One and Done (Two Outta Three #2) (9 page)

“Rocky,” I whispered, caressing the side of her face.

“Rocky?” Sloan screeched, snapping me out of my hallucination. Her perplexed expression changed into one of amusement. “Eh, if boxers are your fetish I can live with it.”

And just like that any hope of coming was thrown out the window.

***

A familiar tune echoed from the dance hall. It took me a few seconds to realize it was the same song that played during homecoming, right before Rocky and I were torn apart.

Tap, tap, tap.

I groaned, trying my best to tune the melody out, and walked further down the hotel parking lot. The stupid song was just another grim reminder of everything wrong in my life, and it was quite fitting it’d be the soundtrack to my personal walk of shame.

“What are you doing out here, my man? I thought you’d be gloating.” Jason’s flushed face came to focus as he staggered in my direction. A voice inside my head told me to keep on walking, but as usual I ignored all warning signs and came to a halt. Beer bottle in hand, Jason came up beside me and looked me up and down. His liquor tinged breath was a bit hard to choke down and I found myself almost dry heaving. “Thought you’d be gloating.”

“What are you talking about?”

He snorted, taking a swig of beer. “Sloan? Figures you’d shag her on the first night.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shook his head and shoved something small into my hand. “Here.”

“What is it?” I asked, never taking my eyes off my new brother. His grey eyes seemed cold, calculating almost, but I chalked it up to inebriation.

“So you really are a pussy, aren’t you? Of course my mom would marry a lame ass dude with an even lamer son.”

“Feeling’s mutual, bro,” I snapped angrily.

His lips straightened before giving way to a smirk. “You ever smoke before?”

My gaze flitted down, knowing perfectly well the kind of ‘smoke’ he was talking about. As expected, a perfectly wrapped brown blunt sat on my palm. “Of course I have.”

“Good. Consider it a welcoming present.” Jason’s eyes blazed almost as if there was a fire lit behind them. Tossing me a lighter, he turned back toward the building.

“Wait, I don’t want this.”

“Stop being a pussy and just smoke it,” he hissed, not bothering to look back at me. “Trust me, this will be a night you won’t ever forget.”

Warning signs as bright as neon lights flashed before my eyes, but when have I ever paid them mind?

***

“Jesse! Wake up! Wake up!”

I felt a distinct slap on my face, yet it wasn’t enough to lift me from whatever dark ocean I was floating in. My skin sizzled, burning as the hand lifted away.

“Fuck!” Dad’s voice growled.

“Should we call 911?” Teresa screeched in horror.

Dad? Teresa? Wait, where was I?

My eyes slowly opened, blinking as if I had just awoken from a deep sleep. My head was pounding and my lungs felt constricted, tightening with every gasp of air. “W-what happened to me?”

“Oh, thank God!” Dad sighed and gently lifted me up so that I was propped up against a hard surface. Cool air blew across my face, a far cry from the night’s humidity.

Wait, how’d I get back inside?

“What were you thinking doing drugs?” Dad’s voice was a combination of anger and relief. He pressed a wet towel against my forehead and for the first time I noticed how cold I felt. An iciness worked its way through me, chilling my core.

“S-stop,” I stammered, teeth chattering. “I-I’m cold.”

“You ruined my wedding!” Teresa screamed, interrupting me. Guess her earlier worry had faded away. “Do you know how embarrassed I was to have to help drag you down here? I had to tell my family that you passed out from the heat! Not that any of them bought it.”

My vision cleared and I watched as my dad motioned for his new wife to shut her hole. Catching me looking, he quickly stared back at me with a sneer. “You’re lucky I didn’t call the cops on you. Then again, maybe a night in jail would finally wake you up.”

“Might as well, it’s not like my life could get any worse.” Defeat is a funny thing. Once it takes its reins on you, there’s nothing left but giving up.

Dad blinked wildly. “Jesse, what happened to you? I thought things were getting better.”

