Bully stepbrother

28. Brawl

CADEN

"Everything has an expiration date," she says.

Yes, I know that better than anyone, even better than whoever established the phrase. For instance, CARA for one, MY MOTHER for two, LIFE for three, LOVE for four, MARRIAGE for five, FAMILY for six. Should I keep going? I bet those are enough examples.

"One day I will live far away from you, and there will be no me for you to torture. And when that day comes, it will be the best day of my life," she says.

Does she really believe that day would come? Oh, so naive.

Waiting for the Disney fairytale to rescue her is like waiting for my mother to come back for me. And that chance is no more because the woman had forgotten she has one child left behind.

Yes, she can bite me.

That woman is no good; she has her own evil, or maybe she's the devil herself.

All I can say about her is she had hidden it well for ten years until Cara died. That is when she exposed the real shade of how vicious she is, and even more despicable of me; I had hoped for her return for weeks and years, even when I know she's no good for me.

Okay, I don't mean to harshly criticize Mad. Let's be serious and a little bit honest. All I wanted to do is be nice and tell her how good she was that night, but every time I encountered her, it's like she's coming with those attacks I'm anxious about. Everything starts to make sense if I defend myself before she could attack, and somehow, I find criticizing her easier than facing the reality of the situation.

Earlier today, I talked with my father. He didn't directly tell me how lame my choices are, like he'd throw in my face on other days, but he talked about the children of his friends who are doing well in aviation school. He said he was proud of them, and it left me wondering if he called just to let me know how much of a disappointment I've brought to him.

You see, aviation was my first love. If Cara and Mom were around, they'd testify to that. I've always loved planes and the sky. I was dreaming of different adventures flying up there; I was imagining what and how I would explain to my family after every flight as a pilot. And when those two ladies left my life, I was desperate to fulfill my aviation dreams, and the plan of staying up there became crucial.

I didn't want to come back anymore; I didn't want anything to do with the surface of the earth; it had stained me to an unacceptable scale of unfairness, until Mad. In some weird way, she managed to draw me to her charm, and I ended up following her everywhere. Sometimes letting her know of my presence. Sometimes I creep around, watching every move she makes.

I don't know why, but I make myself believe it had something to do with Cara. Maybe I don't want to lose another sister on the street.

But until what happened between us the other night, I realized there's something more that I don't know how to deal with.

Enough of overthinking and back to reality. I bite half the fry between my fingers and chuck the half piece into the plate.

Paxton is sitting opposite me with a phone in his hand and a girl on his lap, palming his crotch shamelessly in the cafeteria.

She whispered something to him, and he chuckled while focusing on his phone.

That's mostly how every lunch goes with the two of us-either we focus on our phones and say nothing or have girls around.

Paxton and I have a less close relationship compared to other friendships in SU. For instance, Mr. generous face, who's occupying a table with all the assholes in school gathering around him because his dad won the elections.