Stepbrother

1: My Mom's Wedding Ring

I walked tiredly down the sidewalk with my book bag stuffed with useless textbooks. A small breeze blew past my tired, sweating body as I tucked my hands into my pockets. The weight of my book bag seemed to drag me closer and closer to the ground, encouraging me to collapse on the floor from how exhausted I was. To only make it worse, my lungs were burning and I didn't have a hair tie to tie my hair back into a bun.

God, I hate the heat. I hate school. I hate life.

I felt my phone buzz in my left pocket. When I took it out, I notice it was a message from Jacob, my ex-boyfriend. I growled under my breath. I was already pissed off, and I didn't need him to bother me even more. I shove my phone roughly back into my pocket as I stomped the rest of the way home.

After what seemed like an eternity, I dragged my feet across my driveway and groaned when I walked through the front door. I had no time to get angry at my mother, who had forgotten to pick me up from school... again.

It's bad enough that Jacob cheated on me. I didn't need any more shit from my mom. Just when I was on the verge of giving up on life, my mom decides to forget to pick me up from school. How splendid.

From the kitchen, I heard happy squealing and annoying giggles as the door slammed shut behind me. I took my hands out of my pockets and wiped my sweating forehead, which was mostly exposed to the blazing sun. The giggling stopped (gladly) and my mom came running from the kitchen to embrace me in a tight hug.

"Maya, I--" Mom gasped as she let me go and pushed me away playfully. "Wait, you're sweating! Why are you so--" She paused again to take in another gasp. "No, I didn't... Did I?" My mom placed a hand on her chin and looked up at the ceiling, trying to think.

"Yes," I grumbled, "you did, Mom. You forgot to pick me up from school." I glared at her, raising my hand again to wipe my forehead

"Oh Lord, Maya! I'm sorry, I swear!" My mom gave me a pouted look, which only seemed to make me even more annoyed.

"Oh, its alright, Ma," I say sarcastically, "It's only the twenty-seventh time you've done this. No big deal." I rip my shoes off from my sore feet and drop my bag onto the ground. I could've sworn my heavy ass bag could cause an earthquake from how heavy it was.

It was only the beginning of the school year, and my mom was already forgetting to pick me up. How sad.

"Oh wait, Maya!" Mom begged, placing her small hand on my shoulder. "I have such great news, and I'm sure you'd be glad to hear it!"

I groaned again, attempting to walk past my mom so I can go upstairs and sleep in my bedroom. "Can't you tell me tomorrow?"

"Oh, but I think you'll like the surprise!" I stopped in my tracks and faced my mom again with a suspicious look on my face. My eyes narrowed. Usually, when my mom does a surprise, it's usually the craziest most stupidest ideas in the world. After all, my mom wasn't like any normal human being. She was completely insane! Possibly a psycho if you knew her as long as I did.

"Surprise?" I repeated. I wasn't even speaking to her anymore. I was mumbling to myself and looking around cautiously. What did she plan this time? There weren't any fireworks, were there?

The last time my mom had a surprise was for my fifteenth birthday, which wasn't even a birthday at all. Just chaos! My mom bought fireworks and nearly caught our neighbor's cat on fire! Poor Marble, the cat didn't do anything to her... Marble didn't deserve any of this.

Well, long story short, our elderly neighbor, Mrs. Chang, almost called the cops on us for attempting to murder her cat, which wasn't my mom's intention at all.