Chapter 38 SOB STORY
---Rose's P.O.V---
You've taken everything from me, what else do you want?
Layla's words kept spinning around in my head. I never thought I'd see the day where she'd break. The day where her perfect Greek goddess posture would come falling down.
If it were anyone else in my situation, they'd probably laugh in her face.
But this was me we were talking about, the softy who never did anything before a rebel walked into her life. Even though she made so many years of my life a living hell, I couldn't bear to do that to her. A part of me wanted her to pay for what she put me through, but the other part of me wanted to comfort her.
But this was me we were talking about, the softy who never did anything before a rebel walked into her life. Even though she made so many years of my life a living hell, I couldn't bear to do that to her. A part of me wanted her to pay for what she put me through, but the other part of me wanted to comfort her.
She was human after all.
My mom! You took her away from me!
Layla was sobbing hysterically in front of me with blood running freely down her face and neck and tears flooding her face. Her makeup was now smeared all over her face. She was a wreck.
My mom! You took her away from me!
Layla was sobbing hysterically in front of me with blood running freely down her face and neck and tears flooding her face. Her makeup was now smeared all over her face. She was a wreck.
“Who's your mom?” I asked her in a quiet voice.
She sniffed, “isn't it obvious?”
“My real mom?” I furrowed my eyebrows. That wasn't possible, my real mom was a deadbeat mom and she didn't have any kids before me.
“No, you might seem smart but you're really stupid.” Of course she had to insult me no matter what. “Cleo, my mother is Cleo,” she looked at me expectantly for some reason.
Everything froze that moment and something clicked in my mind.
Everything was starting to make sense. I put all the puzzle pieces together slowly.
In middle school, as soon as she heard my name she hated my guts, because my step mom was her real mom. Her mom left her to come marry my dad.
Everything was starting to make sense. I put all the puzzle pieces together slowly.
In middle school, as soon as she heard my name she hated my guts, because my step mom was her real mom. Her mom left her to come marry my dad.
“January 13th, was the day I turned six,” she sniffed, “she promised me she'd come to my birthday no matter what. She said even if she had to sail the seven seas she would still come. I invited all my friends from school and even dressed up as my favorite princess that day. Dad made sure to throw the biggest party,” she wiped some tears away with the back of her hand, smearing even more makeup and blood on her face.
“I waited and waited. I promised her I wouldn't open the presents or cut the cake before she came home. All the guests arrived and enjoyed the party. That afternoon no cake was served, I wouldn't let anyone touch it until my mom came home.
Hours passed and guests left, maids cleaned up the whole place, but she still wasn't home. I told them to leave the cake on the table and the presents untouched because I wanted to wait for her to be here with me. I waited until it was midnight, four hours passed my bedtime.
Daddy came down to talk to me. He said she couldn't make it. I told him I didn't believe him and I sat there next to the window waiting all night. The maids all went to their rooms to sleep, and I was the only one left awake. I stayed up all night staring out the window, hoping she'd come home.
I didn't sleep a wink those two nights. The next day I insisted on waiting, but my dad told me to go shower in case my mom came home. I did what I was told and went to his office. I overheard him talking on the phone with my mom.
My mom said she had to take care of her boyfriend's daughter Rosaline, because she had a 'very important' dentist appointment that she couldn't miss.” She looked up at me with watery eyes. “She couldn't miss her boyfriend's daughter dentist appointment, but she could miss her own daughter's birthday.”
The amount of pain in her eyes physically affected me. I wanted to hug her.
She laughed bitterly. “Years and years passed, I spent learning about this girl Rosaline. The girl who made my world crumble down. The girl who was better than me, who my own biological mom was so in love with.
Turns out the girl wasn't as perfect as everyone made her out to be. She was fragile, shy and quiet. She was weak, so when my dad moved us back I could get revenge on the girl who turned my world upside down.” She looked straight at me, “guess we're even then.”
“No,” I replied in a strong voice. “I never did anything to you in the first place.”
