Learning From The Bad Boy

Dependable Parents? Yeah Right

Aarons convertible and mom's gas guzzling SUV in the driveway were a dead give away, that I was in fact dead meat. No. I was past dead mean. I was roadkill that had been on the sizzling black top for a week. That's how dead I was.

Opening the door in almost complete silence, the only sound in the house were the angered voices of my parents. I edged closer to the commotion.

"The little bitch probably ran away." Venom laced my mom's words. I almost stumbled back at the hatred in her voice. Hatred that was directed at me.

"Joanna." My dad said in disdain.

"What? What do you want me to say Steven?" She said harshly to my dad.

I peeked around the corner at the pair. A piece of mom's blond hair had fallen out of her usually perfect bun situated on the top of her head.

Dad's suit jacket was rumpled, as was his whole appearance. "I'm doing this for her." He stated firmly. "She was my sister and I owe her this much. What I want you to say is you'll drop this insane act you pull with Celia."

Sister? My dad didn't have a sister. So why did he say his sister?

"You know how much I didn't like Celeste. Her spawn isn't any better."

Celeste? Okay, what the hell is going on?

My dad rubbed his face in irratation. His silver eyes appearing more dull now than ever.

"I know. But she's my blood, was my blood. This is what I was meant to do as a brother." He sounded exhausted from arguing with my mom.

But seriously. I was utterly confused. Since when did my dad have a sister? And what did he mean? Better yet, what did my mom mean? Why didn't she like Celeste? Where was Celeste?

I cleared my throat to interrupt. Lord knows I'd heard far more than I wanted to, but was I going to question it? Absolutely not. After seeing my rumpled from, relief washed over my dad's face.

"Where were you?" My mom questioned curtly.

"I went for a run." I said honestly, while tucking my most likely swollen ankle away from view. She opened her mouth to reply, but my dad cut her a look. Her mouth closed in an instant.

"Next time tell us where you're going to be, okay? You'll give an old man a heart attack wandering off like that."

I smiled slightly, "Yeah. Will do. Sorry."

Mom shook her head. "We never had these issues with Sarah. Is it so hard for you to be responsible, Celia? I knew that boy" She said the word boy as if it was a airborne illness, "was a bad influence. God knows you don't need anymore bad influences. We can't even get you to tell us where you're going to run off to." She glared down at me.

"You were probably with him, hmm, am I right? It would make sense for you to be a whore just like her." She seethed. I flinched back, her words feeling like an actual slap.

"Dammit Joanna stop it!" My dad yelled gritting his teeth. His fist clenched at his sides, knuckles going white.

A heavy feeling set in my chest as the sting of tears started in my eyes. "If I knew" My voice cracked from the tightening in my throat, "If I knew I could count on you as a mother," One tear slipped out of my right eye. I wiped it away as quickly as it fell. "You would know that today was hell for me. Hell. I needed you, but I knew you wouldn't be there to help me!" I cried out. Any tears that had fallen were now cascading down on their own terms.

For a split second I saw a flicker of remorse in her steely eyes that were so unlike mine. It faded quickly, an impassive glare took its place.

I threw my hands up. "You know what, I'm just going to go upstairs. You win. Both of you." I swallowed back the sob that was aching to be released.

Turning on my heel, I limped towards the stairs. Dad's voice called out my name, but only once. Hopping up the stairs on one foot, I forced myself not to reflect on the things that had been said.

I slammed my door, locking it behind me. Was it wrong to cry? Silent sobs wracked my body. I huffed my arms around my waist, trying to keep my shaking at bay. How had things turned so bad?

The sound of my phone vibrating inside of my backpack was enough to snag my attention. It buzzed twice more before going off. I let out a sigh or relief. Whoever it was, I didn't have to deal with. At leat not while I was a blubbering mess.

Pull yourself together.

Sobbing wasn't a very attractive thing for someone like me. I pressed the palm of my hand to my watery eyes. No doubt they were red and swollen, and chances were they were going to be that way for a while. Contemplating how I should go about moving, I looked down at my ankle. It was the first time seeing it in actual light.

It doubled the size of my left ankle, the slight purple discoloration was enough to make me cringe. Oh this was going to be so fun to walk around on.

Untying the laces of my black tennis shoes was among the list of 'things to do before I break down again'. By the looks of it, my foot wasn't coming out of that shoe unless the laces were completely out. Wincing as I pulled the dirt stained laces out of their places, the sound of buzzing sounded again. Grinding my teeth together in pain and frustration, I hauled myself forward and unzipped my backpack.

By now I was feeling a little ferocious. That was until I saw who was calling.

The same guy who had his tongue shoved down Chelsea's throat only hours ago.

No. I wasn't feeling ferocious. I was feeling enraged. A sudden boost of confidence made me slide the little green arrow on my screen, accepting the call.

"What do you want?" I asked cooly.

"Ginger? Look I'm-"

"Don't call me that. Oh and by the way, why don't you give Chelsea a call. She actually cornered me and asked me to pass on a message." Why I was being bitchy was totally justified, well to me it was.

"What the fuck? What are you talking about?" He sounded genuinely confused. How rich coming from someone like him.

"I had a bad enough day, okay? So quit calling. Maybe just leave me alone. This was a bad idea, and it's clear you don't want to be around me." Maybe I was being melodramatic, but once the ball was rolling, I couldn't get it to stop.

"Red? Listen to me, okay? What happened today-"

I scoffed. "You don't have to explain yourself. Just go talk to her, I need to take a shower and wrap my ankle. Goodbye Axel."

I pulled the phone away from my ear, I heard his yell from the other line.

"Don't you fucking hang up! Ginger please listen to me!" He pleaded.

It was the last thing I heard before I hit the red 'end call' button. If standing up to him was the right thing to do, them why did I feel like the villain? It wasn't fair of me to say the things I did...

It wasn't fair of him to give you false hope either...

Why wasn't there a physical off switch for my brain?

Though what I told Axel was indeed very true. I pushed myself off of the ground and hopped into my adjoining bathroom.

My shower was only a few minutes, the idea of standing any longer was something I didn't exactly favor. Having to settle for only one roll of sports wrap that Sarah had from her many years of cheering, I laid back onto my bed. Propped up on a couple pillows and covered in pink wrap was the first injury I had acquired in the past 2 years. It's almost a little ironic. Not only did I go through the emotional pain, but the physical as well.

Lord help me I needed to stop being so dramatic.

I closed my eyes. My mom's words floated back to me. It would make sense for you to be a whore just like her. Thinking about the acidic tone of her voice almost made me cry again. But who was she? And what exactly does she have to do with me?

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Maybe you've figured it out... But the plot twist is making its way into the story. Have any guesses as to what exactly is going on? Also I haven't read through this, so ignore the typos!