The sound of the alarm always made me crazy.

I opened one eye and took a quick look at the phone. A reminder note popped up and so did I.

After a quick run into the bathroom, I brushed my teeth, had a quick shower and got ready. I called out for boys on my way down to the kitchen,

"Noel, get up."

I stuffed the cereal into four bowls and poured milk into them. Once it was ready, I went back to their room and dragged both from their bed.

"Juzz five mo minates," Noel mumbled, still half asleep.

"Not at all." I pushed him, placed his toothbrush into his hands and lifted Theo.

"Theo, it's superman time!"

That was my success keyword in getting Theo ready in time. He rushes like a superhero and does everything fast or at least tries to.

Once our legendary breakfast was over, Noel began packing his school bag and Theo's, while Theo sat there, enjoying his TV show.

I took the last bowl and walked past them to mom's room. She was peacefully lying there, eyes closed.

"Mom?"

"Hmm." she didn't open her eyes or respond further. So I tore a page out of my note and scribbled 'Have your cereal and medicine' onto it and placed it beneath the bowl.

"I've stuff to do this morning, so I'll be leaving early. Make sure you close the door properly and DO NOT leave the key anywhere, okay?"

Noel nodded and glanced back at the TV.

"And only go to class after you see Theo get in."

"Yeah." he nodded again.

"Bye, then." I swung the bag over my shoulder and opened the door.

"Bye." Noel called out, busy watching TV.

Just as I stepped out, I remembered and hurried back.

"Theo?" He was so immersed in the show that I had to shake him to make him notice.

"Bye, Theo."

"Bye." he hugged me tightly and kissed my cheek. I smiled and did the same. He was very specific in goodbyes. One time I forgot to hug him goodbye and he whimpered as if I was abandoning him.

Brandon's parents took them to the school. They've been more than friendly to us. They love Noel like their own child and as a bonus, love me and Theo as well. Apart from Maria, it's only them in the neighbourhood who invites us to dinner and stuff.

By the time I reached the location that was sent to me, I was panting. I gulped down some water and greeted the man, who opened the door.

"Hello, Mr Richard. Good Morning,"

"Morning. You must be Evelyn." he gave me a tight smile.

"Yes, sir."

"Get in." He asked me to have a seat and called out, "Janet, she is here."

A woman came hurrying down and stopped when she saw me.

"Hi ma'am, I'm Evelyn."

"Oh yes, I know. Come here." She said, leading me into a room. "Kate's a bit weak in chemistry and that has been affecting her grades. Maria told me you could help." she smiled widely.

Ah, my fairy Godmother in this reck of a life. What would I ever do without you, Maria?

"It's okay. I'm sure we can get the grades back, right Kate?" I asked the sophomore next to me, who was slightly tensed. She just nodded, making her curls dance.

"That's sweet of you. I'll talk with Maria about your payment if that's okay." she said as she handed me a cup of coffee.

"Sure. Thank you."

"Oh, call me Janet." she went back with a smile and I opened the chemistry book to start my work.

                           
                            ~~~~

After tutoring, I was on time, not late. So I walked towards my locker and opened it before something hard hit me right on my face.

And that hurt!

I covered my nose with my palm and heard a snicker. Caught off guard, I looked into my locker to see it filled with sand. And the door of my locker was host to some sort of home alone trap. A baseball was what shot into my face.

I clenched my mouth tight, suppressing my pain and closed the locker.

I'll carry all my books, so what? Surely, this was Tyler. Or his friends.
I didn't want to see them at all and was so frustrated that I took a long spiral way to my class instead of walking past them.

Within lunchtime, I earned a few stares which sort of convinced me that a small bruise might be appearing. I felt weak and pathetic. Once a loser always a loser. That phrase should be changed.

Once a bully victim, always a bully victim. Once you choose to be silent, you'll always remain silent.

Or maybe that was just me.

I was about to return to the class when a hand wrapped around my waist and pulled me back. The sudden movement made me startle that I jumped and turned.

Tyler!

