Revelatory

"Alright, call it there, that didn't totally suck, congrats." Echo announces, ending our second practice session. I'd returned to school after making amends with Andi and waited for everyone to be ready. Ty's been avoiding eye contact with me as much as Poppy, something tells me her didn't talk to her.

He's the first to make his exit, with Poppy heading to the bathroom before we leave too. That leaves me and Echo, and an awkward silence. I hate silence, it's the absence of anything interesting.

"So, your brother, he do much of the dating thing?" I ask, I mean, can't hurt to learn more.

Echo snorts at my question. "I don't think you're his type." She chuckles before answering the question more seriously. "No, with our reputation he's never had much chance, he used to try, but I think he decided it was better to keep his distance than let people in." Aah... I see, so it's not just that he has to overcome nerves, he has to convince himself to do it first. No easy feat for anyone.

"What about you?" I follow up, smoothly if I might say so. Echo's face seems to disagree, seemingly annoyed that she fell into the trap of discussing romance.

"I have my fun, but nothing serious, better to be known as a bitch or a slut than a weakling." She responds harshly. I get the feeling there's a story there, best not to push it yet. "Let me guess, you were a real ladies man back in France?" She continues. Huh, turned it back on me, impressive.

I fake a sigh, acting like I'm disappointed to have to talk about myself. "Couple of girls, never went anywhere, me and a friend had an agreement, that was a good time. Usually I get bored." I answer honestly.

"So let me get this straight, you went out with girls you didn't like, then decided the problem was that they were boring? Good fucking job, you've officially outed yourself as an idiot." Echo berates me. I mean, when you put it that way it sounds stupid, but it's not like I had a lot of girls I actually liked.

As if determined to interrupt the conversation, Poppy returns. "Hey, shall we go?" She asks with a chipper demeanour. I think Echo's half compliment at the end of the set put her in a good mood, not that it takes much with Poppy.

Echo takes her leave and we make our way home, no cars in the drive again, guess Rouge and Trish are out again. I open the door and we're soon greeted by the sound of shouting from the kitchen.

"And what are you, her parent now?" I hear Marie yell. Well, this is a bad time, clearly.

"I'm her sister, it's my job to put her best interests first, not just gallivant around like my actions have no consequences like some people!" Rosie's voice responds. Yeah, thought so, this has been brewing since day one. Sounds like they're talking about Poppy, I look to see her face paler than usual.

"You don't treat her like a sister, you treat her like an infant, all I did was help her." Marie strikes back. "Come on, don't pretend that you don't do it, no one takes that long to shower." Erm... I'm a bit concerned as to where this is going now.

There's a moment of silence, presumably as Rosie composes herself, before replying. "It's not about the act, it's the fact that you gave it to her, it's not your place, you don't know her, you can't just decide she's mature enough on a whim!" She throws back to Marie. Okay, very lost now.

"No shit! Only she can say if she's mature enough, I didn't **** it into her hand, she's an adult, she can make her own decisions." Marie bellows. "You're blowing it way out of proportion, no one cares this much about their sister using a dildo, what's this really about?" Using a... Wait a minute.

I turn to Poppy to see tears rolling down her face. She looks humiliated and horrified in equal measure. I try to say something but she runs up the stairs before I have a chance. I know this is all silly, people arguing for the sake of arguing, it happens. Right now, I don't care, the image of Poppy's tears is burned into my brain. I'm fucking pissed.

I rush into the kitchen, startling the arguing girls, unsure what I'm going to say before I start shouting. "Hey girls!" I begin. Good start brain. "I hate to interrupt literally the world's most insane argument, but it seems to me like you've both decided to drag Poppy into your bullshit fucking turf war. Right now, she's upstairs crying, so I actually don't care who said or did what, you're going to make peace, go up there, and apologise."

"But she-" Rosie begins.

"I don't give a fuck. You're both so focused on taking jabs at each other that you've hurt the one person who did nothing wrong. The one person who you're both claiming to care about so deeply. So I don't want to hear another word addressed to me, you take your words to Poppy." I order, pointing to the door.

The looks on both of their faces show a rebellious hatred for my and my speech, but their lack of response proves they know I'm right. They walk past me, and I can hear them continue up the stairs. I'm left in the kitchen, unsure if I should follow.

Poppy with a sex toy, huh? Guess I'm not the only one trying to change.