Forbidden Desires

I scoff in amusement and say, "So? Still haven't made any friends I see...?" I gesture to the empty table.

I shrugged and continued. "Can't blame them though. Who would want to hang out with someone like you. Boring, pathetic, a freak?" I leaned in, trying to intimidate her, get under her skin. Anything to break her. "Am I wrong?" I asked.

She doesn't respond. She doesn't even look at me. I can see tears start to form in her eyes from my harsh words.

She's so fragile it's embarrassing.

"No wonder your dad left." I added another brutal comment.

I don't know what I was expecting after I said that. Actually, that's a lie, I do know.

I was expecting her to burst out crying, run for the hills, anything but what actually happened.

She got up almost immediately, fast enough that I didn't have time to think what her next move was. Her eyes filled with tears. Her expression a fuming rage.

The next thing I know, her hand was up in the air and slapping me across the face.

~~~

16 year old Delilah Dawn loves her quiet life in Portland, Oregon. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough. She had her mom and that was all she needed.

But as a new day started and what seemed like a normal day, turned into the day her life flipped upside down when she found out her mother died in a terrible car accident.

Delilah's father lives in Los Angeles, California and since she has no other relatives in Oregon, she has to travel from Portland to Los Angeles.

There she meets her new family. Her stepmother, Clara and her stepbrother, Aaron. As Clara welcomes her with open arms, Aaron doesn't do the same. In fact, he does the complete opposite.

Aaron bullies and humiliates her. He hates her and she hates him.

But as they are put in forced situations and arguments that build up crazy tension between them, they start to wonder if they still hate each other and how long they are willing to hide their strong forbidden desires.