Page 1 of Bait Me
Chapter One
BONNIE
I’ve been zoned out for the last half an hour, totally bored by my family talking about shit as we eat the ‘required’ Sunday lunch together. Please. Me and my sister aren’t close, and our mum and dad can barely stand to be in the same room together, so this whole charade is ridiculous. It’s been this way for as long as I can remember, but if you try to duck out of Sunday lunch, damn, they’ll all be on you like maggots on rotting flesh. Seriously, they’re all deluded, thinking this is necessary to ‘check-in’ with each other.
All my dad does is sit there quietly, his only version of speaking is to grunt in acknowledgment every now and again. My mum acts like a fucking patriarch who holds the family together, when really, she’s as self-centred as, you guessed it, my sister. Kelly has always been all about herself, and she wonders why no man sticks around for too long. And that’s how we’re onto the topic of her latest ex, Darius Cole. I mean, he stuck around longer than most, lasting three months, so you’ve got to give him props for that alone. He even endured these fucking dinners, so kudos to him for going the distance. But just like all the others before, he clearly got fed up of her shit, and now she’s whinging about him, claiming he was ‘the one’. I scoff and roll my eyes, preferring to just eat my food and keep my mouth shut, but my guffawing draws Kelly’s attention, as well as my mum’s, and I know I’m about to be the target of their acidic tongues.
“What are you scoffing at?” Kelly demands, drumming her fake-ass fingernails on the table as she waits for my answer. Kelly and I are like chalk and cheese, we’ve never gotten along, her always bitching at me about something or other. She’s three years older than me, so the age gap isn’t exactly large, but the bridge between us is huge.
“Nothing,” I say with a shrug, not willing to get into another argument because she’s too much of a diva to listen to any kind of reasoning.
“No, go on, Miss Know-it-all, tell me,” she pushes, just as I knew she would. I can’t wait until I move out of here, far away, because you can bet once I’ve fled the nest, I’ll be skipping these fake-as-fuck Sunday dinners.
“I thought he was okay, seemed nice, down to earth, and he was always polite,” I say, immediately seeing horror on her and my mum’s faces. Oh boy, should have just kept my mouth shut.
“How dare you stick up for him,” Kelly screeches, throwing her napkin on the table in a huff. “Mother, tell her she’s being a bitch.” Kelly is like the spitting image of my mother, with her short, cropped, red hair, vicious green eyes like a snake, pouty lips that have had a little help from filler, and eyebrows that tend to stay in the same place, to keep the aspect of being young, of course. Kelly doesn’t need any of that shit, but she’s been going with my mum since she turned twenty-one to get God knows what pumped into her face and body, and that was five years ago, so I guess there’s no stopping her now.
“Bonnie, apologise to your sister,” my mum demands.
“For what exactly?” I retort, because I am sick to death of this charade. Kelly has always been the golden child, something I’ve accepted over the years because that’s just how it is—it’s not right, and for a long time, it hurt, but eventually, you let that shit go because you realise that nothing will ever change.
“For being rude,” Mum affirms, as if that spells the end of it.
“I wasn’t being rude, I was just saying that I thought he seemed okay,” I reply, unwilling to back down.
“Mother, what is wrong with her?” Kelly screeches, clearly pissed that I’m not already on my hands and knees, licking her goddamn boots.
“Yes, Bonnie, what is going on here?” Mum asks, both of them waiting impatiently, whilst my dad continues to act as if there is no one else in the room.
“Nothing is going on,” I reply calmly, even as my blood boils. “I was simply stating that he seemed nice.”
“Fancy him, did you?” Kelly fires back. Oh for the love of God.
“No, Kelly,” I reply, but it falls on deaf ears.
“That’s what your problem is, you’ve always wanted what was mine,” she spits back, venom lacing her tone and her eyes narrowed.
“If you say so,” I reply, ready to get the hell out of here.
“Did you hear that, Mother? She just admitted that she’s jealous of me,” Kelly wails, and I can’t help the laugh that breaks free. Jealous of her? Really? Fucking hell, delusional is mild when it comes to her, more like bat-shit crazy.
“Really, Bonnie, I don’t know why you act this way towards your sister,” Mum chides, and that is where I reach my limit.
“Dinner was lovely, Mum,” I say sarcastically, calling her ‘mum’ as I always do because it pisses her off that I call her that instead of ‘mother’, as I place my knife and fork down and stand.
“And just where do you think you’re going?” Mum asks.
“Out.”
“But we’re not finished?—”
“Oh let her go, Mother. She’ll only be going to Sadie’s to sulk,” Kelly says as I turn and leave the room, every part of me wanting to turn back and fucking duke it out with her but preferring to take the high road and not reduce myself to their level.
I can hear the two of them tittering away, discussing my issues as I head up the stairs to grab my phone, car keys, and purse. I quickly fire off a text to Sadie to tell her I’m on my way, and then I grab my jacket on the way out, making sure to slam the door a little louder than normal in a small act of defiance. Petty, yes, but fucking hell, show me anyone who would keep their cool around them and I’ll give them a medal.
I sweep my long, fire-engine red hair up into a ponytail and flop down on the sofa at Sadie’s place. I’ve just changed into the pyjamas that I keep here, because more often than not, this is where you’ll find me, preferring to stay with my best friend than be stuck at home with people who seem to fucking hate me.
“Why don’t you just move in here permanently, Bon?” Sadie says, asking me a question she’s asked a million time before.
