I'm Sorry (Not Really)

Chapter Two

         

Life is bright,

Life is trustful,

Life is what we waste dreaming about living.

~A. F.

          The hall outside of my room was grand, it looked like it was coated in gold and silver, my family has obviously made some money. I noticed from the corner of my eye that my father was watching me closely, he didn't like that my mother had let me out of my room, I realized. As my mother showed me around what was apparently my house I realized that where I had lived for the past four years was in the basement. The house was huge, three floors with every floor having a kitchen, at least three bathrooms and two living rooms. The top floor was where the other bedrooms were my mother told me. While my mother was giving me a tour my father said he had to leave for some business and then it was just me and my mother.

          She stopped in front of a door that had lots of signs of what looked to be boy bands plastered all over it, some said 'BTS' others said 'One Direction' and '5 Seconds of Summer'. The door was painted black, though you almost couldn't see the color underneath all the posters. I watched as my mom lightly knocked on the door. A muffled 'what' could be heard on the other side but other than that it was completely quiet.

          "It's me, sweetie. Remember what we talked about? It's time now." My mother spoke softly to the person on the other side of the door. I stood there, unsure about what to do. I am starting to think this might be when I meet my half-sister.

          The door swung open and a tall, muscly girl with shoulder-length brown hair opened the door, she had a rounder face, "Yeh, mom?" She leaned against the door frame completely relaxed, even once her gaze swept over me. I'm probably four years or so older than her, making her 13 years old. Though my mom said she had an affair this doesn't explain why I didn't know I had a sister until now.

          "I'd like you to meet your half-brother, Thomas. Thomas this is your half-sister Taylor." My mother gestured between us as she spoke.

          Taylor gave me a once over, "Nice to meet you, Thomas."

          I gave her a fake smile, not that anyone here would know that. "Nice to meet you too Taylor," she seemed polite enough and smiled back. She was wearing dark sweat pants with a tight, leather looking tank top styled shirt on. She had her ears pierced but wasn't wearing any piercings, the side of her left hand looked to be covered in led, or more likely graphite. "Do you draw?" I inquired, my interest sparked from the smears on her hand, it also looks as if she's left-handed since her right hand has little to nothing on it.

          Her face reddened slightly, "Oh, I dabble. Nothing too amazing." She leaned back on her heels and rocked back and forth slightly, from this movement I could see into her room a little bit. Her walls were a deep blue, with one wall a light gray to offset the colors. There were canvases randomly strewn on her walls, each one just as beautiful as the last. I saw a desk by the door, on it was a few papers, each one had a sketch of the same character, a gorgeously illustrated person, the gender unclear.

          I hadn't noticed but my mother had slipped away and left me with Taylor, "Did you paint those?" I asked, looking at the canvases. Her eyes followed my gaze and she quickly tried to block my view.

          "Yeah, but they're nothing!" She's blushing furiously now, embarrassed.

          I shrugged, "They're good. You should be proud of your work." At this, she stopped short and look like she was considering my words for a second.

          "You think so? Wait, that was dumb if you didn't think so you wouldn't have said that." I didn't say anything and just watched her as she closed the door to her room, "I'm assuming you don't know where you're room is yet?" I nodded, not feeling like talking for the moment. She told me to follow her and started off down the hall. I must admit, the longer I'm with her the more curious I get as to why I never met her until today.

           "Why didn't I know of you before I became homeschooled?" I asked bluntly.

          I saw her inhale deeply, "Mom.. left me with my dad, well that was until he died. He died about four years ago and I came here to live with mom and her husband, your dad, Jason." She said my father's name with bitterness, it seems that their dislike for each other is mutual. "To be completely honest," she continued, "I didn't know about you until about a week ago when mom told me that you were going to start going to school." She glanced over at me, "How old are you?"

          "17," I stated plainly.

          "Oh." She said as she stopped walking at another door, "Well, I'm only 13, so we'll be at different schools. Anyway, this is your room." I nodded and opened the door, the room is fairly plain, just like my old one. Except this one actually has windows. A large bookcase and desk are shoved in one corner, a tv mounted on the wall across from the bed, which is decently sized. The room's walls are beige and the bedding is a dark grey. The entire room has a 'hotel room' feel to it or a guest room.

          "Thanks for showing me here," I called back to Taylor, I saw her nod out of the corner of my eye.

          "Course, ya know where my room is if you need me. The maids usually bring supper and stuffs." Her manner of speech is very odd, I noted, one second she is very formal and the next she is using shorter terms, sometimes even in the same sentence. The evidence of two contradicting upbringings. I nodded and said goodbye to her, she gave me one last smile before shutting my door and leaving me alone.

          The very first thing I tried to do once left alone was open the windows, but upon closer inspection, I found they were bolted shut. I huffed slightly and instead sat on the bed, it was incredibly comfortable. I stared out the window at the trees and birds flying to and fro. Soon, very soon I'd be let outside, out into that world. And when I am, I guarantee that no one is going to lock me up ever again.