Chapter 27

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"Oh no, Honey," Mrs. Rosenthal tisked as she picked up the picture I'd just set on the top of the wedding pile. "We can't mix those together. My husbands would not have gotten along at all."

Biting my lip to keep from laughing, I nodded. "Okay. Two wedding piles then."

Seeming content, she set the picture down in a new spot before choosing another from the box. "Oh, look at this one." She tilted the picture towards me.

She was sweet and I knew these moments were important to her, so I did my best to act interested. Honestly though, they all looked the same to me. One posed group picture after another, most in black and white. Still, spending my volunteering time helping Mrs. Rosenthal sort through her pictures was a lot better than emptying the garbage or washing windows.

Her explanation of everyone in the picture was interrupted by a knock. She carefully set it down before shuffling to the door.

"I heard there's some furniture to be moved in here." Sebastian's voice made me perk up. We had both been kept busy with different tasks today, so I hadn't seen him in a while.

"You heard right," she said, stepping back. "Come on in, Honey."

A moment later, he appeared in the room and sent me a smile.

"There's a glare on the TV," she said, leading him over to the small living area. "I'm thinking, if we move this over here..."

As Mrs. Rosenthal explained the way she wanted the room, I tried to hurry through a good number of pictures. The box hadn't seemed very big when she first put it on the table, but with her stopping to talk about each one, we'd be here all day. 

I was proud that I was able to make a decent sized dent in the job when she returned to the table.

"Oh, that's a nice one," she commented, looking at the picture in my hand. Rather than her usual commentary, however, she lowered her voice and leaned closer. "He's quite the hunk, isn't he?" She glanced at Sebastian.

As Mrs. Rosenthal was hard-of-hearing, everything she said was loud. Her whisper was basically normal volume, and the room wasn't that big.

I swallowed a laugh, and even with his back to us, I knew Sebastian was grinning.

"Mm hmm," I agreed because, well, she wasn't wrong.

"You two are going steady, aren't you?" She looked so excited.

"We are." I smiled.

"Good." She nodded approvingly. "You're both such nice kids, although..." She tried to lower her voice again. "If I were sixty years younger, I'd have to fight you for him."

I grinned, believing she really might, and Sebastian coughed to cover a laugh.

"Are you alright, Dear?" She looked toward him, nothing but motherly concern in her tone.

"Just some dust, I think," Sebastian said as he maneuvered her couch into place.

Satisfied with that answer, she glanced down at the table. "Oh, this is one of my favorites." She picked up a picture that looked identical to several others, and I gave an internal sigh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hands on my hips, I stared up at the crowded shelves in the large walk-in closet, wondering which of these bins might contain glue sticks. Mrs. Rosenthal decided that some of her pictures needed to be added to a scrapbook, so I was on a quest to find supplies.

Maybe in the purple one, I mused. It looked like there might be craft supplies in there. But it was so high up, I'd need a ladder to reach it. Unless I pulled Sebastian in here for a few minutes.... Smiling at the idea, I allowed my mind to wander, completely forgetting about my actual purpose here.

The door behind me opened and Kylie walked in, making my mood plummet. In the interest of avoiding conflict, I kept my mouth shut as she moved around me and reached for something from a high shelf. The movement made her shirt ride up, exposing her belly button ring. I'm not sure if I made a face, but she smirked and turned toward me.

"What do you think?" She lifted her shirt over her stomach to give me a better view of the sparkling butterfly.

"It's..." Trashy. "Nice." To be fair, I probably wouldn't have thought it looked terrible on someone else, but everything about Kylie struck me as trashy.

Seeming as though she guessed my thoughts, she looked smug. "Yes, Sebastian thought so too."

I tried not to react, but I wasn't quite able to keep my expression neutral. Which apparently spurred her on.

"I wonder if he'll like my new tattoo as much." Her tone made it clear that the tattoo wasn't on her arm or any other place that would be appropriate to show in public.

My eyes narrowed. "Don't you think you're kind of old for Sebastian?" She wasn't exactly old, but this was a full-time job for her, which meant, she was out of high school.

She laughed. "We're both eighteen. We dated last year."

I hadn't realized they even knew each other from anywhere else, and I was really really not happy with the idea that they might have dated.

"Aww." She simpered. "I wonder why he didn't tell you." Her tone made it obvious that she assumed I was simply not important enough to Sebastian to have the ex conversation. Truthfully, I didn't want to think about all the girls he'd dated, so I hadn't asked. But now I was rethinking my plan to stay ignorant. I didn't like being blindsided like this.

"He didn't tell me because you don't matter to him." I shrugged, deciding nonchalance was the best approach. "He probably forgot. But he's with me now, so you can keep your tattoos to yourself."

She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Yes, he is with you. But don't you think he deserves someone...." She quickly looked me over. "Better?"

I snorted. "And I suppose you're better?"

"As I haven't pimped myself out, yeah, I'd say so," she challenged.

Taken off guard, my mouth fell open. "That's not..." I shook my head. "How did you-"

"My sister is still in high school," she said, sounding as if she was talking to a preschooler. "I've seen the pictures. Everyone knows he's only with you because he feels sorry for you."

I scowled, knowing it would do no good to tell her the truth. She wouldn't believe me. Apparently, my dad was right. Those stupid pictures were going to follow me. I just had no idea it would be so soon. But that seemed stupid. Everyone at school had lives outside of the school building, where a juicy piece of gossip might be good enough to share with people who didn't even know me.

"Maybe think about doing the decent thing and cutting him loose," she said and then breezed out of the closet.

After she was gone, I just stood there for a few minutes, not sure if I wanted to hit something or cry. Obviously, Kylie didn't know what she was talking about, but I hated to think that people thought of mine and Sebastian's relationship like that. It shouldn't matter, but it did. What ignorant people thought wasn't my problem, but it was awful thinking that for some people, I would always be that girl that Sebastian got stuck with.

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