I shook my head and attempted to peel her claws off me. "I'm busy," I told her before slipping between two guys on the team and disappearing in the flood of people. I had to force my way through the celebrations, shoving aside freshman and sophomores that bounced around like excitable children, until finally, I spotted my dad's head above the rest of them.
I squeezed past a gaggle of cheerleaders before spotting my brother standing with our dad, our moms' arms around him as she grinned. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight. She was so small compared to us – we'd gotten our dads height and build – and yet, his face was red and she looked like she was suffocating him she was hugging him so tightly. Around them, some of the younger guys on the team who didn't get to play in some of the bigger games smirked, shouting remarks from a distance. The kids were idiots if they thought we'd let that kind of disrespect slide and they were a lot smaller and skinnier than us. That's how I knew they were freshman, trying to act big and tough while the sophomores and juniors knew better than to get on our bad sides. 
"Hey sweetie," my mom called when she caught sight of me glaring at the stupid kids behind her, making gestures that if my father saw, they'd soon regret. They seemed to suddenly notice me and went scurrying off into the crowds before I could get close to them but I made a mental note to hunt them down on Monday. 
For now, though, I turned to face my mother, my glare melting away when she smiled up at me, pride beaming in her eyes. "Congratulations, you were fantastic," she exclaimed, throwing her arms around me. 
I squeezed her back, knowing from experience that it was quicker to indulge her than resist. "Thanks mom." As she pulled away, I kissed her cheek and her smile widened a little. "And thanks for driving out here to watch the game." 
Behind her, my dad nodded. "We wouldn't have missed it, we're so proud of both of you."
"What about me?"
I laughed as Jay pushed his way through the crowds of people and threw his arms around my mother, smiling at her like she was his own. She laughed, hugging him the same way she did us. "We're proud of all three of you," she answered.
He didn't get the chance to reply before dad's phone started ringing and he sighed, declining the call and turning the phone off. "We've got to go, we left your sister in charge of your siblings and clearly it was a mistake," he grumbled, rolling his eyes. He reached over and took my mom's hand, pulling her closer to him and I could see that immediately, he relaxed. "You kids need a ride back?"
I shook my head. "I left my car at the school so we'll go back with the rest of the team and I'll drive home." 
He nodded, his thumb brushing back and forth over the back of my mom's hand. "Alright well, can you head straight back to the house please?"
I frowned, glancing at Alex to see his expression matched mine. "What? Why? We just qualified for the championships, we're going to celebrate with the rest of the team," I said, my brows furrowed. 
He clenched his jaw when moms phone started to ring and she sighed, pulling it from her handbag. "It's Vi," she muttered.
Dad snatched it from her hand and answered it. "Enough with the phone calls," he snapped, "we're about to leave, we'll be back in an hour." He didn't give her the chance to answer and ended the call before stuffing it into his pocket and turning back to me. "Straight home, Matt, I mean it." 
Before I could protest, they walked away, my mom shooting an apologetic glance back at me before they got lost in the clusters of people still celebrating on the field. The crowds had thinned a little now but the atmosphere was still upbeat with people singing and dancing all around us.
"What was that about?" Jay asked when they were no longer in sight, his brows furrowed as he turned towards me.
I sighed heavily. "I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact I failed my history exam today," I said, cringing at the judgemental look on my brother's face. School was easy for him, in fact, everything came easy to him. He was good at so many sports and had no trouble passing his classes and even used to play a few different instruments when we were kids. I, on the other hand, had only ever been good at football. It was the only thing I cared about and I worked my ass off for every game we played but outside of football, I didn't care enough to try in anything else. 
"Seriously? You failed another exam?"
I glared at him. "Forget about it, okay?" I snapped. "Let's just go, the bus will be leaving soon."
Others had already started making their way to the school buses parked on the opposite side of the field and I joined them, leaving the other two behind. I got a little more than my height from my father, I also got his temper and had a pretty short fuse. It wasn't necessarily my best quality and I did my best not to get worked up about things but when it came to my classes, it was difficult.
I followed my team mates onto the bus and took a seat on the back row with Darren, one of the guys I was good friends with. "You good, man?" he asked as I sat beside him. I nodded and he dropped it, knowing better than to keep asking. "You coming out tonight? Todd invited everyone to his place. A few of the juniors are gonna go and get some kegs."
I sighed. "I can't, I gotta go home."
He frowned. "Seriously? Come on, man, we just qualified for the championships and you're the reason. How can you not celebrate with us?"
"We'll be there," Alex said, joining us with Jay just behind him. I glanced up to see him nod while Darren grinned.
"Great," he said before turning to the guy beside him and starting up a conversation.
I turned to my brother. "You know I can't go out."
He shrugged. "So, they'll be mad. We just qualified and we deserve to celebrate. Coach isn't gonna give us a break after this weekend so we need to make the most of it. Your grades will still be shit tomorrow." He shot me a grin and I laughed; glad he was over my little temper tantrum already. 
"You in?" Jay asked from the other side of him.
I knew my dad would kill me. They didn't tell us what to do much anymore but when they did, we generally listened. This wasn't going to go down well at all. But the guys were right. We worked our asses off for this and we would be working our asses off every day after this. We deserved one night. "I'm in."
AN:
So that's the first chapter of A Fractured Fairytale!! Let me know your thoughts so far! 
Some of you may have caught it and some of you might have missed but Logan mentions a brother and sister. After the Epilogue of A Debt to Pay, Logan and Mia went on to have two more children, a boy and then another girl, meaning there are 5 Sternato kids, all with their own stories coming up!!
Did you catch on to that?
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, happy reading :)