behind Julien, frowning.

  “Nu uh. The news said it doesn’t care how healthy someone is. It attacks regardless.” Liam said without turning from the game.

  “Just go to bed. And stay inside tomorrow. And away from people.” Julien sighed, turning away.