wrong house

8. carnival.

Sarah had lost count on how many times she just wanted to roll her eyes. She never did of course because Becky would never shut up about it. Rami was as charming as ever and thank God for that because she hadn't said a word herself since they entered the house. Gabriel kept texting her and she would sometimes respond with the phone under the table but most times she just ignored him because he was only texting her to disturb the dinner.

"So you go to college?" Becky asked and took a sip of her wine. Rami nodded and glanced at Sarah, who was choking down her own soda.

"Yeah, I have one more year after this one." He answered and scratched his jawline.

"An older guy, I'm impressed." Becky smirked and then winked at Sarah. Santiago stayed observent in his seat and grimaced at this. Another moment of suppressing an eye roll. Even Raphael seemed to be in physical pain, judging by the way he was shooting daggers at Becky and clenching his cutlery. Even if he knew it was fake, it was still hard to listen to.

"He's not that much older." Sonia butted in, giving her sister a quick look.

"Well, I say older men are better because women mature faster so being with someone your own age is like setting yourself up for a failed relationship."

Sarah's heart nearly stopped as she experienced something she had never done before. She actually agreed with that statement. It slightly widened her eyes and put a smile to her face.

"Right? It's like, scientifically proven so why date someone your own age? That's just stupid." She uttered her first words during the dinner and it occured to everyone at that moment that she hadn't said anything until now.

"Did they just–" Sonia whispered quietly to Raphael who shushed her politely.

"Don't ruin it." He replied even lower and watched with intense eyes.

"You know, you're really wise, Sarah." Becky said softly. Santiago dropped his jaw and even Rami frowned at this.

"Uh... thanks." Sarah murmured and waited for the after-comment. Becky could never be nice without adding something rude to it afterwards.

"But of course, I still think you'd be wiser if you left that mechanic shop and got a real job. I know a designer who owns this store, I could probably get you a job as a salesperson for clothes. That'd be great!"

Sarah couldn't hold it back any longer. She put her elbows against the table with force and then dramatically buried her head in her hands, rubbing her sides with her thumbs, her tongue pressed against the back of her teeth and her lips parted. Rami tried to cool her down by caressing leg under the table but it didn't help. If anything, it made her want to leave the house and run to Gabriel's.

"It is a real job." Raphael stated and crossed his arms together. "She gets paid and she loves it. What the hell is your problem? So what if she likes cars? Not everyone is into fashion, Becky."

"Okay, I think we all need to cool down a little." Sonia suggested but Sarah only shook her head repeatedly until she couldn't chew back her words.

"No." Sarah said as she stood up. "I'm so sick and tired of this. No favors are worth this. Yeah, that's what I get when you visit, I get favors from my parents because that's how much I dread you coming here. You're a horrible human being with no regard for other people's feelings and I wouldn't care about that if it wasn't for the fact that you've been verbally putting me down and abusing me since I grew boobs! Nothing I do is good enough for you and I shouldn't even have to prove myself to you because you're not my fucking mom!"

"Language, please." Sonia sighed and closed her eyes momentarily.

"Oh, really? Wow, big shocker, I'm a teenager and I use the word fuck. How surprising! You kiss Tiago's ass all the time because he lives up to your expectations but I'm done with it! I've had to take emotional abuse from one person already, I can't put up with yours anymore! You make it seem like all my life choices are bad, I even had a month of anxiety because my hair wasn't glossy enough! Do you have any idea what that does to a teenage girl? Mix that with your boyfriend taking drugs and beating you, I bet she'll turn out real fucking great. I'm done enduring you because you're family when in reality, I wouldn't even consider you family. So don't even talk to me again because I can't stand a word that comes out of your mouth. Oh, and last night I went to a party, my ex punched me again but I hit him back. Was that not ladylike enough for you either?"