Page 2 of Little Devil

My father’s cruel words hit me where it hurts and I clear my throat, not liking this awkward tension filling the air between us. Something’s up, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the answer to my question is no, she’s not working today.

“Mom?” I try again, craning my neck in an attempt to catch her eyes. “Are you alrigh–”

“We want you out,” she croaks, her shoulders dropping like she’s been dying to get the words off her chest.

I blink at that, slowly looking over my shoulder to find my dad standing behind me in the kitchen doorway. His dark gaze travels over my beat up face and he glares, not even bothering to hide his disappointment at the son who ruins everything.

“You know,” I state the obvious, nodding to myself when he says nothing. “How did you find out?”

He cocks his head at me and I pull my brows in, but then it hits me and I let out a humourless laugh.

Fucking Felicia.

I ought to steal her walking stick.

“You think this is funny?”

“No,” I mutter, leaning back against the island to glance between the two. “You’re really kicking me out?”

“God, you’ve taken it too far this time, Xan,” my mom cries, swallowing the last of her wine before pouring herself another one. “We can’t keep living like this.”

“Like what?” I ask, rolling my eyes while I lift the ice pack to my face. “It was a simple misunderstanding, Mom. Mrs Quinn already dropped the charges and promised she wouldn’t tell the principal so long as I paid to get it fixed. I didn’t get caught by the press. I didn’t even get arrested. It’s done.”

“That’s not the point, you idiot!” she snaps, raising her voice in a rare fit of anger. “You stole your teacher’s car and wrapped it around a goddamn tree!”

Yeah, well.. I fucked her, too, but I don’t tell them that.

“You spent the night in the hospital with a concussion and we had to find out about it from the goddamn neighbor,” she goes on, quickly swiping her tears away with her hands. “How could you not tell us?”

“Okay, first of all, I didn’t steal her car, I borrowed it. And this right here is exactly why I didn’t tell you. You’re a mess, Mom. You need help.”

“What I need is for my eighteen year old son to start acting like a normal human being and stop risking his life on a daily basis like some kind of adrenaline junkie!” she screams, pushing herself off the counter to shove my chest. “You know damn well how this affects us and yet here you are, still doing the same type of stupid shit that got your brother killed.”

The silence that follows stretches for what feels like an eternity and I stay frozen where I stand, unable to move or speak.

She doesn’t talk about him.

Not ever.

I’ve tried a few times over the three years since he’s been gone, but she always shuts me down, refusing to remember him.

I remember him.

I remember him for all of us, just like he’d want me to. I kept my fucking promise to him, and if she’d just take the time to listen to me, she’d know that.

“Mom..” I say carefully, stepping closer to run a hand over her shoulder. “I know this isn’t gonna make it better, but you have to know I don’t do this shit to hurt you. Nik told me he didn’t want me t–”

She flinches at the sound of his name and shies away from my touch, defensively folding her arms around her body, and fuck if that act alone doesn’t crack my damn heart in two. She never touches me anymore, barely even speaks to me unless it’s to mutter a half hearted hello or goodbye, but the worst part of it all is that every time she looks at me, I see the hate in her eyes she barely manages to hide.

Because I’m the reason my big brother is dead, and I don’t think she’ll ever forgive me for that.

“Go pack your things, Xan,” Dad says coolly, leaning back against the wall with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. “I’ve already spoken to your aunt Karen and finalized your transfer to Lakewood Academy. She’s agreed to take you in for the rest of senior year but after that, you’re on your own, so I suggest you start looking at colleges and really think about what you want to do for the rest of your life, because it sure as hell won’t be this.”

I nod and run my tongue bar over my teeth, not even bothering to argue with him because judging by the tone of his voice and the look on his face, his mind’s already made up and there’s no changing it. When Alec Reid wants something, he takes it and makes it happen – something I used to admire about him. I looked up to him for the first fifteen years of my life, respected the shit out of him and strived to be just like him – we both did, me and my brother – but now all I see is a cold hearted asshole with the personality of a rock, dead to the world and everyone in it, his wife included.

My parents had one of those epic loves you see in movies – literally – they met on the set of this gag worthy romantic suspense back in the nineties and fell hard and fast for each other, but now they can’t even stand to be in the same room together.

“I’m taking the dog,” I inform him, hitting him with a look that screams say no, I dare you.

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