Reaeth Pogliano, Disabled Deviant

Chapter 2

Facing Opposites

Two hours passed between Reaeth sending the message and her being at the Drentlaw-McBurnetts' house.

[Reaeth's POV]

When Kevin accepted to invite me round at his place, I never expected his siblings Mason, Heath and Yates, and half-sisters Sophie and Aimee to be here with us. To be honest, I like the former, but I hate the latter, because, obviously, they are almost exactly like Casey. Anyway, I only expected him to be here with me and Kevin, and not all the rest of his family.

The siblings all stare at me like I was a strange animal or whatsoever. This is so weird that I am a little embarrassed. After all, I must think that they have almost never seen a girl on a wheelchair, especially if anyone considers that they live with such a judgemental person Casey is.

Speaking of Casey himself, when he comes, the others all leave. Now, it's all about me, him and his poor half-brother, who shouldn't even be involved in this matter. Casey aims to throw a huge tantrum in order to cause a massive scandal, so that I am labeled as a negative example and could be banned from loads of social network. What the fuck pushed Kevin's father into dumping his wife for a snobbish rich woman who is only interested in money and breeding spoiled children?

Let's not talk about Casey's mom. It's time to face Casey himself.

"What do you want?" He is rudely smirking, which, according to Kevin, is typical of him. I am annoyed, but don't you think that I will react like every other girl would do, such as glaring, rolling their eyes or whatsoever. I directly speak.

"I want to talk to you, Casey. Alone. May we find a quiet place where to talk civilly as adults?" I say, emphasizing the last word, even though Casey isn't an adult yet. He's just 19, but believes to be on the top of the world. He's a not normal college sophomore. He studies hard and also helps his parents on their business, but I think it is just to show (a little bit) off. He overworks and acts like he is the hardest-working young man not only here, but also in the entire world.

Back to the conversation, it's Casey's turn talking, and he seems anything but nice. "Why should a man like me talk like a creep woman like you?" he asks in fact. I'm not bothered at his reaction: in fact, I've dealt with many people like him recently, and nobody ever seemed to turn me off.

Though, Kevin is. He doesn't like his half-brother's attitude. In fact, he exclaims, "Casey! Stop it!"

But he just raises his eyebrows and scrolls his shoulders.

"Casey, you're talking to the Reaeth B. Pogliano! Her blog is very popular in town. You should respect her a little bit more."

"Kevin," he talks at last, "leave. If you want me to talk to Reaeth, then leave me alone! I don't need you to babysit me! I'm grown-up!"

After hearing the word "grown-up", Kevin becomes furious. His face turns red, and he suddenly turns his back at us and leaves. Not only is he angry with Casey for ill-treating him, but he may also be mad at me for not saying much more about this. But I am supposed to talk to Casey face to face, calmly and not sternly.

[R.J's POV]

"Leeann, can we talk?"

My younger sister is peacefully idling on the couch alongside with my other sister, Birdy, and best friend, Brecken Priestland. (Leeann and Brecken are not just friends, but also life companions. They almost never separate, nor have they ever betrayed each other. This kind of friendship can only be seen among teenagers, and looks very creepy. They are adults, now.)

Leeann and Birdy are cheerfully laughing,whereas Brecken says, "Not now, oldie. We are busy."

"I want to talk with Leeann! Now!" I insist. But my sister keeps turning a blind eye on me, which really annoys me. "Leeann! Are you here or what?"

At last, Leeann stands, reaches me and yells, "Do you know what the fuck the word 'busy' mean?"

"It's serious stuff," I explain. "Leeann, it's time you and Birdy found..." I stutter, "ehm... ehm..."

She calms down, only to laugh loud. Birdy and Brecken follow in her laughter, much to my irritation. Then, Leeann asks, "Do you mean love? Don't worry, R.J. Guys are attracted by us."

I bang my head against the wall. "I give up," I mutter under my breath. Leeann & Co ignore me and go back to their stupid TV show. I wonder whether all of them will grow up and start seriously looking for a job.

[Reaeth's POV]

"Casey, please listen to me. It's very important."

"How important? You listen, darling. I don't have much time to waste with you."

I cut him off, "Don't call me 'darling'. My name is Reaeth. And I would like to get a little nicer response from you, next time."

"Dream on. This is reality. I don't like you, so I won't start being nice to you just because you told me to do so," he replies with an arid tone which shocks me, but not to the point to be disheartened.

In fact, I retain my composure and reply again, "Now stop talking and listen, please. It's me who bought your precious cover. Get used to this, Casey. You can't always obtain what you want. You don't have a magic wand and you're not God-" but suddenly his glare forces me to cut the sentence off. His face is as red as a tomato, his heart is beating as fast as a train, and his veins are pulsing to the point that they might explode. I can even see a tear pouring down his cheek. Oh, God. Now I highly regret saying what I said.

I must apologize to him. I have been far too blunt. And, believe me, this bluntness has been very inappropriate, considering that I have almost been pushed by Kevin (in my opinion) to ill-treat him.

I must seek for his forgiveness.

"Casey, I am s-" but can't even finish my sentence because he cries, "Go away!"

He is crying rivers, his face is wet and red at the same time, and he is sobbing like a child.

"Casey..." I am almost crying, as well.

"Do you know a thing, Reaeth..." he keeps sobbing and crying when talking, and looks like he's short on breath, "Reaeth... Pogliano? You... you... did this on purpose, didn't you?"

I don't answer.

"You don't answer! Ok! And maybe you're praying never to see me anymore! So leave! Leave! And don't even dare talk to me again! I'm over!" He runs away, still in tears. What I did is unforgivable. I never thought to be such insensitive.

Later, Yates sees me again in the hallway, alone, and wheels me out. Then, she advises, "If I were you, Reaeth, I would adjust things with Casey. Since Sophie and Aimee betrayed him and had him humiliated on the local newspaper, he has become vengeful and now he is in what seems a downward spiral. You can help him, but to do so you need to change your attitude towards him. He's not mean or insensitive. Please, believe me." She disappears back in the house, and I leave to return home.