Page 6 of Don't Puck Him

“This might be my own personal hell.”

First day of school. Here we go.

The wind rustles through the countless leaves outside and rushes in through my open window. I hear a branch scrape against the roof before I feel the chill.

If I’m honest, my anxiety is contributing more to my shivers than the cool draft.

Clothes are strewn around my large bedroom as far as the eye can see. I’m cross legged on the floor, unsure of where to begin undoing this mess. I should have done this yesterday.

Mom pops her head in through my open doorway. Her face teeters between disapproval and anger.

“I’ll clean it up before we leave,” I say before she can nit-pick.

She steps in, but she is stopped short by all the apparel on the floor. She stands with her hands on her hips. “Would you hate me too much if I didn’t come with you?” she says, like it’s the punishment for my disorganization.

I should be used to this by now – her offhanded approach to mothering me. But it cuts deeper. Every. Single. Time.

A lot of this is her fault.

Sheinsisted we order all these clothes thatshethought all the girls my age wear. Let me rephrase that. Clothes all therichgirls my age wear. Since she's a self-proclaimed fashion expert and fashionista, it’s her way or the highway.

But when all the shit got delivered, I had to sort through it by myself. Classic mother. Now I’m late for school because, newsflash – I can't fit twenty thousand dollars worth of clothes into the inadequate dorm storage.

Now this.

“This,” I say, my head motioning around the room. “Is your fault.”

“I played no part in making this mess.”

I roll my eyes. “You ordered all of this. I was fine with a fall capsule wardrobe.”

“Is this the thanks I get? For everything I’ve done to make this easier for you,

Wren?”

I know how this will end and change tactics. “What’s the emergency?”

“David has to nip over to New York for a meeting, and he wants me to go with him.”

Stone cold Mr. Andersonwantsher to escort him, but I need her support today. I'm scared, nervous, and don't know what to expect when I get to BC. Why can't she see that? Why isn't it obvious to her that I need her more than David does right now?

I pull my knees up towards my chest, rest my chin on them and look up at her.

“So how am I going to get to school?”

My voice is barely a whisper. My stomach tightens because I know the answer before she even says it. But I still cross my fingers.

“Cash will take you. You don't know how lucky you are to have such an amazing step brother at school with you. He'll take good care of you.”

Shit!

The ride to school is uncomfortably silent. Cash showed up in an angry looking black car I've never seen before. It suits his ugly personality.

I sit on the stiff leather car seat, afraid he'll drop me on the side of the road and drive off.

Cash puts his phone to his ear. “Hey, man.”

I wish he would stop the car or use the loudspeaker. I can't hear the voice on the other side, but he throws me a few unnerving glances.

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