SCOTT'S POV
The journey home was filled with my thoughts about that damn bet and what I'll gain in the end. All I want now is to win and show that idiot Jack who's the best. Since I met him, all he does is come up with reasons to try to intimidate and annoy me, and the worst part is he manages to irritate me with that cynical little smile of his. So now, it's more than just seeing him hand over that damn car to me; it's much more, and I'll do whatever it takes to see this bet through to the end. As I'm leaving the garage, I hear a strange, faint noise coming from the garden. As I approach, I identify the sound as a bark. A bark? Since when do we have a dog at home? I look between the flowers my mom loves, and a puppy stumbles out, standing between my legs. It seems scared and hungry. I crouch down to pick it up, and it pulls away with a small growl.
- Come here, I won't hurt you. - I say, extending my hand, and this time it lets me touch it. - I'll take you inside until I find your owner. - I say, and it seems to understand because it gives a weak bark, as if agreeing with what I just said.
When I get home, Mom and Hanna are on the couch looking at something on their laptop. I drop my backpack in a corner and go over to them.
- Mom! - I call their attention and they immediately take their eyes off the computer screen and look at me. - This puppy was here in the garden - I say and Hanna's eyes light up when she sees the little animal in my hands.
- Can I take it? - Hanna asks, all excited, reaching out to touch it.
- Take it, but be careful not to choke the poor thing to death - I say and she picks it up carefully. When she takes it from my hands, a small noise comes from the dog's throat.
- Oh, how cute. Let's keep it, right, Mom? - Hanna asks and my mother looks at her with a thoughtful expression.
- If he doesn't have an owner, maybe we can keep him - Mom answers calmly - I think it's better to give him something to eat, he seems hungry - she adds.
- Leave it to me, I'll make him something to eat - Hanna says excitedly and leaves skipping, taking the dog towards the kitchen.
Sometimes I think she forgot to grow, both in size and mentally.
- Wait a minute, you crazy woman. What are you going to give him to eat? - I ask, afraid that she'll give the dog something that his stomach won't accept and she'll end up killing the poor thing.
- I don't know. Meat? - She asks with a confused grimace.
- Of course not. Can't you see that he barely opened his eyes - I explain and she seems to understand.
- So what should I give him to eat? - She asks worriedly.
- Milk, you idiot - I say impatiently and she looks at me angrily.
- Fuck you, you idiot - She says and goes to the kitchen, stomping her feet hard on the floor. I hope you break your foot!
- Scott, stop talking to your sister like that - Mom says in a disapproving tone.
- She's annoying me - I say sitting next to her - And you, aren't you going to the hospital today?
- I'll go later - He says and I shake my head.
- I'm going to eat something and see if that crazy woman isn't giving soda to the dog.
When I get to the kitchen there is more milk spilled on the floor than in the bowl in front of the little monster. Mary and Hanna are laughing at his desperation trying to drink the milk.
If I said there was more milk on the floor than in the bowl it's because I hadn't seen the dog yet. He's all dirty, not a single clean fur left to tell the story, but he doesn't seem to care much about it, because he gets into the bowl and makes a huge mess. I pour juice into a glass, grab a piece of cake and go up to my room.
When I was finishing eating my cell phone rings, and speaking of cell phones I haven't bought a new one yet. I pick it up and see Leo's name. I slide my finger on the screen to answer it and before I can say anything Leo starts.
- Change of plans, big guy. We're not going to the club anymore, we're going to the amusement park - He says excitedly.
- Amusement park? Seriously? Who was the genius who came up with that idea? - I ask, pretending to be excited.
- Me. Aren't I the best? - He says excitedly.
- It had to be. Dude, where did you ever see a club being replaced by a Ferris wheel? Listen to me. Clubs have women. Amusement parks have children.
- Think about it. Who takes the little kids? - He pauses, waiting for me to answer, but I remain silent - The babysitters. Don't you watch movies? Scott, the babysitters in the movies are always so hot.
- I didn't want to disappoint you, but have you never watched that movie where the babysitter was horrible and had a wart on her nose? - I say and hear him sigh on the other side.
- I hadn't thought of that. But besides the babysitters, on the other hand, there are also the hotties. Just imagine. You're on the Ferris wheel next to one of them, she's scared, so you take her hand to calm her down, take advantage of it a little bit and damn Scott, God knows where your hand will be when the Ferris wheel stops.
- Okay. Okay. You've convinced me - I say, giving in. I wasn't in the mood to prolong a conversation that I already knew would end the rest of my patience.
- Good thing. I thought I'd have to resort to the old ladies who take the brats - He says laughing, which makes me laugh too.
- Ahhh, and take little Hanna. Who knows, maybe I'll be lucky enough to have her sit next to me - He says calmly and POOF!, my patience disappears as if by magic.
- Ahahahahah - I give an ironic laugh - It's easier for me to throw you from up there than for you to touch my sister with your hands.
- Okay, great brother, the person who spoke isn't here anymore.
- I think it's good - I say in a serious tone.
