Everything You Want by Macyn Like Read Free Book Online Page A

have any plans for this Labor
Day weekend?” I asked her.
    “No, not this year.  My family
usually goes to this big picnic thing at my step grandmother’s house, Miss
Ruthie, but she doesn’t like me and my mom, and she makes that pretty clear
anytime we’re around, and I just don’t feel like suffering the abuse this year,
so I told them I couldn’t make it in.”
    “She doesn’t like you?  Not
possible.”
    “Oh, it is.  It’s not really me she
doesn’t like, it’s the fact that I’m my mother’s daughter.  She’s always
thought that it was my mom’s fault that my stepdad, Danny didn’t end up back
with Caroline, his first wife, despite the fact that she left him for another
man.”
    “I see.  So Miss Ruthie’s a little
crazy?”
    “A lot crazy.”
    “Well, shouldn’t you be there,
then?  To support your mom?”
    “Nah.  She doesn’t need me. 
We’re not that close.  I think I’ve always just been a burden to her, you
know, excess baggage.”
    “That sucks.  What about your real
dad?”
    “I don’t know him.”
    “Oh.  I’m sorry.”
    “For what?  I can’t miss him. 
I don’t know him.”
    “Yeah, but—”
    “Don’t feel bad for me,” she cut me
off.  “It could be a lot worse.  My stepfather isn’t so bad, and my
stepsister is my best friend.  I think she may be my only friend,
actually.  Sharing a room with her those years was the best thing ever.
    “That’s cool.  Any other brothers or
sisters?”
    “Yeah.  My stepbrother, Peter. 
He doesn’t like me, though.”
    “What’s with this family?  I can’t
imagine anyone not liking you.”
    “Um, that one’s my fault, actually. 
He did like me, at first.”
    “What do you mean?”
    She visibly swallowed.  “Have you
ever seen the movie Titanic ?”
    “Yes.  I think everyone’s seen Titanic. ”
    “Okay, well, I was in the ninth grade and
I’d still never seen it.”
    “Seriously?  That movie must have
come out when you were in elementary school.”
    “Yeah, it did.  I was behind the
times.  That’s not the point.  The point is, a lot of the girls at
school had watched it at a sleepover that I wasn’t invited to and they kept
talking about it the next Monday at lunch, and I felt like I was missing out, so
I wanted to see it too.  So one night my stepsister had a basketball thing
and my mom and stepdad went with her, and it was just Peter and I at the house,
so I asked him if he’d take me to the video store to rent the movie, and he
said yes.  And that he’d even watch it with me.”
    “Well, there’s your first red flag,” I
said.
    “Right.  Well, see, Peter’s only a
couple of years older than me and my mom and I had only been living there for a
couple months then, so it’s not like I saw him as my actual brother, or he saw
me as a sister.  I think he just saw me as Shayla’s friend who was
constantly spending the night.  Anyway, that movie was the most romantic
thing I’d ever seen, and Peter just kept scooting closer to me and—”
    “No!”  My mouth fell open, but I
immediately put my hand over it to hold back a laugh.
    She buried her face in her hands,
nodding.  “Yes.  I made out with Peter.  I mean, he didn’t force
himself on me, or anything.  I didn’t oppose it.  He was really cute
and I was kind of into him the whole time Danny and mom were dating, so when he
made a move, I just went with it.”          
    “What were you thinking?”  I was
shaking with laughter.
    “I was thinking that Titanic is
really freaking romantic and Peter was really cute and nobody had ever made a
move on me before!”
    “So what about after that?  Did you
two continue your clandestine affair?”
    “No.  He’s pretty much avoided me
ever since that night.  He acts so nervous around me, but I don’t know
why.”
    “Maybe he thinks you’re going to tell.”
    “Who cares if I do?  It was almost
ten years ago!  And it’s not like we’re actually related