The day passed slower than ever.

Kendall and I kept glancing at one another in the classes we shared, both our expressions rigid with concern. She didn’t say a word to me about any of it, and I kept to myself as well. During lunch break, she hung out with her friend Ryan. I didn’t know what Levi would think of them being all buddy-buddy with one another, but for now, I decided to keep it to myself. Maybe I could use it to my advantage later on.

We finished school at the same time, and I met up with Kendall in the hallway.

“Hey,” she said awkwardly, and I offered her a lame smile. “Do you think we should head home?”

“What else is there to do?” I asked her, shrugging. “Mom will kill us if we’re not home. We shouldn’t be siding with either of them really, but I guess we have no choice. We have to go home either way.”

“Okay,” Kendall said lamely, and I took her hand on impulse, gently squeezing it.

“Hey, don’t worry,” I told her. “It’ll be okay. We’ll get through this just like everything else.”

“I guess,” she said, biting her bottom lip nervously.

We walked out of the school hand-in-hand, with Kendall even choosing to bail on her after-school stuff. She’d always taken on way too much anyway, I’d always told her so. I never understood why she had so many activities. She was a shoo-in for an Ivy League university even without it.

Once we made our way outside, my eyes went to the red Lexus right away.

Levi was standing in front of it, his back against the car, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

I felt shivers go down my spine, my body wanting to submit fully to the man I’d called Daddy just to tease him. But now, I was done with teasing. I would call him Daddy to get us both off, if only he’d let me. So far, he’d been way too focused on Kendall, but I’d make him notice me too, one way or another. I had my ways of getting men’s attention.

He looked so handsome with the sun going down behind him. He wore dark tinted sunglasses and one of his trademark suits. His hair looked more gray than usual, his beard perfectly trimmed and neatly styled, giving him the look of a model. God, he made my knees go weak. I never understood it, but it had been true from the very beginning.

“Hey, girls,” he told us once we approached him.

I’d noticed Kendall’s hand had gone clammy and hot in my own. He had the very same effect on her as he had on me, and I was jealous that her affection was returned by him. Why was she beating me at my own game? And with this man, with Levi – the only one that really mattered. I wanted so badly to have him for myself. Once again, jealousy reared its ugly head, and I looked at the asphalt of the parking lot to hide my inexplicable rage.

“I thought I’d take you home,” Levi said. “I hope that’s okay. I just want to make sure things are okay back there. I’ve been worried sick all fucking night.”

He looked at Kendall for confirmation, and she looked at me.

“Let’s go,” I said easily, and we piled in the car.

Kendall sat with me in the back, and I was grateful for it, because I wasn’t about to fight her for that front seat. We drove home without any of us saying a word, and a song playing loudly on the radio. The sun was setting behind us and it illuminated the whole highway in a glow that took my breath away.

But my appreciation was over as soon as Levi pulled into the driveway in front of our house, because Mom was already waiting on the doorstep, her arms crossed, her face wearing a scowl so angry I knew we were all in trouble. Nobody scowled like Barbara Violet.

“Where the fuck have you been?” she snarled at us the second we got out of the car. “How dare you take a ride with him?”

“Everything’s okay,” I told her placatingly. “Levi just picked us up from school.”

“Did he now?” she snarled. “And what gives him the right to do that?”

“Barbara,” Levi said calmly, rounding the car and taking his sunglasses off, offering her a smile. “I didn’t mean to step on your toes in any way shape or form. I just wanted to–”

“What?” she barked. “Replace me as a parent? Make sure they liked you better? You dream the fuck on, Levi! You’ll never turn my own children against me!”

No, I thought bitterly. You’re doing a mighty fine job of that yourself, Mommy dearest.

“I never meant to do anything of the sort,” Levi said. “Why don’t we take this inside?”

Mom stormed into the house and the rest of us followed, with me and Kendall tagging along last in line, feeling sheepish. Once we got into the house, all hell broke loose.

Mom shouted and screamed at Levi, accusing him of shit I knew for a fact he’d never done. She was losing it, screaming like a banshee, threatening to hit him, threatening to hurt herself. It was a nightmare to watch, especially because she kept involving my sister and me, trying to blame us and make Levi feel inferior.

I sneaked a look at Kenny, finding her with tears in her eyes. God, this whole fucking thing was a royal mess.

“I want you out of the house, Levi,” Mom snarled. “We’re fucking done.”

“Good,” he said calmly. “You sure you can kiss the money goodbye, Barb? We both know you’re a stickler for those dollar bills.”

“Fuck you!” she cried out, grabbing a vase from the hallway and hurling it at his head.

Kendall screeched and Levi pulled her aside. The vase missed her narrowly. If he hadn’t pulled her to safety, Mom’s misjudged throw would’ve hurt her, and badly so.

We stared at each other incredulously.

“Kenny, baby,” Mom said, her voice trembling. “You know I didn’t mean that, you know it was meant for him, don’t you baby? I’m so sorry, Kendall, I’m so sorry.”

