𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 | 𝟏𝟖+

e i g h t

n e m e s i s

"Tell the mirror what you know she's heard before. I don't wanna be you anymore."

. . .

I don't recognize the girl staring back at me in the mirror. The girl that I promised myself to be would never long after a married man.

The girl I want to be would never kiss a married man, would never let him touch me in dirty ways.

All I can think of is the disgust I feel towards myself. I knew that the minute I considered kissing Alessio I should've backed away. I knew that the moment he entered his thumb in my mouth I should've stopped him.

I know we only had a heated make-out session – hell, even that's too much. But I'm glad it didn't go further. I'm glad my brother called just in time before things escalated.

It's been a week since what happened at the Romano's house, and I didn't dare to go back. I didn't receive any messages either, which I'm very glad for. I focused on studying and succeeding in all my tests.

And yet his touch and mouth are burned on my skin. I turn away from the mirror, disgusted by my presence.

I don't know how Alessio feels about what happened. Does he feel guilty? Is everything resolved between him and Ruby? Can he even look at her without feeling the remorse, without seeing my image in his mind?

I know it would happen to me. I know if it were me in his place the guilt would kill me.

Hell, it's killing me now.

But all I do is blame it on the wine, for I drink not that much.

With a last glance at myself, I walk downstairs, and right on time, my brother walks through the front door.

"Hey Nemesis," he smiles and takes off his shoes. I return his smile and walk into the kitchen. From the window of the kitchen, I can see my dad working in the garden and smile at him, even though he can't see me.

I watch him take off his shirt – that's drenched in sweat, ew – and throw it away like it's dirt.

I laugh at his action and turn around to get some soda from the fridge. But when I turn back around, I slightly roll my eyes when I see a neighbor ogling him from her window.

Dad, who's oblivious to the hungry gaze, just continues with his work in the burning sun.

I turn around, not wanting to see how women lust after my dad, and decide to prepare myself a sandwich.

But as I'm making myself something and decide to check on my dad, I see him talking with a relatively young girl. A crease forms between my eyebrows as I watch them talk.

I guess the girl is about my age, and I wonder what the hell she's doing talking to my dad.

Deciding not to question it, I shrug it off and turn around with my sandwich, heading upstairs to sulk a little more about my life.

To be honest, my life feels kind of boring. I mean, it's the same life I had before I met the Romano's – Alessio.

It sucks that I now lost touch with them because I liked hanging around with them. But it's for the best. I don't want Alessio hanging around in my head anymore, he needs to focus on his family and I need to focus on getting myself a partner.

I truly hope for them that they figure things out, and give Phoebe and Lucas the life they deserve, with a happy family. I need to forget about them.

I scoff at the idea.

As if.