Kieran knew she would be hard to placate when she was upset like this. He still went in to hug her. She was stiff in his arms. When he released her from his grasp he got on his knees. “Can you ever forgive me? I’m trying to keep my jealousy in check but how can I when you’re so gorgeous and precious?”
Demi followed her family into their Volvo. It was the latest model but she hated it. Mostly because she had to be the one to sit in the very back, aka the trunk. Michelle always sat in the seat right behind their father. Her little sister Miami would sit behind their mother. Her twin sisters Madison and Melanie were too young to be in the middle seats they always had the back. Her parents could afford a better car, they just choose not to. Demi climbed in the trunk to take her seat. She knew it was going to be an uncomfortable ride. When Michelle wanted to go out, they indulged her. She always wanted to go shopping. The rule always applied to her; the middle child is the forgotten child. Granted she wouldn’t have minded being forgotten more often than what she normally had to deal with. She wasn’t just the middle child. Demi was the slave of the family.
Michelle was already buckled in her seat, she looked back to see the twins were buckled in their booster seats. She urged her parents to go, despite Demi not settled inside the trunk. “Let’s go! The sale starts soon. I want to have the best clothes for the start of my freshmen year.”
Their dad buckled himself in and turned the car on. He pulled out of their garage and headed to the mall. Their mother tried to chastise him for indulging her. “Dear, you can’t always overindulge her.”
“She is our daughter. She should have the very best. There is.”
Demi could hear them excitedly chatter about how they loved and adored Michelle. She wished they wanted the best for her as well. She couldn’t wait for school to start. Less time to spend at home and more time doing what she wanted. Even when she would get high marks in school, they both ignored her. They barely made it on time for her fifth grade graduation ceremony. Demi knew the only reason they showed up was to keep up with appearances. Their neighbors all believed they were devoted parents.
They made it to the mall in time for Michelle’s favorite store started it’s sale. Demi wanted to wander off and look at all the things she knew she couldn’t have. Although sometimes she managed to get Michelle’s hand me downs. The family followed Michelle around the store as she grabbed item after item to wear. Michelle stopped when she noticed a familiar face in between the racks. She ran towards him. Demi took that time to slip away and go exploring.
She was in the aisle with the dresses and skirts when a guy came up to her. “I see you’re out shopping with your sister.”
“Yeah, so. Do you need something from me?” Demi didn’t look up to see the person that was talking to her.
“No, I just wanted to say when you punched my friend in the face you really made him mad.”
At that point she looked up to see who was talking to her. She recognized him as the boy who helped her. “So what. He shouldn’t go around calling ladies sluts. That wasn’t nice at all.”
“You’re right. We all clowned him after that but I don’t like when guys do that.”
“Do what? Be assholes?”
“No, well yeah that too. But I mean disrespectful.”
She nodded her head in understanding then walked away. “Bye.”
He could tell she was cold, but something about her drew him to her. He yelled out after her. “Hope I see you again.”
Demi couldn’t help but hate the way he nonchalantly said that. Why would he want to see her again? When she got back to where Michelle was, she seen the guy she was hanging all over. If anyone ever wanted to insult Michelle it would be by calling her a slut. Another guy came up to grab his sibling. It was the same guy that spoken to her just a few minutes ago. “Hey bro, mom says we have to hurry.” He waved at demi before pulling his brother away.
Michelle knew the two of them, she eagerly said goodbye to them both in a sing song voice. “Bye Jermaine and Zaine. Oh Zaine, are you still drawing?”
He stopped long enough to answer her question. “Yeah.” He looked past her straight at Demi once more and spoke. “See you around.”
Demi rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe he would want to find her attractive. She was short, with ugly brown eyes; and thick, course, curly hair. She wanted to hide the more she thought about him looking at her that way. Michelle made sure she didn’t think anymore about it. She pulled Demi into chest squealing. “God, have you seen an even sexier guy before? Jermaine is cute but it’s Zaine that’s the best looking brother. Too bad he’s a few years younger than me.”
“He’s younger than you? With his height I figured he was older than you.”
“No, he’s actually your age. Sad, I know. Oh well. He is one hell of an artist.”
She didn’t say anything else. She just wanted to be out of her sister’s grasp. It felt as if she was being smothered. Michelle let her go as soon as she seen a sparkly top that she just had to have. Their dad scowled at the top, it was too short and glittery. He spoke up trying to put his foot down. “You can not have that shirt. It’s to glitzy and revealing.”
Michelle gave him her infamous puppy dog eyes to get her way. “But daddy, it would go perfect with these jean shorts I have already. Please?”
Demi knew when she said please he would cave in. A few seconds later she heard the all too familiar words for her sister. “Alright pumpkin. Whatever you want.”