Kendall stared at her with a stoic expression and Levi’s arms around her. This upset Mom even more, and she glared at Levi, throwing her hands in the air.

“What in the hell are you still doing here?” she shouted. “Can’t you just fucking leave?”

“And leave them with you when you’re like this?” Levi asked, shaking his head. “Not until you calm the fuck down, woman.”

“Fuck you!” Mom shouted, and Kendall’s bottom lip trembled.

“You can’t kick him out, Mom,” I begged her. “Please. Let’s just talk about this calmly, like adults.”

“You’re fucking eighteen,” Mom threw at me. “In no world are you a fucking adult, Amanda.”

“Don’t kick him out,” I begged again. “Mom, please. Don’t do this.”

“Watch me,” she snarled, giving Levi a threatening look.

“If you’re throwing him out, I’m going with him,” Kendall piped up. “I’m not staying behind.”

“Baby,” Mom said, looking outraged. “He’s not your fucking father.”

“He’s all I want,” Kendall said simply. “And I’m not staying here. I don’t feel safe.”

Levi’s arms tightened around her and I watched Mom staring at them, fury and hatred turning her eyes black her pupils were so dilated.

“You want to fucking leave?” she asked slowly, her voice menacing. “Fine, get the fuck out of my house, both of you. I don’t want either of you here. Levi, you’re a fucking perverted piece of trash. And Kendall… What do you want me to say? You were always his favorite. So get the fuck out if that’s your choice.”

“Goodbye, Mom,” Kendall said pointedly, turning on her heel.

She gave me one desperate glance that made me feel so fucking guilty I felt tears pricking at my eyes.

“Mandy?” she asked in that voice I knew so well, her little girl voice, the one she always used when she wanted my permission to do something.

It never hurt as much as it did right then and there.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered, staring at the floor.

And then Levi was pulling my sister away and Mom was shouting obscenities at the door as it shut behind them.

And then we were alone.

Maybe it was the way it was meant to be.

* * *

“I never should have trusted that bastard,” Mom muttered in a drunken slur.

There was a half-empty bottle of Scotch on the table. I sat on one of the dining room chairs with my legs curled up on it, and she sat chain-smoking across from me. I’d never seen her this angry, or this desperate. It was a really depressing sight, and I couldn’t even bear to look at her properly.

“At least I know you’ll never leave, Mandy,” she slurred again. “You’re my favorite, always have been.”

I wanted to speak up, but I swallowed my words instead. What was there to say anyway? It was all ruined, everything taken away from me before I’d had a chance to make things right.

“I knew you were always on my side,” she told me. “Always knew it. And we could have had all that money.”

“Mom, money isn’t everything,” I said lamely.

She rewarded me with a bitter laugh, knocking back another glass of Scotch.

“What the fuck do you know, anyway,” she told me. “You haven’t raised two girls on your own. You’re fucking nothing without your mother, always remember that, Mandy.”

I set my lips in a thin line. I wouldn’t give her the pleasure of seeing she’d hurt me.

“I had it all worked out,” she muttered. “The plan was airtight. It was supposed to work perfectly. Oh, of course I knew about Levi fucking around. And I remember when you told me, baby, the first time you saw him. You were crying. And the plan was put into motion.”

“Mom,” I said. “Can we please not talk about this?”

“Talk about what?” she asked, pouring another glass. “Your fucking failure to deliver?”

“Mom,” I begged. “Please. It wasn’t right and we both know it. I couldn’t go through with it.”

“Oh, come on, you little bitch,” she snarled. “You fucking give it up for any guy with a hard-on, and you couldn’t sleep with Levi?”

I swallowed hard. I couldn’t even meet her eyes. I always thought my crush had gone unnoticed.

“Don’t play coy with me, girl,” Mom laughed. “I always knew you liked him. Held a candle for him, almost as bright as Kendall’s, except she wasn’t fucking horny for her stepdaddy.”

Oh, if only she knew.

“Your stupid little idea didn’t work, did it?” she asked me roughly. “That fucking letter. He didn’t even read it. And before you could try again, he walked out. You’re fucking useless. Even with your looks, your fucking age, you couldn’t tempt him. Useless little girl.”

She kept on drinking and I stopped trying not to cry. She didn’t even notice.

“All it would have taken was one scandal,” Mom slurred. “One night of fucking indecency. All you had to do was fuck him, Mandy. Fuck him, and we’d have all the money we wanted. I’d get the divorce and shame him into giving us even more when my daughter came crying, saying stepdaddy used her. And you fucking blew it.”

“Mom, I didn’t want to,” I said through the tears. “I didn’t want to do that.”

“Well, too fucking bad,” she snarled. “Sometimes all of us have to make a sacrifice for our family.”

She got up abruptly, getting another glass from the cupboard and slamming it down on the table in front of me. She poured the amber liquid into it and it sloshed over the rim.

“You better drink now, baby,” she said viciously. “Nothing left to do now that you’ve fucked it all up…”