The first I knew of Oliver's arrival was when I came home for the summer holidays - having now been living in Roden Vale for just over a year. When I hopped off the bus, I saw a Kombi parked out the front, looking as if it'd just stepped out of a rainbow factory. The thing was literally coloured in all the colours of the rainbow; more accurately, it looked like it'd been tie-dyed. The inside, I suspected, would be just as colourful, if not more so.
Of course, I didn't get much of a chance to get a good first look; Fanny practially bowled me over in her rush to get inside the house, and once I'd stopped seeing stars, I sighed, hitched my bag higher on my shoulder, and wheeled both mine and her suitcases to the front door. Inside, it was chaos; Fanny was literally wrapped around a rather good looking young man, determined to hug the life out of him, and he had the most put upon look on his face as he gently patted her back. He met my eyes and I winced in sympathy as he carefully tried to disenage himself from Fanny's leech like grasp. I heard what sounded like a growl coming from my stepsister as she wrapped arms and legs tighter around the man, but he managed to untangle himself from her and deposit her on the ground, holding her crossed wrists tightly to prevent her from trying to wrap herself around him again. "It's good to see you too, little sister," he told her, his tone suggesting they'd had Words in the past. "Can you let me breathe for five minutes so I can say hello to my other sister?"48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2x21V3bWpt
Fanny's head snapped around and she gave me the most poisonous glare imaginable. "She's just your stepsister," she said snidely, trying to free her wrists from the man's grip. But he had the look of someone who'd done this before; Fanny's wrists remained trapped.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYRUqZGqq0
"Fanny, that's enough," Sally said sharply. "Leave your brother alone; you can pester him later."48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYPqbxHzru
Fanny subsided, growling again, and as her brother - my stepbrother - released her wrists, she stalked over and poked me in the chest. "Oliver belongs to me," she said, sounding more like a possessive girlfriend. "You keep your mitts to yourself, or I'll tell Mum you were talking about that bitch in Clapham again."48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCboiQVluN2
"That bitch" was my mum, but even though I now legally had the right to call her, now that I was seventeen, Sally's threat of pulling me out of school was more prominent than ever. My grey rocking this past school year had only convinced her I was hiding "nefarious activity" from her, to the point where I now had someone watching me and monitoring all my communications closely. Roger, who had a bit of a crush on Fanny, had volunteered to do the task, and he was a very good double agent, feeding Fanny Fanny enough false information to keep her off my back, somewhat. But it hadn't been enough, and Sally raised an eyebrow as Fanny stalked off. 48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19goqR4u4X
"Do I need to tell the school you won't be returning for your final year?" she asked coolly.
"No Mum, you won't," I told her. That was her latest quirk, by the way; insisting I called her Mum every time I spoke to her. The adoption had failed, thanks to my own mum using some very good legal connections to stop the attempted termination of her parental rights, and Sally had gotten much more bitter and vindictive as a result.
"I hope not," she told me now, her voice like ice. "If you can't appreciate all the good that's been done for you, then maybe you ought to be packed off to an orphanage; then you'll appreciate the good life you've had hear, a life you don't deserve after all the blatant disrespect you've shown me this last year and a half. I know you don't mean it when you call me Mum; you're only doing it to stave off punishment."
"Alright, that's enough," Dad cut in crossly. "The girl won't listen to reason; stop beating her over the head with it."48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRD21ShuLWI
Sally sniffed, but let it go. "Oliver, go upstairs and finish packing," she told my stepbrother. "I was going to let Charlotte say hello to you, but she doesn't deserve to get to know you." She eyed me coldly as she added, "Maybe if she starts calling me Mum and means it, I might let you two talk. But if she doesn't..." 48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡed21KgUsYT
Oliver winced, gave me a sympathetic look, and took his suitcases upstairs. Sally then turned to me. "You can go to your room and stay there for the rest of the day," she told me. "If you need to go to the toilet, call out, and I'll escort you. Otherwise, you're to stay on your bed the entire time and not move a muscle. I'll let you come downstairs for supper, but you're not to speak to anyone, and no one will speak to you. That will continue until such time as you're ready to finally give me the respect I deserve. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal," I said through gritted teeth, forgoing the word "Mum" this once. It wouldn't make a damn lick of difference anyways; she'd been itching for a chance to bring me to heel this past year and a half, and any excuse would've done. But as she escorted me upstairs, almost clipping my heels with the door as she slammed and locked it behind me, I vowed not to let her get to me. No punishment in the world would ever induce me to call her Mum and mean it, and no matter what she did, I vowed I'd stay true to the woman who'd birthed and raised me, and who actually loved me like a mum ought to. 48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXScm4nY3yO
Sally was not going to get her way on this one.
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