Whatever the End

San Fran Begins

I think that’s one of the things that bugs me most about Theo dating my evil stepsister. He always supports her. I realize that’s part of the job description of being in a relationship, but he’s so preoccupied with that job that he doesn’t pay attention to the one that’s supposed to mean something a lot more. Being my best friend. I knew it was selfish of me to want this, but I wished that he would break up with Princess. A small part of me wanted him to be alone and miserable with me than be another type of miserable with her.

He didn’t know what she did. But I couldn’t ever tell him. Only four people in the entire world knew what she did.

Other than that old wound being opened, the ride was still- for lack of a better word- craptastic. In all the excitement that followed leaving the Shack, I didn’t have a second to breathe let alone notice that my brain was slowly imploding. Luckily, I wasn’t alone in my suffering. Oscar had had twenty beers too many last night. Between me and Oscar, vomit breaks were an hourly occurrence.

It was horrific. 

I was relieved when we finally found a place to stay. We had to go to a hundred different hotels before we found one that was actually within our price range. (Yet another part of the plan that I didn’t plan out.) We got two rooms at the luxurious Motel 6.

Not only did I have to share a room with Princess, but a bed too. I wouldn’t have minded if I didn’t already know she wasn’t a snuggler. The instant we got to our rooms, I went to lay down. But Princess decided just then to have a panic attack. She kept pacing up and down the room, muttering to herself about her life being ruined and her dad never speaking to her again. Just a bunch of gibberish.

After awhile of listening to her hyperventilate, I decided that I couldn’t take anymore of her self-pity fest and thought taking a shower would be more constructive. Letting the water wash over me was cathartic. I felt like I was washing away all my bad experiences so I could move on with the rest of my life. I could-

“Hey,” I heard Princess’s call over the shower noise.

“Dude!” I exclaimed. “When I said I was taking a shower, it wasn’t an invitation!”

“Your mom’s on the phone for you.” I could tell Princess was on the verge of a heart attack.

I turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around me. I gave myself a moment before stepping out of the shower, mentally preparing myself. When I got out, Princess handed me the phone and I locked the door behind her. I took a deep breath and stuck the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Hi, honey. Are you doing okay?” My mother asked. Her tone was so sweet and concerned that it took me a second to process her words.

“Fine,” I answered.

“Well, clearly you’re not,” she sneered. I could feel each little word run through me like poison. “You must be having some mental breakdown, or else you better have the greatest excuse in the world for running off with your siblings and stealing your father’s car.”

“I didn’t do either of those things,” I scoffed.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I didn’t run off with the wonder twins. On the contrary actually, they ran off with me.”

“Same difference.”

“No, it isn’t,” I maintained. “The second they found out what I was doing, they begged to come with me. They would’ve done anything to get out of the hellhole you call a home.”

“How dare you?” she gasped. I could picture her face reddening, which only kept me going.

“It’s the truth. No matter how shocked you pretend to be. I can barely stand to be around you and Alaric- who, by the way, is the farthest thing from my father. The two of you destroyed the only real parent I ever had. And the worst part is, I know you loved it. You loved watching him fall apart.”