This boy next to my room

1

June

"She's just like her mother, a bitch!" I hear my father yelling from the kitchen.

"Stop saying that, Ted. She's only 16, it's just a phase." Replies my stepmother. "You should give her a second chance."

"A second chance?! No, I've given her way too many! This time, I've made up my mind. I'm taking her to the reformatory."

My heart misses a beat as my father utters these words. The reformatory? No, never.

I jump up from the couch and run to the kitchen in a panic.

This time I know I've gone too far, but I don't want to do it again. I did it under the influence of drugs, I wasn't myself.

"Dad, please don't!" I cried. "I promise I won't do it again in the future, it was a mistake.."

The man with dark green eyes faces me, his eyebrows furrowed. He glares at me with a look full of hatred and resentment. Behind him is a light-eyed blonde, my mother-in-law. She has a sad look on her face, but I know she is faking it. She's not sad, she's actually happy. She's been waiting for me to leave this damn house where I'm not considered part of this family.

"June, you've let me down badly on this one." Starts my sire. "I can't live under the same roof as you anymore. You're tiring me out, you're tiring everyone out! So no, this time I'm taking you to the reformatory. You don't have a say in this."

I look at him pleadingly, but he does not flinch. He has made up his mind and there is nothing I can do to stop him. I must admit that it hurts me to see that he is taking this decision so lightly. He knows that I was rejected and abandoned many times during my childhood but he doesn't seem to care.

The next minute I am in my room with my step-mother. She is holding a suitcase in one hand, and with the other she is carrying my 7-month-old brother-in-law.

"Hurry up and get your stuff out." She orders curtly.

I send her a dark look without responding. This bitch is capable of the worst. I once tried to rebel against her, and guess how I ended up?

Locked in my room for three days in a row, without food.

And all without my dad knowing. She told him I was sleeping over at a friend's house, she's a total freak.

I open my wardrobe and take out some sweatshirts and jogging suits, that's all I have anyway.

The blonde puts her son on the floor and opens the suitcase. She signals me to put my clothes in it, which I do.

About thirty minutes later, I'm ready. I walk downstairs to the living room, my suitcase in hand, where my father is sitting on the couch on the phone. His stern eyes scrutinize me for a long time and then he hangs up.

"Let's go, now." He says.

He gets up and heads for the door. I stand still for a few moments, not fully realizing that I am going to leave this house. In itself, I'm not really happy about it because I won't be able to go out with my friends anymore, but on the other hand, it's not so bad because I won't have to deal with my mother-in-law and her incessant screaming.

"June!". Shouts my dad.

My legs start to move forward to the door.

Goodbye, house.

I watch as my father kisses my little brother on the forehead and says goodbye to Stella. (my step-mother) before getting into the car.