E V A N N A
"Ew, you look so ugly in that dress. You look fatter than normal," Daniel sneered.
I looked away, staring at the mirror. My hair was done in a long French braid, and I was wearing the dress Rose and I picked out. I thought the dress looked pretty.
"Yeah, the dress is pretty," Daniel said, reading my mind. "It's just that you look hideous in the dress."
Ignore his comment, I thought.
The boys were wearing tuxedos and I realized no wonder why girls fall for them. Every time I see Jayden in school, either he's bullying me, or some girl is trying to get Jayden. Sometimes, they even bring girls home and they make me hide or they threaten to beat me up—the usual.
I sighed. All I had to do was stand there, wait, smile, take a picture, and then leave. It's not that hard...
But I couldn't bear the fact of watching my dad get married to someone else. My heart felt heavy and I felt sick.
"Be happy for your dad," Daniel scoffed. "You really are a horrible person if you can't even-"
"You're not happy either," I blurted out, my voice shaky from feeling upset.
I expected Daniel to insult me or punch me, but instead, he looked away.
"Guys, it's almost time!" A lady said, knocking on the door.
All the boys looked just as upset as I was. It all felt like my fault. I closed my eyes for a second, taking a deep breath. I started walking out the door, but before I did, I said, "I'm sorry."
I knew it wouldn't change anything, but I knew they blamed me for this. I started blaming myself too. If my parents hadn't divorced because of me, this wouldn't have happened.
An hour passed. The wedding officially started, and I was standing across from the boys. My dad looked so happy and I felt guilty. I felt my heart shatter as soon as I heard the words:
"Now, I pronounce you, husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
I'm sorry Mom.
————
"You look gorgeous!" Rose exclaimed, putting her hand on my shoulders.
"Thank you. You too," I replied,
"Do you want cake?"
"No thank you."
She offered me a small smile. "I understand if you take your time getting used to this. You don't have to call me mom right away. I want you to have your own space."
She walked away, leaving me sitting by myself at an empty table. Soon enough, my step brothers came to the same table.
"We're gonna discuss some things," Ethan grumbled.
"First, we are not your brothers," Brandon growled. "We are a separate family. You will never be accepted by us."
"He means," Andrew butted in, "that we'll try our best to respect you and take care of you like our little sister."
My heart warmed up, but it got ruined by Daniel. "You must be crazy. No way in hell she's gonna actually be my sister. We're still step siblings."
"Well of course," Ethan said. "But I think we should try including her in our family."
"No. You do that. I'm not doing it," Jayden spoke up, glaring at me.
"It's Brandon Smith, not Brandon Halls. You better not forget that and act like I'm your brother or I'll slam your head into the wall," Brandon said.
"Don't you think we're being a little too harsh?" Alex asked. "We should try getting along. Our parents m-married and now he's our actual dad."
"No fucking way that's happening!" Jayden exclaimed. "Yeah I've been calling him Dad but I never actually meant it. It's just a name! He won't ever replace my dad. Ever."
"So you're just gonna call him Mike when he marries, but you call him dad before he married?" Ethan asked.
Jayden rolled his eyes. "No. Everyone get this straight. He will never replace my actual dad. I hate Evanna. Two things. Simple."
"And if you call her 'mom' I swear that's the last thing you'll ever say," Daniel said.
"Your mom probably hates you right now," Brandon said.
What about that comment hurt me so much? Why did I feel like crying?
Ethan smacked him. "Brandon!"
"W-what do you want me to do?" I stammered, my voice shaking. "Do you think I wanted this to happen? Do you think I want my dad have someone else? I feel terrible enough! You don't have to give me a hard time because of it!"
"Oh shut up!" Jayden exclaimed. "No one cares about your stupid whining."
"Jayden, stop it!" Ethan growled lowly.
"This is stupid," Brandon muttered, leaving the table. Daniel followed.
Ethan sighed. "We'll finish this at home."
And once again, the table became empty. I looked around and saw Dad and Rose talking to their friends. They looked like they were really in love. The way Dad smiled at Rose. The way they looked into each other's eyes.
I felt like crying when I remembered Mom. My dad used to do the same thing with Mom. They would stare and get lost into each other's eyes. They would smile whenever they met eye contact. Even though I always looked away groaning about how they should stop, now, I wished that she was here.
I missed my mom so much. Does dad miss her too? Probably not, seeing that he just married someone else.
I looked over at my step brothers who were eating cake, not really saying anything. They were either on their phones, eating, playing with their food, or staring into space.
A few hours later, everyone was exhausted. We all started heading home. As always, I was shoved into the back of the car. It was a quiet ride. We were an actual family now. Actually, screw that. They don't want to be a family. They hate me.
"Mom and Dad are going somewhere tomorrow," Ethan said.
"Honeymoon already?" Brandon groaned.
"Yeah. I have to go to the dorms, so I'll be packing and leaving tomorrow too," Ethan added.
"When are you coming back?" Alex asked.
"Depends. If I get my studies done, probably a day or two later."
"Oh right, tomorrow I have basketball practice," Alex said.
Brandon nodded. "Yeah, no football."
"Uh, is it okay if I go to Sam's house tomorrow?" Alex asked. "We have a project due. Also, Andrew has to go too."
"Sure," Ethan sighed. "Why're you asking me anyway?"
Andrew rubbed his neck. "Well, it feels like Mom and Dad have been really busy and they never, uh, act like they care about us anymore."
"You know they love you," Ethan said.
"Yeah, But you we've gotten used to you so..." Daniel trailed off.
"Well have fun tomorrow," Ethan said.
"Okay."
I sighed, realizing that I'm going to be stuck with the people who hates me the most tomorrow. Who knows what they're going to do? I started to dread tomorrow.