They ended up spending several hours in the mall. They didn’t leave until nearly closing time. Michelle managed to bilk her parents for hundreds of dollars. The twins even managed to get in a couple hundred dollars each. Demi wanted to be upset by how her parents don’t bat an eyelash when spending so much money on her siblings but would him and haw over her wanting things she needed, such as feminine hygiene products or things that were necessary, like bras and underwear. By the time they had gotten all the bags in the car Demi, barely had room in the cramped trunk. They pulled off and headed home until Michelle spoke up. “Daddy, we haven’t had anything to eat. Stop at McDonald’s or Burger King. Please?” “Sure thing Pumpkin. I’ll get you all something to eat.” Hearing that made Demi feel as if they wouldn’t forget her this time. That gave her reason to smile. They pulled into the drive-thru and he placed their order. Unfortunately, they did it again. Instead
The two girls kept chatting away when a started to walk past. He had a red baseball cap on, denim shorts that went past his knees, a long blue shirt, and earrings in his ears. He was tall. Instantly Demi felt as if she was struck by lightning. Her heart started to beat faster. Victoria saw the way Demi looked at him. Her mouth was slightly ajar. Demi slowly licked her lips. The guy seen from his peripheral how she reacted to him. He wanted to say something to her but just raised his hand in a small wave. Demi’s brain started running with thoughts. She knew him, knew his name. He was just outside the edge of her fence when his name came to her, she called out to him. “Zaine?” He stopped right there, taking off his hat to reveal his dark brown eyes, thick hair, and a smile that went on for days. “Hey, Demi. You’re up early.” “I’m an early bird what can I say. You look um really cute today.” “Thank you. Thank you. You look beautiful too.” She qui
The two girls walked over to the field as they got closer, they could see it was the same group of guys that passed by her house the day before. They looked at each other and wanted to turn around until Demi looked and noticed Zaine was up to bat next. Victoria noticed the longing look in her eyes. She sighed. Her voice was low when spoke. “Just five minutes alright?”Demi tried to play off as if she didn’t know what Victoria was talking about. “What?”“You know what I mean. Just a few minutes.”“Well, if you insist.”“I don’t we can leave. It’s too hot to be outside like this. I would much rather be sitting somewhere eating ice cream.”“Oh.” She looked back at the field waiting for Zaine to go up to the plate.“We can stay.”“Mmm.”Victoria shook her head while rolling her eyes. She watched the guys play baseball a
The twins sat there in shock. Demi waited, maybe it wasn’t as bad as she was letting her mind think. Michelle she was the first one to explode. She stood up irate. Yelling at her parents. “What do you mean we’re moving? Moving where?”Their mother refused to answer the questions, leaving it for their dad to explain. “We’re still going to be staying in the same city. We just need to downsize. That’s all.”“OK, so I don’t lose my friends but what about school? Do we have to transfer?”He reached out placing a hand on the top of her head and shoulder. “No, we’ll still be in the district.”That calmed Michelle down long enough to agree to it. Demi had questions but wasn’t sure if they would listen to her. “Dad? When do we move?”“We need you to pack everything up that you can. We’re moving soon.”She was afraid he would say that. He was always hardest on her. She made it a point to tell Victoria when she has the chance. “OK then.”Her parents left the living room to
With Victoria helping her out with the packing she managed to get not only the twins room packed up but hers and their parents. There were things in her parents room she never ever wanted to see again. She naturally assumed adults were weird. The only rooms left to take care of were the living room and kitchen. The sun was still out, it was only about five when they took to the streets.Demi couldn’t help but hug her best friend as they walked over to her house. “Vic I don’t know what I would do without you.”“Luckily, you will never have to find out. Stay the night at my house tonight.”“Are you saying what I think you mean?”“You goddamn right I am. Sleepover.”“Home cooked meal or junk on top of junk?”“Let’s ask mom first. You should call your parents and ask them too. OK?”“You know they may say no but I’ll try.”It
Demi followed Victoria out of her bedroom. The girls walked in on her mom while on a phone call. Demi could tell just by the way she looked, who she was talking to. The shrill sound of her mother’s voice came through the speaker. She just knew that they would tell her to come back home. Victoria could see the worry forming on her brow. She hugged her close.Maxine hated talking to this woman, she knew they treated Demi as if she was the unwanted stepchild but couldn’t prove anything. “Mrs. Lockhart, Demi explained to me that you will be moving soon. I figured it would be best for them if they had a sleepover this weekend. Victoria and I will truly miss having her around.”“Whatever. I’ll be glad when we don’t have to live so close to you anymore.” She ended the call.Maxine rolled her eyes while she placed her phone face down on the counter. She seen the girls standing there with hopeful gazes. She clapped her hand
Just as she was about to make breakfast her parents came out of their room. She knew it wasn’t going to be good. Her father clapped his hand to get all of his girls attention. “Listen up, no making food for a bit. We’re going to get takeout. Less mess.”Demi sighed in relieve, she wouldn’t have to cook but there was another problem that came to mind. She may not get fed either. She wanted to slump down against the wall but thought better of it. Her father jingled his keys to get them all in the car. Reluctantly, she followed suit.Stuffed inside the trunk yet again She looked out the rear window. Demi tried to keep herself from feeling down but the more she thought about this new move the more she realized her life was only going to get worse.Instead of going to a drive thru restaurant, they pulled into IHOP. Demi's eyes light up. There was no way they wouldn’t allow her to eat especially with so many people around. Eve
“Says the hopeless romantic. Men aren’t good. Look at that man that sired me. He’s scum.” Demi wanted to bring up what she thought her father was doing but decided against it. Victoria pulled her into a hug, not knowing the real reason for her friends scowl. “Not all men are like him. I mean you’ve met my dad. He was the best.” “True. Sorry. I just wished he had stayed around longer. It would’ve given me a better example of good men.” “Wll, when it’s your time to go you can’t bargain for more time. I know he’s at peace. Instead of suffering.” “That’s true. He was in so much pain before. That’s why you’re the hopeless romantic.” “I bet you Zaine will change your mind. You’ll be a romantic too. I feel it in my soul.” Demi knew Victoria was right about seventy percent of the time but she refused to think that there was at least one great guy out there for her. It couldn’t have been him. Lightening would have to strike for her to believe h