I couldn’t answer even if I wanted to. Feeling bile working its way up my esophagus, I began convulsing, shivering as I tried my hardest to keep my food down. I must have been a horrible sight because Teresa once again insisted on calling 911.

“Why?” I coughed, tasting sour acid on my tongue. “So you can turn your son in?”

Her face paled. “Jason would never…”

“Who do you think gave me that blunt?” If I didn’t quit talking I’d surely throw up. Pressing my eyelids together, I took a few deep breaths, trying to keep the vomit down.

“Are you kidding me?” Her voice was shrill, almost hysterical. “Jason would never do something so atrocious. You may only be my stepson, but I’ll have you know I won’t stand for this kind of bullshit.”

“Teresa,” Dad cut her off, using his most soothing voice. “Go back out to the party and have some fun. I’ll take care of this.”

“And how do you expect me to do that?” she snapped.

With an exasperated sigh, Dad coaxed, “Just go. Please.”

Surprisingly, Teresa stomped away without a fight. Had it been my mom, there would have been more broken items and screaming involved.

Maybe Dad finally picked a good one this time.

Dad waited until Teresa disappeared behind a set of double doors before turning back toward me. His anger seemed to have subsided and was replaced with something worse—worry.

“What the hell were you thinking? I…I thought you were better than this.”

“When I have ever been ‘better’?” I griped. “That’s why you left me, remember? Because Mom and I were never good enough?”

Dad’s face paled, his lips turning a weird shade of blue. “Where is this coming from? I thought—”

“That I liked it here?” And just like that, reality set in and the unexplainable void was finally understood. “Why am I pretending to be someone different? Why are you? Don’t you see? We’re always going to be the same scum from Bethel Hills! You can marry your Stepford wife and I can drown myself in Charleston, but I will always be that screw up and so will you. We just need to stop faking it. I am meant to be miserable all my life. I can never have what I want. What’s the point of going on with this charade if I’m never meant to be happy?”

He sighed and raked his hands through his gelled hair, casing the perfectly quaffed hairdo to tangle. “What happened, Jesse? Is it the wedding? Do you miss your mom?”

“When have I ever missed Mom?” My laugh was strained, made raspy from the acid.

“Is this about that girl? Rocky.”

I blinked. Was it?

I shook my head, though I didn’t know. “This is about me! I’ll always be a screw up even if I try my hardest not to be. Why not just embrace who the whole world thinks I am?”

Dad remained quiet for a few moments. “Because deep down I know you’re better…and I think that you know you’re better too.”

Chapter 12

I couldn’t prove that Jason had purposely laced my blunt, but I didn’t need tangible evidence to know he was a dick. Luckily, I knew his type, and I was more than prepared to deal with him. However, that didn’t make living with him any easier. Good thing it was only temporary. Once break was over he’d be leaving to go back to school up north and I was counting down the days until he did.

“Hear from Sloan?” Jason entered the kitchen, yawning and scratching at his balls. His bare feet dragged across the linoleum, making high-pitched screeching noises similar to nails on a chalkboard. Good God, how I wanted to sock him in the face.

I dumped about two tablespoons of sugar into my coffee and ignored him.

“Hey, I’m talking to you,” he snapped.

Stirring my brew, I hardly glanced over, which further fueled his irritation. “Didn’t realize you were so obsessed with my dick. Thanks for caring, I guess.”

Well, that shooed away any remnants of his sleep. In a blink of an eye he barreled toward me, shaking his fist. “You’re lucky I haven’t killed you yet. You have no idea how much I just want to pound your face.”

I chose not to pay attention to him and merely kept sipping my hot ass coffee. Not wanting to show my weakness, I swallowed back the bitter liquid though it felt as if I was chugging lava.

Surprisingly, he lowered his fist, though judging by his flushed face I was not in the clear as of yet. In a cold tone he ground out, “Did she call you?”

I placed my mug down and shook my head with a laugh. “Seriously, what is your obsession with her? Do you like her or something?”

All at once the cocky smile left his face. “Or something.”