- But admitting one thing, just between us, I'm more into her brother. Man, Cot is the best - He says in a high-pitched voice.
- Yeah, I've noticed. The guy is irresistible. If I were a woman, I'd definitely get him - I say, joking, and he laughs.
- Oh my God! Just that little shake of his is killing me. Those legs, that ass, that...
- Okay, that's enough. It's getting weird - I interrupt him and he lets out a laugh so loud that I pull the phone away from my ear.
- Hey, you handsome guy - He says, still laughing.
- Bye.
- Ahhh, just one more thing. It was all a lie, don't get too cocky, I still prefer that hot Hanna.
- Your face will be covered in blood if you keep calling my sister hot - I say with hatred and the son of a bitch laughs in my face.
- I love you my life - He says laughing and hangs up. I put my cell phone on the nightstand and throw myself on the bed. I wake up with a hand shaking me from side to side. Hell, you can't even sleep in peace in this house.
- Scott, Scott, Scott.. _ I recognize the most annoying voice in the world.
- What is it Hanna? _ I say angrily sitting up in bed. I hate being woken up. If it's not the thing I hate the most, it's among the first.
- Leo called and asked me to wake you up. He said to tell you that you have an hour to get ready. So you better go right away because I spent almost twenty minutes calling you - She says everything quickly and then sighs.
- Okay. Anything else? _ I say, getting up and going to the bathroom.
- He invited me - She says and I stop halfway.
The bastard wasn't joking.
- What? - I ask, turning and looking at her.
- He said you were going to the park that opened last week and he invited me to go with you. - She says excitedly.
- I didn't want to ruin your excitement, but you're not going. - I say and see the smile evaporate from her face.
- Who said that? - She says with a raised eyebrow.
- Me. Now get out of my room because I want to get ready - I say harshly. If that idiot Leo thought I was going to take Hanna he was wasting his precious fucking time.
- It's already decided. I'm going and that's it - She says decisively, stamping her foot on the floor. Which was making me even more irritated than I already was.
- No, you're not. If I don't take you, are you going to walk? Alone? - I ask with a slight smile.
- No. Leo said that if you didn't want to take me he would come get me.
- I'm going to kill that bastard - I say calmly. Translating zero calm.
- Then you take me. You said that one day you would take me to celebrate that I got into college, did you forget? - She asks pouting. Oh my God, if she was thinking that she would move me she was very, very wrong.
- No. But I said it was just you and me, and not another bunch of men who can't see women.
- But I want to go today. With you and the others. - She says sitting on my bed.
- But you're not going today, simple as that - I say firmly.
- Since you don't want to solve things in the best way, let's go the other way. - She says coming towards me with a devilish smile on her face and I swear I was scared of her. - If I'm not mistaken last week you went out at night saying that you were going to do some work at a friend's house. Right? - She asks still with the same expression on her face and I nod wanting to see where she wants to go with this. - But since you were taking so long to get here, I, being the wonderful and concerned sister that I am, called one of the members of your gang and guess what... - She pauses and if I thought her face was scary, now it looked like she was possessed. - He said that the idiot leader had already left the club with a blonde. Did I say club? Of course I said club. So what do you have to say about that? - She asks with a smile that I'm sure was on the back of her neck.
- I don't have to explain my life to you. What I do or don't do is up to me and not up to some little brat who doesn't even know her own business yet - I say, trying to discourage her, but she keeps smiling.
- It's none of my business, but I bet daddy would love to know that you went out to a club in the middle of the week and came back at dawn. - She says, walking past me and heading towards the door.
- You have no proof.
- Really? - She asks, giving me a challenging look. - Look at this! - She says, holding out her cell phone to me. I take it from her hand and what I see on the screen makes me even more afraid of her. It was a picture of me entering my room after coming back from my apartment where I had sex with... Victoria? Samantha? Emma? I don't know, all I know is that it was a really hot blonde. - And it has the date and time - She says and when I was going to delete the picture, she continues... - And there's no point in deleting it, I have copies - She says and I look at her in disbelief.
- Seriously, I'm starting to get scared of you. - I look at her and she lets out a laugh that sounds like one of those laughs from horror movies.
- I think it's good - She says, taking the cell phone from my hands.
- Tell me something. What's the need for you to go around taking pictures of me? - I ask, already angry at the little girl who was standing in front of me.
- You never know when you'll need it. Right? - She says with an ironic smile on her face - So, did you solve it? Are you going to take me or not? - She asks with her arms crossed.
- Get ready, you little pest. And don't take long - I say and turn around, going to the bathroom to finally take my shower.
- Hey, the last sentence should be me telling you. - She says. - But thank you, you're the best brother in the world - I'm surprised by a kiss on the cheek.
- And you're the worst sister I could have. - I say angrily and she lets out a muffled laugh as she leaves my room. It would have been so much easier if I had thrown her out of my room and ignored her. But she had to blackmail me.
I think about the possibility of going without her, but I know that if I do that right away she'll make a scene and show the photo to my father. Am I afraid of him? No. But maybe I'm just a little too cowardly to face him and if I do that I know that one of us will get hurt.