5: Louie

She frowned at me before exchanging two glances with her minions. They were silently discussing a brilliant comeback.

“Look, you can say whatever you want, little girl,” I continued.

Laughters ran out, interrupting my speech. That was annoying.

“All I’m saying is you’ll have to kill yourself 3 thousand times or more in your future if you’re that easily humiliated. Life isn’t that easy. Me, I don’t care. I know my ass doesn’t look so bad.” That said, I spun around and walked away.

The two, who had disappeared to who-know-where ran after me.

“Wait! Tyler!” called Fern.

“You slayed her! You were so cool!” chattered Sherynn.

“Right,” I scoffed. “You know what? I’m leaving. I’m gonna go do something at home.”

“We have another test,” informed Fern.

“Oh, right.”

So I sat down at the last test and I did badly. But at least, I wasn’t going to detention, and  even if I failed one subject, I wouldn’t need to go to summer school. Besides, I wouldn’t start dating Chase because I was not that stupid. Not anymore.

I went back home. Louie had left. Edmund said he had dropped by to get some of his old stuff. My stepdad was downright jovial. He was telling me he would make some muffins. When I said I wasn’t hungry, he asked me what I wanted as a present. It was so random but I knew he was so glad that I hadn’t treated him with hate or ignored him.

If I were to be honest, he was actually bad at cooking just like me. But he wanted to help my mom whenever he could. By his character, he sounded like, I don’t know, a man about 5’ 10’’ tall with leanly muscled or a balding man with glasses? But he looked nothing like that. He was over six feet tall with thick arm and with strong jaws. Like a wrestler.

He had told us that an elementary teacher at some countryside school, and he had no reason to lie about that. Besides, I had known him in my life, my real life, for twelve years and he had been a good husband to my mom. But, it was hard to believe by looking at him.

***

“Where is Louie living?” I slumped into the couch. 

Mom carefully put down the remote onto the coffee table. It was about 8 pm in the evening. We had our dinner, and we were watching a comedy show together in the living room. She had been laughing at smallest things on TV since we sat down and Ed had laughed along whenever one of us did. They were both happy.

“He’s in Green Lane, at one of his friends’ house,” answered Helen. Her tone was controlled; she didn’t want to wake up the sleeping tiger. She wanted us to be nice to each other, especially me to him, since we were step-siblings.

“He’s at Glenn’s,” said Edmund. “He’s, he’s…” He cleared his throat nervously. “He has a hard time occasionally since it’s, you know, someone else’s place, but don’t worry. He’s 19, a grown man, he’ll work out just fine. He’s going to Princeton in a few months. He’ll find a different arrangement.”

My eyes widened at multiple information, one shocking, a few sad. First, he had been having a difficult time the entire time I had been so immature. He was living at someone’s else’s place for years of course. He had been a minor when I kicked him out. But now he was 19 but… he must be tight with money. 

The shocking thing he went to Princeton. How could I forget? Louie was so smart. In my real life, I had got to learn he received a scholarship when he was in college, but I never knew he received that at an Ivy League school. 

I glanced at the clock. I didn’t know if I would wake up on my bed in my bedroom when I opened my eyes tomorrow morning. At this point, I was so confused I wondered if I never died, and instead, instead…that possibility was terrifying: I wondered I went unconscious getting raped by Issac’s friends instead of dying. That would mean I might wake up at some point before they killed me. Oh, no. No. No. No.

“She’s having a panic attack, Ed!” cried my mom.

“It doesn’t look like a panic attack, honey. It’s more like…”

I exhaled and blinked fast. “I’m okay. I’m not having a panic attack.” I got to my feet. “I’m going out. Please don’t worry, mom, Ed. I won’t be long.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?!!” My mother called after me.

“I am!!!” I shouted from the stairs.

Since I was clueless what was going on with me, I decided to visit Louie, and apologized to him. Would bring him home if he wanted. Life was short, I learned that with Issac. Whatever this was could be much shorter.