Her lips formed a tight line. Her tears had stopped and her chocolate brown eyes were back to cold and cruel. “We're even, and that's final. Now get the hell away from me.”
“How are we even when I didn't do anything to you in the first place?!”
“You took my own mom away from me-”
“No I didn't!” my hands flew out and grabbed her arms. “You just want to put the blame on me because you don't want to blame your own mother! You're in denial! You're just blaming me because you don't want to blame your own mother for leaving you!”
I grabbed her by her arms, “you've blamed me since the day she left you! Well guess what?! I'm not the one to blame. You want to get your revenge?! Go to your mommy dearest who left you!” I yelled in her face. “Not to mention, she's been sleeping around with Axel's step dad! Your mom's a slut! Let me spell that out for you, S-L-U-T, slut! She’s as much of a mom to you as she was to me. She’s tormented me too, can’t you see? She’s treated me as her puppet- even you said so!”
I didn't notice she was bleeding because of me until her blood seeped into my finger nails. I let go of her and got up. My white tank top now had fresh blood stains on them. I sighed and shook my head; I was going to have a lot of scrubbing to do...
My head whipped around when I heard clapping from behind me. Layla's best friend was clapping drunkenly. “And a point for the liar!” he threw his fist in the air. Layla stood up quickly before flinching. She rushed over to Matt's side and gave him a stern look. “What?” he threw both his hands up in the air. “Can't I have a little fun?” he pouted at her.
She shook her head. “I’m done with her, we’re even now.”
“Says the loser who got beat up,” he laughed cruelly.
“You're drunk,” she stated.
“And you're with Jaxon.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “What?”
“I thought we were talking about things that wouldn't last.”
“You’re right, we didn’t.” She grabbed his arm. “Let’s go.”
He wouldn’t budge. “Wait, that's past tense right? In meaning you already broke up?” he rubbed his eyes.
She nodded, trying to pull him away.
“What? When? Where? Why?!”
“We're not playing 21 questions here,” she snapped, dragging him away. She suddenly stopped and turned around to face me. “Thank you,” she said before dragging Matt away.
My mouth fell open in shock.
What the hell was that?
First she put me through hell for years because she blamed me for her mother leaving her, then after I blew up at her and punched her in the face… she thanked me? The girl had some serious issues...
What the hell was that?
First she put me through hell for years because she blamed me for her mother leaving her, then after I blew up at her and punched her in the face… she thanked me? The girl had some serious issues...
“Ow! Why'd you do that for?” a familiar voice whined.
“Shut up! She'll hear us!” a voice hissed back.
I turned to where the voices were coming from. Sure enough, there were two crouched figures behind the bushes. I shook my head at the two morons. “You know I see you guys, right?”
“No you don't,” one of the twins replied. I heard a loud smacking sound.
“You retard!” Axel hissed back.
I felt like a mom. “Get out of the bushes.”
“There's no one behind the bushes.” One of the twins replied. The twin spoke with some confidence, so I guessed it was Justin.
“Axel and Justin, get out of the bushes, now.” I ordered. Axel bolted right up from the bushes almost immediately. Some leaves were sticking out of his messy blonde hair. He had a guilty expression his face. “What’d you do?”
“Nothing,” he replied too quickly.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Justin, get out of the damn bushes.”
“Justin isn't in there,” Axel said.
“Sure he is. I saw two people crouched in the bushes.”
“It’s not Justin.”
“You’re being fooled,” I shook my head at Axel. “Justin, get the hell out of the bushes.”
“I'm not Justin,” the guy who sounded exactly like Justin replied.
I called bullshit.
“It’s Mr. Left Dimple.”
“Dustin?” I was almost 100% sure that wasn't Dustin. “Dustin doesn’t talk like that…”
“Maybe Dustin wanted to change,” he slowly came out of the bushes.
His cheeks were flushed.
It could not have been Dustin...
The way he dressed had changed completely, his hair was messy like Justin’s usual hairstyle, and the way he stood wasn't even Dustin-ish.
