Page 13 of My Shining Stepbrother

“Hello?! Rose?! I’m so glad you called. Are you okay, sweetie? Where are you?” She says it as if the blow-up didn't happen this evening and I was just an adolescent child. Damian didn’t tell her he spoke to Reese and that I am with him because if he did this would be a different conversation entirely.

“Mom, I’m fine, I was just at work.” I reply to her, giving her no further context around it.

She lets out a breath. “Are you coming home tonight?”

“No, I need space tonight and won't have it there.” My words come out harsher than I had anticipated.

“No, you need to come home. We didn’t have a chance to finish that talk.” She snaps back.

“I don’t. I’m not a kid anymore, mom. You can’t just tell me what I am going to do.” My tone gets louder towards her.

“Damian said you called Reese. I thought you said nothing was going on between the two of you. Did you lie to us?” Venom began to pour from her voice.

Reese looks at me and raises an eyebrow. I didn’t tell him what she had said about us. I didn’t think it would matter, to be honest.

I take another deep breath to keep from exploding. “Reese is easier to talk to than you, I guess.”

“So help me if you ruin this relationship for me!” She screams into the phone, showing her true colors.

“What the hell does that mean?! How the fuck would I ruin it?!” I snap back, allowing the anger to seep out.

She laughs wickedly. “By being a slut! Only sluts have tattoos like yours! You need to tell me how he saw your legs, Rose!”

“I already told you he saw them at work! Now, I’m going to get off the phone before more irreversible words are said!”

“No, you’re not! I know it wasn’t at work because you always have jeans or shorts. He wouldn’t have been able to see all of them unless you were naked or nearly naked!” Her true feelings for me begin to show, and I have a witness for once.

“I change my clothes at work a lot.” I give her a simple reply, but that does nothing to stop her.

She growls into the phone this time before starting again. “No, you’re being a slut. I find a guy I care about, and you can’t handle it, so you decide to be a slut. Do you even understand how Reese is with women? You will mean nothing to him.”

She is talking about me in evil ways, and now Reese. At what point will she see she is the problem?

“Don’t you dare speak badly about him. They have accepted me more than you ever have or will. Bye, mom.” I hang up the phone before she has time to respond or make a sound toward me.

The rest of the ride to his house is spent in silence and fuming anger. I cannot believe she said those things about not only me but Reese as well. My body is shaking, and I have no way to release it.

When we arrived at the house, I wasted no time rushing to the room I was offered. I shut and lock the door and scream out in anger. As I am calming down, though, there is a knock at my door.

Chapter 7

- Rose -

I open the bedroom door to find Reese on the other side. He stares at me solemnly, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Rose?” He states my name as a question.

“Yes?” I snap back at him. I’m angry at my mother, not him, so why am I being so rude to him?

“Can you let me in so we can talk, please?” his voice doesn’t beg, but his eyes do.

“Reese, please just leave me alone for tonight….” Whispering was the only way I could get the words to leave my lips.

He shakes his head and relaxes his arms. “I’ll sit out here all night. I don’t care.”

The anger switches to him. Why can’t he leave me alone? “Seriously, leave me alone, please. You heard it. So please don’t make this more difficult. I’m packing my things, going to a motel, or sleeping in my car. I won’t cause problems for you or your dad.”

“Rose, you are not leaving here to sleep in your car, possibly.” He retorts, only causing me more pain.

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