I put on a red off-shoulder blouse, that was what I had, and jeans. I put on ankle boots. I fixed nearly-black brown hair, straight and reaching to my armpits. My eyes were blue, a pale blue, that glimmered in light easily. I wasn’t one of the most beautiful or anything like that, but I had heard people calling me cute all the time. 

Until a year into the marriage with Issac. Then I became that ugly woman he couldn’t stand.

I stepped down the stairs and realized an issue. I had imagined I would drive Ed’s yellow sedan because I knew how to drive as a thirty-year-old woman. I only learned that when I was 18. The issue was I was currently 17 and driving wasn’t legal.

“Where do you want to go?!” Ed stood up. “I mean I’d drive you there. It’s fine if that’s private or a secret.” He winked at me.

I laughed, tears in my eyes. After what I had gone through, this place was like a safe heaven for me. I had been wrong this morning when I thought this was not.

How I wished this to be permanent. Like a second chance. To relive the life. I knew I shouldn’t hope to fix my mistakes by going back in time or relieving the life. But I died, for God’s sake! Something doesn’t kill you makes you stronger but I died, if not I would be killed. I had had literally no chance to learn or grow or get stronger at all.

“Sweetie, you alright?” asked Helen.

I must look weird to them, standing stiff and gazing at nowhere.

“Yes, mom.” I nodded, sniffling my tears back in.

Ten minutes later, Ed was igniting the engine in our garage. He currently worked as a supervisor at a construction site, and he had some savings after selling his house where he lived with his ex-wife. My mom worked part-time at a floral shop. He could take a day off whichever weekday he wanted, and he told me he took today off on our way to Louie.

I stepped down to the street and braced myself when we were in front of Glenn’s house.

“I’ll be driving around the block. Or will wait somewhere. Take your time.” He gave me a thumbs up. He must suspect I was nervous.

I didn’t know why I was nervous. I thought this would be a piece of cake. ‘Apologize, make a little chat, and leave.’ But my heart was beating so fast.

I walked up to the porch. Glenn’s house was considerably bigger than ours. I heard laughters before I knocked on the door. Vague figures behind the window curtains. There seemed to be quite a few people in there.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

A guy opened. Blond hair. Freckles across the nose. Half-naked. He was a body builder type. 

“Who might you be?” he gave her a cheeky smile. "Want to join us?” He eyed at her as though he was expecting her to get shy.

“Tyler Vestry,” I said curtly. “Where is—”

Before I ended my sentence, he groaned. “You’re Louie’s sister.”

“Stepsister,” I corrected.

“Thought you were fight—”

His nosiness was interrupted by another body. Louie pulled the door open. “Go sit with the girls.” 

His buddy seemed used to his commanding tone. He grumbled and walked away. My stepbrother stepped up until he was fully in the door frame, and I wondered why the hell I might have been thinking when I was rude to this boy who was about three times my size. His father and he were like bear daddy and bear child though he was much bigger than a bear cub. 

“What’s the problem again?” He crossed his arms. “Let me guess. You think I stole something from your house when I stopped by this morning.”

I flicked my gaze to his arms which was as equally naked as his chest. It had been a random attempt to distract myself from his very snappy, hostile voice. But I ended up staring at those arms, particularly the right arm because that was where my eyes landed upon, wondering how many months in a gym he had spent to accomplish that. 

“I…didn’t come here to make trouble for you.” My voice was monotone.

My eyes moved from his bicep to his chest, the narrow ridge underneath his pronounced collarbones. It was not like I was lusting after him or anything like that, at least I thought so. I was musing how he was perfectly superior to my husband, I mean ex-husband or whatever Issac was. I didn’t know why I thought of that but it just occurred to me.

“I know you didn’t stole anything from my—I mean our house!”

“Hey. Hey.” He snapped his fingers twice before my face. “Look at my face when you’re talking. Are you here to mess with me?”