It could not have been Dustin...
The way he dressed had changed completely, his hair was messy like Justin’s usual hairstyle, and the way he stood wasn't even Dustin-ish.
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
But why would Dustin ever want to change? He was beyond adorable the way he was.
But why would Dustin ever want to change? He was beyond adorable the way he was.
“Can you smile for me?” I asked.
The twin smiled sheepishly. Sure enough, he had a left dimple. Dustin had changed his style completely.
“Why?” I asked while walking over to him.
He just shrugged. “Maybe I'm tired of being the good guy all the time. Good guys are boring, right?”
I shook my head, “you shouldn't have changed.”
Axel backed me up, “you look like a gay crack head version of Justin.” He looked the twin up and down, “as if Justin doesn’t look gay enough already.”
I smacked Axel's arm and gave him a stern look before turning back to poor Dustin. “You're trying to impress Kasay, aren't you?”
Dustin bit his lip.
Axel leaned into me. “He's so whipped,” he whispered in my ear.
“So are you,” Dustin retorted.
Axel threw both his hands up into the air. “At least I’m admitting it.”
“It's easy for you to say because the feeling you guys share is mutual.” Dustin gestured to the both of us. “Kasay has no interest in me whatsoever. She likes Justin, who just happens to look exactly like me,” he shook his head while running a hand through his hair.
“Are you a virgin?” Axel suddenly asked.
“What?”
“Just answer the damn question. Are you a virgin?”
Dustin looked incredibly uncomfortable. He tugged on the collar of his shirt as if he was asking for more air. “Do I really have to-?”
Axel shrugged, “depends on if you want my help or not.”
Dustin glanced my way before clearing his throat. “Yes.”
“Yes you're a virgin, or yes you're not a virgin?” Axel asked impatiently. Thank god all the people around us were wasted, otherwise we would've had a little crowd around us. I placed a hand on Axel's arm.
“I'm just trying to help him,” he furrowed his eyebrows.
“I know, but you know you could help him without embarrassing him, right?”
He sighed while grabbing my hand which was on his arm. “Yeah, but what fun would that be?” he smiled at me.
I rolled my eyes at my bad boy. “Fine, do whatever you want,” I chuckled.
“Yes, I'm a virgin.”
Axel didn't look surprised at all. “ I knew that.,” he waved his hand in the air. “We need to get you laid before anything.”
“What? Why?” Dustin asked.
“You want to get that image don't you? The first step of getting that image is getting rid of your virginity,” Axel replied with his signature smirk on his face.
I shot Axel a glare. “And when did you lose your virginity?”
Axel just shrugged. “When I was 9.”
I gasped in shock. “What?!”
“I'm playing!” he laughed while throwing his hands up in the air.
“That's not funny,” I frowned.
“It was to me.”
I folded my arms across my chest and pouted. “You're mean!”
“Don't pout,” he pouted back at me.
“Why?”
“Because I only want to do one thing to you when you're pouting.”
“And what is that?” I teased.
HE pressed his lips against mine. I immediately brought my hands around his neck. One of his arms snaked around my waist, pressing me to him. His other hand was behind my neck, pressing my mouth to his.
Our lips moved in sync together. Mouth to mouth, chest to chest, my eyes fluttered closed. Everything around me didn't matter anymore, all that mattered was him. Every kiss left me wanting more. Our tongues gently twirled together.
One of my hands left his neck and ran through his silky hair. His hair was soft beyond imagine, what kind of shampoo did he use? Someone cleared their throat, interrupting us from our little make-out session. My cheeks were hot and flushed. I almost forgot Dustin was right there before he cleared his throat again.
“I don't actually remember asking you to teach me how to make out like a bad guy...” Dustin trailed off.
“It comes with the image,” Axel winked with his arm still possessively around my waist.
“Nice to know,” Dustin replied dryly. He turned to me. “So Cleo is Layla's mom?”
“I didn't know until she told me.”
“The real lesson here is: Cleo’s a whore and causes problems for everyone.”
