pt2

Kieran knew she would be hard to placate when she was upset like this. He still went in to hug her. She was stiff in his arms. When he released her from his grasp he got on his knees. “Can you ever forgive me? I’m trying to keep my jealousy in check but how can I when you’re so gorgeous and precious?”

Demi followed her family into their Volvo. It was the latest model but she hated it. Mostly because she had to be the one to sit in the very back, aka the trunk. Michelle always sat in the seat right behind their father. Her little sister Miami would sit behind their mother. Her twin sisters Madison and Melanie were too young to be in the middle seats they always had the back. Her parents could afford a better car, they just choose not to. Demi climbed in the trunk to take her seat. She knew it was going to be an uncomfortable ride. When Michelle wanted to go out, they indulged her. She always wanted to go shopping. The rule always applied to her; the middle child is the forgotten child. Granted she wouldn’t have minded being forgotten more often than what she normally had to deal with. She wasn’t just the middle child. Demi was the slave of the family.

Michelle was already buckled in her seat, she looked back to see the twins were buckled in their booster seats. She urged her parents to go, despite Demi not settled inside the trunk. “Let’s go! The sale starts soon. I want to have the best clothes for the start of my freshmen year.”

Their dad buckled himself in and turned the car on. He pulled out of their garage and headed to the mall. Their mother tried to chastise him for indulging her. “Dear, you can’t always overindulge her.”

“She is our daughter. She should have the very best. There is.”

Demi could hear them excitedly chatter about how they loved and adored Michelle. She wished they wanted the best for her as well. She couldn’t wait for school to start. Less time to spend at home and more time doing what she wanted. Even when she would get high marks in school, they both ignored her. They barely made it on time for her fifth grade graduation ceremony. Demi knew the only reason they showed up was to keep up with appearances. Their neighbors all believed they were devoted parents.

They made it to the mall in time for Michelle’s favorite store started it’s sale. Demi wanted to wander off and look at all the things she knew she couldn’t have. Although sometimes she managed to get Michelle’s hand me downs. The family followed Michelle around the store as she grabbed item after item to wear. Michelle stopped when she noticed a familiar face in between the racks. She ran towards him. Demi took that time to slip away and go exploring.

She was in the aisle with the dresses and skirts when a guy came up to her. “I see you’re out shopping with your sister.”

“Yeah, so. Do you need something from me?” Demi didn’t look up to see the person that was talking to her.

“No, I just wanted to say when you punched my friend in the face you really made him mad.”

At that point she looked up to see who was talking to her. She recognized him as the boy who helped her. “So what. He shouldn’t go around calling ladies sluts. That wasn’t nice at all.”

“You’re right. We all clowned him after that but I don’t like when guys do that.”

“Do what? Be assholes?”

“No, well yeah that too. But I mean disrespectful.”

She nodded her head in understanding then walked away. “Bye.”

He could tell she was cold, but something about her drew him to her. He yelled out after her. “Hope I see you again.”

Demi couldn’t help but hate the way he nonchalantly said that. Why would he want to see her again? When she got back to where Michelle was, she seen the guy she was hanging all over.  If anyone ever wanted to insult Michelle it would be by calling her a slut. Another guy came up to grab his sibling. It was the same guy that spoken to her just a few minutes ago. “Hey bro, mom says we have to hurry.” He waved at demi before pulling his brother away.

Michelle knew the two of them, she eagerly said goodbye to them both in a sing song voice. “Bye Jermaine and Zaine. Oh Zaine, are you still drawing?”

He stopped long enough to answer her question. “Yeah.” He looked past her straight at Demi once more and spoke. “See you around.”

Demi rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe he would want to find her attractive. She was short, with ugly brown eyes; and thick, course, curly hair. She wanted to hide the more she thought about him looking at her that way. Michelle made sure she didn’t think anymore about it. She pulled Demi into chest squealing. “God, have you seen an even sexier guy before? Jermaine is cute but it’s Zaine that’s the best looking brother. Too bad he’s a few years younger than me.”

“He’s younger than you? With his height I figured he was older than you.”

“No, he’s actually your age. Sad, I know. Oh well. He is one hell of an artist.”

She didn’t say anything else. She just wanted to be out of her sister’s grasp. It felt as if she was being smothered. Michelle let her go as soon as she seen a sparkly top that she just had to have. Their dad scowled at the top, it was too short and glittery. He spoke up trying to put his foot down. “You can not have that shirt. It’s to glitzy and revealing.”

Michelle gave him her infamous puppy dog eyes to get her way. “But daddy, it would go perfect with these jean shorts I have already. Please?”

Demi knew when she said please he would cave in. A few seconds later she heard the all too familiar words for her sister. “Alright pumpkin. Whatever you want.”