Something in his face made my gut twist uncomfortably. “Jason…is there something you need to tell me?”

At this point his jaw was clenched so tightly that a vein in his forehead had popped out. His hand trembled, fists clenching and unclenching. “What? Are we really doing a brother to brother chat now?”

I threw my hands in the air and groaned in exasperation. “What is your deal? If you have something to say, just do it instead of this cryptic bullshit.”

He paused. Like the calm before the storm the kitchen took on an eerie silence. “Sloan is…was my girlfriend.”

Ah, there it was.

My mouth dropped open in disbelief. “Was she…how? But…”

Jason’s teeth ground against each other in a way that was almost painful to watch. “We got into a fight after the ceremony. She thought I messed around with one of her friends and broke it off with me.”

“Did you?” My eyes were wide with shock.

“No! Of course not!” In one quick motion he raised his fist and punched a hole through the kitchen cabinet. Jarred pieces of stained wood crackled and fell to the ground, reminding me of ashes from a cigarette. I jumped back, both startled and impressed by his strength. “Did you really think she wanted you? Did you really think she would have gone for a guy like you?”

“A guy like me?” I repeated with a snort. It was my life’s theme, wasn’t it? A guy like me.

“She only did it to get back at me,” he replied matter-of-factly. “What better revenge than to sleep with my new brother?” He eyed me with distaste. “How does it feel to get sloppy seconds?”

My eyes clouded over as I felt the familiar rush of adrenaline. “You sure you fucked her before? She felt brand new to me. Maybe your dick just wasn’t big enough to do the job right—”

I didn’t have a chance to finish my thought before Jason’s fist came crashing down against my nose. The telltale pop and gush of blood were the only signs of a broken nose since, oddly enough, I felt no pain. In fact, the tingling sensation actually felt sort of good. I needed more of it.

“I have no idea what my mom sees in your dad. He’s nothing but a fucking pansy!” Jason yelled, lunging toward me again.

“Like I didn’t know that.”

Sidestepping him, I laughed and landed my own punch to his temple. He wavered a bit, but somehow straightened himself quickly before he fell to the floor. That punch would have knocked anybody else out, but Jason must have trained in some level of fighting before. Awestruck, I watched as he effortlessly spun around on his heel and threw another hit to my face. It landed with a sickening
THUD
, but once again I didn’t feel it. It was then I realized that I was too numb to feel anything. A year’s worth of denying everything that meant a lot to me had finally taken its toll.

Obviously perturbed at my lack of reaction, Jason began trembling with rage. He took a step forward as if to throw another punch, but leaned toward a nearby counter instead. To my horror he picked up my phone and threw me a wicked smile. “Who’s that girl you were texting? Balboa?”

I gritted my teeth, feeling the numbness finally give way to anger. “Give it back—now.”

“Oh, yeah, her name was Rocky, right?” Bleached teeth flashing, Jason made a show of swiping through my phone.

Fuck! I knew I should have made a passcode!

“What do you say I tell your little girlfriend back home that you were screwing around with some other girls? You think she’d like that? Will she still be your little bitch then?”

Just like that I snapped.

POW!

Jason crumpled to the ground, letting a groan escape his lips. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth, which was swelling by the second. My phone clattered to the floor, but before I could reach for it, he grabbed my ankle, yanking hard until I fell beside him. I gasped for breath, but the impact had knocked the wind out of me. Jason took advantage of my momentary incoherence to climb on top of me and proceeded to throw quick jabs.

“How…
punch
…could you…
punch
…sleep with my fucking girlfriend?” he screeched.

Somehow mustering strength, I pushed him off of me, catapulting him toward the wall. I sprung to my feet and jumped on top of him, delivering my own blows.

Now, I’m not sure how it happened, but somehow due to our ruckus, the damaged cupboard broke further, causing dishes to fall to the ground. Our kitchen was now a warzone complete with shattered glass and other weaponry.