I yanked myself off him and before I could take another step, he grabbed my upper arm and pulled me closer. He lowered his face, only inches apart from mine. His eyes were intense, intimidating as usual. But I couldn't see a teasing smirk, only a blank stare.

That only lasted for a second. Because before I could register the stare, came back the daring smirk.

"Where are you running to?" His smirk never left his face as he dragged his thumb from my ear to my chin.

"Do you remember our first meet, or should we call it a meet cute?" He asked me as if I'd easily forget.

It was crystal clear in my mind, the day, probably the unluckiest of my life, when unfortunately he thought I was the one who complained against him for bullying. He greeted me by dumping the leftover mud on my head.

"You were such a coward kid that you skipped the school for next two weeks." he smirked. "Shouldn't have done that, honey."

Yeah, right. Like I'd ditch school for some idiot. Suffer? Yes. But would never compromise education because of him.

"Memories are beautiful, aren't they?" His voice went to a whisper, tugging me close.

He eyed the plant pots, several feet away from us and I sighed.

"Stop this, Tyler."

"How can I? I didn't quite get you like this for almost a year. And now when I have you with me, how can I ignore you, sweetheart?"

Again, taking a year off was a stupid decision.

My thoughts were cut off by a distant voice.

"Who's there?" We all turned, but all I could see was a shadow. I stepped aside to see a tall guy.

"Oh come on Tyler. Still bullying little kids?" He walked towards us.
"Who do you think you are? A school kid?"

"Shut up and mind your fucking business." Tyler's back faced me, so I couldn't see his face. But from his tone, he wasn't really fond of this person.

"Oh yeah?"

"Fuck off, Jude."

Oh, no. This should be the one I'm staying away from. And here I am, in the middle of these two.

A furious argument started between them and I took the chance to scoot from there.

But later, when his friend decided to talk shit about me, I could see a few sympathetic eyes and a few confused ones. And no one stopped him from being a jerk to me. The same was in school. Either they enjoyed it or they minded their own business. But I didn't have any right to blame or judge them, because I was and am in the second category. I never stood up for someone either, not even for myself.

                               ~~~~

As I got into the cafe, Charlie, a talented baker who quit months ago, was walking out.

"Hey, Evelyn. You're early!" He grinned and a quick look at the watch told me I was five minutes late.

"Come on, Charlie. I deserve five minutes."

"Oh, I wasn't teasing, Marissa said you'd be two hours late on the alternate days and today was one of those days. Or was she teasing this old soul?"

I stood there frozen for a second and slowly turned back.

"It is...?" I cleared my throat. "It's Monday right?"

"Tuesday." he chuckled, shaking his head as if I was being silly.

Of course, I was silly.

"Oh shit!" I threw the apron away, snatching my bag back and ran towards the door.

"Need a ride?" He asked with wide eyes, twinkling with humour.

"Don't laugh at me and it's okay, I'll catch the bus."

"Get in, kid. I'm in no hurry." It took two minute for him to convince me that it wasn't a bother for him.

And just as he dropped me off, a woman with raven hair stepped out with an almost glare aimed at me. "I was about to call you."

"Sorry for being late, ma'am. I swear it won't happen again." I tried my best polite expression.

"Alright. Not again. Get in." she said stepping aside.

"Thank you,"

Babysitting was quite easy, especially with little April. She was asleep during the whole two hours and I was totally free to do some of the works.

I was satisfied with all the jobs. Janet was a friendly woman and Claire- April's mom- wasn't rude or anything. She sure had potential to be rude, but was keeping it pretty decent. I was happy with my employers, except for Tyler's dad.

Last year, I had Annie. Thankfully this year too. It's not like she needed someone for weekends alone. She did that just to help me and I knew it. She and Maria were book pals, as Annie once said and I think that was a major reason behind this suspiciously convenient job, she offered.

The babysitting and waitressing together managed to exhaust me but I tried to be enthusiastic as my youngest brother opened the door with a smile.

