~* Chapter 16: This Day Keeps Getting Worse *~
"You... fried pickle!" I grumbled.
"Fried pickle?" Nathan laughed.
"Whatever, at least I didn't say, and I quote 'You are a fucked up frog'!"
Nathan scowled at me as we stopped at a traffic light. He turned to me and our eyes caught for a moment. I never noticed how mesmerising his blue eyes were, or the dimples he had on his cheek.
Nate seemed to be in a trance too as he slowly came closer and I came to meet halfway. Our lips brushed together but we were suddenly jolted back when we heard a car horn blaring at us and a man yelling out colorful curses.
And then I realised. I almost kissed Nate and he almost kissed me back. This is going to be so awkward so I decided to break the ice.
"My dog peed on my brother once."
"Really?"
"I told him I wouldn't tell anyone if he would grow a moustache."
"Oh, I remember that. Wait, you were the reason he grew a 'stache?"
"Mhm."
And like that, the tension lifted.
I am, officially, the Queen of Breaking-the-Ice.
Like, did you see the way I smoothly changed the subject to my brother?
Oh my god. I should just walk around breaking awkward situations. I swear I could be a superhero.
I could be Super Not-Awkward Girl.
Okay, that would be a crappy name. I think I'll just stick to being a Queen.
Yep...
"We're here. Get out of my car."
"Gee, thanks Nate. I'm feeling the love."
Nathan winked at me before he shooed me out and drove off.
Dick.
I sulked as I opened the front door and walked in.
"I'm home!" I called out as I dragged myself up the winding staircase, all the way to my bedroom.
When I got out I saw Jake walk in and he seemed pissed. Like, I've never seen Jake that pissed before. Not even the time when I dyed his hair pink while he slept.
Hehe. Feels like yesterday.
"Jake."
No reply.
"Jake."
No reply.
"Jake!"
"What do you want Tori?" he yelled.
"Don't get your G-string in a twist. Just because you have a dick doesn't mean you should act like one! Why are you so pissed and where's Dad?"
"Dad is out grocery shopping and I'm pissed because I just got off the phone with Mom."
Oh, this isn't good.
"Go on, Jake!"
"I asked Mom where she is and she said she is in Peru."
"What the fuck!" I hissed.
"Just joking, but she did say she was going to be back in a day or two."
"So what does this have to do with you acting like a drunk girl on her period who recently caught her boyfriend cheating on her?"
"Creative, Tori. What pissed me off was the fact that she didn't even tell me where she is! She abandoned her own children for god knows what!" Jake's voice rose.
"I'm not even going to defend her on that one."
Mom has been acting very distant. It just started one day, she said she will be late from work. Calm before the storm they say because soon she wasn't an hour late. Suddenly an hour turned into a day, a day turned into a few days and a few days would occassionally become a week.
We asked her about it and she would brush it off, Jake insisted she tell us however she pulled out the 'I'm-tired-and-I-want-to-rest' excuse.
What's worse is that she acted like everything is alright and that her two children weren't affected at all.
My brother wants to take custody over me since he's nineteen but he said not to leave things unfinished, he said that we should figure out this issue so it doesn't affect us in the future.
I let out a sigh as I leaned against the wall, tears threatening to spill from my eyes.
"Everyone I love keeps leaving and hurting me," I whimper. My voice cracks.
Jake immediately pulls me into a tight embrace.
"I wont leave you, Tori. I promise," he coos.
"Don't make promises you can't keep."
At this point my vision blurs but I can't cry. Crying is weak and I am not weak.
"I know, Victoria and I don't."
Jake smiles at me reassuringly and I give him a peck on the cheek and head to the bathroom to wash my face.
Jake is the only person I have left that I care for and vice versa. On the outside we may seem like a couple of cocky, naughty and shady people but we just have no one to trust. We lost everything, and by everything, I mean we lost the ability to love. We lost our family, we lost our hope and we lost our innocence.
Jake and I only have each other.
Two kids who have to manage on their own. Sure, our parents work and money is definitely not a problem but our parents aren't here to... well, 'parent' us.
It was Jake who gave me 'the talk'.
It was Jake who protected me.
It was Jake who stood by my side when I had nightmares, or should I say memories, haunting me in my sleep.
... But out of all of us, it was I who went through the most.
I witnessed things that should not be witnessed.
I lost people who should not be lost.
I experienced the wrath of revenge.
But most of all...
I was the one who loved.
And I regret it to this day.
People aren't always what they seem and to avoid getting mixed up with the 'bad apples' my brother and I did the only thing to avoid getting hurt and betrayed again.
We stopped trusting.
*** *** *** ***
I lay on my bed as I listened to the soft hum of the wind hitting the window and the sweet rustle of the trees. I wish it could be like this forever but it can't.
All good things have to come to an end. You have to eventually wake up from your fantasy. I woke up from mine two years ago, when I was fifteen.
Fifteen.
At that age I learnt the true colors of our world. The truth behind the lies.
My eyelids began to feel like boulders. As they were about to shut a large 'bang' from downstairs awoke me.
I went downstairs and saw my dad dragging in some plastic bags.
"Hey Dad."
"Hey Tori, how are you?"
"Just having a bad day."
"We've all had them."
You have no idea.
Dad put down the bags near the door, "Can you help me bring these in?"
I nodded and carried some into the kitchen, where Jake was quietly munching on a lollipop.
Jake looked up and his briefly met with mine before they narrowed in onto his Dad's.
"Hey son, can you help your sister and I with the groceries?" Dad smiled weakly.
Jake rolled his eyes before he grabbed my forearm and dragged me into the yard leaving behind a dumbstruck father.
*** *** *** ***
"Don't talk to him," Jake said in a hushed tone.
"Why?"
"I don't trust him."
"OK."
I wasn't going to argue with Jake, he knew what he was doing. I trusted Jake the most out of everyone, he's always been by my side and when he says that something's up, it means that something's up.
Not to mention that I doubt Dad too.
After our conversation we returned back inside the house and saw Dad watching a basketball match between Lakers and Pistons. Something that did not interest me but interested my brother.
So, I was left all alone and I was bored. I checked the time and it was 9:30pm.
I'm pretty tired and I want this day to be over already. As I was walking to my room I went past Mom's and Dad's and saw the door slightly open. On the middle of the bed there was a briefcase and the lock was unlocked. Curiosity got the better of me.
I creeped inside the room and slowly lifted the lid of the suitcase.
I almost felt the wind knocked out of me.
I found pictures.
Thousands of pictures of me.
There was a note in the middle and I almost screamed.
There on the note, in someone else's writing, was written:
She's mine.
~K
I think my Dad is being threatened. And I think I know who it's from.
It's from him.
He knows I'm still alive.
But how did he find my dad?
~* Author's Note *~
This chapter focused a lot on Tori's past. Like, a lot.
It also focused on Nathan and Victoria's relationship.
It might take a while for Tori and Nate to fall in love but this story is going to be a bt more realistic.
THEY AREN'T GOING TO MAKE OUT INSTANTLY.
Changed Tori's actor to Adriana Lima. What do you think?
~Your's Truly~ Domo <3