Our eyes simultaneously landed on a jagged piece of porcelain. Hesitantly, we glanced at each other. It wasn’t in me to call truce, but I drew that line at permanently maiming and perhaps murdering another person. Fortunately, Jason seemed to feel the same way.

Wiping the blood from his nose, he spat out red tinted saliva. “Fuck it. You’re not even worth it.”

My chest heaved with ragged breaths. Fists clenched, I took another step forward. “Come on! Let’s keep this going then.”

Jason’s bloody face broke out into a grin. “What’s the point? You’re not worth my time.”

I gestured toward an opened wound on his eyebrow, which continuously oozed blood. “Judging by that gash, I am worth something.”

Without answering, he stuck out his tongue and licked at a drop of blood on his cheek. Smacking his mouth together in show, he grinned again. “You’re just a piece of shit, Jesse. You, your dad, and your mom.”

I blinked in surprise.

“You don’t think I did research about your family before my mom agreed to marry your worthless dad? Of course she didn’t care, so maybe she is meant for stupidity.” Like a lion stalking its prey, he walked around me, scrutinizing me. “You’re nothing but shit, Jesse. Who’d care about you? Not your own parents, not me, and probably not that whore from Bethel Hills. You’re better left alone.”

Without another word, Jason turned and left me alone, standing in the shattered mess of what used to be our kitchen. I glanced around and cringed, for the first time noticing my favorite dishes and holders broken on the floor.

“Maybe he’s right. Maybe I am better off alone.”

***

I felt a splash of iciness against my body that caused me to hurl forward. Blinking away drops of water from my face, I gazed around, allowing my vision to clear. I was in the bathroom—on the shaggy lavender rug to be exact—twisted in a very uncomfortable position. My dad’s concerned face towered over me, twisted into a combination of anger and relief.

“What the hell were you doing?” he demanded. “Did you take drugs again?”

I shook my head, laughing weakly as my fuzzy memories began to clear. I did take drugs, but not of the illegal kind. Once Jason left, I remembered feeling the adrenaline leave my body. All at once the pain of my broken nose, countless bruises, and numerous gashes hit me. Struggling not to heave over, I practically crawled toward my dad’s bathroom to grab his pain medicine. Popping one pill didn’t seem enough, nor did two or three. Before I knew it I had downed almost half of the bottle. I was surprised I was even alive.

Groaning, I tried to sit up, only to feel my hand push against something slimy. “What the hell?”

“It’s your vomit, Jesse,” Dad replied in disgust. “You’re lucky you passed out on your side, otherwise you could have choked yourself to death.”

Succumbing to my weakness, I allowed my body to crash back down onto the ground. “Lucky, eh? Says who?”

Dad’s color left his face. “Did you…did you try to kill yourself on purpose?”

I chuckled weakly. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

Dad lowered himself, squatting beside me and dragged his fingers through his thinning hair. He shot me a pained look. “What the hell, Jesse? I thought you were doing well! I thought you—we were doing well.”

I closed my eyes, ignoring the stench of acid that filled my nose. Focusing instead on the cool surface of the bathroom tiles, I whispered my reply. “Denying your feelings isn’t getting better. It just makes everything worse.”

“What is so bad about Charleston that would lead you to do something so despicable?” he demanded.

“It’s not about the place, Dad. It’s about me…”

The front door suddenly burst open to an influx of uniformed men. My eyes flashed wildly as they rushed toward me.

“Did you call the cops on me?” I screeched in a panic.

“The paramedics, but maybe I should have called the cops,” he replied in a grim tone.

Confusion set in as I was poked and prodded repeatedly. Before I knew it, I was being wheeled away on a stretcher. Dad stood by the door, talking to whom I assumed to be the captain of the squad.

“Rehab…”

“Counseling.”

“…alcoholic mother…”

“Dad! You can’t let them take me,” I yelped. “I’m perfectly fine! I just got into a little spat with Jason.”

Dad turned and locked eyes with mine, but somehow I knew none of my protests would be heard. The doors to the ambulance soon closed in on me and somehow I knew it’d be the last time I’d see him for a very long time.