Amari

I couldn't help but be nervous and angry.

Angry because Jake hadn't told me that we were staying with his mother while we were here. Nervous because I was meeting his mother!

"Calm down." Jake laughed squeezing my hand. "Stop fidgeting. You'll be fine."

"What if she doesn't like me?" I asked looking over to him.

"What if?" He scoffed. "She definitely won't."

I looked at him with an open mouth and furrowed brows. Why had he bought me here if he knew his mom wouldn't like me?

"She's not right in the head." He shook his head. "She's an addict and an alcoholic. She doesn't like anyone."

"So how does she afford a place like this?" I asked staring at the beautiful house.

It was smaller than ours, but beautiful nonetheless.

"My aunt." He said staring at the house. "My aunt actually owns the house. My mom just lives here while we're in Arizona."

I nodded.

"Anything else I should know about your mother?" I asked sighing.

"Not that I can think of." He shook his head. "Let's go."

He pulled me into the open front door and we were met with a strong smell of alcohol and Jake's Aunt yelling at someone.

"Pull yourself together Patricia!" She yelled. "I told you we were coming Today."

"Sorry Mar." Jake's mom apologized. "Sorry."

She was clearly drunk or hung over. She stumbled and handed Jake's Aunt the bottle of liquor she had been sitting on the floor drinking. She ran a hand through her messy blonde hair before finally looking up at Jake and I.

"Jakey?" She smiled. "Come give your mom a hug, baby!"

She opened her arms, but Jake didn't move as he instinctively stepped in front of me.

"I'm gonna take Amari to my room." Jake said looking at his Aunt.

"Okay." She nodded. "Come on Pat. Let's get you cleaned up."

"Oh, Mar. I can take care of myself." She said stumbling over to the small bathroom between the kitchen and the living room. "Whose Amari?"

Jake lead me to his room and sat my bags in his closet.

"So this is what young Jake liked?" I asked amused.

"Hardly." He laughed. "Young Jake slept in the living room because his aunt refused to let him have a game console and television in his room."

"Oh? Good thing I bought my laptop." I nudged him.

"Jakey..." His mom called stepping into the room.

She stopped and looked at me.

"And who is this?" She asked.

"This is Amari." He said shaking his head.

"Amari?" She scoffed. "That name sounds loaded. What are your parents? Brain surgeons? Rocket scientist? I bet you've never seen struggle before. Am I right?"

I glanced over at Jake unsure of it I should reply. Why was she coming for my edges so bad?

"Mom..." Jake started, but she cut him off.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you go to Arizona with Mar." She shook her head. "Look at you. Rubbing elbows with the undeserving rich. Come home Jakey."

This was gonna be a long weekend. A long weekend filled with a lot of tongue biting....

Tyler

"Who're you talking to?" I asked watching Hunter smile big as he talked into his headphones.

"Not you, whore." He jumped at me. "Not you, Angel. Tyler is the whore."

"Tell Angel I said hello." I faked a smile and Hunter glared at me.

"No he doesn't." Hunter mumbled into the headphones. "He's the worse."

"I'm your brother." I said walking over to him. "I'm your only brother."

"My only brother that can keep secrets from me." Hunter rolled his eyes. "My only brother that can betray me!"

"How did I betray you?" I asked staring at him.

"Let me mind my business before I hurt my Mother's first born child." Hunter mumbled walking away. "I'm gonna blow this whole house up. The biggest bomb is going in your bedroom."

He walked pass me and bumped my shoulder on purpose.

"Nothing but love." He said smartly before walking towards his room.

Why was he like this? He's so weird. I walked to the living room where Mom sat day drinking while going over some papers.

"What's that?" I asked sitting beside her.

"Oh. Just some bills and things." She said. "Just want to see how life will be once we finalize the divorce..."

I nodded and stared at the side of her face. This was really happening, huh?

"We'll have to move because we obviously built this lifestyle on two incomes." She said sipping her wine. "Unless I find y'all a new daddy before the time comes. Find me a new daddy..."

I held back a gag as she laughed. So that's where Hunter gets his terrible sense of humor?

"Baby, never get into a relationship that has no love in it." She sighed patting my knee. "Been there done that."

"There must've been a little love in it." I cleared my throat. "You've been together all these years."

"No." She shook her head. "It was easy to fake at first, but then my best friend got married and I saw what real love was like and wanted it. How can you love someone who constantly cheats on you? You probably have six other siblings out there and you don't even know it."

I grabbed her glass.

"Quiet down." I laughed standing up. "You're talking nonsense."

"No I'm not!" She shook her head.

She was clearly a little tipsy.

"You almost had a half sibling, but your Grandparents on your Father's side are powerful people." She said. "I don't know what happened, but that girl just disappeared. Came back two weeks later and wasn't pregnant anymore."