“I wander how many other kids she popped out,” Dustin said.
“I think Layla's the only one.” I didn’t recall Cleo mentioning any names, well… she didn’t even mention Layla’s name to begin with.
“Who knows? She reminds me of a slot machine though.”
“Why's that?” Dustin asked Axel.
“Because she-”
Axel covered my ears with both his hands not wanting me to hear what he had to say. I just rolled my eyes at him. I wasn't that innocent. I knew all about sex. Once he was done, he let his hands fall from my ears.
Dustin stood there with his mouth hanging open. Whatever Axel said to him was definitely dirty. “Take that as lesson one on being a bad boy.” Axel nodded at Dustin. Dustin just stood there unmoving with his mouth hanging open. “Close your mouth or you'll catch fireflies,” Axel turned to me after he said the inside joke.
I chuckled at his joke. “Says the bad boy who had me blow a firefly off his face-”
He quickly covered my mouth to prevent me from saying more.
“So let me get this straight, bad boys have to be afraid of fireflies?”
I snickered while Axel shook his head lazily. “Let's ditch this place,” Axel waved his hand dismissively. “Fill me in on what happens.”
“Sure will,” Dustin nodded and smiled at the both of us. We both started walking away until Axel stopped and turned around.
“And Dustin!” he called out.
“What?” Dustin called back.
“Good luck getting laid,” Axel grinned at poor Dustin whose face was as red as ketchup.
~*~
Never in a million years would I imagine Axel and me in a playground together.
But here we were… in a kid’s playground/park together.
After we left the party (that didn’t even have Halloween candy), Axel randomly drove us to an empty playground in the middle of nowhere because he needed to pee. I was now waiting in front of a portable bathroom because Axel didn't want me anywhere alone.
But here we were… in a kid’s playground/park together.
After we left the party (that didn’t even have Halloween candy), Axel randomly drove us to an empty playground in the middle of nowhere because he needed to pee. I was now waiting in front of a portable bathroom because Axel didn't want me anywhere alone.
Taking me into the bathroom sounded too creepy, so he just told me to wait right in front of the bathroom. Even though there was no one here, he still didn't trust me to take care of myself. He was a bit too overprotective, almost as if someone was out to get him. So here I was waiting for Axel in front of a portable bathroom.
“You still there?” Axel asked for the 50th time from inside the bathroom.
“Yes, I'm still here.” I might as well have recorded myself saying 'yes, I'm still here' and put it on replay every 5 seconds rather than standing there and confirming to him every 5 seconds that I was still there.
“Is this a recording?”
If he wasn't so damn hot I would've barged in and knocked all his pretty little teeth out and tell him to shut up. “No, this isn't a recording.” I replied dryly.
“How can I be so sure that this isn't a recording?”
“Just shut up and finish pissing.”
“Jesus, no need to get so pushy woman. Pissing takes time and concentration.”
I scrunched up my face in disgust. “TMI!”
“How is that too much information?”
“It just is, now finish pissing.”
I heard him sigh. “Like I said, pissing-”
“Takes time and concentration,” I finished his sentence for him. “You done yet?”
“No, I'm still in here.”
“You done?” I asked again, hoping for a different answer this time.
“No!” What was taking this Greek god so long to use the bathroom?
I asked him about five more times.
“You-”
“Jesus Christ! Yes, I'm done!” he announced. I heard the toilet flush before he barged out of the bathroom.
“Did you wash your hands?”
“Oops,” he grinned sheepishly before stepping back into the bathroom.
I scrunched up my face in disgust.
He came back with clean hands. “That's what happens when you rush me, I forget to wash my hands!” he waved his hands in the air.
“You were taking way too long,” I pointed out.
“And you were being impatient.”
I huffed.
He put his arm around my shoulder, “it actually feels great to have someone wait for you.”
What he said made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
“Push me on the swings,” I said, before stomping off to the swing set.
“Your wish is my command, Princess.” He said, bowing down to me. The little gestures truly made me melt.
~*~