"Look who's opening the door! Man of the house Theo, huh?" I squeezed his round puppy face as I stepped in and quickly made the dinner.

Having dinner with them was always fun. I had this weird rule inside my head that whenever I could, I should eat with them. Which I broke at times I'm running late and didn't want them to  be hungry.

"Noel! Help me with dishes." I called out, or shouted maybe, to Noel as we finished our dinner.

"No." he cooed from the hall.

"I'm tired, come on."

I heard a 'duh' and he came stomping
"You're always tired."

"Of course. It's not you doing multiple jobs, are you?" And that made him silent.

"Sorry, that was my favourite show. But I won't speak to you like that again." He said with a cute face after we were done and I felt worse for making him feel bad.

"It's okay. I'm sorry I snapped," I said, making him smile. "Don't mind me, okay? Don't feel bad."

He nodded with a hug that made me feel even more bad. And just before he ran off to his room, I remembered the fourth member of our family.

"And Noel? I just forgot, Is mom home yet?"

"No. Goodnight, Ivy." he waved and disappeared.

"Good night." I heard Theo's shout and plopped onto my bed. The moment I turned off the light, sleep came.

A deep good sleep.

                            ▪️▪️▪️▪️

The next morning was very possibly a synonym of mess. I slept in, forgot to wake up the boys, breakfast was late... Everything was a mess.

But somehow together, we managed everything and made it in time. Noel and Theo to Brandon's and me to my bus stop.

I was half running to my class when somebody hollered, asking 'the girl with the grey cardigan' to stop.

And to my surprise and dismay, it was Jude.

"What's your name?" Jude asked, frowning.

"Evelyn?"

"Evelyn." He nodded. "You're that asshole's private property or what?"

"What?"

"He seems to have power over you," he said raising his eyebrows.

He as in Tyler.

"We were in the same school. He's crazy to continue the tradition." I shrugged. This guy didn't seem much like a bully, he was...good?

"Trust me, he's more than crazy." he nodded and went back.

I processed the little chat over and over but still couldn't figure out why
until I was pulled back by my ponytail, in the middle of a huge crowd inside the cafeteria.

"Oh my! Who-" I grabbed the arm pulling me, trying to stop but couldn't. So I turned.

"Complete freak." he spat the words furiously, grabbed a cup closer to him and splashed drink all over my face.

He dipped his head down, pushing me back to the counter until my back was pressed onto it.

Oh, god. Not in the cafeteria again. This was like performing on a stage. Everyone could watch me being a pathetic idiot.

"What did you say to Jude? How do you know what my dad does?"

"What?"

"How dare you say fucking stories about me and my family to him?" He grabbed my chin, making me look at him.

"I didn't."

"Yeah? You didn't talk to Jude today? Don't lie with that pretty little mouth, Eve. You sure were chatting with him today and then suddenly, he knows all the gossips about my family and our business? The gossips that prevailed in our school until I made sure it died? Pretty coincidental, huh?"

What the hell? There were other students from our school studying in this college. But of course, logic doesn't apply to Tyler.

"You'll definitely pay for this, you bitch." he held me with an arm and without looking away, searched for another drink. And again, splashed it across my face.

Where were the teachers? Why is no staff aware of what's happening in this cafeteria?

"You understand this. My dad is not a fucking drug dealer, he's not a fucking smuggler and he's not fucking his secretary. You get that?"

I didn't have an idea what he was about to do until someone knocked something out of his hand.

And I was enlightened about what was going to happen when a drop landed on my arm and a slight pain flushed inside me. The thermos cup rolling on the floor confirmed it.

"Who the fucking hell are you?" Tyler's voice trembled with anger as he snapped at the guy who knocked the cup out of his hand.

"You were about to pour fucking hot coffee over her. Do you realise your dramatic stupid act could've burned someone?"

And then, Tyler's eyes went from intimidating to furious. At that, he moment looked crazy. Tyler was full of his ego and someone cracked it.

I moved my gaze from my arm to the spilt water on the floor, to the crowd, to Tyler and finally, to the ego crusher.