"You're not in your right mindset." I shook my head. "Just sober up."

"I'm not drunk, Tyler!" Mom yelled. "I wish I were. I wish I was black out drunk, but that's my first glass. I just want to talk to someone."

"I'll call Mrs. Rose." I said, but she stopped me.

"Not her." She shook her head. "She's my best friend and all, but secretly I despise her for being so much better than me. For having a better life than mine. And I know that's not healthy, but I can't help it. I'm happy for her, but sometimes I wish her life was a little less perfect."

She sat on the couch and held her head in her hands.

"I wish I would've became the doctor and maybe I would've met someone as perfect as Wesley." She sighed.

"Do you have a crush on Mr. Brooks?" I asked concerned.

"Oh God no." She shook her head. "I would never do that to Char. I just mean someone like him."

Please never do that to me.

Mrs. Rose wouldn't be the only person upset about that.

I'm sure me and my new step sister would be too!

"Good." I sighed sitting beside her.

I handed her the glass of wine again.

"Thanks." She mumbled drinking some.

"So... Was that girl pregnant before or after I was born?" I asked.

"Before." She nodded. "I was going to go tell your grandparents that I was pregnant with you and she was there and your grandfather was yelling at her to get rid of it. He said that it wasn't apart of the plan."

My Grandfather is a big business man. He is careful about what everyone does. He protects his reputation at all costs. Even if it means manipulating his son into marrying the towns sweetheart. Even if his son had feelings for another girl.

"There were times where I thought we could've been real." She said. "Like, right at the beginning, but then the second day came and I knew."

She looked over at me with tears in her eyes.

"I know what I'm about to say is going to sound ridiculous and it shouldn't need to be said anyway. I have faith that I raised you and Hunter the correct way, but..." She stopped to breath and fight back tears. "Look at me. Don't ever be the reason why a girl has to look like me. If you don't want her, let her know that. This doesn't feel good at all. It hurts my heart, my face, and my body. I know you're a good kid, but even the best people make terrible mistakes. Don't let this be your mistake. I don't care who it is, how she acts, or what she's known for. Don't hurt her anymore."

"Anymore?" I asked quietly.

"I'm not dumb." She shook her head staring down into her glass. "Do you honestly think I spent all those years watching your father cheat on me and wouldn't be able to tell who he was hooking up with when they were in the same room?" She looked over at me again. "I don't know whose hurting more. Naomi or Amari. Pick one. Don't keep leading them on if you don't want to be serious with either one."

"Mom... There's so much you don't know." I mumbled staring down at my hands.

"Well let me know." She rubbed my back.

"Amari comes with so many risks. I don't want to mess anything up." I sighed. "If we don't become serious, we can't really hold each other accountable for anything. I know everyone wants to see us together, and I want to be with her. I always have, but if the relationship doesn't work out, we're risking our friendship, our memories together, your friendship, and our relationships with each other's family."

"That's a lot." Mom nodded. "But if you two don't become serious, Amari's going to move on. Jake's a nice guy and he's there and willing to give her the world. If she paid him as much attention as she's paying you, he might be a better fit for her... Naomi?"

"She gets me." I shrugged. "I can talk to her about a lot of things Amari wouldn't be able to relate to if she saw it play out in front of her. Like, this whole divorce things. Naomi has been through it and Amari hasn't. Amari offers a lot of support and I appreciate that, but sometimes I need more than surface level advice."

Mom nodded softly touching my hair.

"Well, which one is a need and which one is a want?" She asked.

"I don't know." I shrugged.

"Think about it." She patted my arm. "Until then, let's go do a big puzzle and cry together."

She sat her glass down and grabbed my hand pulling me off into her office. We sat on the floor and did a puzzle until Hunter came and joined us. We didn't cry, so much as laugh and argue about where certain pieces go and how to start the puzzle off. Mom wanted to start with the border, I thought we should just pick a piece and start, Hunter wanted to just do the inside first. How that was going to work, I'm not sure, but he was adamant.

—————————

Hey!

Jake's Mom is sort of a bitch...

But, I guess Momma Brooks knows and have known for a minute.

Y'all know why Tyler is hesitant about being with Amari now.

And why he keeps Naomi around.

Y'all also know that Angel is not done yet.

He's coming to fight all of y'all for Hunter's love and attention.

Speaking of fight, I'll probably be arrested for a lil minute because this man, my man, stayed over last night.

He wouldn't let me sleep and now he's asleep. I'm contemplating pushing a pillow against his face or sitting on his chest.

I don't want to kill him, just want to wake him up in the worse way possible so he thinks I'm trying to kill him.

But I'm thick as fuck, and he plays lacrosse so you know he ain't too buff, so he might actually die if I sit on his chest...

But yeah! Bye! Lmaooo.