————
I got up and turned off my alarm clock. I went to the bathroom, showered, brushed my teeth, washed my face, dried my hair, then changed into a hoodie, jeans, and sneakers.
I used to like Mondays. We went to school, learned, studied... I didn't care when people would call me nerd or loser in my old schools. I had Claire.... not anymore. Now, it was different. I hated school. I never wanted to go. It was just another day where Jayden could torment me, as if he doesn't do it enough at home.
I went downstairs and frowned. It was completely empty. Silence filled the room. I guessed Mom and Dad already left. So did Ethan. High school starts earlier than middle school so everyone besides Jayden left.
I opened the fridge and searched for something to eat. I grabbed the milk and grabbed the cereal that was on a table. Closing the fridge, I walked to the cabinets and grabbed a bowl. I poured in milk first—because that's what normal people do (fight me), and I poured in the cereal next. I made my way to the table and sat down.
Though the corner of my eye, I saw Jayden walking down the stairs. Just by watching him made my anxiety worse, fear taking over my body. He looked pissed—as always.
"Don't eat," Jayden said, grabbing my wrist. "You don't need to eat."
He grabbed my bowl and started eating out of it as I stared at him in disbelief. Jayden sat down across from me, scrolling through his phone while eating my cereal.
"T-that was mine," I stammered.
"Yeah, So?" He asked.
"Um..."
He scoffed. "I know you didn't eat from it yet. Why do you think I took it? If I saw you eat out of it, I would have poured it over your head."
I guess I'm lucky I didn't eat the cereal yet..?
"Stop staring at me," He said.
I quickly adverted my gaze, standing up. "I'm gonna go first..."
"I never asked. But I hope a car hits you on the way," Jayden said.
I pretended his comment didn't hurt. I walked out the door, willing myself not to cry. My eyes stung but I started walking to school.
Few minutes later I reached the school and went inside, my friends waiting for me at a table.
"Evanna!" Summer called, grinning.
I walked up to her and sat down, smiling. "Hi."
"You okay? Why do you look so down?" Matthew asked.
"Hm? It's nothing," I answered.
"Ugh cocky, arrogant, asshole alert," Natalie muttered, staring behind me.
I didn't need to turn around to know who that was.
"Honestly, Evanna. I'm saying this as a friend, but you really have to stop being weak," Natalie said.
I stared at her. "What?"
"You just let Jayden bully you around! You don't do anything to stop it!" Natalie exclaimed, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"Natalie-" Matthew started.
"Evanna, I'm serious. Stop being a baby and stand up for yourself! It's not that hard! Just tell him to stop bullying you and it'll be fine!" Natalie said.
I felt speechless. "I-it's not that easy..."
If I told him that, would he actually back off? I doubt that. I'd end up in the hospital, and I'm not joking.
"Yes it is! Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" Natalie said.
"Natalie! Stop," Summer muttered. "Stop saying those things."
I could tell Summer was getting upset. She was close to tears and her voice was shaky. "Natalie, Evanna's right. It's not that easy. You can't just tell them to stop."
Natalie threw her hands up in exasperation. "You guys are overreacting! The reason he's picking on you guys is because you can't stand up for yourselves!"
I let out a breath. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Tell someone!"
Yeah, that went well. The last time I tried that, I almost died.
"Or at least tell them to stop! It can't get worse if you show that your strong. They'll stop once they realize it's not affecting you guys," Natalie continued. "And besides, they're not going to actually hurt you!"
I closed my eyes, sighing. "They're not going to hurt me?"
Natalie rolled her eyes. "So what? A few punches maybe. But it won't hurt! Just stop being weak and-"
"Have you ever been punched by Jayden when he's mad?" I blurted, anger making its way into me. "Have you ever been punched just by Jayden? Actually, have you ever been punched by someone?"
Natalie froze. "Well, n-no... but I mean you should at least tell them something. It's not like they're going to kill you or anything..."
I looked away. "Natalie, I'm sorry."
"D-don't Be. I'm sorry Summer. Sorry Evanna. I shouldn't have gotten angry," Natalie said.
The bell rang.
Summer slung her backpack over her shoulder and left after muttering, "I'll see you later."
"She'll be fine..." I trailed off.
—————
"Summer," I called out, running up to her.
School already ended and it was hell. Jayden would constantly pick on me, either tripping me, shoving me, pulling my hair, throwing my stuff... it was so annoying.
Summer kept walking. Was she ignoring me?
"Summer!" I called out again.
She whipped around. "What do you want?!" Her expression softened as she saw my face. "I'm sorry. It's just that Natalie always says stuff like that and she doesn't even know what it feels like."
I nodded. "She said sorry about making you feel uncomfortable."
She looked away. "What about you?"
I shrugged. "I think you were affected a tad bit more."
Summer sighed. "I'm sorry."
I managed a smile. "It was a joke. It's fine, really."
"Why is Jayden targeting you?" She asked.
I looked at her. "What?"
"I mean, in the beginning of the school year, I expected to be bullied again but you replaced... uh... I didn't mean that way... but you started getting bullied instead of me."
"I dont know," I lied.
And... speak of the devil.
As I was walking down the sidewalk with Summer, I felt a hard shove. It forced me sideways and I fell onto the road. I heard a loud honk from the car which abruptly stopped a few inches away from me.
Kids walking past froze and stared at me. I looked up and saw a man come out of the car, a worried expression on his face. "A-are you Okay?"
"Evanna!" Summer yelled, running over to me.
She helped me up, my body shaking. I was so scared, I felt like crying. Jayden was watching me from the sidewalk, a hard expression on his face.
He pushed me.
He actually almost killed me.
————
Hey guys! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :)
Thanks for reading, as always. I have so much homework and projects due it's stressing me out lol.
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