Eenie Meenie Minie Mo

Chapter Twenty-Seven

School dragged on. I was looking forward to senior year like none other so I could be done with this place. It seemed every time I would begin to warm up to Lewisburg, something would stir up and I’d hate it all over again. Sure, it was a little better for me; kept me out of parties, though Leander continued to have them at his house on the nights our parents were out.

I also found out earlier that week, from Maddie, that the reason Leander was eighteen and still in high school was because he’d been held back. Maddie said he missed an entire year and a half of school when his mom died; so that meant I couldn’t make fun of him for still being in school.

He got a little worse at school. It seemed he was using Cassie to taunt me in some way. It totally wasn’t working. Not at all. Why would I want to sit there and watch them with their hands all over eachother at lunch? Why would I ever be jealous of that bimbo? I wasn’t in the least bit jealous of her. She could keep that lying bastard for all I cared.

Every time I came home from school I was bit more exhausted than I was the previous day. Next year couldn’t come fast enough. The bad part was I’d have to work my butt off to be able to get into a nice college—far away from Tennessee.

"Can’t we just move?" I whined to my mom one day. I was plopped on the couch watching reruns of Chuck. Mom was getting ready to take Kaitlyn out for some sort of wedding thing. She’d extended the invitation to me, of course. I flat out declined.

Mom sat next to me on the couch, putting her cute heels on. "I know I created the sarcastic girl sitting beside me, but sometimes I just can’t tell when you’re serious."

"I’m only half kidding," I said. "But I’ll be wholly serious if you consider it."

Mom rolled her eyes. "Kodi. Breakups happen. Granted, your situation is a bit…..extreme. But you can’t just run away from every boy that breaks your heart, that’s all."

I blanched at that. "He did not break my heart! He just humiliated me."

She looked unconvinced, but otherwise didn’t call me on my statement. "You sure you don’t want to come with?" She looked at me hopefully, as though the idea of spending the day with Kaitlyn was as unappealing to her as it was to me.

I nodded firmly. "I am positive."

Shrugging, Mom finished strapping her feet into her heels and kissed me on the forehead as she stood up. "Have fun doing nothing all day, then. But you are missing out!"

"Uh-huh. Hey, where’s Jason, by the way?"

Mom flashed a weak smile. "I think he stopped to get a Redbox. So…..that means he’ll be back here soon."

I deflated at that. "Great."

"Can’t have everything your way, dear!" Mom called cheerfully after me as she walked out the door, waving her fingertips.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that she’d planned this. Whatever. Maybe my brother and I could get back into our normal routine without having the huge apology. We hadn’t really talked since the day he told me about his real father; the same day my mother had tried to get the festering feelings out of my system. It wasn’t that he was a completely different person now that we didn’t share the same father. To be honest, that hadn’t ever really bothered me once I actually learned the truth. I mean, it had been on my mind for years ever since I overheard my dad’s drunken rant. It was a relief to finally know one way or another for sure.

And, okay, I hated his fiancée. That wasn’t exactly a secret. But I had made that clear and could stop being so hostile……maybe. I would never change my mind about her. Ever. But I loved Jason and he was my brother. If he was under the grand delusion that he was in love with Kaitlyn, well…..then I’d just have to accept that the best way I could. There was really no point in being a bitch all the time anymore. He wasn’t going to change his mind and I wasn’t scaring her off in the slightest.